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In China, the martial arts are dichotomized into two major groups: Wudang and Shaolin. Wudangquan (or Wudang fist/Wudang boxing) includes only the arts applied with internal power; this typically encompasses Tai chi chuan, Xing Yi chuan and Bagua zhang, but must also include Baji chuan and the legendary Wudang Sword. Although it simply distinguishes the skills, theories and applications of the "internal arts" from those of the Shaolin styles, or external arts (hard arts), the name Wudang falsely leads people to believe these arts originated at the so-called Wudang Mountain. The name Wudang comes from a popular Chinese legend which entertains the genesis of Tai chi chuan and Wudang Sword by an immortal, semi-mystic Taoist hermit named Zhang Sanfeng who lived in the monasteries of Wudang Mountain.

Zhang San Feng

Zhang San Feng was a semi-mythical Chinese Taoist priest who is believed by some to have achieved immortality, said variously to date from either the late Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty or Ming Dynasty. His name is said to have been Zhang Junbao before he became a Taoist.

Zhang was indifferent to fame and wealth. After declining official position and dispatching his property to his clan, he traveled around China to live the life of an ascetic. Zhang spent several years at Hua Mountain before settling in Wu Tang Mountain.

A legendary culture hero, Zhang San Feng is credited by modern practitioners as having originated the concepts of neijia ; soft, internal martial arts, specifically T'ai Chi Chuan, as a result of a Neo-Confucian syncretism of Chan Buddhist Shaolin martial arts with his mastery of Taoist Tao Yin (neigong) principles. It is said that on one occasion Zhang San Feng observed a bird attacking a snake on Wudang Mountain and was greatly inspired by the snake's defensive tactics. It remained still and alert in face of the birds onslaught until it made a lunge and fatally bit it's attacker. This battle inspired him to create a 13 movement Tai Chi Chuan set. He is also associated in legend with the Taoist monasteries at Wudang Mountains in Hubei province.

Huang Zongxi's Epitaph for Wang Zhengnan (1669) gives him credit for the development of a Taoist "internal martial arts" style, as opposed to the "external" style of the Buddhist martial arts tradition of Shaolin. 19th century stories give him credit for Tai Chi Chuan.

Zhang San Feng is also said to have been versed in Shaolin Gung Fu, an expert in the White Crane and Snake styles of Chinese martial arts, as well as in the use of the Chinese straight sword or jian. According to relatively late (19th century) documents preserved within the Yang and Wu family's archives, the name of Zhang San Feng's master was Xu Xuanping, said to be a Tang dynasty hermit poet and Taoist Tao Yin expert.

The Tai Chi Chuan families who ascribe the foundation of their art to Zhang traditionally celebrate his birthdate as the 9th day of the 3rd Chinese lunar month.

References

_{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudangquan}

_{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_San_Feng}

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