Zhaobao taiji lineage tree

The following is a long post from Tom over at EF. You can read the original here. I want to archive this in case I lose track of it. It’s solid info on the lineage of zhaobao and how it relates to the Chen family and huleijia.

Just to clarify: there are several taijiquan lineages with roots in Zhaobao village. The Zhaobao clips most commonly seen, including the one above with Wang Haizhou, represent the large frame practice coming from He Zhaoyuan (via Zheng Boying). There is also a Zhaobao Heshi small-frame practice descending from Zheng Wuqing.

Hu Lei Jia comes down from Li Jingyan. Li added some martial arts elements from the Huaqing (now Wen) county area to what he learned in Zhaobao to form the Hu Lei Jia style.

He Zhaoyuan (Zhaobao) and Li Jingyan (Hu Lei Jia) both trained taijiquan under Chen Qingping (who hosted Wu Yuxiang of Yang/Wu “Taiji Classics” fame for 40 days when Wu was not able to study with Yang Luchan’s teacher, Chen Changxing). So their styles do have a historical connection to the Chen family of Chenjiagou through Chen Qingping (CQP).

Jarek Szymanski has previously written (on this forum and one other) that: “CQP was neither born in Chenjiagou nor raised there. He did not move to Zhaobao because of marrying a local woman. Chen Xiluo, CQP’s father, was from Wang’gedang village, and later moved to Zhaobao. Chen family in Zhaobao was wealthy, which can be clearly seen from the Fen Dan (document in which CQP’s property is being divided among his descendants). If CQP moved to Zhaobao because of marrying a local woman, according to local custom he would have to change his surname. It is true however that CQP was a member Chen clan from Chenjiagou.

It was Chen Xin who in his ‘Chen Clan Chronicles’ wrote that CQP learnt from Chen Youben.” [note: Chen Youben, famous for his Chen Xiao Jia, was a contemporary of Chen Changxing, Yang Luchan's teacher).

Tim Cartmell studied Hu Lei Jia in Taiwan. Tim's lineage is Chen Qingping - Li Jingyan (Hulei Jia) - Yang Hu - Chen Yingde - Wang Jinrang - Xiong (Hsiung) Wei - Lin Ah Long - Tim Cartmell. According to Tim, when he trained under Lin, it was simply called "Zhaobao style of Chen Qingping."

The 8 basic exercises (with deep squats and twisting) that Tim teaches as a pre-requisite to the Hu Lei Jia form work trace back to Xiong (Hsiung) Wei for sure . . . I don't know about any earlier roots for these exercises.

For those whose attention has not yet wandered to more tempting pastures, here is a passage with a little more history on Zhaobao taijiquan. I have the passage in my notes, but will have to post the specific source later when I find it. It is part of a larger description of the history of some of the current branches of Zhaobao style.

"Zhaobao taijiquan was passed down to Zhang Yingchang and Chen Qingping, afterwards it split into different branches; some teachers added innovations and thus formed their own branches . . . Zhang Yingchang taught Zhang Wen, Zhang Wen taught Zhang Jinmei, Zhang Jinmei taught Zhang Jingzhi, Zhang Jingzhi taught Hou Chyungxiu, Chen Yingming and others. Hou Chunxiu taught in Xi'an for many decades and had many students, forming a big group of Zhaobao practitioners in Xi'an.

Chen Qingping taught his son Chen Jingyang, He Zhaoyuan, Niu Fahu, Li Jingyan, Li Zuozhi, Wu Yuxiang and others. After the above generation, the art divided into 3 branches. The first branch is that of Chen Jingyang; he taught Ren Changchu, who taught Du Yuanhua [ED. NOTE: THIS SHOULD BE OF INTEREST TO TAIWAN PRACTITIONERS], who was a teacher in Henan Province Guoshuguan (martial arts academy). He also wrote “Taijiquan zhengzong,” which was the first book to document Zhaobao taijiquan.

The second branch is that of He Zhaoyuan, who taught He Jingzhi (his son), He Qingxi (his grandson). He Qingxi taught He Xuexin (his son), Zheng Xijue (a.k.a. Zheng Boying), Zhen Wuzing and others. Zheng Xijue (Boying) and Zheng Wuqing taught in Xi’an for many decades, and had many students. Zheng Xijue taught the dajia (large frame), whilst Zheng Wuqing taught xiaojia (small frame); together with Hou Chunxiu (who taught zhongjia, the medium frame), they formed three very important groups of Zhaobao taijiquan in Xi’an, making Xi’an the second headquarters of Zhaobao taijiquan. The “2 Zhengs of the Northwest” (as they were called), because they both considreed He Zhaoyuan as their “shicheng” (grandteacher?), so their branch is also called Zhaobao Heshi (He style) taijiquan.

The third branch is that of Wu Yuxiang.”