Dong Yingjie

Dong Yingjie (Wade-Giles: Tung Ying-chieh, Chinese: 董英傑, 1897 - 1961) was a leading master of tai chi, and a top disciple of Yang Chengfu. Born in Renze (then known as Renxian), Xingtai, Hebei, China, his given name was Wenke (文科). Famous in his time for defeating a foreign boxer in a public challenge match, he dedicated his life to the martial arts, training intensively in multiple styles, serving as chief assistant instructor for Yang Chengfu, and going on to found his own thriving tai chi legacy.
He was born to a prosperous farming family, and as a child was very studious but frail. Avidly interested in martial arts even then, at age 12 he convinced his grandfather to send him away to learn from security professional and martial arts master Liu Yingzhou (劉瀛洲), also known as Liu Laoying (劉老瀛). There he trained in San Huang Pao Chui and other Shaolin styles. Liu also taught him some tai chi.
After five years he returned home to marry and join the family business, but soon sought out Liu Laoying again to resume training. Liu recommended deeper study of tai chi, and through Liu's relationship with Yang Zhaolin (楊兆林, 1884-1922), the eldest grandson of Yang Luchan, Dong studied Yang-style tai chi under Li Zengkui (李增魁). Dong was impressed with Li's pushing hands skills, but at that time Dong's expertise in external martial arts — on which he relied in those years to deal with bandits and other conflicts — remained superior to his understanding of tai chi.
Dong achieved a high level of skill in tai chi after Liu introduced him to Li Baoyu (李寶玉, 1889-1961), who was known by the courtesy name Li Xiangyuan (李香遠). Li had mastered Wu (Hao)-style tai chi under Hao Weizhen, and was famous for defeating all challengers in and out of the ring, including some local gangsters. For three years, Dong lived with Li, worked for him in his business, and trained intensively in Wu (Hao) style and Li's advanced techniques. From that time onwards, Li became a lifelong coach, mentor, and friend.
In 1926, Dong moved to Beijing seeking instruction from Grandmaster Yang Chengfu in Yang-style tai chi. He quickly mastered Yang Chengfu's "large frame" techniques, and served as chief assistant instructor for much of the last 10 years of Yang's life.
While in Beijing he also trained under Yang's older brother Yang Shaohou in "small frame" Yang-style tai chi, and practiced push hands with Chen-style master Chen Fake. Also training with Yang Shaohou were Dong's future lifelong colleagues, the Wu-style masters Wu Gongyi and Wu Kung-tsao.
A few years later he resumed training with Li Baoyu to master the Wu (Hao) style as well, and so the Dong family trace their tai chi lineage through both Yang and Wu (Hao).
In 1928 Dong moved south with a group led by Yang Chengfu to establish tai chi schools in other cities. Later that year he proved his pushing hands prowess and confirmed the reputations of his teachers by defeating all nine challengers at the Hangzhou Guoshu Arena Competition (杭州國術擂台賽). He also demonstrated Yang-style forms at major Guoshu events for audiences that included martial arts celebrities and government officials, for example in Shanghai in 1928 and at the West Lake Expo Auditorium (西湖博覽會大禮堂) in 1929.
He was the principal contributor to Yang's 1931 book Methods of Applying Tai Chi Boxing (太極拳使用法), and helped establish Yang-style tai chi schools and classes in Hangzhou, Nanjing and other cities, including Suzhou where he lived and led classes in the mansion of a wealthy patron during his first years in the region, Shanghai where in 1934 he established and managed all business of the center as director as well as instructor, and Guangzhou where he assisted and then took over when Yang returned north in 1935.
In 1936 he volunteered to travel across China with a group of experts to train and inspire troops preparing to fight the Japanese invaders. Dong Yingjie's participation was valuable not only for his fighting skills. He was also an inspiration, having by that point risen to national fame after becoming known as "Yingjie", following his fight against another type of foreign aggression.
He earned the name Yingjie, which can be translated as "heroic figure", in his early thirties by defeating a British fighter in a brutal public match in Nanjing. Dong defended the honor of tai chi and all Chinese martial arts, and bolstered Chinese national pride after the foreigner had issued insulting racial taunts and had already defeated several other Chinese martial artists.
Li Baoyu coached Dong for that competition, after planning to take the challenger on himself but then dropping out because, as the story goes, a local gangster hired by the British deputy consul threw lime powder in Li's eyes which temporarily blinded him. After the fight, Dong threw his winner's jackpot of silver coins into the crowd, asking the audience to cover transportation home for other Chinese martial artists who had competed.
Nationalism had been stoked on both sides in no small part because his opponent was sponsored by the British deputy consul. As word of Dong's win and generosity spread across the country, he was hailed as a hero of the Chinese people. And so from that time on, Dong Wenke was known only as Dong Yingjie.
