Xu Xuanping (), 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', ...

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

of the Chinese

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. He was said to have lived south of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in east-central Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Hey ...

. His legend relates that he left the city of Yangshan to become a recluse and build a home in Nan Mountain. Legend has it that he was very tall, perhaps more than six foot, with a beard that reached to his navel and hair down to his feet. He only ate uncooked food.Jou, Tsung Hwa. (1989). ''The Dao of Taijiquan: Way to Rejuvenation''. Tuttle Publishing. p. 25. He walked with a gait like a running horse and that each time he carried firewood down from the hills to the town to sell he would recite this poem: :At dawn I carry the firewood to sell :To buy wine today, at dusk I will return :Please tell me the way to get home? :Just follow the mountain track up into the clouds

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...

(the great Tang Dynasty poet) was said to have searched for Xu Xuanping, but couldn't find him. He was, however, inspired to compose some poetry, after seeing the Immortal's Bridge, before he departed. According to some schools of

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 ...

, Xu is considered to be the ''

daoyin ''Daoyin'' is a series of cognitive body and mind unity exercises practiced as a form of Daoist ''neigong'', meditation and mindfulness to cultivate '' jing'' (essence) and direct and refine '' qi'', the internal energy of the body according t ...

'' teacher of

Zhang Sanfeng Zhang Sanfeng (also spelled Zhang San Feng, Chang San-Feng) refers to a legendary Chinese Taoist who many believe invented the Chinese martial art tai chi. However, other sources point to earlier versions of tai chi predating Sanfeng. He is ...

, whom they say later created the martial art of tai chi. Other schools hold that Xu himself was a tai chi practitioner, and that the style Xu Xuanping passed down was simply called "37", because it consisted of 37 named styles or techniques. During this time it was also known as ''

changquan Changquan () () refers to a family of external (as opposed to internal) martial arts (kung fu) styles from northern China. The forms of the Long Fist style emphasize fully extended kicks and striking techniques, and by appearance would be consi ...

'' ("Long Boxing") as a reference to the flowing power of the

(which is also known as the Changjiang, or "Long River"). He had a disciple called Song Yuanqiao who passed the Song family tai chi system down through the generations to Song Shuming.

References

*Cheng, Tinhung. ''Tai Chi Transcendent Art'', The Hong Kong Tai Chi Association Press, Hong Kong, 1976. (only available in Chinese) *Wile, Douglas ''Lost T'ai-chi Classics from the late Ch'ing Dynasty'' State University of New York Press, Albany, 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Xuanping 8th-century Chinese poets Chinese tai chi practitioners Chinese hermits People from Huangshan Poets from Anhui Martial artists from Anhui Tang dynasty poets Tang dynasty Taoists