Jiang Hao-Quan Chinese Martial Arts Institute
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Zhang Zhao-Dong
Chang Chao Tung (Zhang Zhao-Dong 1859 - 1940)
(The source of this biographical information is the Pa Kua Chang Journal Vol. 3, No. 6 Sept/Oct 1993)
Chang Chao-Tung (Zhang Zhao-Dong also known as Chang Chan-K'uei) was born in Hebei Province, He Chien County, Ho Hung Yan Village (some sources say the name of his village was Chung Yuen). The youngest of three children, he was born in 1859. His father was a poor farmer and his family was often bullied by those in authority. Later in life, when Chang became skilled in martial arts, he was very harsh on bullies because of what had happened to his family when he was young. As one biographer has written, "Chang Chan-K'uei was big and tall, shorttempered and bold. He firmly opposed those who were roughshod over the people and disturbed public order."
Chang only had a primary school education because he had to quit school when he was still young in order to help his father in the fields. In his spare time he liked to practice martial arts, studying with teachers in his village. The first martial art he studied was Mi Tsung Chuan (also known as Yen Ch'ing Chuan) a martial arts style which was popular in Northern China. He practiced until his skill was extensive. Later he became a Hsing-I Ch'uan disciple of Liu Chi-Lan. Liu Chi-Lan, a Hsing-I student of Li Neng-Jan, had reached the highest level of Hsing-I skill and taught Chang all he knew.
Chang Chao-Tung met Liu Chi-Lan when he was still a teenager. Chang and a group of his martial arts friends had all heard of the famous Hsing-I man Liu Chi-Lan and wanted to meet him. The group got together and went to visit Liu to ask if they could study his art. In addition to Chang Chao-Tung, Li Ts'un-I was also among the group. Most of these practitioners were in their twenties. Chang was the youngest and thus he was known as "little brother." Liu agreed to teach them and thus they would all frequently travel from their respective home villages to study with Liu Chi-Lan.
Chang Chao-Tung was naturally very agile and coordinated. When Liu Chi-Lan showed him something, he would pick it up very fast. It is said that Chang was one of Liu's "inner door" disciples who really got the essence of his teaching. Chang practiced bare hand boxing until he mastered that and then went on to study Hsing-I weapons. His skill eventually got to the level of practice where his form was the result of his intent, his intent was manifest in his form, his form followed the changes of his intent and his intent was born of the form. This is said to be the highest level of martial arts skill.
When Chang was 20 there was a famine in his village. The situation was so bad that he could not support himself there, so he left home and traveled to Tianjin. When he arrived in Tianjin he had difficulty finding a job because his only skill was that of a farmer. To raise money for food he demonstrated martial arts forms on the side of the road and people would give him money.
Due to his experiences with bullies in his home village when he was young, Chang hated to see people bullying others so he would always go to the aid of anyone who was being picked on. He gained a reputation with the local hoods as someone that was not to be messed with. Because the criminals respected his skill, when he was around there was less crime. The government officials recognized his talent for dealing with criminals and thus they gave him a job as the "thief catcher." His job was basically that of a bounty hunter. When a criminal was wanted in connection with a crime and needed to be apprehended, they would send Chang out to get him.
Shortly after Chang Chao-Tung started working as a thief catcher, the famous second generation Pa Kua Chang instructor Ch'eng T'ing-Hua was visiting Tianjin and ran into some trouble. Chang Chao-Tung helped Ch'eng with his problem and the two became friends. Chang mentioned to Ch'eng that he would like to learn Pa Kua Chang. Ch'eng told Chang that he would be glad to teach him and he would also take him to meet his teacher Tung Hai-Ch'uan. Chang frequently traveled to Beijing to track down bandits who had fled Tianjin. Ch'eng introduced him to Tung Hai-Ch'uan and from that time forward, whenever he was in Beijing he studied with Tung or Ch'eng.
Since Tung Hai-Ch'uan died shortly after Chang Chao-Tung met him, he probably did not study directly with Tung very much. Most believe that while he may have met Tung Hai-Ch'uan and studied a bit, he actually learned the majority of his Pa Kua from Ch'eng T'ing-Hua. The most popular story states that when Chang met Ch'eng T'ing-Hua and wanted to study Pa Kua, Ch'eng told him that since he was already a skilled Hsing-I Ch'uan practitioner and a well known martial artist, Ch'eng felt he and Chang were contemporaries and thus did not want to call him a "student." He took Chang to Tung Hai-Ch'uan and Tung accepted him as a student, however, he really learned the majority of his Pa Kua Chang from Ch'eng.