In 1936 after Yang Chengfu passed away, Dong Yingjie was invited to teach in Hong Kong, where he founded the Tung Ying Kit Tai Chi Chuan Gymnasium — "kit" (Jyutping: git6) is the Cantonese pronunciation of "jie" (傑, Pinyin: jié) — and became the first to teach Yang-style tai chi in the colony. In 1939 he was also invited to teach in Macau, where he established another successful school. From 1941 to 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, he relocated to Macau which as a Portuguese colony was neutral territory, where he continued his anti-Japanese resistance activities while also developing a new tai chi fast form, leading tai chi classes, and taking up traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy.
After the war he returned to Hong Kong, enlisting his children in growing both schools, and in 1948 published 太極拳釋義 (The Meaning and Significance of Taijiquan Practice, also translated Tai Chi Boxing Explained) which illustrated and explained the Yang-style curriculum and introduced his Yingjie Fast Form (英傑快拳 — see the section on the Dong family forms below). Also known as the "Red Book" due to the cover of the Hong Kong edition, it has been reprinted many times, and in 1972 his eldest son Tung Hu Ling (Dong Huling; 董虎嶺) expanded the section on the Yingjie Fast Form.
In the 1950s his network of schools and students expanded to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia under the management of his son Tung Hu Ling, their success in Southeast Asia ensured after a few Muay Thai boxers famously challenged and failed to defeat their tai chi. Dong Yingjie also led efforts to coordinate with leading Yang and Wu (吳, Pinyin: Wú) stylists for the promotion of tai chi, organizing a large gathering of practitioners in Hong Kong, and serving as a judge for a wildly popular public match in Macau between his longtime colleague, Wu-style tai chi master Wu Gongyi, and a master of Tibetan White Crane. At that 1954 fight, Dong was filmed demonstrating techniques with an Eagle Claw master, and performing his Yingjie Fast Form.
In his final years Dong Yingjie lost weight and strength, but it is clear in films of him performing tai chi that he retained his balance, grace, and martial skills longer than most. He continued his teaching and practice as long as he was able, as well as the calligraphy and painting he had mastered in Macau during World War II, and in his last days took the time to tell stories of his past to his family, especially his youngest child Jasmine, who was then 21. One night in 1961, in Hong Kong, he died peacefully in his sleep at home.
After Dong Yingjie's death in 1961, his daughter and youngest child Jasmine Mood-lay Tung (董茉莉, Pinyin: Dǒng Mòlì, Jyutping: dung2 mut6 lei6, 1940-2009) continued teaching at the Tung Ying Kit Tai Chi Chuan Gymnasium in Hong Kong, taking over as head of the school in 1966. She also taught in the UK, founded a school in Australia, and served as instructor and advisor to the Taiji Society of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She was the first Hong Kong martial artist to become an International Wu Shu Federation referee, serving as referee and referee director for events in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Japan, including the 11th Asian Games in Beijing. She also served as president of the Hong Kong Wushu Federation and the Hong Kong Jingwu Athletic Association, and played a prominent role in promoting tai chi in Hong Kong and abroad.
Dong Yingjie's son Dong Junling (董俊嶺, born Dong Junbiao 董俊彪, 1923-1983) worked closely with the family in Hong Kong for several years, where among other things he posed with his brother Tung Hu Ling (Dong Huling) for photographs of tai chi applications to be used in Tung Hu Ling's book, Methods of Applying Tai Chi Boxing (太極拳使用法). But in the early 1950s he returned home to Ren County in Hebei for good, where he continued to teach tai chi to a select group of students for many years, including his nephew, Tung Hu Ling's son Dong Zengchen.
Dong Yingjie's eldest son Tung Hu Ling (Dong Huling), who had played a prominent role in opening and growing Dong family schools in Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia, continued to lead classes there for about five years after his father's death. But in 1966 he was invited to promote tai chi on a tour of North America which he completed in 1967, after which he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii to establish a new school and home base in the USA.
Tung Hu Ling's son Tung Kai Ying (董繼英; Pinyin: Dǒng Jìyīng; Jyutping: dung2 gai3 ying1; 1941-) also led classes at the Southeast Asia locations, taking over in 1962 before joining him in Hawaii in 1969, and then founding a Los Angeles school in 1971. Tung Hu Ling's other son Dong Zeng Chen (董增辰, Pinyin: Dǒng Zēngchén, 1947-) taught in mainland China for many years before moving from Hebei to take over the Hawaii school after Tung Hu Ling's retirement in 1983, accompanied by his son Da De "Alex" Dong.
In 2003 Alex Dong (董大德, Pinyin: Dǒng Dàdé, 1971-), Dong Zeng Chen's son and great grandson of Dong Yingjie, established a school in New York City, while Tung Kai Ying's son Tung Chen-Wei David (董振威 Pinyin, Dǒng Zhènwēi, 1977-) — another great grandson of Dong Yingjie — is also a master instructor, based in Los Angeles. All regularly travel to teach classes and workshops as well, resulting in many additional schools and practice groups around the world. Dong Zeng Chen retired in 2021.
