Editor's Preface:

In compiling this overview, I am reminded of the translator's note to Douglas Wiles' excellent "T'ai Chi Touchstones: Yang Family Secret Transmissions."

Two phrases come to mind. First, "abandon all hope ye who search for certainty" and second, "the bitterness and slant of scholarly debate in this area should alert us that this is yet another battlefield for partisan political axe grinding."

Of late, there have arisen two schools of thought dealing with the development of Chen family Taiji. The first is the traditional view, which looks to Chen Wang Ting and Chen Chang Xin (see below) as the innovators of the art. A contrary viewpoint has arisen, which points to a lack of verifiable historical documents as the basis for a disbelief in these views.

The truth of the matter will probably never be known. I have tried, in the following article, to give both sides of the story.

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