13/09/2026
Translated from Chinese into English from another story about Zhang Qinlin.
Photograph: A young Zhang Qinlin (1887–1969)
Zhang Qinlin was a native of Dash*tou Village, Xingtai County, Hebei Province. Gifted and diligent from childhood, he began training in martial arts at an early age. He first studied under a Hongquan master in his hometown, then traveled to Wudang Mountains and Wutai Mountains to seek instruction from other masters.
In 1906, he left his hometown for Beijing to make a living. He worked in the household of Yang Jianhou and became a formal disciple of Yang Chengfu, learning Yang-style Taijiquan. To support himself, he passed a martial arts trial on a friend’s recommendation and joined Beijing’s Huiyu Security Bureau (Huiyu Biaoju). There, following the bureau’s traditions, he also studied under Song Mailong known as "Divine Fist" mastering Sanhuang Paohui (Three Sovereigns Cannon Strikes). Zhang worked as a bodyguard and es**rt for over a decade until 1921, when the rise of modern transportation and communication led to the closure of security bureaus across Beijing, bringing his career as a professional es**rt to an end.
After leaving the security bureau, Zhang Qinlin began teaching Taijiquan in Beijing under Yang Chengfu. During this period, he befriended Wan Laisheng, a renowned master and inheritor of the Ziranmen (Natural Style) tradition. He also met Zuo Lai Feng, a master of the Jindan (Golden Elixir) school of Daoism, from whom he learned breath cultivation and internal alignment practices. Integrating these Daoist neigong (internal skill) principles with his Taijiquan, Zhang’s skill deepened dramatically, and he developed his own distinct approach, one that he described as: "Let practitioners draw upon the innate breath of the Pre-Heaven; thereby attaining the wondrous effect of extending years and enriching life."
Zhang Qinlin’s Taijiquan differs significantly from the Yang Chengfu lineage he inherited. He wove together his Yang-style foundation with the internal cultivation practices he learned from Zuo Lai Feng, merging them into a unified whole. His core teaching held that through aligning with Pre-Heaven breathing, one could achieve tangible health and longevity benefits forming the essence of his unique style.
In the early years following the 1949 Liberation, senior leaders Zhou Enlai and He Long once witnessed Zhang Qinlin give a Taijiquan demonstration. In 1960, he returned to Haozhuang Village in Ningjin County with his daughter and son-in-law. Throughout his life, Zhang valued his art far more than material wealth; he treated his boxing as a precious treasure and remained generous and unconcerned with profit. When he passed away in 1969, he left behind no savings and few possessions, only his distinctive Taijiquan form, his teaching methods, and the cultivation principles he had spent a lifetime refining.
The Challenge at the Leitai
At one point, a Japanese fighter named Ida Ichiro issued a public challenge on the lei tai (fighting platform). Zhang’s students including his most accomplished disciples Zhang Shengjin, Liu Xijiu, and Wang Shanzhi pressed forward, eager to defend their master, nearly pushing one another aside as they climbed toward the platform. Zhang stopped them. With the lightness of an onion plucked from the earth, he leaped onto the platform in a single bound. He placed his open palm gently against the surface, and Ida Ichiro was instantly knocked off his feet and collapsed to the platform. Two samurai rushed up to assist, followed by five more. Zhang Qinlin moved among them, scattering every fighter and dropping them all to the ground.
Immediately, the platform was ringed by military police. Zhang and his disciples formed a defensive circle, prepared for a fierce battle. Just then, a commotion broke out in the crowd; shots were fired into the air, and Chinese soldiers converged on the scene. A prominent figure stepped forward from the assembly and approached the platform’s edge, persuading the crowd that any further conflict with the Japanese would lead to grave consequences and bloodshed.
Though Zhang Qinlin’s stand had stirred the nation’s spirit and awakened national pride, he faced severe punishment from the Shanxi provincial government. He was summoned to appear before authorities and ordered to kneel and confess. Some officials, notably Tu Jiufeng, a powerful and well-connected figure nominally under Yan Xishan, even called for his imprisonment.
