The Liuhe Bafa Heritage of Tao Pingxiang/Tao Ping-Siang

Liuhe Bafa (六合八法), or Six Harmonies Eight Methods, is an abbreviated name for the style passed down by Wu Yihui, who referred to the art as Hua Yue Xin Yi Liu He Ba Fa Quan (華岳心意六合八法拳). In English, this translates as the Heart/Mind Six Harmonies Eight Methods from Hua Mountain Style.

Today, especially in the West, Liuhe Bafa is the most widely used term, which can also be written as Liu He Ba Fa and Liuhebafa. Shui Quan (水拳), Water Boxing, is another frequently used term to describe the style. Lok Hop Pa Fa, which is the Cantonese name, was used by practitioners from South China.

Commentary on the Name of the Style

Hua Yue (華岳) – Hua Mountain

Hua Mountain is one of the Five Great Mountains of China (五岳Wu Yue); the name was established in antiquity. Nowadays, it is common to refer to the mountain as Hua Shan (華山, Hua Mountain). Hua Yue implies that the style comes from Hua Mountain.

Xin Yi (心意) – Heart and Intent  

Xin and Yi are related but distinct concepts. In Liuhe Bafa, as in other internal Chinese martial arts, the notion of Xin Yi defines both emotion and purpose.

Liu He (六合) – Six Harmonies

Tao Pingxiang, my teacher, emphasized that Liu He represents the form. In my view,“ essence” is a more appropriate word. Following are the Liu He as Tao Pingxiang deciphered them.

Ti He Yu Xin (體合於心) – Body unites with mind

Xin He Yu Yi (心合於意) – Mind unites with intention

Yi He Yu Qi (意合於氣) – Intention unites with Qi

Qi He Yu Shen (氣合於神) – Qi unites with spirit

Shen He Yu Dong (神合於動) – Spirit unites with movement

Dong He Yu Kong (動合於空) – Movement unites with emptiness

Ba Fa (八法) – Eight Methods

Ba Fa represents the application. The Eight Methods have a two-fold meaning here. One is to apply the principles learned in Liu He, the six harmonies. The second is to apply the principles in combative applications.

Qi: Xing Qi Ji Shen (氣: 行氣集神) – Qi: Circulate the Qi and gather the spirit

Gu: Gu Jin Nei Lian (骨: 骨勁內斂) – Bone: The bone strength is internally restrained

Xing: Hua Xiang Mu Fang (形: 骨勁內斂) – Form: The form transforms and converges

Sui: Yuan Tong Ce Ying (隨: 圓通策應) – Follow: Be circular and responsive

Ti: Ti Ding Xuan Kong (是: 提頂懸空) – Carry/Lift: Suspend the headtop in emptiness

Hai: Wang Lai Hai Fu (還: 往來還復) – Return: Coming and going back, and reverse

Lei: Ding Jing Shou Xu (勒: 定靜守虛) – Restrain: Maintain stillness and guard emptiness

Fu: Yin Xian Can Ji (伏: 隱現藏機) – Conceal: Hiding and concealing opportunities

Quan (拳) – Fist

Quan, or fist, is often translated in English as “boxing.” Quan indicates a combative style and is usually added at the end of the style name; for example, Taiji Quan, Baji Quan, and so forth.

The Legendary Origins of Liuhe Bafa

This brief history of Liuhe Bafa comes from the handwritten notes in Chinese characters that I received from Tao Pingxiang. I use the phrase “legendary” origins because there are great gaps in time between Chen Tuan, who is regarded as the founder of the style, and the turbulent Daoguang Era of the Qing Dynasty (1821-1850) when there is more reliable documentation.

Chen Tuan (陈抟) is said to have lived during the late Wu Dai (五代, 907–960), Five Dynasties period, and early Song Chao (宋朝, 960–1127), the Song Dynasty period. There are conflicting accounts of his life. One account reports that Chen Tuan failed the Imperial Examination during the late Tang Dynasty.

