Relationship between Tonbiquan and XYLHQ

[Dai Zhi Qiang]

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The Close Relationship Between Tongbiquan (Tongbeiquan) and Xinyi Liuhequan

The Ming-Qing figure Dong Cheng, of Lesser Dong Village in Huaiqing, Henan, was the founding ancestor of Tongbiquan. There are many different forms of Tongbiquan, such as: White Ape Tongbei, found in Beijing and Shanghai; Five Element Tongbei passed down by Qi Xin, who learned from the old Daoist Han during the early 1800s; Heyi [Unified] Tongbei of Liu Yuchun, who learned from 4th Uncle Lu in the 1850s; Hongdong Tongbi; Xu Family White Ape Immortal Tongbei from Jiaozuo; and the now-lost Tongbi consisting of “Six Roads” and “Ten Section Brocade” described by Qing scholar Huang Baijia in his treatise “On Internal Boxing.” These all originated with Dong Cheng, the creator of Tongbiquan (see my article ‘Huaiqing Tongbi – The Source of All Martial Arts’).

Dong Cheng’s ancestry can be traced back to Dong Gu, minister of the Zhao kingdom during the Spring and Autumn period (from Yuncheng in Shanxi). Confucius once praised Dong Gu as ‘one of the great ministers of the time.’ Since Dong Gu’s grandson Dong Gao fled to Huaiqing in Henan, their family propagated on the banks of the Qin River, and the area came to be known as ‘Lesser Dong [Village].’ Dong Yong of the Eastern Han, who was the protagonist of the story ‘Immortal Consort,’ was a descendant of Dong Gu.

In the early Ming, the brother and sister Chang Yuxia and Chang Yuqiu led troops to wipe out Lesser Dong Village. They especially sought to kill all the Dong family members who were learned or had military skills. Half the village was slaughtered, and the rest scattered throughout the country. Many of the elderly, weak, and infirmed Dong family members changed their surnames to Sun or Fu to save their lives. Some of the younger generation became monks and priests in the area (in the Ming and Qing, there were many Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries in Huaiqing, as well as many temples of the Three-in-One movement).

Dong Cheng had been a Daoist priest, and his nephew Dong Bingqian was a Daoist priest at the Taiji Hall of the Three Sages shrine in the Qianzai temple (see my article ‘The Life and Origins of Tongbeiquan Founder Dong Cheng’). Dong Cheng created Tongbiquan (Tongbeiquan) based on his realizations at the Jingjing Temple at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, and then claimed to have learned it from a white ape in the mountains. He first taught King of Mt. Jin, Zhou Fan, and in his middle years taught his nephew Dong Bingqian. In his later years he taught Xu Shoulu of Zezhou in Shanxi.

The arts that these three people learned from Dong Cheng at these different times in his life were not all the same. The Tongbiquan that he taught in his later years to Xu Shoulu was particularly different. A comparison of the manuals from the three different lines of his teaching reveals a process of continued progression and refinement. This has to do with his exchanges with practitioners of the ‘Thirteen Postures.’

Dong Cheng did not create Tongbiquan from nothing. He had first studied Song Taizu Longfist, and later practiced the Bai Family Five Fists (regarding the former, it was claimed to have been created by Song Taizu, but was really developed in the early Ming; as for the latter, Bai Yufeng was a person from Ye in the Ming, and later was mistakenly said to be from the Jin or Yuan period; see my article ‘Creator of Shaolin Five Fists, Bai Yufeng, was from the Ming’). On the basis of the arts that he learned from his teachers of those styles, he created Tongbiquan.

Dong Cheng first taught Jingshan King Zhou Fan, and in his middle years had some exchanges with Zhang Songxi, influencing Zhang Songxi’s boxing style. Particularly, Zhang’s Tongbei Six Roads and Ten Section Brocade. Zhang Songxi’s students did not learn all of his martial arts; they were transmitted down to Huang Baijia, who mentioned the ‘Tongbi Six Roads’ and ‘Ten Section Brocade’ that came from Zhang’s exchanges with Dong. However, Huang Baijia had not learned them, and left no record of them. Yet, Dong was most influenced himself by the ‘Thirteen Postures of Zhang Sanfeng’ (known in the area as ‘Soft 13 Postures’ or ’13 Postures Soft Hands’) practitioner Wang Zongyue.

