Chen Qingping
| Chen Qingping 陳清平 | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1795 Chenjiagou, Henan, China |
| Died | 1868 (aged 72–73) |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Style | Chen-style tai chi (7th gen. Chen-style) Zhaobao tai chi (7th gen. Zhaobao-style) |
| Notable relatives | Chen Youben, Chen Changxing, Chen Wangting |
| Notable students | Wu Yuxiang |
| Chen Qingping | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 陳清平 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Part of a series on |
| Chinese martial arts (Wushu) |
|---|
 |
Chen Qingping or Ch'en Ch'ing-p'ing (1795–1868) was a 15th generation descendant and 7th generation master of the Chen family. He is also claimed to be the 7th generation successor of the Zhaobao style of tai chi. Alternatively, many Zhaobao lineages (e.g. He Baoguo of the He family, Zhang Suisheng of Hulei) treat him as the progenitor of tai chi in Zhaobao. He was an influential martial artist and teacher of tai chi.
He was married to a woman from the Zhaobao village, only a few miles north east of the Chen Village (Chenjiagou) — the home of the Chen Family famous for their martial arts. He has also been said to have learned the small-frame (Xiaojia) Chen style developed by Chen Youben, and the striking similarity of Chen Style Xiaojia and Zhaobao tai chi supports this assertion like nothing else.
After touristic success of Chenjiagou in the early 21st century, many Zhaobao officials and some local teachers saw the commercial opportunity in distancing themselves from Chenjiagou and claiming the local tai chi style as “original” to attract western students and tourists in general to top up local budget. Naturally, Chen Qingping could not remain as the originator of tai chi in Zhaobao in such a new “history” and he started to be claimed a student of a local teacher in addition to his proficiency in Chen style. Inability to provide any academically-reputable proof of existence of any tai chi in Zhaobao predating Chen Qingping as well as the lineage records of many local teachers tracing the origin of their style back to Chen Qingping immediately disqualified those claims. Nevertheless, similarly to the Zhang Sanfeng fairytales, they are kept alive among less-academically oriented part of the tai chi community, equally in China and the West.
According to the apologists of this theory, after moving to the Zhaobao Village, Chen Qingping learned Zhaobao tai chi from Zhang Yan (张彦), who was the 6th generation master of the Zhaobao tai chi lineage. Unfortunately, no proof of Zhang Yan's relation to tai chi has ever been demonstrated.
Chen Qingping's main disciple He Zhaoyuan passed on this art which later developed into He-style tai chi. Another disciple, Li Jingyan, created the Hulei-style tai chi by combining his art with other martial arts popular in the local area where he lived.
Chen Qingping is also credited as one of the teachers of Wu Yuxiang who later developed the Wu (Hao)-style tai chi, sometimes referred to as the "Scholar-style of tai chi". Wu Yuxiang was recommended to Chen Qingping by Wu Yuxiang's primary teacher, Yang Luchan.
Tai chi lineage tree with Zhaobao focus[edit]
Note:
- This lineage tree is not comprehensive, but depicts those considered the 'gate-keepers' & most recognised individuals in each generation of Zhaobao.
- Although many styles were passed down to respective descendants of the same family, the lineage focused on is that of Zhaobao & not necessarily that of a family.
- Names denoted by an asterisk are legendary or semi-legendary figures in the lineage; while their involvement in the lineage is accepted by most of the major schools, it is not independently verifiable from known historical records.
| Key: | NEIJIA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Solid lines | Direct teacher-student. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dot lines | Partial influence /taught informally /limited time. | Wang Zongyue* TAI CHI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dash lines | Individual(s) omitted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dash cross | Branch continues. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CHEN-STYLE | (蒋法) Jiang Fa Zhaobao-style | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (邢喜怀) Xing Xihuai 2nd gen. Zhaobao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (陈正如) Chen Zhengru 3rd gen. Chen | (张楚臣) Zhang Chuchen 3rd gen. Zhaobao | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (陈敬伯) Chen Jingbo 4th gen. Chen 4th gen. Zhaobao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zhang Zongyu 5th gen. Zhaobao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chen Youben c. 19th century 6th gen. Chen Chen Small Frame | (张彦) Zhang Yan 6th gen. Zhaobao | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YANG-STYLE | (陈清萍) Chen Qingping 1795–1868 7th gen. Chen 7th gen. Zhaobao | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wu Yuxiang 1812–1880 WU (HAO)-STYLE | (他招远) He Zhaoyuan 1810–1890 8th gen. Zhaobao Zhaobao He-style | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Li-style | (和庆喜) He Qingxi 1857–1936 9th gen. Zhaobao | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WU-STYLE | SUN-STYLE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (宋蕴华) Song Yunhua 1949–2006 11th gen. Zhaobao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wudang-style | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CHEN-STYLE | YANG-STYLE | WU-STYLE | SUN-STYLE | WU (HAO)-STYLE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes[edit]
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (April 2015) |
References[edit]
- Wile, Douglas Lost T'ai-chi Classics from the late Ch'ing Dynasty (1996) State University of New York Press, Albany. ISBN 0-7914-2653-X
External links[edit]
- Chenstyle.com - This resource guide to Chen and related styles has a description and short video of Zhaobao Jia.