There is extensive biographical information on Chen Tuan, but while historically he is regarded as the patriarch of Hua Yue Xin Yi Liu He Ba Fa, there is no mention of it among his many accomplishments. The only thing remotely associated with the system is a brief mention of his retreat on Mount Hua.

Li Dongfeng (李东风)

According to transmission, Li Dongfeng is a significant individual in the annals of Hua Yue Xin Yi Liu He Ba Fa. He was a hermit who lived in the mountains but did not directly inherit the mantle from Chen Tuan. His teacher was said to have been Liu Shuzhen (劉守真). Li Dongfeng is credited with compiling the Wu Zi Quan Jue (五字拳訣) – Five Character Formula, to which there are 134 verses. Each mnemonic consists of two sets of five Chinese characters. One and two are paired, and so on. Their meaning is profound and requires diligent study.

Li Dongfeng also compiled the Ge Jue (歌訣) – The Song Formula, also known as Liuhe Bafa Ge Jue (六合八法歌訣) – Six Harmonies Eight Methods Song Formula. Both have been essential guiding principles for achieving higher levels in Liuhe Bafa.

Note: Ge Jue (歌訣) means formula put into verse. This has been a traditional method for transmitting knowledge in Chinese martial arts. The Ge Jue are common in many styles.

Wang Dewei (王德威) learned Liuhe Bafa and believed that the style displayed the qualities of stillness and the undulating waves of water. He renamed the style Shui Quan (水拳) Water Boxing. This is the name that Tao Pingxiang preferred.

There are other masters mentioned in Tao Pingxiang’s lineage notes. I have chosen to focus on the ones who made significant contributions to the arts and are pertinent to the scope of this post. If we consider that from the time of Chen Tuan, who lived during the Five Dynasties and Early Song period, to the late period of the Qing Dynasty, more than one thousand years would have elapsed. Identifying who taught whom and when becomes an impossible task, and one that can hardly be documented.

Further, places and names changed many times over the centuries in China. Counties that might have been in one province, in a different era ended up in another province. Cities such as Kaifeng have changed names numerous times over the centuries. Before 1928, Hebei (河北) was known as Zhili (直隸), which means “Directly Ruled.” Hence, it is best to be cautious when naming geographical places.

The Modern Era

The Qing Dynasty suffered great setbacks during the Daoguang Era. The Taiping Rebellion and the First Opium War occurred during this 30-year period (1821-1850). This was a time of great upheaval, and I mention it here because Wu Yihui’s teachers lived during and after this period.

Wu Yihui (吳翼翬, 1886-1958)

Wu Yihui was a Manchurian. His father was a Qing official. It is likely that the surname “Wu” (吳), which is a Han Chinese surname, was adopted after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. This was the case with Wu Jianquan (吳鑑泉), the Wu style Taiji Quan master, who was also a Manchurian.

Different dates have been offered for Wu Yihui’s birth toward the end of the Qing Dynasty; these vary from 1885 to 1887. Tao Pingxiang, in his handwritten notes of the Liuhe Bafa lineage, used 1886 as Wu Yihui’s birth year and 1958 as the year of his passing; those are the years I am listing in this post.

According to transmission, Wu Yihui had three teachers. He started learning martial arts with his first teacher, Yan Guoxing (閻國興), at the age of 10. His second teacher was Chen Guangdi (陳光弟), and his third teacher was Chen Helu (陳鶴侶). There are no birth or death records for these three teachers.

Wu Yihui is also known to have learned Lu Hong Ba Shi (呂紅八勢拳) from Song Qingwen (宋清文) who learned it from his father, Song Laomai (宋老邁). Lu Hong lived during the Ming Dynasty. Lu Hong Ba Shi is mentioned in Qi Jiquan’s “Ji Xiao Xing Shu” (戚繼光”紀效新書), New Book on Military Tactics, which implies that the style was of some notoriety during the Ming Dynasty. I note the style here because it is likely that Wu Yihui incorporated it into the 66 Postures of Liuhe Bafa, which he taught at the Zhong Yang Guo Shu Guan (中央國術館) in Nanjing, where he served as director, and in Shanghai, where he made his home.

