Baguazhang Lineage
Following my recent article on Yin style Baguazhang showcasing Sifu Ray Hayward’s wonderful and clear demonstrations, I have tried to piece together the Baguazhang lineage of our school. This is primarily derived from Master They’s first book - The Path of the Complete Martial Artist.
During the period that Yan Lu Tan held the post of Chief Instructor to the Imperial Palace, there were also other famous instructors in residence, such as Kuo Yin Sen of the art of Hsing Yi [Xingyi] and Tong Hai Chuan (1796-1880) [Dong Haichuan] of the art of Pa Kua Chang [Baguazhang]. Tong was also the king’s bodyguard and the first to bring Pa Kua to the public eye.
It later continues…
Tong Hai Chuan had many students, two of the best were the first disciple Yin Fu and the fourth disciple Chen Tin Fua
Chen could be Cheng Tinghua (1848-1900), as both Master They and the Wikipedia entry explain he was involved with the making or selling of spectacles, although dates differ.
When Tong Hai Chuan passed away, Yin Fu took over his position. When he died, his first disciple Kong Pao Tien, succeeded him as bodyguard to the king.
The two best students of Kong Pao Tien are Kong Pao Chai (Kong Pao Tien’s brother) and Liu Yan Chiao, who are both still in Taiwan. Liu Yan Chiao is the Chief Instructor to the Imperial Palace of the Republic of China.
Master They’s book contains a picture of him with Grand Master Kong Pao Tien dated November 1990 when Master Kong was 85 years old and was supervising Master They’s Pa Kua training.
The eighty-five year old Grand Master Kong Pao Chai and Master They (taken in November 1990) when he visited him for supervision of his Pa Kua training.
Master They was a first indoor student of Master Wu.
I am fortunate enough to have been accepted as a first indoor student by one of Liu’s favourite disciples, Ng Chong Fat (in Chinese Wu Song Fa).
Master They, Master Wu and Simu Sarer Scotthorne (Bristol Wutan, UK)
Grand Master Liu and Master They
Both Grandmaster Liu and Kong Pao Chai learned Baguazhang from Kong Pao Tien.
Kong Pao Tien taught his brother Kong Pao Chai, who in turn taught Master They.
I have done my best to summarise this in the diagram below.
Baguazhang ‘family tree’ for Wutan UK
I have shown the first generation of Dong Haichuan’s disciples as they are presented in Wikipedia, but for the sake of simplicity and brevity I not focused on illustrating their descendants, with the exception of Cheng Tinghua, who taught the well known Sun Lutang, the founder of Sun Tai Chi and Sun Baguzhang. As with much in traditional martial arts, things are not always simple. For example, Wikipedia states that Ma Gui was a ‘notable student’ of Yin Fu as well as being a direct student of Dong Haichuan. Where dates differ in the sources, I have used Wikipedia’s dates.
To bring the article full circle I have also shown Dr Kay Chi-Leung in the diagram, who was referenced in Sifu Hayward’s YouTube channel, as he was also a disciple of Grand master Liu. In personal correspondence, Sifu Hayward confirmed that he was the first American student of Dr Leung.
Dr. Kay-Chi Leung was born in Canton, China, and has spent most of his life studying in Taiwan. He is the son-in-law and favorite student of the late master Harn Ch'in T'ang, from whom he learned Northern Shaolin, Ch'in-Na, and Yang style T'ai Chi. Dr. Leung is also the Head Disciple of Grandmaster Liu Yun Chiao, who taught him Pa-Kua, Mi-Tsung, Pa-Chi, Pi-Kua, and Praying Mantis. Dr. Leung has had over 15 different teachers who have taught him over 10 systems. He is also a doctor of Chinese Acupuncture, Orthopedics, and western dentistry. He passed from this world on July 10, 2022.
Grandmaster Liu, forground left and Sifu Hayward, right.
Cover photo from Sifu Hayward’s YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTS3fIu9rhA
Technical Note
The lineage ‘family tree’ diagram included in this article was created using https://graphviz.org, free open source software. I had not used it in years and there was much blood, sweat and tears to configure my laptop properly to get it working. I am not close friends with the macOS terminal. I could have used a simpler app such as Omnigraffle, Keynote or even PowerPoint to a similar effect, but I was never one to take the easy path. To be honest, I enjoyed the struggle and still find it magical that I can write some ‘code’ and a fancy diagram gets spit out.
For what it is worth, and because I like to exercise my wannabe nerd gene from time to time, I am including the source .gv file here.
/*
Lineage for Wutan Baguazhang
Created with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOT_language
Drawn with: http://www.graphviz.org/
*/
digraph planimeter {
node [shape=record, color=black, fontsize=12];
# First generation
DH [label="{Dong Haichuan / Tong Hai Chuan (-1882)|董海川}", style=bold, color=black, fontsize=16];
YF [label="{Yin Fu (1840-1909)|尹福}", style=bold];
CT [label="{Cheng Tinghua (1848-1900)|程廷華}"];
MG [label="{Ma Gui|马贵}"];
SC [label="{Song Changrong|宋長榮}"];
LF [label="{Liu Fengchun}"];
MW [label="{Ma Weiqi|馬維棋}"];
LB [label="{Liu Baozhen|劉寶珍}"];
LZ [label="{Liang Zhenpu|梁振蒲}"];
LD [label="{Liu Dekuan|劉德寛}"]
# Second generation
KPT [label="{Kong Pao Tien}", style=bold]
SL [label="{Sun Lutang (1860-1933)|孫祿堂}"];
LSW [label="{Li Su Wen (1864-1934)|'Spiritural Spear Li'}"]
# Third generation
KPC [label="{Kong Pao Chai (1905-?)}", style=bold]
LYC [label="{Liu Yun Chiao / Liu Yun Qiao (1909-1992)|Chairman of the Civil Defence Forces\nChief Instructor of the Palace Bodyguard\nTaiwan}"]
WSF [label="{Wu Song Fa / Ng Choong Fat (-2018)\nWutan Malaysia}"]
# Fourth generation
TS [label="{They SoonTuan (1957-)\nChief Instructor\nWutan UK}", style=bold]
KCL [label="{Dr Kay-Chi Leung (-2022)}"]
# Fifth generation
RH [label="{Sifu Ray Hayward|US}", style=dotted]
# Mapping
DH -> YF;
DH -> CT;
DH -> MG;
DH -> SC;
DH -> LF;
DH -> MW;
DH -> LB;
DH -> LZ;
DH -> LD;
CT -> SL;
YF -> KPT;
KPT -> KPC;
KPT -> LYC;
KPC -> TS;
LYC -> KCL;
LSW -> LYC;
WSF -> TS;
LYC -> WSF;
KCL -> RH;
label = "\n\n\nWutan UK Baguazhang Lineage\n\nVersion: 05-Jun-2024";
fontsize=14;
}Sources
The Path of the Complete Martial Artist, Wutan KungFu International (WKI), 1991
Photos
Supplied by Sarer Scotthorne or copyright Master They unless otherwise indicated.
Revisions
05-Jun-2024 after receiving corroboration from Sifu Hayward
