Professor Zheng Manqing and the 37 Posture Yang Style Tai Chi Form

Zheng Manqing (Cheng Man-ch’ing) was born in 1902 in Yongjia (present-day Wenzhou) in Zhejiang Province, China. Known as the Master of Five Excellences, he was highly accomplished in Calligraphy, Poetry, the Chinese Classics, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji Quan). A college professor, he became known to his Tai Chi students as Professor Zheng.

Zheng Manqing learned the classical Yang Style Tai Chi from the famed Yang Chengfu in the 1930s. Professor Zheng understood the need to make Tai Chi available to the public but realized that this was not possible through the classical teaching of the traditional long form. Zheng had the foresight to shorten the form by eliminating many of the repetitions of the postures. The form he developed has become known as Zheng Manqing’s 37 Posture Yang Style Short Form (37 Posture Form).

Professor Zheng’s teaching and his several books on Tai Chi popularized the art and spread it to the West. Many of his books are still essential reading for all Tai Chi enthusiasts and his Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on Tai Chi Chuan is considered a classic.

Zheng Manqing’s Tui Shou (Push Hands) skill was legendary and many of his senior students have also become famous for this ability. They have continued to pass on his teachings throughout the world.

Pofessor Zheng died on March 26, 1975; his grave is near the city of Taipei in Taiwan.

I learned the 37 Posture Form from the Grandmaster Tao Bingxiang.