The majority of the martial arts students studying in Tianjin in the early part of this century were either students of Chang Chao-Tung or Li Tsun-I. They ran a very well known martial arts association in Tianjin and all boxers knew of their efforts to spread the martial arts. In Tianjin Chang taught private students and he taught a public class once a week. Students in the public class could study either Pa Kua Chang or Hsing-I Ch'uan, whichever they preferred. Chang required his private students and "inner door" students to study Hsing-I before they studied Pa Kua. When he first started teaching in Tianjin, he taught mostly Hsing-I. After he had more experience with Pa Kua, Chang taught both Pa Kua and Hsing-I. Later in his life, Chang Chao-Tung and Liang Chen-P'u were the only two people who had studied with Tung Hai-Ch'uan who were still alive. Out of respect for Tung Hai-Ch'uan and Pa Kua, Chang only taught Pa Kua in his later years.
Since Chang Chao-Tung was a Hsing-I man, his Pa Kua Chang naturally had a Hsing-I flavor. Chang Chao-Tung was also a big man and was very strong. He liked to use very wide, open postures in training and liked to strike down on his smaller opponents when fighting. His Pa Kua Chang form and applications were very direct and relatively simple compared to others. Because Chang was bigger and stronger than most of his opponents, his Pa Kua technique is not as evasive as Yin Fu's and because of his Hsing-I background, he did not utilize as many throwing techniques as someone like Ch'eng T'ing-Hua who had come from a Shuai Chiao background. Due to his size and background, his Pa Kua Chang technique was very direct and powerful.
When Chang was over 70, he still participated in the preparation and administration of martial arts events in Tianjin and performed Pa Kua Chang demonstrations at these events. He was well known throughout China for his boxing skill and was frequently invited to other areas of the country to participate in martial arts events.
Some sources state that Chang Chao-Tung died in 1938, however, according to the writings left by his student Chiang Jung-Chiao (Jiang Rong-Qiao), he died in 1940 of natural causes in Tianjin at the age of 81. His second son, Chang Shih-Kuang, also practiced Hsing-I and Pa Kua. His best students were Wang Chun-Ch'en, Han Mu-Hsia, Yao Fu-Ch'un, Ch'ien Sung-Ling, Liu Pu-Ching, Chao Tao-Hsin, Wei Mei-Ju, Liu Ch'ao-Hai, Chang Yu-T'ing, Chou Yu-Tan, and Chiang Jung-Ch'iao (Jiang Rong-Qiao).
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Chang Chao Tung (Zhang Zhao-Dong 1859 - 1940)
(The source of this biographical information is the Pa Kua Chang Journal Vol. 3, No. 6 Sept/Oct 1993)
Chang Chao-Tung (Zhang Zhao-Dong also known as Chang Chan-K'uei) was born in Hebei Province, He Chien County, Ho Hung Yan Village (some sources say the name of his village was Chung Yuen). The youngest of three children, he was born in 1859. His father was a poor farmer and his family was often bullied by those in authority. Later in life, when Chang became skilled in martial arts, he was very harsh on bullies because of what had happened to his family when he was young. As one biographer has written, "Chang Chan-K'uei was big and tall, shorttempered and bold. He firmly opposed those who were roughshod over the people and disturbed public order."
Chang only had a primary school education because he had to quit school when he was still young in order to help his father in the fields. In his spare time he liked to practice martial arts, studying with teachers in his village. The first martial art he studied was Mi Tsung Chuan (also known as Yen Ch'ing Chuan) a martial arts style which was popular in Northern China. He practiced until his skill was extensive. Later he became a Hsing-I Ch'uan disciple of Liu Chi-Lan. Liu Chi-Lan, a Hsing-I student of Li Neng-Jan, had reached the highest level of Hsing-I skill and taught Chang all he knew.
Chang Chao-Tung met Liu Chi-Lan when he was still a teenager. Chang and a group of his martial arts friends had all heard of the famous Hsing-I man Liu Chi-Lan and wanted to meet him. The group got together and went to visit Liu to ask if they could study his art. In addition to Chang Chao-Tung, Li Ts'un-I was also among the group. Most of these practitioners were in their twenties. Chang was the youngest and thus he was known as "little brother." Liu agreed to teach them and thus they would all frequently travel from their respective home villages to study with Liu Chi-Lan.
Chang Chao-Tung was naturally very agile and coordinated. When Liu Chi-Lan showed him something, he would pick it up very fast. It is said that Chang was one of Liu's "inner door" disciples who really got the essence of his teaching. Chang practiced bare hand boxing until he mastered that and then went on to study Hsing-I weapons. His skill eventually got to the level of practice where his form was the result of his intent, his intent was manifest in his form, his form followed the changes of his intent and his intent was born of the form. This is said to be the highest level of martial arts skill.
