Dong Huling

Dong Huling (Tung Hu Ling, 董虎嶺; 1917–1992) was a master of tai chi, known for teaching Yang style and Dong style, and an early leader in the spread of tai chi worldwide. Born in Ren County, Hebei, China, his father Dong Yingjie was a top disciple of Yang Chengfu and famous for his fighting skills. Also highly skilled and creative himself, Dong Huling taught in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. He then emigrated to Hawaii, founding a school in Honolulu, continued teaching workshops around the world, and carried on the Dong family legacy.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Dong.
董虎嶺
Dong Huling (Tung Hu Ling)
Born(1917-10-25)October 25, 1917
Ren County, Hebei, China
DiedNovember 29, 1992(1992-11-29) (aged 75)
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Other namesTung Fu Ling, Tung Huling, Tung Hu-ling
ResidenceHonolulu
StyleYang-style tai chi
Wu (Hao)-style tai chi
Dong-style tai chi
Dong Huling
Traditional Chinese董虎嶺
Simplified Chinese董虎岭

Early life

Dong trained under his father Dong Yingjie, Yang-style Grandmaster Yang Chengfu, and several other well-known teachers, practicing the slow set for eight years, learning the sword after ten years, and the saber after fourteen, then moving on to advanced study. As an adult he taught tai chi in Hebei, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and other locations in mainland China.[1]

Highly skilled by the age of twenty, during the Japanese occupation of China he was frequently challenged by Judo masters from Japan. He would politely decline but then accept once the challenge was repeated, and won every match while being careful not to use his full ability even when in a difficult position. This earned him much admiration and respect from his challengers as well as the Chinese martial arts community.[2]

Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia

In 1947 he moved to Hong Kong with two of his brothers, to help his father run the Tung Ying Kit Tai Chi Chuan Gymnasiums in Hong Kong and Macau. The words "Ying Kit" were based on the Cantonese pronunciation of his father's name, in which "chieh" (傑, Pinyin: jié) became "kit" (Jyutping: git6). Similarly, from that time on Dong Huling's name was often written as "Tung Fu Ling", in which "Hu" (虎, Pinyin: Hǔ) became the Cantonese "Fu" (Jyutping: Fu2).[3]

Beginning in 1953, he established branches of the Tung Ying Kit school in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia,[4] and in 1956 he published a book, 太極拳使用法 (Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing; Pinyin: Tàijíquán Shǐyòngfǎ), in which his brother Dong Junling (董俊嶺, Pinyin: Dǒng Jūnlǐng; 1923-1983) posed with him in photographs demonstrating the martial applications of Yang-style tai chi.[5]

Creativity and challenges

Dong family tai chi includes training in traditional Yang style, and advanced students may also train in a Wu (Hao) form and Dong style forms as well. Dong Huling contributed to this curriculum in many ways, including the Yang-style saber (刀, Pinyin: dāo, also translated as "falchion" or "broadsword") form, which he said he learned from "an uncle" because his father knew only the straight sword (劍, Pinyin: jiàn) and spear (槍, Pinyin: qiāng).[6]

Dong Huling further contributed advanced weapons forms he created based on the teachings of Yang Chengfu's elder brother, Yang Shaohou, including vigorous routines for single and double saber with long leaps, high kicks, reverse spins, and challenging circles. For a time he taught those forms using sticks rather than swords, as sticks were easier to carry and practice with under the laws of British Hong Kong. He and his family further developed the stick forms after moving abroad.[7]

He also developed a unique series of seven two-person push hands sets in Thailand, because many students there have a very martial orientation. In fact when Dong Huling arrived to introduce tai chi in 1953, many were skeptical that the slow and gentle moves of tai chi could translate into a useful defense. During one of his first demonstrations in the country, two martial arts instructors suddenly decided to mount the stage and test him. The audience only saw that as the young men approached he turned left and right, and in the blink of an eye both were flying off the platform.[8]

The next year when his famous father arrived for a tour, the 56 year-old Dong Yingjie also easily fended off a challenger proficient in Muay Thai, Shaolin, Iron Palm, and other arts. And so to this day, Dong family tai chi is respected throughout Southeast Asia.[9]

North America

After his father's death in 1961, he at first continued leading classes at the Tung Ying Kit schools, with his sister Jasmine Mood-lay Tung (董茉莉, Jyutping: dung2 mut6 lei6, Pinyin: Dǒng Mòlì, 1940-2009) also teaching in Hong Kong, and his son Tung Kai Ying (董繼英, Jyutping: dung2 gai3 ying1; Pinyin: Dǒng Jìyīng, 1941-) taking over in Southeast Asia in 1962. But then in 1966 he was invited to promote tai chi on a trip to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and Hawaii.[10]

Lasting into 1967, the trip was sponsored by Huang Wenshan and organized by Marshall Ho'o and others, and included a term teaching at the National Tai Chi Chuan Institute in Los Angeles assisted by Ho'o, who had regularly traveled to San Francisco's Chinatown to seek out tai chi masters and remarked that Dong's visit was "the first time a tai chi master came to us".[11]

During that Los Angeles visit, Dong was interviewed by the editor of Black Belt Magazine, resulting in an extensive cover story that introduced his tai chi to a wider American audience. The writer marveled at Dong's ability to neutralize an attack by a larger man, who was "stopped suddenly in his tracks, bounced back into the air, and sent crashing into a wall", while Dong "seemed hardly to have exerted himself".[12]

Over the next year, after trips to Europe, Thailand, and back to Hong Kong, Dong immigrated to the USA at the invitation of external-style martial arts masters and enthusiastic new disciples who implored him to become the first master of tai chi to reside in Hawaii. With their help he quickly established a new school and home base in Honolulu. His son Tung Kai Ying (董繼英, Jyutping: dung2 gai3 ying1; Pinyin: Dǒng Jìyīng, 1941-) joined him there in 1969 to help with the growing business, then in 1971 established his own school in Los Angeles.[13]

