He Yunheng (贺运亨, 1839–1924, a native of Menggao Village, Taigu, Shanxi, and the second Shanxi disciple of Li Laonong, the founder of Xingyi Quan), and the second‑generation Chuojiao grand master Wei Changyi (魏昌义, 1840–1920, from Xiqizhuang, Lixian County, Hebei), who was then in charge of the Fuyuan Escort Agency in Beijing, formed a bond through martial arts. They had close relations, disregarded sectarian boundaries, learned from each other, and thus promoted exchanges between Xingyi Quan and Chuojiao techniques, creating a celebrated story of mutual transmission of secret skills.
Around 1870–1901, He Laoxi’er (贺老西儿, i.e., He Yunheng) ran a grain shop on Liangshidian Street in Beijing and had close ties with Liu Guanlan (刘观澜) and Wei Changyi, who operated the Fuyuan Escort Agency. Until 1900, when the Eight‑Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing and both the grain shop and the escort agency went bankrupt and closed, the facts of Wei Changyi and He Yunheng mutually exchanging and learning from each other’s Xingyi and Chuojiao skills have been consistently passed down by both sides to this day. Around 1900–1901, due to the corrupt Qing government’s abrupt shift from using the Boxers to “support the Qing and destroy the foreign” to suppressing the “Boxer bandits,” the patriotic martial arts celebrities He Yunheng and Wei Changyi, who had actively supported the Boxers, went together to Menggao Village in Taigu to take refuge. There, He Yunheng introduced Wei Changyi and his disciples to He’s juniors Li Fuzhen and Bu Xuekuan (布学宽), and they mutually transmitted Xingyi and Chuojiao. This fact is not only supported by similar oral traditions, but also by the Yuanyang Jiao routine passed down through generations in Xingyi Quan practitioners, and the Xingyi techniques mastered by the Chuojiao practitioners. In addition, as early as 1982, in response to the national call for the collation of martial arts, the Chuojiao lineage of Lixian County compiled a genealogy that explicitly recorded: “He Laoxi’er introduced Wei Changyi to coach the junior Taigu Xingyi practitioners Li Fuzhen and Bu Xuekuan, and accepted them as disciples,” which also serves as supporting evidence.
To establish the dates of the matter we studied Wei Changyi’s background. This also comes from his direct blood descendants, such as Wei Yanzhong (70 years old, fourth generation below Wei Changyi, great‑great‑grandson of the same clan), Wei Jinliang (魏金良, 82 years old, fourth generation below Wei Changyi, great‑great‑grandson of Wei Changyi’s cousin branch, specifically the great‑great‑grandson of Wei Changyi’s second younger brother Wei Wanxuan 魏万选). Some of the artefacts include: Wei Changyi’s paternal aunt had been granted a chastity archway by the Qing government in the first year of the Jiaqing reign (1795). This archway was damaged during the Cultural Revolution, but remnants of its stone slabs still exist.
The existing Wei family genealogy records that Wei Changyi had three brothers: Wei Changyi himself, Wei Jianrang (魏俭让, younger brother), and Wei Wanxuan (second younger brother). Wei Jianrang had seven sons, of whom the third was Wei Zankui.
At the age of 17 or 18, Wei Changyi went from village to village selling bean sprouts. Because he was weak, he was often bullied by villagers from other villages, which ignited a strong desire to learn martial arts. He then went to Zhaoduanzhuang (赵锻庄) to find his cousin Liu Guanlan and learn Chuojiao boxing under the title of fellow disciple.
Liu Guanlan’s elder brother Liu Pangui (刘攀桂) was Wei Changyi’s brother‑in‑law. Liu Guanlan’s younger brother Liu Guixin (刘桂馨) was conferred an official position by the Qing government (evidenced by an extant imperial plaque). Liu Guanlan once operated the Fuyuan Escort Agency at Xizhushikou in Beijing until it declined due to the Eight‑Power Allied Forces’ entry into the capital.
