Historical Philology Perspective Of Zhang Sanfeng And Tai Chi

Zhang Sanfeng is a legendary god-like figure in the history of Chinese Taoism. There are a lot of content concerning Zhang Sanfeng in historical records, orography, local chronicles and notes of the Ming and Qing dynasties. On the study of Zhang Sanfeng, previous scholars started from the Taoist Culture to study Taoist thought, while the author researched Zhang Sanfeng and Tai Chi Chuan from the perspective of historical philology.This article is divided into four chapters:In the first chapter, based on the literature of Ming Dynasty, the generating process of Zhang Sanfeng in the literature of the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty emperors'attention and publicity of him are specifically narrated.In the second chapter, based on the literature of Qing Dynasty, the images of Zhang San Feng in the eyes of Qing people are displayed,compared with the records of the Ming Dynasty literature.The third chapter summarizes the records of the hometown of Zhang Sanfeng and the records of Zhang Sanfeng's relics in order to research on the generating process of the folklores of Zhang Sanfeng in Wudang Mountains.In the fourth chapter, mainly through the review of the development and evolution of the Taijiquan, the folklore that Zhang Sanfeng initiated Tai Chi Chuan was negated, and further discovered the generating process of this folklore.