Wang Zongyue’s influence on Dong Cheng not only led him to have his nephew Dong Bingqian study Wang’s Thirteen Postures; in his later years he also changed the practice method and theory of his Tongbiquan. This can be seen from the boxing manual of Xu Shoulu of Zezhou, who learned from Dong in his later years. Even today, practitioners of Xu family Tongbei have preserved the family saying, ‘Our boxing style is good enough to easily defeat all other styles; only when fighting against practitioners of Thirteen Postures should you be careful, using ‘Long Step Dividing-Heart Palm,’ ‘Middle Fist’ and such techniques to beat them.’ Supposedly this was passed on from the founder of Xu family Tongbiquan, Xu Shoulu.

Therefore, Xu family Tongbiquan and Hongdong Tongbi (which was created by Guo Yongfu, a sixth generation practitioner of Dong Bingqian’s Tongbi) and White Ape Tongbei, as well as Five Element and Heyi Tongbei, are all different (See my articles ‘The Formation of Different Styles of Tongbi’ and ‘The Life and Origins of Tongbeiquan Founder Dong Cheng’).

However, this is not the main point of this writing; rather, this writing concerns the close relationship between Dong Cheng’s Tongbiquan and Xinyi Liuhequan.

In my contacts with practitioners of Xu family White Ape Immortal Tongbiquan, I have discovered that the boxing theories of Dong Cheng in his later years contained much of the same theory as the ‘Xinyi Liuhequan Manual.’ In addition to this, the short verse beginning the Xinyi manual that I received from my teacher Ma Hongxian in Luoyang, ‘The mind is like an ape, the intent is like a horse; the four limbs must move in unison’ contains a reference to the ape.

When Ji Longfeng’s disciple Henan Li (see my article on ‘The Mystery of Ma Xueli’s Lineage’) taught the abbot of Shaolin, in addition to leaving behind the ‘Discussion of Ten Important Points,’ he also taught the ‘Secret 24 Character Formula.’ Within this ’24 Character Formula’ is the sentence, ‘Tongbi is famous for its dodging; Xinyi is good at evasion.’ The ‘Spear Method of Teacher Ji,’ which is contained in the ancient Shaolin manual, is a combination of Ji’s spear techniques and the Tongbeiquan manual.

Also, the Xinyiquan of the Shaolin lay disciple Mr. Jia is in fact Tongbeiquan; it was probably the boxing taught early on by Ji when he was teaching his spear methods to the Shaolin Monastery. It is very different from Xinyi Liuhequan, created by Ji, as well as the Xinyiba taught by his disciple Henan Li to the Shaolin abbot.

Unfortunately, the Shaolin Monastery’s Xinyiba only contains one [of the original] ‘ba’ [strikes]; the other 12 variations were created by the Shaolin monks. Of these twelve variations, the majority are repetitions of this ‘Dizzy Head Strike’ [juetou ba厥头把], which is called ‘Eyebrow Chopping’ in Luoyang Xinyi. There are also several variations of the ‘Spreading Wings Strike’ [liangchi ba亮翅把] which is very similar to Luoyang Xinyi’s ‘White Crane Spreads its Wings.’ And, there are a few moves which are from Dahongquan. Moreover, the single ‘ba’ that remains is missing the contraction and extension of the middle segment. It is possible that over the course of transmission, while the move was preserved, its true essence was lost. See my article, ‘Xinyi Liuhequan and Shaolin Xinyiba.’

Dong Cheng had some revelations in his later years, and for this reason the explanation of the method of ‘opening’ that he taught to the Xu family was different from what he taught to Jingshan King Zhou Fan. In his later years, in addition to improving his Tongbeiquan, he also created ‘Yin-yang Eight Steps Fists.’ The ‘Five Steps Seven Fists’ recorded by his nephew Dong Bingqian in his ‘Wujing xuanji’ could also have been created by Dong Cheng. However, although Dong Cheng had already developed many theories [later used in] Xinyi Liuhequan, his style of boxing was different [from Xinyi Liuhequan]. In ‘Wujing xuanji’ there is mention of such moves as ‘Thunderclap, Double Strike, Bear Comes out of the Cave, Tiger Sits in his Lair’ that are also found in Xinyi Liuhequan, yet the postures that are shown are completely different.