For the issue of Wei Changyi’s age. There are two accounts: one says Wei Changyi lived from 1840 to 1920; the other says from 1812 to 1920. After multiple investigations, we still believe that Wei Changyi’s birth and death years should be around 1835 -1915. Liu Jingshan (刘景山, 1908–1981), the third‑generation Chuojiao master, was the grandnephew of Liu Guanlan, the owner of the Beijing Fuyuan Escort Agency, and also the father of Liu Xiangxin (刘香芯), mother of Lu Jibo, the current director of the Lixian County Chuojiao Martial Arts Hall, and a professor of martial arts at Hebei Institute of Physical Education. Liu Jingshan and Liu Xiangxin confirmed that Liu Guanlan’s elder brother Liu Pangui was three years older than Liu Guanlan, and he was Wei Changyi’s brother‑in‑law, being about 20 years older than Wei Changyi’s elder sister. Wei Changyi was three years younger than his sister. Liu Guanlan was born in 1820 (as evidenced by a stele of merit erected for Liu Guanlan in 1913 – it was built when Liu Guanlan was 84 years old in Chinese reckoning, with the inscription dated the 29th year of the Guangxu reign, i.e., 1904; 1904 – 84 = 1820). From this, it is inferred that Liu Pangui was born in 1817, and thus Wei Changyi’s sister was probably born around 1837, so Wei Changyi being born around 1840 is credible.
On 19 December 2021, Wei Yanzhong, a clansman of Wei Changyi in Qizhuang, Lixian County, once again verified with Wei Jinliang, the grandson of Wei Changyi’s grandson (four generations younger than Wei Changyi). He is now 82 years old and is four generations apart from Wei Changyi, with a difference of 100 years (which happens to fit the general average of 25 years per generation). Wei Jinliang was born in 1940. From this, it is reasonable to infer that Wei Changyi was born around 1835–1840.
Wei Yanzhong (70 years old, fourth generation below Wei Changyi, great‑great‑grandson of the same clan); Wei Jinliang (82 years old, fourth generation below Wei Changyi, great‑great‑grandson of Wei Changyi’s cousin branch, specifically the great‑great‑grandson of Wei Changyi’s second younger brother Wei Wanxuan); Wei Zhonghe (魏忠贺, fifth generation below Wei Changyi’s direct brother Wei Jianrang); Wei Yankai (魏彦楷); Wei Xinguang (魏新广, fifth generation below Wei Changyi’s direct line).
On the left is Wei Yankai, fifth generation below Wei Changyi, holding the double‑handed long sabre (双手带) that Senior Wei Changyi once used; on the right is Wei Xinguang, of the same generation as Wei Yankai, holding the tang (镗) weapon that Senior Wei Changyi once used. According to the legends passed down through generations of the Wei family, these two weapons rendered great service when following Wei Changyi in suppressing bandits and escorting goods, and are of commemorative significance and great value.
In the 18th year of the Daoguang reign (1838), Liu Guanlan, following his master’s instructions, ventured out into the Jianghu. After winning a challenge in the capital, he was officially employed and sent to Miyun County to teach the constables Chuojiao. His younger brother Liu Guixin, because of his excellent martial skills, was also promoted by the imperial court to a fifth‑rank sword‑bearing guard. Subsequently, Liu Guanlan established the Fuyuan Escort Agency in Beijing, hiring Wei Changyi and Wang Zhan’ao (王占鳌) as escort masters, and they escorted goods to Shenyang, Shandong, the Northeast, Henan, Shanxi, and other places. During this time, they had close dealings with the owner of a grain shop on Liangshidian Street outside the Qianmen Gate, “Shanxi Laoxi’er” He Yunheng. He Yunheng was a disciple of Li Laoneng (李老能), the grand master of Shanxi Xingyi Quan. When they met, they appreciated each other’s skills and often exchanged martial techniques and discussed boxing together. Later, all goods transported from Shanxi were jointly escorted to the capital by He Yunheng and the Fuyuan escort master Wei Changyi.
When the Eight‑Power Allied Forces entered Beijing, He Yunheng, Wei Changyi, and other Chuojiao disciples joined the Boxer movement, fighting against the foreigners and supporting the Qing in a courageous act of righteousness. However, when the imperial court capitulated to the foreigners and turned to suppress the Boxers, Liu Guixin secretly sent word to He, Wei, and their disciples to disperse and avoid being implicated. He and Wei both took refuge in Taigu County, Shanxi. There, through He Yunheng’s introduction, they engaged in close exchanges with the Xingyi Quan community of Taigu. There was a pioneering initiative in which Xingyi and Chuojiao practitioners mutually acknowledged each other as masters and exchanged techniques. According to my maternal grandfather and mother, the two Taigu seniors Li Fuzhen (李复祯) and Bu Xuekuan (布学宽) once became disciples of Chuojiao master Wei Changyi. My grandfather also lamented that, due to the passage of time, they had lost contact with those two seniors, and he hoped to have the opportunity to go to Shanxi to inquire and reconnect. My maternal grandfather was Liu Jingshan (刘景山, 1908–1981), the grandnephew of Liu Guanlan. During the War of Resistance, he served as company commander of the martial arts company of the Central Hebei Military Sub‑District. After liberation, he became a coach for the Hebei Provincial Wushu Team. In 1979, he served as Chairman of the Hebei Wushu Association and authored the book Chuojiao (戳脚, published by Hebei People’s Publishing House in 1983).
