According Hong Junsheng 洪均生 (1907-1996) in the first publication of his book in 1988, page 390, said that Chen Faka was born after Chen Yanxi was 60 years of age, and he was away most the time teaching the son of Yuan Shikai, who later became the first president of the Republic of China (1912-1949).
According Baike:
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%99%88% ... 99/6224706
Chen Yanxi was born in 1848 and passed away in 1929 at the age of 81. This is contradicting what Hong Junshen had said, as Chen Faka was born in 1887 when Chen Yanxi was 60 that makes his year of birth to be 1827 or before.
From one source the big four in Chanjiagou learned from Chen Zhaopi (1893-1972), the nephew of
Chan Fake, who returned home in 1958 and was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution.
What are the exact dates of birth and death of Chan Yanxi?
My postulation is that Chan Yanxi improved what Chan Fake had learned when he was away from home. Maybe this is why Shen Jiazhen’s 8 unique features of Taijiquan (1963) are applicable to the modified version of Hongtong Tongbei Quan. If that is the case, these features are applicable to modify any martial art.
https://rumsoakedfist.org/viewtopic.php ... 61#p465497