After Dong Cheng passed these theories on to Dong Bingqian, Dong Bingqian also studied the ‘Thirteen Postures of Zhang Sanfeng’ with Wang Zongyue under Dong Cheng’s suggestion. (Note: In the Wang Village ‘Six Harmony Divine Spear’ manual in circulation in the Huaiqing area, there is an introduction written by Wang Zhaoyu, the Six Harmony Spear expert of the Jiaqing era [1796 – 1820] which states, ‘…when old Dong [Bingqian] came north, he possessed two consummate skills: boxing, and spear. For spear, he practiced Six Harmony Divine Spear; for boxing, he practiced the 13 Postures. He hid away to practice the Dao, and transmitted his spear skills to the neighboring Wang Village, and his boxing skills to Chen Village in Wen County. His school of martial arts came originally from Zhang Sanfeng…’

The same statement is made in the ‘Origins Preface’ of the Wang Village Spear Manual written by Wang Anmin in the Qianlong period (1735 – 1796). Chen Wangting later became the disciple of Wang Zongyue’s only student Jiang Fa and continued to develop the ‘Thirteen Postures of Zhang Sanfeng,’ see my article ‘The History of Taijiquan – The Real Story.’ This particular short preface is the strongest piece of evidence that Zhang Sanfeng of the Yuan dynasty created the Thirteen Postures.)

Moreover, it is also entirely possible that Dong Bingqian learned Six Harmony Spear and Staff from the famous teacher Li Kefu of the Ming Jiajing period (1521 – 1567). (Note: Wang Village Spear is Pear Blossom Spear. In the Ming, Li Kefu’s famous ‘Six Harmony Pear Blossom Spear’ was recorded in Cheng Zongyou’s ‘Long Spear Methods,’ written in 1621. Cheng learned these methods from Li. Qi Jiguang, who lived during the same period as Li Kefu, learned some spear techniques at the age of 21 from Tang Jingchuan; it is also possible that he went to his contemporary Li Kefu to seek instruction. In his ‘Jixiao xinshu,’ he writes about Yang family’s Eight Mother Spears, Six Harmony Spear, and 24 Spears. The Six Harmony Spear described in Tang Jingchuan’s ‘Wubian xuan’ is very different from that in Qi’s text.

The Yang family’s Six Harmony Spear was also called Pear Blossom Spear or Pear Blossom Six Harmony Spear. It was not related to the spear method of the Song dynasty general Yang’s sixth son, nor was it related to the ‘Pear Blossom Spear’ of Li Quan’s wife Yang Miaozhen of the Song. That was a combination of weaponry and explosives, with flammable material attached to the spearpoint. Before a battle, it would be lit on fire and could be flung several yards ahead of the spear; ‘when the flames stop burning [the enemy soldier], you stab them with your spear.’)

What is known is that Six Harmony Spear was created in the Ming dynasty, and by the Jiajing and Wanli periods, Li Kefu of Henan was very well-known for these techniques. Wang Zongyue was also from this period. Dong Bingqian of the Qianzai temple in Bo’ai, Henan, also could have learned from Li like Cheng Zongyou. In the Wu style of Taiji, which is related to Qianzai temple, there are the Three Lifesaving Spears, Single Posture Eight Spears, Thirteen Big Spears, 24 Spears and 2 person partner sticky staff and wrapping spear (altogether 13 roads). In Xinyi, there are 13 single posture spear methods and 13 posture 2-person spear, 21 Spears, and 36 Spears (Six Harmony Spear).

The important skills of the 36 Spears includes 8 Mother Spears, 13 Spears and 24 Spears; Xinyi’s 21 Spears is a combination of 8 Mother Spears and 13 Spears, could the 24 Spears be these 21 techniques plus the Three Lifesaving Spears?)

Therefore, Dong Bingqian carried on and became well-versed in Dong Cheng’s Tongbeiquan, 13 Postures of Zhang Sanfeng, and Six Harmony Spear and Staff, as well as the Yin-yang Eight Step Fist and neigong mentioned in ‘Wujing xuanji’ that were created by Dong Cheng in his later years. He also possessed the embryonic techniques and theory of Xinyi Liuhequan, in addition to several movements of the same name [as Xinyi Liuhe movements].