When Chang was 20 there was a famine in his village. The situation was so bad that he could not support himself there, so he left home and traveled to Tianjin. When he arrived in Tianjin he had difficulty finding a job because his only skill was that of a farmer. To raise money for food he demonstrated martial arts forms on the side of the road and people would give him money.
Due to his experiences with bullies in his home village when he was young, Chang hated to see people bullying others so he would always go to the aid of anyone who was being picked on. He gained a reputation with the local hoods as someone that was not to be messed with. Because the criminals respected his skill, when he was around there was less crime. The government officials recognized his talent for dealing with criminals and thus they gave him a job as the "thief catcher." His job was basically that of a bounty hunter. When a criminal was wanted in connection with a crime and needed to be apprehended, they would send Chang out to get him.
Shortly after Chang Chao-Tung started working as a thief catcher, the famous second generation Pa Kua Chang instructor Ch'eng T'ing-Hua was visiting Tianjin and ran into some trouble. Chang Chao-Tung helped Ch'eng with his problem and the two became friends. Chang mentioned to Ch'eng that he would like to learn Pa Kua Chang. Ch'eng told Chang that he would be glad to teach him and he would also take him to meet his teacher Tung Hai-Ch'uan. Chang frequently traveled to Beijing to track down bandits who had fled Tianjin. Ch'eng introduced him to Tung Hai-Ch'uan and from that time forward, whenever he was in Beijing he studied with Tung or Ch'eng.
Since Tung Hai-Ch'uan died shortly after Chang Chao-Tung met him, he probably did not study directly with Tung very much. Most believe that while he may have met Tung Hai-Ch'uan and studied a bit, he actually learned the majority of his Pa Kua from Ch'eng T'ing-Hua. The most popular story states that when Chang met Ch'eng T'ing-Hua and wanted to study Pa Kua, Ch'eng told him that since he was already a skilled Hsing-I Ch'uan practitioner and a well known martial artist, Ch'eng felt he and Chang were contemporaries and thus did not want to call him a "student." He took Chang to Tung Hai-Ch'uan and Tung accepted him as a student, however, he really learned the majority of his Pa Kua Chang from Ch'eng.
The majority of the martial arts students studying in Tianjin in the early part of this century were either students of Chang Chao-Tung or Li Tsun-I. They ran a very well known martial arts association in Tianjin and all boxers knew of their efforts to spread the martial arts. In Tianjin Chang taught private students and he taught a public class once a week. Students in the public class could study either Pa Kua Chang or Hsing-I Ch'uan, whichever they preferred. Chang required his private students and "inner door" students to study Hsing-I before they studied Pa Kua. When he first started teaching in Tianjin, he taught mostly Hsing-I. After he had more experience with Pa Kua, Chang taught both Pa Kua and Hsing-I. Later in his life, Chang Chao-Tung and Liang Chen-P'u were the only two people who had studied with Tung Hai-Ch'uan who were still alive. Out of respect for Tung Hai-Ch'uan and Pa Kua, Chang only taught Pa Kua in his later years.
Since Chang Chao-Tung was a Hsing-I man, his Pa Kua Chang naturally had a Hsing-I flavor. Chang Chao-Tung was also a big man and was very strong. He liked to use very wide, open postures in training and liked to strike down on his smaller opponents when fighting. His Pa Kua Chang form and applications were very direct and relatively simple compared to others. Because Chang was bigger and stronger than most of his opponents, his Pa Kua technique is not as evasive as Yin Fu's and because of his Hsing-I background, he did not utilize as many throwing techniques as someone like Ch'eng T'ing-Hua who had come from a Shuai Chiao background. Due to his size and background, his Pa Kua Chang technique was very direct and powerful.
When Chang was over 70, he still participated in the preparation and administration of martial arts events in Tianjin and performed Pa Kua Chang demonstrations at these events. He was well known throughout China for his boxing skill and was frequently invited to other areas of the country to participate in martial arts events.
Some sources state that Chang Chao-Tung died in 1938, however, according to the writings left by his student Chiang Jung-Chiao (Jiang Rong-Qiao), he died in 1940 of natural causes in Tianjin at the age of 81. His second son, Chang Shih-Kuang, also practiced Hsing-I and Pa Kua. His best students were Wang Chun-Ch'en, Han Mu-Hsia, Yao Fu-Ch'un, Ch'ien Sung-Ling, Liu Pu-Ching, Chao Tao-Hsin, Wei Mei-Ju, Liu Ch'ao-Hai, Chang Yu-T'ing, Chou Yu-Tan, and Chiang Jung-Ch'iao (Jiang Rong-Qiao).
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