Chua Giok Beng

Quick Facts

Date of Birth1853

Date of Death1910

Country of OriginChina

Biography

Chua Giok Beng (蔡玉明, in pinyin Cai Yuming) was a southern Chinese martial arts master from Fujian, whom sources see as the creator of the Wuzuquan style (Five Ancestors Fist). A 2009 study by Weng Xinhui in the journal Tiyu xuekan states that he lived in 1853–1910, but gives no source for these dates. According to the family genealogy, Cai Yuming was his courtesy name.

His birthplace differs among sources. The study gives the village of Dawutang, the book Ngo Cho Kun Inner Gate by Mark V. Wiley the village of Wuanbangwei in Jinjiang District. According to the study, from childhood he studied for about twenty years away from home with masters known only by nicknames, Fengyang Po in Anhui and Heyang in Shandong, and returned at about 29. He mastered the techniques of white crane, Taizu and luohan steps, that is, elements which Wuzuquan later combined.

The study states that he created the style in the middle of the 19th century and that he and his pupils first called it Taizu quan. Zhou Mengyuan in the foreword to the book by Wiley writes that he made a coherent system out of a fragmented art. He also reformed the village lion dance in Dawutang. His main pupil was Weng Chaoyan (1868–1957). Wuzuquan has been listed in China's national list of intangible cultural heritage since 2008.

Early life

A 2009 study by Weng Xinhui in the journal Tiyu xuekan states that he lived in 1853–1910 and came from southern Fujian, but supports the dates with nothing. According to the genealogy of the Cai family, which the study cites, he was born in the village of Dawutang. The name Cai Yuming was his courtesy name, his personal name was Yihe and his official name Qian. Mark V. Wiley in the book Ngo Cho Kun Inner Gate, citing the foreword by Zhou Mengyuan, gives as his birthplace the village of Wuanbangwei in Jinjiang District. We have not resolved the dispute over his birthplace.

Training and teachers

According to the study, from childhood he studied for about twenty years away from home, under a teacher called Fengyang Po in Anhui and the master Heyang in Shandong, and returned home at about 29. The names of the teachers are nicknames, and the study relies on oral tradition and family records. He mastered the techniques of white crane, the Qitian fingers, Taizu kicks and luohan steps. Wiley states that he also studied the monkey style, Tai Cho Kun and Xuan Nu Quan. According to the genealogy he passed the county clerical examination in the Guangxu era and placed thirteenth at the county school in Jinjiang. An essay by Tan Ka Hong from 1956, on the other hand, speaks of a military examination.

Contribution and innovations

Weng Xinhui states that Cai Yuming created the southern Shaolin Wuzuquan in the middle of the 19th century and that he and his pupils at first called the style Taizu quan. According to the author the style then had no theory and system of its own. Zhou Mengyuan in the foreword to the book by Wiley writes that he turned a fragmented art into a systematic and complete system of the Five Ancestors Fist. He also reformed the village lion dance in the village of Dawutang and, according to oral tradition recorded in 1983, is regarded as the fourth patriarch of this formation.

Legends and documented facts

A legend ascribes the origin of Wuzuquan to the monk Bai Yufeng around 1300. The English Wikipedia adopts it as one of the interpretations, but Zhou Mengyuan in the foreword to the book by Wiley gives a different origin of the name. Wikipedia connects Chua Giok Beng with the Ho Yang Pai branch and with a friendship with Li Junren. The study by Weng Xinhui, however, states that Heyang was the name of his teacher and does not mention Li Junren at all. We therefore do not regard these claims as documented.

Legacy

According to the study his main pupil was Weng Chaoyan (1868–1957), others Wei Yinnan (1864–1917), Lin Jiuru (1862–1927) and Yang Jieyu (1877–1936). Wiley states that under his guidance Yu Chiok Sam wrote the book Chinese Gentle Art Complete, published in 1917. The daily The Paper in 2025 called him a grandmaster of Wuzuquan and stated that his pupil Shen Yangde founded a school in Haicang. Wuzuquan was in 2008 entered in the second batch of the Chinese national list of intangible cultural heritage, but the entry does not name the founder.

Associated Martial Arts

Quotes