When Ji Longfeng went to study with Dong Bingqian (see my two articles, ‘Reflections on Ji Longfeng’s Creation of his Boxing’ and ‘The Li Ziqi Stele is a Forgery’), it was inevitable that Ji would create Xinyi Liuhequan.

On this theoretical basis, Ji Longfeng (no wonder there is the tale that ‘Ji received a boxing manual from an extraordinary person’; we can see that the statement in the Xinyi Liuhequan manual that ‘my manual is Xinyi; your boxing style is Six Harmony; we can combine them to make Xinyi Liuhequan’ did not come from nowhere. It is only because of the forged ‘Xinyi Liuhequan Preface’ that appeared in the late Qing/early Republican period mentioning the ‘Yuewang Temple’ in the Zhongnan mountains that Xinyi Liuhequan was claimed to have come from Yue Fei. In reality this was a reflection of the anti-Qing sentiment, or possibly an attempt to obscure the origins to others or preserve internal secrets, as when Chang Naizhou claimed to have learned from Yu Rang and did not mention that he studied with the Wang family of Wang Village and the Li family of Tang village, or when Dong Haichuan claimed that the skills he studied in Henan were learned from a stranger in the South.

Liu Dekuan also said that the six roads of ‘Fangtian Halberd’ that he learned in Nanyang actually came from the south. This is a common occurrence; it is easy to confuse the history of boxing styles.) not only went extremely in-depth into his study of boxing, refining his skills; he also produced an original creation, using almost as much theoretical skill as Dong Cheng himself in his creation of the unique style of Xinyi Liuhequan. This style places heavy emphasis on neigong and single movement practice; its only form is the Four Strikes which is simply four movements linked together (the first is Eagle Pounces on Food, which is the same as Horizontal fist; the second is Single Strike, same as upward strike to the neck; the third is anjue, same as Eagle Seizes; the fourth is Eyebrow Chop, same as Chopping hand.)

Note: I am about to start on an article “The Circumstances of the Appearance of the Forged ‘Liuhequan Preface’” which will be finished before the end of the year.

Ji passed these theoretical teachings onto Mr. Zheng of Nanshan (a hermit); Zheng passed them on to Mr. Li of Henan (a hermit). Li, who was skilled at bonesetting as well as boxing, wrote the “Ten Essentials of Xinyiquan Preface” in 1732; afterwards, he also wrote the “Twenty-four Character Secret Formula” that explained Xinyi fighting skills. He also passed his bonesetting skills onto Guo Xiangtai of Pingle in Luoyang (where there is the well-known “Guo’s bonesetting arts”). After Li arrived at the Wangwushan area of Jiyuan, in his later years, he also wrote the “Treatise on the Nine Essentials” of Xinyiquan. This treatise, in addition to being passed along to the Zhaobao taiji practitioners and Chen Changxing of Chen Village, was also preserved by the Yuan family in Jiyuan. In the early Republican era, Zheng Lianpu gave a copy to the martial arts coach at Peking University, Li Jianqiu (Li Cunyi’s grand-disciple); in 1919, Li recorded it in his book “The Art of Xingyiquan.” (See my article, “The Myth of Ma Xueli’s Lineage.”)

The Tongbei “Horse Stance Double Pushing Palm Standing Posture” and the “Lesser Posture Stance” passed on by Dong Cheng in his later years to the Xu family are very similar to the “Squeezing Horse Standing Posture” and the “Fishscale Stepping” of Yinyang Bapanzhang. After the start of the Republican era, the master of Yinyang Bapanzhang, Ren Zhicheng, no longer fearing repercussions from the Qing government, wrote of his lineage that in the Daoguang period (1820-1850), Dong Menglin taught Dong Haichuan and Li Zhenqing, after which Li Zhenqing taught Ren and his brothers.

[Royal Dragon]

Dong Cheng did not create Tongbiquan from nothing. He had first studied Song Taizu Longfist, and later practiced the Bai Family Five Fists (regarding the former, it was claimed to have been created by Song Taizu, but was really developed in the early Ming; as for the latter, Bai Yufeng was a person from Ye in the Ming, and later was mistakenly said to be from the Jin or Yuan period; see my article ‘Creator of Shaolin Five Fists, Bai Yufeng, was from the Ming’). On the basis of the arts that he learned from his teachers of those styles, he created Tongbiquan.