Tao Pingxiang (陶炳祥, 1919 -2006)

I use the Pinyin system, which uses the Latin alphabet and was first introduced in China in 1958. Pinyin is what I have used it in my publications of the Wu Gong Journal and the Journal of Chinese Martial Arts, and have I used in my websites.

Tao Pingxiang used Tao Ping-Siang and signed as Peter P. S. Tao. Hyphenation of names is common in Taiwan where the Wade-Giles spelling is still widely used. Dr. Tao, as he was affectionately known, was one of Wu Yihui’s Eight Disciples. According to Tao Pingxiang, the other disciples were Zhang Zhangxin (張長信), Chen Yuhe (陳玉和), Chen Yiren (陳亦人), Li Daoli (李道立), Liang Zipeng (梁子鵬), Liang Qizhong (梁启忠), and Lu Guiyao (盧桂耀).

This is the list of disciples as it appears in Tao Pingxiang’s handwritten notes. These were challenging to translate. The handwritten characters are difficult to read, and I had several Chinese colleagues work on the translation. I cannot attest to, nor dispute, any other disciples in the lineage.

My teacher, Tao Pingxiang, preferred to use the name Water Boxing (Shui Quan) when referring to Liuhe Bafa. He did so for the same reasons noted in the brief bio of Wang Dewei (above), who so named the style. Based on Tao Pingxiang’s notes, he would have started learning from Wu Yihui in 1939, but there is no indication of how long the apprenticeship lasted since this was during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).

At the time I started learning Liuhe Bafa from Tao Pingxiang in early 1990s, the style was largely unknown in the West. Many times, he rebuffed or ignored my requests to learn Liuhe Bafa. Finally, I stopped asking, and during one of his visits to Florida, I was surprised and amazed when he finally started to teach me.

During a subsequent visit, Tao Pingxiang suggested that I go with him to Shanghai to learn the Liuhe Bafa Sword from Li Daoli (李道立), one of his classmates. He mentioned that Li Daoli and Bai Shumin (白淑敏), Wu Yihui’s wife, were the only two to have learned the Liuhe Bafa sword form. Unfortunately, we were not able to coordinate the trip.

The 66 Postures Form

While Tao Pingxiang did not emphasize the 66 Posture Form as having two parts, his notes have a clear gap between what is commonly regarded as the Shang Tuan (上段) – Upper Section, which ends with Posture #32, Meg Hu Hui Tou (猛虎囘頭) – Fierce Tiger Turns Back, and the Xia Duan (下段) – Lower Section, which begins with Posture #33, Xuan Zhuan Qian Kun (旋轉乾坤) – Turn the Hands Round and Round.

I used Tao Pingxiang’s English translations as they appear in his notes for Postures #32 and #33. Hui Tou’s (囘頭) literal translation is Return the Head. So a more proper translation would be Fierce Tiger Turns Back Its Head. As for posture #33, Tao PIngxiang’s translation is expressing the action of the movements since there is no reference to “hands” in Xuan Zhuan Qian Kun. Qian Kun (乾坤) is translated as Heaven and Earth, so a proper translation would be Revolving Heaven and Earth.

Each Posture in the sequence comprises several movements. The form in its entirety is more than 500 individual movements.

Qing Long Jian (青龍劍) – Liuhe Bafa Green Dragon Sword

Qing Long Jian, or Green Dragon Sword, is the Liuhe Bafa sword form. When I interviewed Liu Xiaoling (刘晓凌) for the Journal of Chinese Martial Arts, he told me that he had learned Liuhe Bafa from Li Daoli and Liang Qizhong (梁启忠). I recalled what Tao Pingxiang had said about the Liuhe Bafa sword form, so I asked Liu Xiaoling if he had learned the sword form from Li Daoli; this he confirmed. I then asked if he would teach me the form, and I have always been grateful that he agreed. I visited him at his home in Maryland and later brought him to my school in Florida so that my senior students could also learn the Green Dragon Sword directly from him.

