Moy Lin-shin ( zh, c=梅連羨, p=Méi Liánxiàn) (1931 in Taishan county,

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

– June 6, 1998,

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada) was a

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

monk, teacher and

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

instructor who founded the Taoist Tai Chi Society, the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism and the Gei Pang Lok Hup Academy.

Early life

As a sickly youth, Moy was sent to a Taoist monastery. There he was trained in the teachings of the Earlier Heaven Wu-chi sect of the Hua Shan School of

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

and regained his health. Moy reported that he studied the religious and philosophical side of Taoism and that he had acquired knowledge and skills in

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

. Ahead of the

Communist Revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, the term socialism can be used to indicate an intermediate stage between ...

of 1949, Moy moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. There he joined the Yuen Yuen Institute, in

Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a New towns of Hong Kong, town built on a bay in the New Territories West (constituency), western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite Tsing Yi, Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market ...

district in the

New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...

, continued his education and became a Taoist

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

. The Yuen Yuen Institute was established in 1950 by monks from Sanyuan Gong (Three Originals Palace) in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, Guangdong province, which traces its lineage to the Longmen (Dragon Gate) sect of Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Taoism. The Yuen Yuen Institute is dedicated to Taoism,

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

. In 1968, Moy co-founded, together with Taoist Masters Mui Ming-to and Tang Yuen Mei, the temple for the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism (FLK; Penglai ge, 蓬萊閣) on the grounds of the Yuen Yuen Institute.Daoist Organizations in North America
In addition to his studies and education in Taoism, Moy Lin-shin learned a range of internal martial arts including liuhebafa,

xingyiquan 形意拳, Xingyiquan , or Xingyi, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts. The word approximately translates to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". The style is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements, and expl ...

baguazhang ''Baguazhang'' () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the '' Wudang'' school, the other two being tai chi and '' xingyiquan''. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or ''neijia''). ''Baguazhang'' literally means "eigh ...

and Taoist

qigong Qigong ()) is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation said to be useful for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese medicine, Chin ...

. Moy's main teacher was Yang Liu (杨六; Cantonese: Yeung Luk), a Daoist hermit teaching qigong and tai chi. Moy was the most senior disciple (of only 5 disciples) of Yang Liu. The second disciple was Ng Pak Shing, who opened a school in Canada after Moy died but has gone back to China since. Another one of Moy's main teachers in Hong Kong was Liang Zipeng, an instructor in liuhebafa and other arts, who was in turn a student of Wu Yihui. Moy was taught liuhebafa in Hong Kong by Liang Zipeng. Moy also trained in Hong Kong with Sun Di, a fellow student of Liang Zipeng, who Moy said had developed skills in xingyiquan and

Pushing hands Pushing hands, Push hands or tuishou (alternately spelled ''tuei shou'' or ''tuei sho'') is a two-person training routine practiced in internal Chinese martial arts such as ''baguazhang'', ''xingyiquan'', tai chi, and '' yiquan''. It is also ...

. After 1975, Moy would travel back to Hong Kong on an annual basis to keep learning from Yang Liu and Sun Di. He would bring some of his senior students along on occasion.

Move to Canada

Moy went overseas with a mission of spreading the understanding of Taoism and its practices. After some travel, he settled in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and in 1970 began teaching a small group of dedicated students. In those early days, Moy taught both the health and martial arts aspects of tai chi. Upon moving to one of Toronto's "

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

s" a few years later, he changed his focus, emphasising mainly the health promoting and personal development aspects of tai chi, although Moy still did place strong emphasis on tai chi push hands practice and sometimes demonstrated other self-defense aspects of tai chi as well. Moy started with a standard Yang-style tai chi form, also saying he had mixed in elements of other internal arts, and taught it to condition students to learn Lok Hup Ba Fa later. Moy called this modified form Taoist Tai Chi. Moy emphasized the non-competitive nature of his style of teaching and of the form. A teacher of Taoist Tai Chi is asked to conform to and live by what Moy called, "Eight Heavenly

Virtue A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...

s": * Sense of

Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

Honor Honour ( Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as val ...

Sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

* Propriety * Trustworthiness * Dedication *

Sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the other person. A male sibling is a brother, and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised ...

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

Filial piety Filial piety is the virtue of exhibiting love and respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors, particularly within the context of Confucian ethics, Confucian, Chinese Buddhism, Chinese Buddhist ethics, Buddhist, and Daoism, Daoist ethics. ...

In accordance with these virtues, Taoist Tai Chi is a form that is taught by volunteers.

Organizations

To promote his understanding of the Taoist foundations of tai chi and to facilitate understanding between eastern and western cultures, Moy helped to set up a number of organizations. Initially, he established the Toronto Tai Chi Association, which, after Taoist Tai Chi chapters were formed across Canada, became the Taoist Tai Chi Society (道教太極拳社) of Canada. After expansion into the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and later into

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

the International Taoist Tai Chi Society was established in 1990. In 1981 Moy Lin-shin and Mui Ming-to established a Canadian branch of the Hong Kong-based Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism, which became the religious arm of the Taoist Tai Chi Society. This occurred with the opening of a Fung Loy Kok high shrine at the Society's Bathurst Street location in Toronto. They subsequently established other branches of Fung Loy Kok in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. This Institute maintains altars to the Taoist deities, i.e., the

Jade Emperor In the Chinese mythology, myths and Chinese folk religion, folk religion of Chinese culture, the Jade Emperor or Yudi is one of the representations of the Primordial Divinity (Tai Di), primordial god. In Taoist theology, he is the assistant of ...

Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

(one of the female Bodhisattvas in Buddhism), and Lü Dongbin (one of the eight Taoist "Transcendants", who became Immortals via "Inner Alchemy"). Initially, Moy concentrated on teaching just tai chi forms and later emphasized other internal arts. In 1988 Moy established the Gei Pang Lok Hup Academy, which is dedicated to the memory of his teacher Liang Zipeng. It was established with the intent to teach the internal martial arts other than tai chi, mainly liuhebafa. Over the years, Moy Linshin not only taught tai chi and liuhebafa but also

Taoist meditation Taoist meditation (, ), also spelled Daoist (), refers to the traditional meditative practices associated with the Chinese philosophy and religion of Taoism, including concentration, mindfulness, contemplation, and visualization. The earliest C ...

, yiquan,

zhan zhuang Zhan zhuang ( zh, t=站樁, s=站桩, p=zhàn zhuāng, l=standing ike apost) is a training method often practiced by students of neijia (internal kung fu), such as yiquan, xingyiquan, baguazhang and tai chi. ''Zhan zhuang'' is sometimes tran ...

and qigong, a hybrid

- yiquan form from Sun Di, Yang-style tai chi sword and Yang-style tai chi saber, a long list of Foundation exercises (''Jibengong'') and some

The organizations since his death

Since the death of Moy Lin-shin in 1998, the three organizations he founded have been amalgamated, with the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism as the main organization and the Taoist Tai Chi Society and the Gei Pang Lok Hup Academy as part of the Institute. This brought together the financial and administrative management of the three organizations. In order to broaden the emphasis on health and vitality, the Taoist Tai Chi Health Recovery Centre was established in 1997 near Toronto, at Orangeville,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. On the same grounds a Taoist Cultivation Centre was built in 2005–2006.

Criticism

Moy Lin Shin has been criticized by one Tai Chi practitioner for being unqualified and for teaching a version of tai chi that is "not generally recognised as an authentic style of tai chi" although that same critic admitted that his efforts "did a great deal to introduce thousands to tai chi".

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moy, Lin-Shin Canadian tai chi practitioners Chinese tai chi practitioners Chinese Taoists 20th-century Chinese educators 20th-century Taoists People's Republic of China Taoists Canadian Taoists 1931 births 1998 deaths