The following article was published in the July, 2006 edition of Inside Kung Fu magazine. It is reprinted here by permission of their editor, Dave Cater.

Hong Junsheng
The Taiji Master as Artist
By Gordon Muir
Edited by Richard Johnson

When people think of artists, they usually think of performing artists or those operating in the traditional fields of music, painting and sculpture. To those in the martial arts, it has long been recognized that an artist need not be defined so narrowly.

Artist is a subjective term which describes a person creative in, innovative in, or adept at, their endeavors.

Wikipedia

Hong Junsheng lived a martial life of artistry that immersed him deeply in Chen taijiquan. His skill was extraordinary and of a depth that few could understand. A true and long time disciple of Chen Fake, Hong Junsheng successfully carried on the mysterious martial art of Chen Style Taijiquan and transmitted it to the next generation of his disciples.

Hong transmitted his art during a life that challenged him on many fronts. He was faced with poor health; injustice, poverty and tragedy but overcame them with wisdom and humor.  His investment in Taijiquan was so great that by the time of his death he had, to a large degree, become Taiji.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of his death and the 100th anniversary of his birth. We celebrate this “old man with magic hand” by sharing his story.

In June of 2004, I went on a three-week trip organized by master Chen Zhonghua, the International Standard-Bearer of Hong Junsheng. We went to Jinan where Hong lived and taught for over 50 years. During that trip, I met Hong’s sons, disciples and grand-disciples. I visited Black Tiger Springs where he taught everyday and visited his tomb. I felt the presence of Hong Junsheng in Jinan and as part of his Taiji family would like to share with you the story of his martial life of artistry.

Born wealthy but becomes destitute

Hong Junsheng was born into a wealthy merchant family in 1906. He was intelligent and studious and at an early age was sent to study at a private school in preparation for a career in the family business. In his early twenty’s, he also took up Taijiquan as a way of improving his frail health.

His first teacher was Liu Musan, a Wu master of proper lineage, who was quite famous in Beijing at the time (1929). After studying with Master Liu for less than a year, it was reported that a great taijiquan master from the Chen village, Chen Fake, had arrived in Beijing to teach. Liu Musan invited him to demonstrate at his school.  After twice seeing Chen Fake in action, Master Liu and all of his students became Chen Fake’s students. As a sign of friendship and respect Hong would often invite Master Chen to stay at his home, as Chen Fake was quite poor at the time.

Hong and his classmates studied daily with Chen Fake who taught and corrected them individually.  Because at this time, Hong’s health was poor, he was not employed, so he would let all of his classmates work with their teacher before himself.  In this way, he benefitted by hearing his teacher’s instructions many times over each day.

Misfortune came more than a decade later. Hong’s family lost their fortune when they were forced to flee Beijing during World War II. The repercussions of this manifested in a way that affected Hong to the end of his life and set him on a course that no one could have guessed.

In the meantime Chen Fake had become famous and sought after, and his fortunes had improved. He was able to invite Hong and his family to live with him, and for several months, the two families shared a house in Beijing. During this period, Hong trained every day with Chen Fake.

After it was apparent that their situation would not change while they were in Beijing and not wanting to take advantage of his Master, Hong eventually decided to travel to Jinan. By the time he left Beijing, Hong had studied intensively with Chen Fake for 15 years.

At this time, Hong and some friends created the Shandong Provincial Association against Japanese and Communists. Historically the Japanese and the communists were viewed as the problems of China at the time. The association was formally registered with the local government.

Years later, when the Communists came to power, the entry was discovered and Hong was brought in for questioning. Although he could have been executed as an anti-revolutionary, the local authority realized that there was no army and that Hong and his friends were just ordinary people. They did have to take some action and Hong was branded as “Historical Anti-Revolutionary” and was listed as “Not-to-be-trusted.’ As a result of this designation he could not gain a job: the possibility of a career in business was lost and Hong became an “untouchable”.

This meant that anyone associating with him was taking a chance on being similarly branded. It also made him a target during the Cultural Revolution and later led to both his family and his children being maneuvered into renouncing him so that they could clear their records and lead normal lives.

During this difficult time, Hong and his children lived in a lean-to near a government building. To support themselves they made matchboxes for a match factory. They were so poor that one of Hong’s students once found him eating chicken feed.

Despite decades of hardship, Hong continued to study, practice and teach Chen taijiquan. Although he was very humble and always told his students that they were all students together, he was probably one of Chen Fake’s best students.

A man sought after

After China opened its doors to foreign visitors, a group of Japanese people began studying regularly with Hong, traveling from Japan to China for the training. As Hong was virtually homeless, the Chinese government arranged a Jinan Hotel for Hong to teach from while the delegation was in Jinan. At one point, a student named Harumi demanded to see Hong at his home rather than the hotel, and the government was embarrassed into providing Hong with an apartment.

Xiao Mingqui is a disciple of Hong’s who is also a master of short stick. He began his martial studies with the Shaolin arts. Before he met Hong, he was in the army stationed in Southern China. One day a man in his company told him that his martial arts were kid stuff and that if he wanted to see the real thing he should go to Jinan and meet an old man there that no one could beat. No one knew what he did, but no one could best him.

