TUNG HAI-CH'UAN 's TOMB
All images are thumbnails click to enlarge.
 Wan An Cemetery on the western outskirts of Beijing |
Tung
Hai Ch'uan  (or Dong Hai
Chuan) was the originator of Baguazhang. He died in 1882. He was originally
buried near The Red Bridge just outside Beijing's East Gate. A single
stele was placed there by his students in 1883. A second stone was added
by Bagua practitioners in 1905. On March 21st, 1930, a group led by
Master Ma Kuei placed two more steles at the site. Before he died, Master
Tung had written a poem to designate the names for the next 20 generations
of his lineage. One of these new stones contained the generation names
created by Tung. During The Cultural Revolution in the 1960's, the monuments
were knocked down and buried. They remained underground for 17 years |
 |
In
1980 the area was slated for development. A group of martial artists
who secretly knew where the grave was, saved it from being lost under
a housing project. Li Tzu-Ming, K'ang Ko-Wu and others unearthed the
stones and placed them in front of the Beijing Physical Education College's
Wushu Arena. Then in 1981 the four steles and the body were moved to
the Beijing Wan An Public Cemetery on the city's far westside. |
The
new monument erected here consisted of three parts: a small wall in
the front with three stones on the front and three on the back, a center
octagon with Tung's remains, and a large wall in the back into which
the original four stones were inlaid. In June of 1991, another stele
was placed next to the tomb reflecting the lineage as it has spread
to Korea. Over time more stones have been added by Bagua players to
show respect. |
 Waiting for admittance |
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The tomb has always had great attraction for Bagua practitioners, and
many martial artists have visited Master Tung's gravesite since 1882.
During our recent trip to China we made sure to pay a visit to the Wan
An Public Cemetery. We arrived there on a Wednesday at 5:30pm. What
we didn't know was that it closes at 3:30. Master Yang convinced the
caretakers to let us in for a brief visit to Tung's tomb. |
|
The
cemetery is quite large and peaceful. We had a pleasant stroll to the
back corner where the tomb is located. The gravesite itself is not well
cared for; there are weeds growing from it and a compost pile nearby.
|
 Looking a bit run down these days |
 Front wall |
All
images are thumbnails click to enlarge. |
 Eight-sided tomb containing remains |
The
octagonal central tomb has one of the eight trigrams on each side. Below
these are listed the names of Bagua practitioners who were involved
with the tomb's reconstruction. |
 Back wall containing four "original" steles |
The original stone is third from the left in the photo to the left.
It was placed by Tung's students in 1883. It gives Tung's name and a
short biographical narrative of his life. It says in part that he learned
martial arts from a Taoist priest, lived in the palace with Prince Su
and later taught many students. Also on this stone is a list of 66 of
Tung's students. |
 Many newer monuments nearby |
The
Korean stele placed in March of 1991 can be seen on the far left. It
documents the art of Bagua as it has spread to Korea. The first name
on the stone is Lu Shui Tien, who fled China during the Sino-Japanese
War. The last names are those of Park Bok Nam, his students, and his
Bagua nephews. Another newer stone can be seen partly obscured by the
small evergreen tree. It was placed on Oct. 14, 1994 in memory of Wang
Shu Jin. The newest addition is in the foreground. |