Reply]
Ok, I have some small problems with your theories that pretty much negate them completly.

First, there are many Tai tzu named styles. Most are named in honor of Sung Tai tzu. And although you are correct some of the larger and more well known ones were developed during the Ming dynasty, these arts were built on styles that actually DID descend from Zhao Kuang yin's (Song Tai Tzu's) art.

The style of Song Tai Tzu was developed some time before he ascended the throne in 960 AD, during his military career. He started teaching it to Shaolin temple during that time, before he usurped the throne. The Shaolin records are very clear about what came from him, or later his notes, and what came from his Generals.

As a former Hou Zhuo dynasty general himself Zhao was very skilled In Tong Bei, which was the primary military art going back to the Tang dynasty.

So the thing is, Tong Bei cannot have come from Ming era Tai tzu, because the honorary Ming era Tai Tzu came from styles built on the Actual Tai tzu style, which is built on ancient Tong Bei!!

Maybe the particular Tong Bei lines you are discussing are more modern, but Tong bei itself is a very ancient art. It was a well known military art at least back to the Tang dynasty, and is said to be thousands of years old. It's originator, or originators are lost to time. The art is much older than you think. That changes your whole premiss.

[Dai Zhi Qiang]

This article was not written by me, so I will not comment on it's contents, I posted it just for "another story" in relation to TCMA.

If you want to talk to the author about it, than he is not that hard to contact.

JB.

[Royal Dragon]

Ok, then he is wrong.Either way, you posted it, it's up here so lets debate it.

[kenneth fish]

Interesting but confused history I think. FWIW, when I was learning XYLHQ from Master QIan Zhaohong, I commented on how much of both the flavor movements reminded me of Tongbei. He grinned and threw a flurry of Tongbei movements at me - he had studied both and felt that there was a lot of similarity in the feel of the movements.

As for the Guo family having learned their bone setting art from Li - oddly enough, I happen to have one of the Guo family doctors as one of my current patients. I'll ask him if he ever heard this story (he is the unofficial historian for the family, so if this were the case I am sure he would have some inkling).

Who is the author of this article?

KJF

[josh]

Author is Stephen Yan (Yan Ziyuan). Translated by yours truly.
BTW this article is based on information in the recently (within the last several years) discovered Quanpu of Dong Cheng, which is throwing a wrench into lots of previously established beliefs regarding CMA history. People need to get over their partisan attachments to certain "facts" about Chinese history and the history of CMA. This is the nature of scholarship, as new sources become available, old theories are questioned and re-evaluated. I know it's romantic to think that we practice arts that go back to "ancient times" or whatever but for the most part it's simply not true.
I'm not saying that I agree 100% with the article either, there is a lot of conjecture in there. But Mr. Yan has done his homework and this article is based on recently discovered documents that are shedding some new light on that period of CMA history.

[josh]

Maybe the particular Tong Bei lines you are discussing are more modern, but Tong bei itself is a very ancient art. It was a well known military art at least back to the Tang dynasty, and is said to be thousands of years old. It's originator, or originators are lost to time. The art is much older than you think. That changes your whole premiss.

This is absolutely untrue. This is justa bunch of legends that have never been verified. There are NO sources from Song or Tang that can attest to the fact that Tongbei existed during those times (and please don't bring the legend about it being created in Warring States by Guiguzi or whatever cause that is just silly).

[Dai Zhi Qiang]

Author is Stephen Yan (Yan Ziyuan). Translated by yours truly.
BTW this article is based on information in the recently (within the last several years) discovered Quanpu of Dong Cheng, which is throwing a wrench into lots of previously established beliefs regarding CMA history. People need to get over their partisan attachments to certain "facts" about Chinese history and the history of CMA. This is the nature of scholarship, as new sources become available, old theories are questioned and re-evaluated. I know it's romantic to think that we practice arts that go back to "ancient times" or whatever but for the most part it's simply not true.
I'm not saying that I agree 100% with the article either, there is a lot of conjecture in there. But Mr. Yan has done his homework and this article is based on recently discovered documents that are shedding some new light on that period of CMA history.

