Revisiting this thread I've found there are some questions left unanswered.
I can provide an answer on one, but in doing so raise another question.
Firstly, the unanswered question was just what are the Paoquan sets shown in the Shaolin Encyclopedia. I can't believe we didn't read what the introduction to them says, but here it is:
There are three sets. Xiaopaoquan, Erlu Xiaopaoquan, and Dapaochui.
The first Xiaopaoquan says it is a simplification of Yilu Paoquan, also known as Sanjie Paoquan (three sections). This longer set was simplified as an introduction to it by monk Yongxiang (永祥) who called the new simplification Xiaopaoquan.
(Ven. Yongxiang lived in Shaolin before 1928 and kept many notes and such which he passed to Ven. Deqian to reorganize in the encyclopedia.)
So what is this Xiaopaoquan shown?
It is what we were calling Dengfeng Paoquan. It is what Shi Deyang calls Xiaopaoquan, what the Tagou books call Dapaoquan, and what Liu Zhenhai called Yilu Paoquan in his VCD.
The Erlu Xiaopaoquan shown in the encyclopedia says it is an expansion upon this Xiaopaoquan. I have never seen this set before.
So both of these Xiaopaoquan are quite modern then, but came from Shaolinsi via Ven. Yongxiang.
There is a Dapaochui shown which says it is much older- from Song Dynasty Abbot Fuju. It was based on Luohan Shibashou, Luohanquan, Da Xiao Hongquan, and Tongbiquan.
This Dapaochui was expanded by monk Zhanju in the Qing Dynasty and has three roads, but is not the long Shaolin Paoquan we are all familiar with. I don't recognize this set either.
Since the other two Xiaopaoquan sets are not like the three section Paoquan we were discussing here (Shi Deyang- Dapaoquan / Tagou- Xiaopaoquan / Liu Zhenhai- Erlu & Sanlu Paoquan), then the three section "Sanjie Paoquan" they were based on must refer to this odd Song Dynasty one shown with them in the Encyclopedia called Dapaochui.
So that's that.............................
But it leaves the question of just where this long Paoquan set we are all familiar with came from.
Another question I have is from the beginning of this thread, Sal mentioned some military Paochui material that was practiced along with Rouquan long ago. And then some Paoquan that was part of Li Sou's Hongquan system that he brought to Shaolin. Later in the Ming/Qing or so, the Paoquan material became separated from the Hongquan and evolved into its own Shaolin Paoquan subsystem today.
My question on this is what happened to the old military Paochui, or did that mix with Li Sou's Paoquan stuff to later become it's own Shaolin Paoquan subsystem? And is this perhaps the material from which comes our familiar long Paoquan set? That would probably place it at best and Ming/Qing Dynasty.