People of shuai jiao

The biographies of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Chinese wrestlers often rest on students' memoirs, family traditions and newspaper articles. Dates and titles change from one source to another, and some feats have turned into legend. This page reports only what we found documented and points out where sources disagree.

Baoding

Ping Jingyi (平敬一, Píng Jìngyī)

A Hui wrestler from Baoding who lived from 1830 to 1908 according to the Baoding Local Chronicles Office ¹ (another source gives only his year of birth ²). He also studied Shaolin arts with Meng Liu of Nangong, ran an escort agency and a baozi (steamed bun) shop, and is credited with shaping Baoding's "fast" style. Among his students the chronicles list Zhang Fengyan, Bai Junfeng and Ma Liang ¹. English Wikipedia credits him with a role in a Hui-Manchu feud, but without a source; we do not repeat it ³.

Zhang Fengyan (张凤岩, Zhāng Fèngyán)

A Hui master from Baoding; we found no reliable birth and death dates in the sources consulted. The encyclopedia entry that describes him gives two versions of his training: a student of Ping Jingyi, or the heir of a family wrestling tradition with no single teacher ⁴. He ran a pickle and sauce shop and used its heavy work as wrestling conditioning ⁴. He is remembered above all as a teacher: his students included the four Chang brothers, Yan Yishan and Ma Wenkui ^{4 2}. Chang Dongsheng married his daughter ^{5 6}.

Ma Liang (马良, Mǎ Liáng)

A Hui general, he was among the first to bring the martial arts, wrestling included, into military and school curricula. His birth date is uncertain: sources give 1864, 1875 or 1878 ⁷. The Baoding chronicles list him among Ping Jingyi's students ¹. His "New Wushu" included wrestling, under the name 率角 ⁸, and from 1917 it was adopted in military and police academies ⁷. In 1928 he was one of the chief judges of the first national Guoshu examination ⁹. He remains a controversial figure: in 1938 he agreed to govern Shandong for the pro-Japanese collaborationist regime; after the war he was arrested on collaboration charges and in 1947 he died, ill, in prison while awaiting trial ^{7 10}.

Beijing and Tianqiao

Wan Yongshun (宛永顺, Wǎn Yǒngshùn), "Wan Baye" (宛八爷)

A first-grade puhu of the Shanpu Ying, serving as a guard at the Temple of Heaven. After the fall of the Qing he opened a wrestling school at Hongmiao, in today's Gouweiba hutong, and was the first to bring palace wrestling to ordinary people. Sources list Wei Dehai, Shen Youshan, Zhang Wenshan and Bao Shanlin among his students ¹¹. We found no dates for him.

Shen Youshan (沈友三, Shěn Yǒusān), known as Shen San (沈三)

Born in Beijing in 1893 according to the Beijing Daily ¹², in 1894 according to the intangible heritage record ¹³; he died in Kaifeng in 1946. He was a Hui from the Niujie district; his father Shen Fang (1859-1936) had been a second-grade puhu of the Shanpu Ying ^{13 14}. The list of his teachers also varies by source ^{13 12}. In 1923 he and Yang Shuang'en opened the first wrestling ring in Tianqiao ¹², and he is counted among the "eight eccentrics of Tianqiao" ¹³. He won the 1932 Beiping championship and, in October 1933, the national title in Nanjing ^{14 13}. Right afterwards he taught the Hui community of Kaifeng, for about three months according to one source and six according to another; he returned in 1943 to settle there ^{12 14}. His son Shen Shaosan carried on the family school in Henan ¹³. His often-told victory over a "Russian strongman" is uncertain: the versions disagree on name and date, and the Beijing Daily itself treats it as unverified ^{12 14}.

Bao Shanlin (宝善林, Bǎo Shànlín), known as Bao San (宝三)

A Manchu wrestler from Beijing (1900-1965) ^{11 15 16}. He learned wrestling from Wan Yongshun and zhongfan (中幡), the giant flag-pole juggling art, from Wang Xiaobian; he combined the two in his Tianqiao ring, the most famous in the city ^{17 18}. It is unclear whether he was himself a puhu: one source reports both versions, that his father was one or that he was ¹⁹. In 1935 he lost the National Games final to Bu Enfu ²⁰. After 1949 he toured Japan; his students included Ma Guibao and Fu Shunlu ¹¹.

