Lineage |
Cheng Man-Ching | Cheng Man-Ching was a renowned master of Tai Chi, painting, poetry, calligraphy, and Chinese traditional medicine. Cheng was born at the beginning of the 20th century in southeastern China. As a child, he was introduced to poetry and to medicinal herbs by his mother, and at 10 was apprenticed to Professor Wang Hsiang-ch’an to study painting, in the hope that this would help him heal from a head injury. By the age of 15, he was already supporting his family with his painting, as he continued his study of painting, along with poetry and calligraphy. At 18, he went to Beijing, published poetry, and at 19 was invited to teach poetry at Yu-wen University. In his early twenties, he began teaching painting at the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts, and soon he was the Director of the Department of Chinese Painting at the Shanghai School of Fine Arts. He was a leader in the Shanghai art world, participating in many exhibits in China, Japan and Europe. Still in his twenties, Professor Cheng studied Chinese herbal medicine, later practicing medicine full-time. In his early thirties, he studied the Chinese classics. Meanwhile, Professor Cheng developed lung disease from overwork, and in the hope of recovering, he began studying Tai Chi with the renowned master Yang Chengfu. At this time, Professor Cheng was able to use his exceptional traditional medical skills to heal Yang’s wife from a serious ailment other doctors had failed to cure. At the request of his wife, Yang taught Professor Cheng in great depth as a sign of gratitude. Read moreBy this time, China was immersed in war, and due to wartime pressures, Professor Cheng reduced the length of the Yang-style Tai Chi form to 37 postures, in part to make it easier to teach it at the Central Military Academy. In 1949, Professor Cheng was compelled by the impending victory of the People’s Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War to move to Taiwan. There he founded his first Tai Chi school, Shih Jung. While in Taiwan, he also continued to paint and exhibit his works. In 1964, Professor Cheng, followed by his family, moved to New York, where he began teaching Tai Chi and practicing medicine. Finally, in 1974, Professor Cheng returned to Taiwan to work on his commentary on the I Ching, and passed away there in 1975. His students and their students have continued his work of spreading Tai Chi and its principles in many countries throughout the world. |
Ed Young (1931–2023) | Ed Young came to the US from Shanghai at the age of twenty and became a widely admired illustrator of children’s books. He began his study of Tai Chi in 1964 with the renowned Tai Chi master, Cheng Man-Ch’ing, who had recently arrived in New York City and founded the Shr Jung Tai Chi Ch’uan School in New York’s Chinatown. Ed and Tam Gibbs became Professor Cheng’s principal translators and two of the six primary teachers at the School. When the Professor received a request to teach in Hastings-on-Hudson, he asked Ed to respond. This led to more than 45 years of well-received classes that brought the benefits of Tai Chi to local students, as well as to students from New York City and beyond. “The practice of Tai Chi is about discovering yourself. It's about forces of the world—both natural and unnatural—and how one relates to them. It's about focus and about balance. It's the understanding that things change and knowing how to stay centered throughout the changes.”—Ed Young |
Class location James V. Harmon Community Center 44 Main Street, Hastings-On-Hudson, NY Walking directions from the Hastings-on-Hudson train station |