Wu Yuxiang

Wu Yuxiang, also romanized Wu Yu-hsiang, was a Chinese martial artist and teacher who lived from about 1812 to about 1880, with both dates uncertain. He is the founder of Wu (Hao)-style tai chi. Wu came from a wealthy and influential scholarly family and became a senior student of Yang Luchan, the founder of Yang-style tai chi, and he also studied for a brief time with Chen Qingping, a master of Chen-style and Zhaobao-style tai chi. A large body of writing on tai chi theory is attributed to him, and it is considered influential by other styles and was a source of the tai chi classics. He shared his style with his family, including his nephews Li Yiyu and Li Qixuan, and it became known as Wu (Hao) style through three generations of students of a nephew named Hao, whose student Hao Weizhen later taught Sun Lutang, the founder of Sun-style tai chi.