On his next leave, Xiao traveled to Jinan on a quest for Hong. He had a 14-day leave and was scheduled to visit his family. After meeting Hong, he wouldn’t leave and studied with Hong the entire time.

Hong advised Xiao that he should not study with him as it might tarnish his military career, and he could be branded as anti-communist. Xiao replied that he would tell people Hong was his uncle and asked if they could train in secret. Many people train for money, glory and fame. Hong seemed to attract people that didn’t care for those things but wanted to embrace the art for its own sake. Xiao currently lives in Shandong province.

A man of superb skills

A man named Jiang Jiajun had previously studied for years with an authentic Chen family master who was a nephew of Chen Fake. When his first teacher died, he did not want to study with Hong because Hong was not well known. Instead, he found another high-ranking teacher with a good name and spent many years with him. That master died in the 80s, but before he did he highly recommended Hong to Jiang. As a result, Jiang traveled to Jinan from Xuzhou to meet with Hong.

When people came to visit Hong, invariably they were there because they had heard of his reputation. Not inclined to talk about his skill, he often greeted such people with the saying “Black horse or white horse? Let’s take it out for a stroll.”  By this he meant, “I know you are here to test me, let’s get on with it.”

The meeting with Jiang occurred in a small room. Hong’s wife was kneeling close to the door of the room. There was a small table between Hong, Jiang and the door. When they touched hands, Jiang was lifted and spun over and around Hong’s wife and out the door. In Jiang’s own words, he said he thought about the incident over the next couple of days and came to the conclusion that in relation to this level of skill his previous masters really did not know taijiquan at all.  Today, Jiang is one of the top Chen masters in China.

While in Jinan, at a banquet honoring Chen Zhonghua’s appointment as the International Standard Bearer for the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method system, I heard another story about Hong’s level of skill. Considering the number of eyewitnesses and hearing stories from various people and sources, it confirms and reaffirms Hong’s character and skill.

A grand-disciple and many national push hands champion from the stable of Hong’s disciples, was present at a victory banquet. Hong’s grand students won a total of 76 trophies in national competition.

One of the champions was proudly speaking about their success and their skills when Hong started to talk about a blind cat putting its paw down. Under the paw, it felt something. It was a dead rat, and the cat was happy it had caught it. You are no better than a blind cat he said to the champion.

The young man replied that Hong should be thankful to them for putting him on the map and should not put them down. Besides said the young man if I was to fight you in a real situation what could an old man like you do to a strong young man like me? If I was to use qin na on you what could you do?

Hong’s answer when challenged was always the same. “Maybe we’d better find out.” He allowed the young man to tie him up anyway he chose. When the young man was finished Hong said, “Not bad, but you forgot to restrain my little finger.” At that, the young man was immediately bounced off a wall across the room.

Another story I heard from several disciples that were present on a separate occasion concerned a disciple called Xu Guicheng being corrected on the transitional posture from Single Whip to Step Back to Double Shake Foot. Xu was with Hong in Jinan Hotel instructing a group of Japanese students. He was assisting Hong and was leading the practice. Each time he performed the posture; Hong would call out “Wrong! Do it again.” In frustration and embarrassment, Xu finally stopped and said, “Shifu, I know its wrong, but I don’t know how to correct myself. Can you show me the correct way?”

Hong moved into the posture and asked Xu to touch him. As Hong moved to finish the posture Xu was shot backwards and flew horizontally more than 30 feet. He flew right in front of all the Japanese students. He admitted to others present that he wet his pants. Xu said to Chen Zhonghua later,  “About Shifu’s skill we do not know how deep the well is, but from this event, we know it is deep indeed.”

A man of innovation

Some people have questioned the changes that Hong made to what Chen Fake taught him despite the fact that all masters, including Chen Fake, change and modify their art. If they didn’t, the art would cease to be alive and evolving. The question is, “Did the changes add to or decrease the value of the art, and do the changes adhere to the principles of the art?”

Hong was very exacting and true to the art he received from Chen Fake.  In 1955, one of Hong's students, He Shugan, went away to school in Beijing. When He arrived in Beijing, he stayed for several weeks with Chen Fake and began studying with him.  One night, he had the opportunity to see Chen Fake demonstrate his form.  He was surprised and delighted that the form was identical to what Hong Junsheng had already taught him.

In 1956, Hong traveled back to Beijing to meet with Chen Fake and have him look at what Hong had been working on in the years since they last met.  

They spent four months in Tao Ran Ting Park in Beijing going through every posture, application and counter of every form. After this training with Chen Fake, Hong modified his form and how he taught it.

During their time together, Hong asked Chen Fake why his form was often performed differently from the way the posture was applied. Chen Fake replied that he didn’t know the reason but that was the way he had been taught. We now know that this is a classic teaching device common in the martial arts called separation of gong (skill) and fa (technique).  It is designed to protect both the teacher and the art from unscrupulous students by teaching techniques in the forms that require the instructor to later teach the skill to decipher the correct applications.

Hong asked for and received approval from Chen Fake to change the form to be performed the same way the postures were applied. His change meant that students no longer had to practice one way during form practice and another during push hands or applications practice. This represents little change in the art itself but a major innovation in how the art is presented to students.
 
