Hsia

Hsia, semilegendary first dynasty of China, which ruled, according to traditional dates, from c.2205 B.C. to c.1766 B.C. or, according to some modern scholars, from c.1994 B.C. to c.1523 B.C. This dynasty is said to have been founded by Yu, the culture hero of China who built canals to control floods and then divided the reclaimed land. Scanty archaeological remains suggest that the people had domestic animals, wheat and millet, the potter's wheel, bronze weapons, and war chariots. The Hsia dynasty was succeeded by the Shang, the first historic dynasty of China.

or Hsia Kuei

(flourished 1195–1224, Qiantang, Zhejiang province, China) Chinese master of landscape painting. Xia served in the Imperial Painting Academy, and most sources agree that he followed the stylistic tradition of an earlier landscapist in the academy, Li Tang. Xia and his contemporary, Ma Yuan, were the most influential members of the academy, and a school of painting inspired by them came to be known as the Ma-Xia school. Most of Xia's surviving works are album leaves painted on silk. A typical work by him is exquisitely calculated and perfectly balanced, conveying with great precision a scene glimpsed through haze, sharply focused at a few points but obscured at others. Chinese writers spoke of his use of a “split brush” (i.e., the brush tip divided so as to make two or more strokes at once) in painting tree foliage and of his freehand drawing “without employing a ruler.” While his influence was considerable, it was only in modern times that he came to be recognized as one of the leading masters of Chinese landscape painting and one of art's great interpreters of nature.

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Wu Yen-hsia (1930-2001) was a Chinese t'ai chi ch'uan teacher of Manchu ancestry. She was the daughter of Wu Kung-i (吳公儀 1900-1970) from whom she learned t'ai chi. She also helped in the teaching of her father's students. Wu Yen-hsia was the the younger sister of Wu Ta-k'uei and Wu Ta-ch'i, and married Kuo Hsiao-chung, who was also a disciple of her father. She held the position of senior instructor of the Wu family from 1996 to her death in 2001 and was succeeded by her cousin Wu Ta-hsin.

Wu Yen-hsia moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai in 1948. In an interview late in her life, she mentioned that she had often seconded her older brother Wu Ta-k'uei at his many challenge fights in those years. She mentioned applying first aid to any injuries resulting from the fights, and she was "fearful that someone would be killed and there would be big trouble for the family" because her brother was "young and overly fierce".

She attended to the affairs of the Chien-ch'uan Tai Chi Chuan Association while training her students and disciples. She became known as a specialist with the t'ai chi sword and t'ai chi spear.

Generational senior instructors of the Wu family

1st Generation

Wu Ch'uan-yü (Wu Quanyou, 吳全佑, 1834-1902), who learned from Yang Lu-ch'an and Yang Pan-hou, was senior instructor of the family from 1870-1902.

2nd generation

His oldest son, Wu Chien-ch'üan (Wu Jianquan, 吳鑑泉, 1870-1942), was senior from 1902-1942.

3rd Generation

His oldest son, Wu Kung-i (Wu Gongyi, 吳公儀, 1900-1970) was senior from 1942-1970.

3rd Generation

Wu Kung-i's younger brother, Wu Kung-tsao (Wu Gongzao, 吳公藻, 1903-1983), was senior from 1970-1983.

3rd Generation

Wu Kung-i's younger sister, Wu Ying-hua (Wu Yinghua, 吳英華, 1907-1997), was senior from 1983-1997.

4th Generation

Wu Kung-i's daughter , Wu Yen-hsia (Wu Yanxia, 吳雁霞, 1930-2001) was senior from 1997-2001.

4th Generation

Wu Kung-tsao's son, Wu Ta-hsin (Wu Daxin, 吳大新, 1933-2005), was senior from 2001-2005.

5th Generation

The current senior instructor of the Wu family is Wu Ta-k'uei's son Wu Kuang-yu (Wu Guangyu, Eddie Wu, 吳光宇, born 1946).

See also

• Wu style form list
• Wu style tai chi chuan

References