In 1972 Dong Huling produced a new edition of his father's 1948 book, 太極拳釋義 (The Meaning and Significance of T'ai Chi Ch'uan Practice; Pinyin: Tàijíquán Shìyì), adding detailed instructions and photos of himself performing the Yingjie Fast Form (英傑快拳, Pinyin: Yīngjié Kuàiquán). These were appended to the final chapter, which previously contained only that form's posture list and a short introduction.[14]

Dong Huling continued to travel and teach, including visits to China where he helped train his younger son Dong Zeng Chen (董增辰, Pinyin: Dǒng Zēngchén, 1947-) and grandson Alex Dong (董大德, Pinyin: Dǒng Dàdé, 1971-). They joined him in Hawaii in 1983 and took over the school there as he retired. Dong Zeng Chen himself retired in 2021.[15]

Alex Dong established a school in New York in 2003, and Tung Kai Ying's son Tung Chen-Wei David (董振威, Pinyin: Dǒng Zhènwēi, 1977-) is a master instructor based in Los Angeles. The family continues to travel and teach in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.[16]

Legacy

Dong Huling died in Honolulu on November 29, 1992. A T'ai Chi magazine cover story paid tribute early the following year with articles on the man, his art, and his life, in which his disciple Wu Ta-yeh noted, "Despite Master Tung's superb accomplishment, he was very modest and never talked about his own achievements. Because of this attitude of his, his students also did not publicize him or create an image for him. This is the reason why he has been little known in the United States as compared to other tai chi teachers. He never criticized other styles or other teachers. In fact, he never said, 'Wrong,' to his students, but just made the correction. This attitude perhaps reflects his mature training in Taijiquan."[17]

References
  1. Wu & Ellis, p. 7, paragraphs 6-8
  2. Tung, Hu-ling (1956), preface by Lin Boyan
  3. Tung, Kai Ying, p. 52-53; Dong, Zeng Chen, pp. 50-51
  4. Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 52; Yu, pp. 163-166 includes a photo of an October 12, 1953 article in a Thailand Chinese-language newspaper, announcing Dong Huling's arrival.
  5. Tung, Hu-ling (1956)
  6. Wu & Ellis, p. 7, paragraph 7
  7. Yang Shaohou saber form: Wu, Ta-yeh (1993). "Taiji Falchion". Internal Training of Taijiquan. p. 1, paragraph 8.; double saber form: Yu, DVD (see bibliography): 2005 21bowu.com (博武国际武术网) interview with Jasmine Tung; stick forms: Ellis, Chip. "Tung Fu Ling". Writings., and interview with Alex Dong
  8. Ellis, Chip. "Tung Fu Ling". Writings. p. paragraph 10.; Yu, pp. 163-165
  9. Yu, pp. 165
  10. Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 52-53; DeLeonardis
  11. Kroll, p. 56
  12. DeLeonardis, p. 19
  13. Yu, pp. 168; Shirota, pp. 16-18
  14. Tung, Ying-chieh (1948, beginning with the 1972 edition)
  15. Shirota, pp. 16-18; Yu, pp. 168-169; pp. 201-203; Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 58
  16. Yu, pp. 204-205; Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 60; see also lists of affiliated schools at Dong Yingjie: External Links
  17. Wu Ta-yeh, p. 6, (7) Postscript

Bibliography

DeLeonardis, Anthony (July 1967). "The 'Grand Ultimate Fist' of Tai Chi Chuan". Black Belt Magazine. ISSN 0277-3066.

Dong, Huling (1956). 太極拳使用法 [Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing] (in Chinese).

Dong, Zeng Chen (2016). Dong Style Tai Ji Quan. ISBN 978-1535460774.

Kroll, Paul William (November 1976). "The World's Most Popular Martial Art Comes to America". Black Belt Magazine. Vol. 14, no. 11. ISSN 0277-3066.

Shirota, Jon (August 1972). "Tai Chi Chuan -- Art of Passive Resistance". Black Belt Magazine. ISSN 0277-3066.

Tung, Kai Ying (2012). Learning Tai Chi Chuan. ISBN 978-0-9849582-0-7.

Tung, Ying-chieh (1948). 太極拳釋義 [The Meaning and Significance of T'ai Chi Ch'uan Practice]. Hong Kong editions published by C & C Joint Printing Co., (H.K.) Ltd., no ISBN, distributed worldwide by Alex Dong Tai Chi in Traditional Chinese and partial English translation editions; Taiwan edition published by Dah Jaan Publishing in Traditional Chinese, ISBN 978-986-346-242-2; mainland edition published by Beijing Science and Technology Publishing Co. Ltd. in Simplified Chinese (董英杰太极拳释义), ISBN 9787530486351.

Wu, Ta-yeh (February 1993). "The T'ai Chi Ch'uan Of Tung Huling". T'ai Chi. Vol. 17, no. 1. Wayfarer Publications. ISSN 0730-1049.

Wu, Ta-yeh; Ellis, Chip (February 1993). "Tung Huling Dies in Hawaii". T'ai Chi. Vol. 17, no. 1. Wayfarer Publications. ISSN 0730-1049.

Yu, Gongbao; 余, 功保 (2013). 董家太极: 董英杰太极拳传承与精义 [Dong Family Taiji: Dong Yingjie Taijiquan Tradition and Essentials] (in Chinese). Beijing: 当代中国出版社. ISBN 978-7-5154-0180-5. (Includes documentary on DVD, in Mandarin and some Cantonese, with no Chinese or foreign subtitles.)

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