He Shugan was present at these training sessions.  We interviewed him in 2004.  He is the only man still alive that has studied with both Chen Fake and Hong Junsheng. When directly asked what the difference was between Chen Fake’s teachings and Hong’s teachings, he replied, “No difference, the same.” (This interview is on tape and available through Master Chen Zhonghua.)

A man of principle

Hong had a list of three “Haves” and one “Do Without “

· When faced with danger, have no fear;

· When faced with difficulty, have no worries or stress;

· When faced with injustice, have no anger;

· At all times live life without guilt.

Hong did not just say these principles he was sometimes forced to live them and always chose to live by them.

At one time in the 1960s the governor of Shandong Province requested Hong perform at an event. All performers had to wear uniforms for this occasion, but Hong refused. He said that he would deviate from his normal clothing only if it would help people or otherwise do some good. In taking this stand, he was putting himself in danger and could have been jailed; yet he chose to base his actions on his belief of what was right and wrong. Unlike other martial artists in China, Hong never wore a taiji uniform in his entire lifetime.

At many times during his career, Hong could have allowed himself to become famous. His reputation in China eventually became such that in Shandong province he had thousands of students and many big-name disciples. Delegations were often sent from Japan and other neighbor nations to train with him. Hong always chose to remain humble and to pursue his art. He felt the trappings of fame; wealth and glory would only distract one from the pursuit of the art of taiji.

In the end, he chose no cause, just his art. He chose something that has no value except in the eyes of other artists.

The meeting of Hong and Chen Zhonghua, my shifu, illustrates many of Hong’s abilities and attributes. This event was witnessed by many of Hong’s disciples and has been retold in my presence.

Superb Skill

Chen Zhonghua moved to Jinan to attend university. He was adept at martial arts but did not have a teacher in Jinan. He heard of an “old man that no one could beat” who practiced at Black Tiger Springs and decided to pay him a visit.

On a day off from studies, he visited the location and found a large crowd surrounding a delegation of Japanese students who had been studying with Hong for several weeks. This was their last day and through an interpreter one of the students, an eighth dan black belt, said to Hong, “We have studied your wonderful art of taijiquan according to your instruction. We have not interrupted you during our studies. But we are curious as to whether it is useful? Could you show us?” Hong’s response, as usual, was “Let’s find out.”

Hong’s typical posture was to stand with his left hand holding his pipe and his right hand in his pocket. He was standing this way when challenged. The Japanese man said, “I am prepared to attack, please prepare yourself.” Hong replied, “Attack as you wish, I am ready.” The attacker sat in a low stance and leaped towards Hong only to suddenly be repelled and thrown to the ground some distance away. No one had seen Hong move and the attacker was heard to mutter, “Didn’t get it.”

He asked Hong to defend exactly the same way, and he would attack the same way. This is not common as responding the same way more than once gives the attacker a considerable edge. Hong, however, said he would comply. The attacker lunged again and was again bounced back with no apparent movement from Hong. He tried again with the same results and finally said, “Can’t get it, don’t see it.” He bowed to Hong conceding that he had been bested.

Zhonghua watched all this from the edges of the crowd with very wide eyes. When the crowd broke up he followed Hong and caught up with him on a small bridge that crosses the waterway created by the Black Tiger Springs, where in a very non-traditional way, he tapped him on the shoulder and said to Hong, “I watched you just now and would like to be your student. May I study with you?” Hong replied that Zhonghua must have him confused with someone else. “I am just an old man walking home.” he said. Zhonghua said, “No, I know it was you. I followed you just now and saw what you did earlier. May I be your student?” Traditionally, this was the wrong way to approach a teacher. Hong did not say yes, but he did not say no. Zhonghua began to show up at Hong’s classes and studied him for more than seven years before leaving China for Canada.

This story illustrates Hong’s great skill, his compassion and reluctance to hurt anyone, even an attacker. It shows his humility about his skill and, as Zhonghua was to learn, his devotion to the principles of taiji over aggrandizement, wealth or fame.

Hong Junsheng died in 1996 at the age of 90.

Hong’s legacy

Hong leaves behind him a Standard Bearer, Li Enjiu, an International Standard Bearer, Chen Zhonghua, sons, grandsons, and hundreds of disciples and grand-disciples.

Through his art, his humour (people who visited him said spending time with Hong was sufficient even if you didn’t learn any taiji because you always felt so good in his presence) and his abilities, Hong inspired thousands of people to pursue the great and challenging art of Chen taijiquan.

Part of Hong’s legacy is the book he wrote based on what Chen Fake had taught him and on what his own further research revealed to him. In his book Hong detailed both Chen forms, push hands, applications and the principles behind them. Chen Zhonghua is currently translating this book into English for the first time. The publication of this book “Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method” will inevitably change the way taiji is learned and practiced and Chen Fake’s legacy will be continued.

Gord Muir and Richard Johnson are both disciples of Chen Zhonghua. Gordon lives and teaches Taijiquan in Victoria, BC.
Richard lives and teaches Taijiquan in Bentonville.