The sword set, which Wu Yihui learned from one of his teachers, was originally called Yu Guan Jian (玉關劍) or Jade Pass Sword. He later changed the name, at the suggestion of a colleague, to Qing Long Jian because the movements of the sword looked like a dragon swimming through clouds..

I have seen various people perform the Liuhe Bafa Sword form. Most try to mimic the movements of the Liuhe Bafa empty-hand form. I have yet to see anyone other than Liu Xiaoling perform the Green Dragon Sword as a unique set of sword skills.

Note: Yu Guan refers to Yu Men Guan (玉門關) which means Jade Gate Pass. Yu Men Pass is located 50 miles northwest of Dunhuang City in what is now Gansu Province. Established during the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), this was a vital passage on the Northern Silk Road.

Further, when I asked Tao Pingxiang, Liu Xiaoling, and Wu Yinghua if Liuhe Bafa contained weapons other than the sword, each said NO!

Hun Yuan Qiu (混元球) – Heaven and Earth or Vigor and Energy Ball

Tao Pingxiang talked about the Hun Yuan Ball and showed some exercises with a rubber ball. Unfortunately, at the time I had other responsibilities, and so was not able to dig deeper. Years later I was presented with a video of Yun Yinsen (恽银森) demonstrating the Hun Yuan Ball. I met Yun Yinsen in China during the 120^th Birthday Celebration of Wu Yihui, which I attended and where I was asked to demonstrate. While this was not an appropriate time, I did find out through an interpreter that Yun Yinsen learned the Hun Yuan Ball from Liang QIzhong, another classmate of Tao Pingxiang and one of the two Liuhe Bafa teachers of Liu Xiaoling. Everyone is advancing in age, but I am going to put forth every effort to learn the complete set of Hun Yuan Qiu.

Wu Yinghua (吳英華)

I met Wu Yinghua, the son of Wu Yihui, in China and a few years later I was able to host him in my house in Florida. During his stay I conducted an interview with him which I did not publish because I felt that it was unfinished and I had many questions that needed clarification. However, during his stay at my home, I learned a series of Liuhe Bafa Qigong as passed down by Wu Yihui. Wu Yinghua referred to them as Zhuang Fa (桩法), but these were not static exercises as in Zhan Zhuang or Post Standing. These Nei Gong aspects of Liuhe Bafa are deep and profound. This is one aspect of the art that I will ponder as to what might have been.

Closing Comments

When I learned Liuhe Bafa from Tao Pinxiang, his form was slow and linear, although he did mention that some movements could be performed at an angle instead of on a straight line.

Personally, I practice the form with deeper stances, and I prefer to use angles, as this is more representative of combative applications and renders the form more interesting. I show more of the hidden kicks within the form, and I have developed a habit of practicing the routine at different speeds, like the movements of flowing water and rolling waves, which are never constant.

When I watched Liu Xiaoling demonstrate, I was surprised to see how closely our two forms matched. Stances, tempo, and direction were similar. Was this by chance? I wonder.

While in China, I saw many people perform Liuhe Bafa. Few of them demonstrated the art that had been passed down by Wu Yihui. Many of the demonstrations were far removed from the traditional Liuhe Bafa. Some performances contained movements that were very Shaolin-like, and some forms even contained elements of Wushu. This was my personal observation.

At the end of the gathering, Wu Yinghua commented that it was important to preserve his father’s teachings. I believe he used stronger words in making his sentiment felt. Times and people change. I have changed. The world is in an increasing hurry and people take shortcuts. The Chinese saying, Liu Shui Bu Fu (流水不腐) – Running water does not become putrid, proves the point that life is in flux, and so are the martial arts.

On the left are Dr. Tao’s handwritten notes on the 66 Movements of Water Style Boxing (Hua Yue Xin Yi Liu He Ba Fa). Only the first page is published here.