Wu Ch'uan-yu

Introduction
Wu Ch'uan-yu or Wu Quanyou (吳全佑) (1834–1902) was an influential teacher of t'ai chi ch'uan in late Imperial China. He is credited as the founder of the Wu style t'ai chi ch'uan. Wu Ch'uan-yu was not his birth name as he was of Manchu descent and would have been named by his family in Manchu, which Ch'uan Yu is a Chinese transliteration of. The name "Wú" (吳) was sinicisation that approximated the pronunciation of the first syllable of his Manchu clan name, U Hala. The name has been used by his descendants ever since and his full name in Chinese was Wu Ch'uan-yu.

Background
Wu Ch'uan-yu was a military officer in the Yellow Banner camp (see Qing Dynasty Military) in the Forbidden City, Beijing and also an officer of the Imperial Guards Brigade during the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Yang Luchan (楊露禪) (1799–1872) was the martial arts instructor in that banner camp, teaching t'ai chi ch'uan. In the camp, there were many officers studying with Yang Luchan, but only three men, Wan Chun (萬春), Ling Shan (凌山) and Ch'uan Yu (全佑) studied diligently and trained hard enough at t'ai chi ch'uan to become disciples. However, they were unable to become Yang Luchan's disciples, because Yang Luchan taught t'ai chi ch'uan to two men of very high status in the military; they were Shi Shaonan and General Yue Guichen.

These two men officially asked Yang Luchan to teach them and this post for Yang Luchan would have been considered very prestigious indeed. The practice of t'ai chi ch'uan was also very popular amongst the princes and courtiers for its therapeutic qualities, but many of these students did not have the required discipline to reach a level where they could become disciples. They are likely, however, to have represented the majority of Yang Luchan’s students.

At that time Wan Chun, Ling Shan and Ch'uan-yu were middle grade officers in the banner camp and because of their rank, they could not be seen as fellow classmates with nobility and high grade officers. As a result, they were asked to become disciples of Yang Pan-hou (楊班侯) or Yang Banhou, Yang Luchan’s oldest adult son and an instructor as well to the Manchu military.

Wu Ch'uan-yu as a teacher
When Wu retired from the military, he set up a school in Beijing. Ling Shan wrote down a history and Wan Chun was never known to have had any students.

Wu Ch'uan-yu's Beijing school was quite successful and there were many who studied with him, he was popularly known as Quan Sanye (全三爺) as a term of respect. His disciples were Guo Songting (郭松亭), Wang Maozhai (王茂齋), Xia Gongfu (夏公甫), Chang Yuanting (常遠亭), Qi Gechen (齊閣臣) (see Wudang Tai Chi Chuan Lineage) etc. Quan You’s skills in t'ai chi ch'uan were trained to a very high level and as a result he was considered to be a leading exponent of Yang's t'ai chi ch'uan. Wu's skills were said to be exceptional in the area of softly "neutralising" (化勁, hua jin) hard energy when attacked, which is a core skill of good t'ai chi ch'uan practice as a martial art.

Formation of the Wu style
Wu Ch'uan-yu's son, Wu Chien-ch'uan (吳鑑泉) (1870–1942) also became a cavalry officer and t'ai chi ch'uan teacher, working closely with the Yang family and promoting what subsequently came to be known as Wu style t'ai chi ch'uan in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

Family tree
This family tree is not comprehensive.

LEGENDARY FIGURES | Zhang Sanfeng* circa 12th century NEI CHIA | Wang Zongyue* T'AI CHI CH'ÜAN | THE 5 MAJOR CLASSICAL FAMILY STYLES | Chen Wangting 1600–1680 9th generation Chen CHEN STYLE |   +---+    |                                                                   | Chen Changxing                                                     Chen Youben 1771–1853 14th generation Chen                                    circa 1800s 14th generation Chen Chen Old Frame                                                    Chen New Frame |                                                                  | Yang Lu-ch'an                                                      Chen Qingping 1799–1872                                                         1795–1868 YANG STYLE                                                         Chen Small Frame, Zhao Bao Frame |                                                                  |    +-+-+   |    |                                 |                             |   | Yang Pan-hou                      Yang Chien-hou                   Wu Yu-hsiang 1837–1892                        1839–1917                        1812–1880 Yang Small Frame                     |                             WU/HAO STYLE |                                +-+                      |    |                                 |                 |                      | Wu Ch'uan-yü                      Yang Shao-hou     Yang Ch'eng-fu          Li I-yü 1834–1902                        1862–1930         1883–1936               1832–1892    |                              Yang Small Frame  Yang Big Frame            | Wu Chien-ch'üan                                       |                    Hao Wei-chen 1870–1942                                          Yang Shou-chung         1849–1920 WU STYLE                                           1910–1985                 | 108 Form                                                                     | |                                                                       Sun Lu-t'ang Wu Kung-i                                                                  1861–1932 1900–1970                                                                  SUN STYLE |                                                                         | Wu Ta-kuei                                                                  Sun Hsing-i 1923–1970                                                                  1891–1929

Note to Family tree table

Names denoted by an asterisk are legendary or semilegendary figures in the lineage, which means their involvement in the lineage, while accepted by most of the major schools, isn't independently verifiable from known historical records.