The Lost Six Roads: Debunking the Myths of Yang-Style Taijiquan and Its True Roots

It began with a post: someone on Facebook declaring, with confident ignorance, that Chen-style Taijiquan is not the origin of Yang style. Comments echoed. Histories were dismissed. Someone else chimed in: “Yang came from Wudang.”

Mostly, these claims drift by. But for those who trace movement and lineage in quiet rooms, these aren’t casual points — they’re foundational. When a student of Lao Liu Lu (老六路, Old Six Roads) lineage sees history denied, it’s not just a debate — it’s an erasure.

This blog post is born out of that moment. Based on deep research and living lineage, it’s an answer — not just to the Facebook post, but to a pattern of forgetting. Because what’s interesting is not just who claims what, but what their claims contradict — even the teachers of Lao Liu Lu say Yang style descended from Chen style.

Let’s walk the path.

The Crossroads of Style: Chenjiagou, Yang Luchan, and Adaptation

Taijiquan’s birthplace is usually credited to Chen Wangting (陈王廷) in Chenjiagou (陈家沟), Henan province. In the 17th century, Chen Wangting is said to have merged military boxing techniques (notably from General Qi Jiguang’s manual) with Daoist breathing and medical theories, giving birth to what would become Chen-style Taiji.

Enter Yang Luchan (杨露禅, 1799–1872), a farmer-turned-student who traveled to Chenjiagou to learn the art from Chen Changxing (陈长兴). What he practiced was not the gentle flowing forms we often see today — but a version rich with spirals, bursts of power (fajin/fali), jumping, and powerful structure.

When Yang Luchan later taught in Beijing, he walked into an entirely different environment. His students wore robes, had social standing, and demanded decorum over spectacle. So Yang modified — not abandoned — the art. He removed or softened high-impact moves, leaps, and stomps. But he retained the architecture: internal spiral, structural integrity, and the hidden flow of intention behind every motion.

To claim Yang style did not come from Chen is to ignore that DNA.

The Facebook Echo Chamber vs. Lineage Truth

Back to that Facebook post. It wasn’t new, but it had boldness: “Yang style didn’t come from Chen.” One commenter built it like a myth, while others simply accepted it.

Yet, the very founders and transmitters of Lao Liu Lu (老六路) — the “Old Six Roads” Yang routine — have proclaimed the opposite. The lineages who preserved Lao Liu Lu routinely trace its roots back to Chenjiagou, to Chen Changxing, to Yang Luchan’s adaptation. Lao Liu Lu is not a reinvention; it’s a preservation — a high-fidelity echo of early Yang family practice.

If your claim denies Chen’s origin, it denies what these teachers themselves have affirmed. That’s not just argument — it’s contradiction.

Reclaiming Lao Liu Lu: The Old Six Roads in Motion

Unlike the public, popular Yang form (large-frame, slow, healthy), Lao Liu Lu is a multi-part, six-section routine. It was allegedly codified by Yang Jianhou (杨健侯, 1839–1917) — Yang Luchan’s third son — as a “medium frame” version, preserving structure and martial depth. The six roads total 89 postures. Each road corresponds to gradations of movement: large, medium, small, external, internal, subtle.

Most of China never saw it. It remained hidden, passed quietly inside the Yang family, until Wang Yongquan (汪永泉, 1904–1987) began teaching it more publicly in the late 1970s under cultural preservation initiatives. Wang had studied both under the Chengfu lineage and lingering Jianhou/old-line teachers. He kept that six-road method secret for decades. Only when demanded by state records did he break his oath and share it.

From Wang, lineage passed to Gao Zhankui (高占奎) and then to Chen Tianliang (陈田良). Chen Tianliang, from Shaanxi, has been one of the most visible modern carriers: demonstrating all six roads, validating them publicly, interacting with historians and practitioners.

To train Lao Liu Lu today is to dance within the architecture of early Yang — not diluted, not invented, but resurrected.

The Three Pillars: Jianhou, Shaohou, Chengfu

Yang family history is complicated not because it’s messy, but because it’s alive. Three key figures shaped its direction:

Yang Jianhou (杨健侯) preserved the medium frame and helped formalize Lao Liu Lu. His version was designed for both martial depth and approachable practice.

Yang Shaohou (杨少侯, 1862–1930) developed the small-frame, fast-release form. His Taiji was compact, close-range, agile — intense in contrast to later softness. He was known for sudden power, fierce training, and a small group of highly skilled disciples.

Yang Chengfu (杨澄甫, 1883–1936) took Taiji to the masses. He streamlined forms, removed overt fajin (from solo hand forms), replaced jumps with flow, and emphasized health, calmness, and scenic grace. His version — large-frame, slow, accessible — is what most people think of when they think “Tai Chi.”

Each brother was true, but different. Without Shaohou you lose martial edge. Without Chengfu, you lose mass appeal. Without Jianhou, you lose the bridge.

Wudang, Shaolin, and the Myth of Polar Origins

It’s seductive: the crane, the snake, the mountain. Wudang as birthplace. Shaolin as foundation. But when you sift the historical texts, the myth collapses.

The Wudang–Shaolin dichotomy is a poetic metaphor, not a literal lineage map. The internal vs external split is sometimes cast as Wudang softness vs Shaolin hardness. But historical evidence points to Chenjiagou as the cradle of Taijiquan, and Yang Luchan as its first outside transmitter.

Chen Wangting created Taiji by merging earlier martial arts (including Shaolin-based techniques from General Qi Jiguang’s manual) with Daoist internal training. Yang Luchan adapted that art. The Wudang story emerged later to romanticize the internal arts and distinguish them from external ones—but it's not the factual foundation.

So no — Wudang didn’t give us Taiji. The field, the body, the lineage did.

A Living Map, Not a Fossil

This blog — and this article — isn’t just historical indulgence. It’s a response to the present. When someone on Facebook denies Chen’s role, they’re forgetting lineage, erasing evidence, and misreading the tapestry of Taiji.

Perhaps Lao Liu Lu (老六路) is not a modern invention, perhaps it is. Yang Luchan (杨露禅) did not spring from Wudang. Chen-style (陈式) did not cede all credit. The lineage that preserved the six roads tells us otherwise.

This isn’t about splitting hairs. It’s about honoring lineage. It’s about making visible what social media often hides behind bold claims and algorithms.

If you practice Yang Taiji, try Lao Liu Lu. Watch how your body remembers old structure. Sense how the small circles ripple like old code hidden beneath smooth veneers.

If you train health qigong, try Wuji standing before your form. Feel how stillness seeds movement.

If you walk this path, you begin to see — the art is not flat. It curves through time. And you become part of that curve, not merely another echo.

References 

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