Sorry brother I was in a rush, I think I forgot to put your name up there, my bad.

Oh, Dr Yan told me to tell you, that your translation is excellent and considerably since you are a non Chinese and thanks very much for helping him, etc.

Jon.

[josh]

Sorry brother I was in a rush, I think I forgot to put your name up there, my bad.

Oh, Dr Yan told me to tell you, that your translation is excellent and considerably since you are a non Chinese and thanks very much for helping him, etc.

Jon.

My pleasure man, I appreciate the kind words. I'm working on translating another article where he goes more in depth regarding the history of Tongbeiquan. It's really interesting because I actually picked up a copy of this Ming dynasty Tongbei manual that his research is based on, when I was in China last summer. But, I haven't been able to see some of these other texts that he is comparing it with such as the Li Family manual, Wangbao Spear manual, Hongdong Tongbei manual, etc. So it's great to read his articles because he has been able to examine all of these sources which surfaced only fairly recently and in many cases has gathered oral accounts as well from surviving members of these more obscure lineages.
There is a lot of good scholarship being done on the history of Chinese martial arts by Chinese scholars, and virtually none of it has made it into English. Most of the average Western CMA practitioner's understanding of the history of their art still reflects the various myths and tall tales that were passed down with the big boom of martial arts books publishing in the Republican era. So, their understanding of CMA history is in many cases over fifty years behind current Chinese scholarship. The theories of people like Tang Hao and Xu Zhedong who were writing in the 20s and 30s were only rendered into English by people like Henning, Wile, Shahar, and others in the 80s or 90s, and many people still are not aware of or cannot accept their work. So, I hope that more of this modern Chinese scholarship can be made available in English and then we will stop having to hear these same tired old myths over and over

[Chanchu]

These articles are great reading! thank you very much!

[salcanzonieri]

Author is Stephen Yan (Yan Ziyuan). Translated by yours truly.
BTW this article is based on information in the recently (within the last several years) discovered Quanpu of Dong Cheng, which is throwing a wrench into lots of previously established beliefs regarding CMA history. People need to get over their partisan attachments to certain "facts" about Chinese history and the history of CMA. This is the nature of scholarship, as new sources become available, old theories are questioned and re-evaluated. I know it's romantic to think that we practice arts that go back to "ancient times" or whatever but for the most part it's simply not true.
I'm not saying that I agree 100% with the article either, there is a lot of conjecture in there. But Mr. Yan has done his homework and this article is based on recently discovered documents that are shedding some new light on that period of CMA history.

Well, I was just talking to some Chinese martial arts researchers (non-Anglo) a few days ago about this article of Yan's and they said that there is more new material recently found that doesn't support this exactly.

Dong Cheng may have called what he taught Tongbei quan and modern tong bei quan may have developed from his students.
But, there is new information found that shows General Han Tong was stationed in Shandong area and his martial art is generally known as Tong Bi Quan in that area, and that Shandong tong bei / tong bei comes from a different lineage than Dong Cheng and from further back than Dong's 1600s era. The Tong Bi / Bei of Shandong looks nothing like Dong's tong bei quan, it is very mantis and cha quan like in movements, like all shandong province martial arts are like basically. The Tong Bi quan sets that Shaolin practices that are said to be based on General Han Tong's Tong Bi again look nothing like Dong Cheng derived Tong Bei Quan, they also have mantis hand movements and so on.

Also, Yan talks about Ming dynasty Tai Zu, well this is not even at all based on Zhao Kuan Yin's Tai Zu Quan. It is the MING emperor that is being referred to as Tai Zu in that case, and this style called Tai Zu Hong Quan is tiger movements based, it was practiced by the Ming garrisons during the time of the fall of the Ming dynasty. It has nothing at all to do with Song era based Shaolin Tai Zu Chang Quan and Shaolin Lao Hong quan. They have nothing in common at all. So, he is looking at the wrong Tai Zu style. Grand Ancestor of the Ming, not Grand Ancestor of the Song.

[salcanzonieri]

Maybe the particular Tong Bei lines you are discussing are more modern, but Tong bei itself is a very ancient art. It was a well known military art at least back to the Tang dynasty, and is said to be thousands of years old. It's originator, or originators are lost to time. The art is much older than you think. That changes your whole premiss.

