Wing Chun
Wing Chun has been passed from teacher to student verbally rather than in writing, making it difficult to confirm (or clarify) differing accounts of the martial art's creation. Attempts have been made to apply methods of higher criticism to oral histories of Wing Chun and other Chinese martial arts, and to discern the origins of Wing Chun by determining the purpose of its techniques. Wing Chun began to appear in independent documentation during the lifetime of 19th-century Wing Chun master Leung Jan, facilitating verification of its subsequent history and divergence into branches.