In the fifth year of Yongle (1407), Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty sent Hu Hui to go out to look for the immortal "Zhang Sulu" with the seals and incense coins given by the imperial court.
An even more amazing story is that Zhang Sanfeng practiced in Jintaiguan, Baoji in his later years, and left a few prophecies, saying that he was about to die. Not long after, people in the county saw that he had passed away and buried him in a coffin. A few days later, they found that Zhang Sanfeng had "resurrected" and seemed to be fine. Later, Zhang Sanfeng traveled to Sichuan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places, "the traces became more and more magical".
Various official histories, unofficial histories, notes, local chronicles, anthologies, and legends since the Ming Dynasty all contain Zhang Sanfeng's whereabouts.
According to the literature, the historical background of Zhang Sanfeng's story extends from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, a time span of more than 300 years.
It can be seen that this is a typical "arrow-stack-like figure".
The so-called "arrow-stack-like characters" are Hu Shi's term, which refers to historical or legendary figures in ancient China. They have been continuously adapted through the ages. The stories continue to expand like a snowball, and many deeds are attributed to them.
Putting aside the elements of gods and ghosts, according to the records in the existing literature, Zhang Sanfeng can be divided into three versions of the image in different eras:
One is the late Northern Song Dynasty; the second is the Song and Yuan Dynasties; the third is the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.
There are many martial arts schools in China, "Wudang is respected in the south, and Shaolin is respected in the north." Compared with Shaolin Kung Fu, which is famous for its boxing and bravery, Wudang Neijiaquan pays more attention to static braking and the cultivation of internal strength. According to Huang Zongxi, this kind of boxing "is based on Zhang Sanfeng (Feng) of the Song Dynasty".
In "Wang Zhengnan's Epitaph", Huang Zongxi mentioned that Zhang Sanfeng was an alchemy Taoist priest in Wudang Mountain during the Northern Song Dynasty. He was summoned by Song Huizong, but was unable to enter the court due to obstacles.
It is said that Zhang Sanfeng was proficient in Shaolin martial arts in his early years, absorbed it and studied new boxing techniques. Later, when Zhang Sanfeng was traveling, he dreamed that the Taoist god Zhenwu taught him a set of boxing techniques. The next morning, a group of robbers surrounded Zhang Sanfeng in an attempt to rob him. Zhang Sanfeng fought with them using the boxing skills he learned in his dream. As a result, he drove away the group of robbers with one against a hundred.
There is also a saying that Zhang Sanfeng was inspired to realize the internal boxing by watching flying birds and snakes fighting while practicing in the mountains.
After that, Zhang Sanfeng combined Taoist theory with martial arts during his long career as a Taoist and created Neijiaquan. A hundred years later, Neijiaquan spread from Wudang to various places.
However, there are two doubts about Huang Zongxi's statement: First, there is no exact document about Zhang Sanfeng in the Song Dynasty, and there is no record of Song Huizong summoning Zhang Sanfeng; second, if Zhang Sanfeng lived in the late Northern Song Dynasty, it would be impossible for him to leave his footprints in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty two to three hundred years later.
Scholar Xu Zhaoren believes that the "Zhang Sanfeng" who was active in the late Northern Song Dynasty and the "Zhang Sanfeng" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties in Huang Zongxi's works are two different people. It was later generations who combined these two images and believed that Zhang Sanfeng was both a martial arts master and a generation of inner alchemy master.
Therefore, the statement that Neijiaquan was "founded by Zhang Sanfeng of the Song Dynasty" may be just a story passed down by martial artists orally and lacks support.
However, as a martial arts master of a generation, "Zhang Sanfeng" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of later generations. In the novel "Eternal Dragon Sword", the author Jin Yong created an image of Zhang Sanfeng, the leader of the Wudang Sect, based on the legend of Zhang Sanfeng's creation of Wudang Neijiaquan, but changed the period when he was active from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty.
There are many martial arts schools in China, "Wudang is respected in the south, and Shaolin is respected in the north." Compared with Shaolin Kung Fu, which is famous for its boxing and bravery, Wudang Neijiaquan pays more attention to static braking and the cultivation of internal strength. According to Huang Zongxi, this kind of boxing "is based on Zhang Sanfeng (Feng) of the Song Dynasty".
In "Wang Zhengnan's Epitaph", Huang Zongxi mentioned that Zhang Sanfeng was an alchemy Taoist priest in Wudang Mountain during the Northern Song Dynasty. He was summoned by Song Huizong, but was unable to enter the court due to obstacles.
It is said that Zhang Sanfeng was proficient in Shaolin martial arts in his early years, absorbed it and studied new boxing techniques. Later, when Zhang Sanfeng was traveling, he dreamed that the Taoist god Zhenwu taught him a set of boxing techniques. The next morning, a group of robbers surrounded Zhang Sanfeng in an attempt to rob him. Zhang Sanfeng fought with them using the boxing skills he learned in his dream. As a result, he drove away the group of robbers with one against a hundred.
There is also a saying that Zhang Sanfeng was inspired to realize the internal boxing by watching flying birds and snakes fighting while practicing in the mountains.
After that, Zhang Sanfeng combined Taoist theory with martial arts during his long career as a Taoist and created Neijiaquan. A hundred years later, Neijiaquan spread from Wudang to various places.
However, there are two doubts about Huang Zongxi's statement: First, there is no exact document about Zhang Sanfeng in the Song Dynasty, and there is no record of Song Huizong summoning Zhang Sanfeng; second, if Zhang Sanfeng lived in the late Northern Song Dynasty, it would be impossible for him to leave his footprints in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty two to three hundred years later.
Scholar Xu Zhaoren believes that the "Zhang Sanfeng" who was active in the late Northern Song Dynasty and the "Zhang Sanfeng" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties in Huang Zongxi's works are two different people. It was later generations who combined these two images and believed that Zhang Sanfeng was both a martial arts master and a generation of inner alchemy master.
Therefore, the statement that Neijiaquan was "founded by Zhang Sanfeng of the Song Dynasty" may be just a story passed down by martial artists orally and lacks support.
However, as a martial arts master of a generation, "Zhang Sanfeng" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of later generations. In the novel "Eternal Dragon Sword", the author Jin Yong created an image of Zhang Sanfeng, the leader of the Wudang Sect, based on the legend of Zhang Sanfeng's creation of Wudang Neijiaquan, but changed the period when he was active from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty.
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