Nationality Chinese Died 1933 | Website Sun-style website | |
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Born Sun Fuquan (孫福全)
1860
Hebei, China ( 1860 ) Style Sun-style taijiquan,
Baguazhang,
Xingyiquan Rank Founder of Sun-style taijiquan
Founder of Sun style Baguazhang Notable students Sun Xingyi (孫星一),
Sun Jianyun (孫劍雲),
Sun Cunzhou (孫存周) Books Classical Baguazhang: Bagua Quan Xue and Bagua Jian Xue Teachers Cheng Tinghua, Hao Weizhen Similar Guo Yunshen, Yang Luchan, Cheng Tinghua, Dong Haichuan, Li Shuwen | ||
Sun Lu-t'ang or Sun Lutang (1860-1933) was a renowned master of Chinese neijia (internal) martial arts and was the progenitor of the syncretic art of Sun-style t'ai chi ch'uan. He was also considered an accomplished Neo-Confucian and Taoist scholar (especially in the I Ching), and was a distinguished contributor to the theory of internal martial arts through his many published works.
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Biography
He was born in Hebei and was named Sun Fuquan (孫福全) by his parents. Years later, his Baguazhang teacher Cheng Tinghua (程延華) gave him the name Sun Lutang. (It was common in old China for people to have multiple names). He continued to use his original name in some areas, including the publishing of his books.
He was also well-versed in two other internal martial arts: xingyiquan (hsing-i ch'uan) and baguazhang (pa-kua chang) before he came to study t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan). His expertise in these two martial arts were so high that many regarded him as without equal. Sun learned Wu (Hao)-style t'ai chi ch'uan from Hao Wei-chen. Sun started studying with Hao relatively late in his life, but his accomplishments in the other two internal arts led him to develop his t'ai chi abilities to a high standard more quickly than is usual.
He subsequently was invited by Yang Shao-hou, Yang Chengfu and Wu Chien-ch'üan to join them on the faculty of the Beijing Physical Education Research Institute where they taught t'ai chi to the public after 1914. Sun taught there until 1928, a seminal period in the development of modern Yang, Wu and Sun-style t'ai chi ch'uan.
Family
In 1891 he married Zhang Zhouxian, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.
Teachers
T'ai chi ch'uan lineage tree with Sun-style focus
Note:
Publications
In later life, he published five martial arts texts which were also later translated to English recently:
He also wrote a study of Bagua spear, though this was never published.