Together with Wei Xinguang (魏新广), a fifth‑generation direct descendant of Wei Changyi, I went directly to the Wei family ancestral graveyard. We examined and photographed the tombstone of Wei Jianrang (魏俭让), Wei Changyi’s second younger brother. I immediately contacted Teacher Zhang Liwei (张立伟), an epigraphic expert at the Liangbin Huangzhou Memorial Hall in Lixian County, and sent him the results and all the photos. After detailed study and collation, Teacher Zhang sent me the transcribed texts from both the front and back of the stele.
Erected on an auspicious day in the early spring of the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925).
The Gentleman Wei, courtesy name Jianrang, lived for generations in Qijiazhuang, Liwu (Lixian). His late father, courtesy name Yuanheng, had three sons: the eldest was Wei Changyi, the youngest was Wei Wanxuan (魏万选), and he was the second. In his youth he was intelligent and fond of reading. Although he did not study under a teacher for long, he was able to grasp the main ideas of the books. When he reached adulthood, with increasing household expenses, the family fortune gradually declined. Unable to bear burdening his father with the family’s difficulties, he gave up studying and took up farming. He personally managed the household affairs, being diligent and thrifty, and attended to everything himself, so that the family became moderately well‑off. His wife, née Xu, assisted in internal affairs; above, she was filial to her parents‑in‑law, and below, she showed universal love to her nephews and nieces. She personally attended to all household tasks and fully fulfilled her duties as a wife. He was filial to his parents and respectful to his elders, and had good methods in educating his children. At last, heaven favoured him, and his descendants multiplied. He lived to a great old age, which is proof that heaven blesses good people. He passed away on the 19th day of the first month of the 7th year of the Republic of China (1918), at the age of 82. His wife died of illness on the 10th day of the seventh month of the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), at the age of 86. He had seven sons: the eldest, Zanxing (赞兴), died early; the second, Zancheng (赞成), was adopted as the heir of Wanxuan. Their grandsons and sons, including Zan Kui (Zankui), Shouchang (寿长), and others, planned to carve this stele as a tomb inscription. They asked me, but I am poor at writing and do not know how to embellish, so I have merely recounted his life as follows.
Composed by Xu Jie (徐杰), a former county school student and graduate of the Zhili Superior Normal School.
Calligraphy by Xu Jianbang (许建邦), a graduate of the Beiyang Police Academy and a single‑grade normal school graduate.
Front stele heading: “Source of the wood and head of the stream” (木本水源). Rear stele heading: “Eternal remembrance of filial piety” (永言孝思).
Notes: 1. The characters in brackets are not certain. 2. The meaning of the front stele phrase “Venerable ancestor and mother Wei Wang” (显祖考妣魏王) is not understood.
After studying the stele surface and the inscription, the following conclusions can be drawn:
- The tomb’s occupant is Wei Jianrang. His father was Wei Yuanheng (魏元衡); his elder brother was Wei Changyi, and his younger brother was Wei Wanxuan. Because of family poverty, he gave up studying and took up farming from a young age. He and his wife were filial to their parents and had good methods in raising children.
- He had seven sons; the third was Wei Zankui.
- Wei Jianrang was born in 1837 (the 17th year of the Daoguang reign) and died in 1918 (the 7th year of the Republic of China). Through this re‑verification of Wei Jianrang’s tombstone, we can further confirm that Wei Changyi’s birth year should be prior to 1837. According to most of the current clan members in the village, Wei Jianrang and his elder brother Wei Changyi once studied together, and Wei Changyi stopped studying two years earlier to sell bean sprouts, so he was probably about two years older than Wei Jianrang. On this basis, it is confirmed that Wei Changyi’s more accurate birth year should be 1835.
