Wu Hao

Place: Yongnian

Born: 1930

Biography:

Wu Hao or Hao Wu is the name of: Wu Hao (artist) (吳昊, born 1932), Taiwanese artist. Wu Yuxiang began training with Yang Luchan, the founder of Yang-style tai chi, in the early 1840s after Yang returned to Yongnian from his years in the Chen village. Among their many properties the Wu family were the landlords of Chen Dehu's pharmacy and clinic, where Yang offered instruction in what he then called 'soft boxing' (軟拳), 'cotton boxing' (棉拳), or 'neutralizing boxing' (化拳). But in the early 1850s, Wu and his family introduced Yang as martial arts instructor to a prominent family in distant Beijing, where Yang was invited to take up a teaching position at the palace of Prince Duan.Wu then found his way to Chen Qingping, a master of Chen-style and Zhaobao tai chi, in Zhaobao village where he trained with Chen for over one month (per writings left by Wu's nephew and grandson). After approximately ten years of training with Yang, Wu was likely able to quickly master a great deal from Chen, gaining further depth and insight.From this training Wu began to develop his own style, which he shared with members of his extended family. He and his family were wealthy gentry, some of them government officials but none in military careers at that time, and had no need to teach martial arts for professional or financial purposes. They seem to have pursued tai chi primarily as a means of self-cultivation, and possibly for self-defense and leadership in a time of widespread civil breakdown and unrest including banditry, anti-landlord uprisings, and the Nian and Taiping rebellions.