Fu Shunlu (付顺禄, Fù Shùnlù)

From Beijing (1928-1997), the favourite among Bao San's students; he won the title at the first two National Games of the People's Republic. During the Cultural Revolution, when Tianqiao wrestling was "sealed away", he kept training and passed the art on to his sons ¹¹. His son Fu Wengang is the officially recognised heritage bearer for Tianqiao wrestling and zhongfan ^{11 18}. Other sources write his name 傅顺禄 ¹⁵.

Li Baoru (李宝如, Lǐ Bǎorú)

Born in 1934 ²¹, he learned at Tianqiao from Bao Shanlin and Man Baozhen. He joined the Beijing team in 1958, became a Master of Sport in 1960 and from 1963 coached wrestling, later sanda; his books include the Jingjiao shihua (京跤史话) ²². He is also known for a disputed thesis: that modern shuai jiao derives directly from Mongolian wrestling ²¹.

Baoding, Nanjing and Taiwan

Chang Dongsheng (常东升, Cháng Dōngshēng; traditional characters 常東昇)

The best-known figure outside China. A Hui wrestler from Baoding, born in 1908 according to English Wikipedia ⁶, in 1910 according to HK01 ¹⁰, in 1911 according to Chinese Wikipedia ⁵; he died in Taiwan in 1986. A student of Zhang Fengyan, he was nicknamed "the butterfly" (花蝴蝶) for the grace of his movement ^{5 10}.

Sources agree that in 1933, in Nanjing, he won a national title, but not on which one: the national Guoshu examination ⁵, the 5th National Games ¹⁰ or a Guoshu tournament in the heavyweight division ⁶. According to the Beijing Daily, at the 1933 Games he shared first place with Shen San and Ma Wenkui ¹². He taught at the Central Guoshu Institute and won again at the 1948 National Games in Shanghai, although the division is given differently from source to source ^{10 5}. In Taiwan he taught for more than thirty years at the Central Police College, helped found the wrestling association of the Republic of China, and in 1975 gave demonstrations in Morocco ^{5 10}. His reputation as "never defeated" is a myth that practitioners themselves now question ²³. His grandson Chang Dawei (常达伟) teaches in Taiwan and is honorary president of the European Shuai Jiao Union ^{5 24}.

Tianjin

Bu Enfu (卜恩富, Bǔ Ēnfù), known as Bu Liu (卜六)

Tianjin, 1911-1986 ^{20 16}. In 1930 he studied in Beijing with the former puhu Cui Yongfu, known as "Xiaogui Cui" ²⁰. While working in the fire brigade of the Italian concession he also learned boxing ^{20 16}. His best-known success is the final of the October 1935 National Games in Shanghai, won against Bao Shanlin; sources disagree, however, on the team he represented, Tianjin ²⁰ or Hebei ¹⁶. He later studied yiquan with Wang Xiangzhai and, after 1949, coached wrestlers and boxers in the north-east and in the army ¹⁶.

Zhang Hongyu (张鸿玉, Zhāng Hóngyù)

Born in 1912 in Qingxian (Hebei) and raised in Tianjin ²⁵, he was the leading figure of the "four Zhangs" (四大张) of Tianjin wrestling, with Zhang Liansheng, Zhang Kuiyuan and Zhang Henian ²⁶. Here too details vary: his wrestling teacher is called Wang Kunlun ²⁵ or Wang Kunshan ²⁶. The same goes for the Japanese judoka he is said to have beaten: 牛岛辰熊 according to one source ²⁶, 牛島勝雄, 8th dan, according to another ²⁵; neither cites contemporary records. His coaching work, on the other hand, is documented: he led the Tianjin team that won the 1956 national championship and trained wrestlers from many provinces, including Sengge from Inner Mongolia and Cui Fuhai from Shanxi ^{25 26}.

Abroad

Yuan Zumou (袁祖谋, Yuán Zǔmóu)

Born on 10 December 1940 in Baoying (Jiangsu). He wrestled for the Shanghai team, earning the Master of Sport title in Greco-Roman wrestling and a national title in freestyle, and later coached. In 1985 he moved to France, where in 1992 he founded the Paris Mayor's Cup of shuai jiao. In 2013 he received the French gold medal for sport ²⁷. Chinese Wikipedia names him as the founder of the French line of shuai jiao in Europe ²⁸.