i) “What about how the Taiji Classic that the Wu brothers (actually) wrote? It may well have hidden anti foreigner connections.
Marnix Wells and Doug Wiles and others wrote about how a large section of Tai Ji material was copied from Xinyi Liu writtings.”
I haven’t read Marnix Well’s book Scholar Boxer, but looking at the preview on Amazon I think the connection he was making was between the Wu’s Taijiquan writings and Chang family boxing, not Xinyi Liu He writings? (Interesting point, much later Chen Zhaopi in 1930 co-opts the Xing Yi classics to add historical evidence of Chen Chanxing being a Taijiquan practitioner. See my article:
https://thetaichinotebook.com/2020/08/10/review-chen-style-taijiquan-collected-masterworks-by-mark-chen/ )
ii) “AND, some have pointed out that Wang ZhongYue is a euphemism for Yue Fei, Wang = King, Zhong = Revering. Yue - Yue lineages (his army).
So, Jiang Fa would have been taught by the descendants of Yue's army. Yeu's army having fought against outside invaders of China,
As well as attributing some of the TJ Classics to Zhang SenFeng, who already represented anti-Qing sentiment by the "internal" Taoist vs "external" outsiders.”
Yes, Wile expresses that view as a possibility of using both the names Zhang SanFeng and Wang Zhong Yue to represent anti-foreigner sentiment in the original Wu manuals on page 111 of ‘Lost Classics…’ And by the time the manuals were copied by Li (1880s) it is removed because politically it looks more likely the Ching dynasty is going to survive at that point.
That would make sense if (following the Heretics Hypothesis(
tm) ) that the original purpose of the Wu’s was to create an essentially Chinese martial art practice to bind the Confucian Elite together against all the threats they were facing - Taiping rebellion, Nian rebellion, Foreign powers, etc.
iii) “AND further, how about the Wu's spreading the story that Yang LuChan was teaching in Prince Duan's palace around 1870?
When, at that time, Prince Duan was considered dead (later found to be in hiding in Gansu for 20 years).
Prince Duan was a strong supporter of the Boxer Rebellion and was public enemy #1 in the eyes of the invading foreign troops (The Eight Nation Alliance - Germany, England, etc etc).
Saying Yang LuChan was teaching in the palace of Prince Duan was a strong political statement.
No real proof that Yang actually taught there, other than he taught some members of the Manchu Guard,
No one document or news article of 1870 stated that a renowned martial artist lived with the Prince or taught at his palace. Surely there would have been some mention of it some public document.”
I don’t know about this - the Wu brothers and Yang LuChan were expelled from imperial service in 1861, and this is where we get the first commercial Tai Chi school appearing (got to make a living!).
Prince Duan is a hereditary title, I would assume? I believe this account comes from "Gu Liuxin, The Evolution of the Yang School of Taijiquan" - not sure of the publication date, but it's well into the 20th Century (i.e. way after the period of events being talked about) So I'm not sure I trust it. Is there any evidence for the story?
This account also sounds a lot like the story attached to another hereditary Manchu title: Prince Su and Dong Haichuan of Baguazhang:
“According to tradition, around 1864 Dong arrived in Beijing and was hired as a eunuch at the residence of the Prince Su. (Whose name was Shanqi, a prince of the Aisin-Gioro clan, the ruling clan of the Qing Dynasty), as well as a minister in the late Qing. He was from the Bordered White Banner and the 10th generation Prince Su, the first Qing hereditary prince position.
Later Prince Su gave Dong the job of tax collector. “
Yang LuChan dies in 1872.
“iv) Also, the reputation for Yang Taiji being healing came from the YMCA in China working to stop the practice of foot binding.
They promoted the use of TJQ as a way for women to regain the use of their feet (hence the change in walking method from Chen to Yang).”
Yes, could very well be. Foot binding was a massive problem. However I believe that the YMCA got going in China in the 1890s? That’s 40 years into the life of Taijiquan, so it’s much further down the road. Yang LuChan starts the ball rolling in Beijing in 1851.