Dong Yingjie's granddaughter-in-law Cheng Hsiao-fen (鄭小芬, Jyutping: zeng6 siu2 fan1; Pinyin: Zhèng Xiǎofēn, 1955-) in Hong Kong and a long list of disciples worldwide also continue the Dong family tai chi tradition.
Dong family tai chi training offers a strong foundation in Yang-style tai chi, and advanced training in Wu (Hao) and Dong styles. This Yang style is the classic traditional Yang Chengfu form as he taught it in the latter half of his career, and as Yang Chengfu, Dong Yingjie, and Tian Zhaolin (田兆林, 1891-1960) demonstrated in photos for the 1931 and 1934 books published under Yang's name, with small refinements by subsequent Dong family generations.
Each posture is taught with great attention to detail, and with an explanation of potential applications. Many students remain focused on the Yang slow form along with related drills, and some schools also teach shortened variations of that form to make practice convenient. But intermediate and advanced students may progress to the classic Yang-style straight sword (劍, Pinyin: jiàn) and saber (刀, Pinyin: dāo, also translated as "falchion" or "broadsword"), and Yang-style push hands (stationary, stepping, and four corners). When sufficient training space is available, advanced students may also learn the Yang-style spear (槍 Pinyin: qiāng, or often simply 桿, gǎn, "pole", because the Yang "spear" is actually a very long sturdy pole with one tapered end but no spear point; based on the shape Tung Kai Ying calls it a "lance").
Advanced students may also learn two Dong-style fast forms, a Wu (Hao)-style form, advanced saber and double saber forms, and stick forms.
Dong Yingjie collaborated with Yang Chengfu on development of what is now called the Dong-style Fa Jin Fast Form (發勁快拳, Pinyin: Fājìn Kuàiquán), completing it after Yang passed away. The majority of this form is similar to the Yang Chengfu form as it was performed in the early twentieth century, before most tai chi forms were slowed and smoothed out to make them more accessible to the general public, in a swift-slow tempo and optionally with fa jin and the double jump kick from the old version of the form. It also includes some postures Dong developed from his training with Wu (Hao)-style master Li Baoyu.
Dong then developed his Yingjie Fast Form (英傑快拳, Pinyin: Yīngjié Kuàiquán), and introduced it to the world in his 1948 book. It is based on advanced Yang small frame and Wu (Hao) middle frame techniques that Dong developed from his training with Yang Shaohou and Li Baoyu. Like the other "fast form" this is performed in the old slow-swift tempo, and both may also be considered "application frame" (用架, Pinyin: yòngjià) forms.
The Wu (Hao) form is the old "kaihe" (開合) form of Hao Weizhen as taught by Dong Yingjie's teacher Li Baoyu, with small but significant refinements by the Dong family. It is most visibly distinct from other Wu (Hao) forms in its larger frame, forward-inclined postures, and internal strength projected through the fingers. This form emphasizes projecting internal strength ("neijin") to the outside perimeter of the body in all directions. Unlike the classic Yang-style metaphor of "an iron bar wrapped in cotton" this is more like "a crab shell on the outside, and soft inside". Therefore the Dong family also call this their "Hard Form" to contrast it with the Yang Chengfu "soft" form. It is generally performed more slowly than in most purely Wu (Hao) lineages, so that advanced students can focus on the unique Wu (Hao)-style internal training it contains, because this is the Dong family's only Wu (Hao) form. In some Wu (Hao) lineages this is an advanced fast (slow-swift tempo) form, but in Dong family schools that next step is offered through the Dong family fast forms described above.
Tung Hu Ling contributed all the saber and stick forms in the curriculum, including the standard Yang-style saber form and also advanced saber forms he created based on the teachings of Yang Chengfu's older brother, Yang Shaohou, one for single saber and one for double sabers, vigorous routines that include long leaps, jump kicks, reverse spins, and challenging circles. Tung Hu Ling for a time taught those forms using sticks rather than swords, as sticks were easier to carry and practice with under the laws of British Hong Kong. He and his family further developed the stick forms into separate routines after moving abroad. He also created unique two-person push hands sets in Thailand, because many students there have a very martial orientation.
Dong Yingjie taught that there are in fact not three separate large, medium, and small "frames" of Yang style, that mastery of one will allow a student to understand the others and move freely between them, that all tai chi lineages including Wu (Hao) have a deep relationship, and that the Yang Chengfu "large frame" is simply the best place for beginners to start. And so Dong Yingjie and his son Tung Hu Ling were modest about their contributions to the art, and were never known to criticize other styles or masters.
The Dong family now has tai chi students in over 20 countries and territories around the world, while maintaining warm connections to China including their ancestral home Xingtai. Although Dong Yingjie is perhaps not as well-known in the West as some other masters, many seeking to learn tai chi for health or martial arts training have long found their way to him and his successors. For he was a champion, he was a master of multiple styles with his own unique synthesis, and he established a lasting legacy that has continued to thrive, with many affiliated schools in North America, Europe, and Asia.
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