Chen Xiaowang
Chinese master of Chen style taijiquan (born 1945), grandson of Chen Fake, founder of the World Chen Xiaowang Taijiquan Association and one of the four Buddha guardians.
Quick Facts
ChinaBiography
Chen Xiaowang is a Chinese master of Chen style taijiquan, a grandson of Chen Fake and a bearer of the 19th generation of the Chen lineage. He was born in 1945 in Chenjiagou, and English Wikipedia gives the date as 20 October.
His teachers were his father Chen Zhaoxu and his uncles Chen Zhaopi and Chen Zhaokui. According to the weekly Nanfang Zhoumo, from 1973 he studied with Chen Zhaokui together with Chen Zhenglei, Wang Xi'an and Zhu Tiancai. The Jiaozuo city office ranks all four among the so-called four Buddha guardians of the Chen style.
From 1980 to 1982 he won a gold medal in taijiquan at the national competition, and in 1985 he won the first international wushu tournament in Xi'an. In 1990 he founded the World Chen Xiaowang Taijiquan Association and began teaching abroad. While teaching in Europe he created a form of 19 positions.
According to China Daily from 2023 he has taught more than 300 000 students in 80 countries, but the figure is the claim of the article. We have not been able to verify on the official portal that he was named a national bearer of intangible heritage in 2009.
Early life
According to his official website, Chen Xiaowang was born in 1945 in Chenjiagou as the son of Chen Zhaoxu and a grandson of Chen Fake. The exact date of 20 October is given only by English Wikipedia. According to an interview published on the website of a British Chen style school, he began training at the age of seven.
Training and teachers
His teachers were his father Chen Zhaoxu and his uncles Chen Zhaopi and Chen Zhaokui. According to the weekly Nanfang Zhoumo from 2013, from 1973 he studied with Chen Zhaokui together with Chen Zhenglei, Wang Xi'an and Zhu Tiancai. The official website states that he holds the ninth duan grade of the Chinese Wushu Association, and we have not found independent confirmation. His official website lists him as the 19th-generation bearer of the Chen family.
Contribution and innovations
According to the official website, he won a gold medal in taijiquan at the national competition in 1980, 1981 and 1982 and the title at the first international wushu tournament in Xi'an in 1985. In 1980, in his own words, he compiled basic exercises at the request of officials, which were published in 1982 in the magazine Wulin. He created the form of 19 positions while teaching in Europe, later also a form of 9 positions, and he prepared the form of 38 positions on request. In 1988 he received an award for contribution to the martial arts, and in 1990 he founded the World Chen Xiaowang Taijiquan Association. The silk-reeling exercises he compiled appeared in 1984 in the book Taijiquan Handed Down Through Generations.
Legends and documented facts
The weekly Nanfang Zhoumo writes that in June 2009 he was selected, together with Chen Zhenglei, as a national bearer of intangible heritage, but the list on the official portal ihchina.cn does not contain his name. According to his own words, the forms of 19 and 38 positions are not abbreviations of the traditional forms but separate teaching forms. We have also not been able to verify the titles of his books on taijiquan in a reliable source.
Legacy
The Jiaozuo municipal culture office ranks him, together with Chen Zhenglei, Wang Xi'an and Zhu Tiancai, among the four Buddha guardians (Si Jingang) of the Chen style. According to China Daily from 2023 he has taught more than 300 000 students in 80 countries, which is a claim of the article without further support. In the same article he says that taijiquan requires practitioners to be upright and peaceful. According to his official website, he left China in 1990 to spread taijiquan abroad.
Associated Martial Arts
Achievements and honours
- National Championships1st place · 1980
- Major tournament1st place · 1985
Quotes
Taijiquan requires its practitioners to be upright and peaceful.