This is absolutely untrue. This is justa bunch of legends that have never been verified. There are NO sources from Song or Tang that can attest to the fact that Tongbei existed during those times (and please don't bring the legend about it being created in Warring States by Guiguzi or whatever cause that is just silly).

True, that it wasn't til Dong Cheng passed on his ideas that this newer Tong Bei quan came into being.

But, there are many styles around China that use just Long Fist (Chang Quan) or the term Tong Bi (different character in Chinese than Bei) Quan as their name and they do not trace back to Dong Cheng, they trace back to Tang Dynasty military drills. There are military manuals in existence from pre-Yuan dynasty time periods that show sword and spear drills that are essentially the same and what people call Chi and Shi Family Tong Bei today. Even What is called Fan Zi today, once called Ba Shan Fan, is essentially some kind of ancient "tong bei", though they didn't call it that.
The idea of using the ground to push against so that energy rises up the legs around the waist up the spine and out the hands is very old and many traditions used it, especially any "taoist" sword styles, whip stick style, and other weapons.

Many of Shaolin's nei gong sets (not the Yi Jing Jin) can be done with staff, spear, double swords, and double knives with no change in the movements.
When done this way it becomes readily apparent that they are doing the same sort of "tong bei / tong bi" as everyone else all over China. In Shaolin it is attributed to their close relationship with the Tang military.

So, yeah, there is Dong Cheng derived Tong Bei Quan that developed around the Qianzai Temple area, but there are other lineages and traditions in many other areas that use the same or different name for what they do but around that much different from each other. Maybe because the human body does what the human body can do, and since necessity is the mother of invention, people from all over figured out the same things.

[salcanzonieri]

Also there is a lot of what came first, chicken or egg thing here.

Dong Cheng is 1600s era.

Not all of Shaolin's books were burned in 1925, a good number were saved and many had been copied by people over the centuries and passed down in family lineages all around the Henan area and beyond as people moved their families over time, even to other parts of Asia.
Researchers in China, especially the various authors of the Shaolin Da Quan book sets, have compared the various hand written books and they match up with very little divergence.

Shaolin from before Yuan era had a Rou (soft) nei gong set called Luohan 13 Gong, it is nothing different from the 13 Gong that tai ji does.

So, what if Qianzai temple people, being so close in distance to Shaolin, got their 13 Gong, which Dong Cheng's tong bei is based on, from Shaolin itself?

The movements in the Luohan 13 Gong that Shaolin does, can be found in more primitive nei gong sets like their 6 Harmony Gong (just six simple movements) and their Chan Yuan Gong (another set of simple movements that are identical to what Chen and Zhao Bao TJQ do as training drills).

What came first? The various Shaolin sets of nei gong or the Qianzai temple 13 Gong?

There was plenty of time, many hundreds of years, for these Shaolin nei gong sets to spread to visiting Taoist priests and other people and get spread all over China. Likewise there were many hundreds of years for military arts from the Tang era to spread.
All the Yellow River area there are various styles that arise from Tang era military art, with clear lineages with names of real people teaching the styles way before the 1600s, Dong Cheng's time period. There is the 6 Step Quan, the White Hammer (Bai Pao), the Red Fist (Hong Quan) styles all around the Yellow River that are very ancient lineages with known founders.

[Royal Dragon]

That is a good point about the Ming Tai tzu style, I forgot about that.

So we have all the Shandong Tai tzu long fist styles that came from the Shaolin Monks in the 1700's, and the ones that came from Lost track (both ultimately are built on Sung Tai Tzu's actual style), and then we have the Ming Tai tzu, which is named after the arts of the Ming dynasties founder and is totally unrelated to Song tai tzu or the arts that evolved from his, and there is ALSO that Fujian Tai Tzu Quan, of which I have yet to figure out exactly what it is. There is Also Tai tzu Crane, which is completely unrelated.

So you have to ask "Which" Tai Tzu system is being discussed? Some sort of ming dynasty derived variation that evolved from an art that also evolved from Zhao's style that carries the name in an honorary fashion only, or the much older Song dynasty art he actually did?

Or are we discussing any number of arts that are completely unrelated, like the Ming Tai Tzu?

The same needs to be asked about Tong Bei.