Liu Qilan (劉奇蘭, 1819–1889) — pillar of Hebei Xingyi

Liu Qilan (劉奇蘭 / Liú Qílán, 1819–1889) was one of the principal disciples of Li Luoneng, the founder of Xingyiquan — and the figure through whom the largest share of modern Hebei Xingyi descends. A Shen County gentleman praised for his refined body-method and, unusually, for teaching the art openly, he was the father of the manual-writer Liu Dianchen and the teacher of Li Cunyi.

Life

Born in 深縣 (Shen County), Hebei — the same martial heartland that produced Li Luoneng and Li Cunyi — into a scholarly, well-off family. He had trained in 金剛拳 (Jingangquan) before becoming a direct disciple of Li Luoneng when Li came to teach at the Liu household, and is counted among Li's "eight" principal disciples. He was admired for a fine body method (身法) — the phrase "龍形搜骨" ("dragon-shape searching the bones") attaches to him — and, in Sun Lutang's account, for teaching "without bias toward his own school." He died in 1889.

What he gave the art

Liu is the chief propagator of the Hebei branch of Xingyiquan, which through his students became the most widely-transmitted Xingyi in the world.

Students and lineage

• His son, Liu Dianchen (劉殿琛, also 劉文華) — wrote the 《形意拳術抉微》 (1920), the standard Hebei-Xingyi technical manual of its era (and one held in the codex's Sources/internal-arts-manuals/).

• Li Cunyi (李存義, 1847–1921) — a celebrated saber-fighter and caravan guard who founded the 中華武士會 (Chinese Warriors' Association) in Tianjin in 1912.

• Zhang Zhaodong (張占魁 / 張兆東), Geng Jishan (耿繼善), Wang Fuyuan (王福元), and others seeded schools across Hebei and Tianjin.

See also

Xingyi (形意拳) — the full style overview

Li Luoneng (李洛能) — his teacher, the founder of Xingyiquan

Guo Yunshen (郭雲深) — his co-disciple under Li Luoneng

A Short History of Chinese Martial Arts

Sources

[1] Sun Lutang's account of his teachers' generation (1924), translated by Paul Brennan — The Voices of Sun Lutang's Teachers — the period testimony on Liu Qilan's open transmission and his place in the Li Luoneng line.

[2] 形意拳, Chinese Wikipedia (zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/形意拳) — Liu Qilan among Li Luoneng's eight disciples; the Hebei branch; his students.

[3] 劉殿琛 (Liu Dianchen), 形意拳術抉微 (1920) — his son's manual, held in the codex; the Liu-family Hebei Xingyi in print.