Xu Xuanping was a Taoist poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 who lived during the Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. He is said to have lived south of the Yangtze River

Yangtze River

The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...

 in the state of Hui, Fuxi District. His legend relates that he left the city of Yangshan to become a recluse and build a home in Nan Mountain.

His legendary description is that he was very tall, perhaps more than six foot, with a beard that reached to his navel and hair down to his feet. He walked with a gait like a running horse and that each time he carried firewood down from the hills to the town to sell he would recite this poem:

At dawn I carry the firewood to sell

To buy wine today, at dusk I will return

Please tell me the way to get home?

Just follow the mountain track up into the clouds

Li Bai

Li Bai

Li Bai , also known in the West by various other transliterations, especially Li Po, was a major Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty poetry period. He has been regarded as one of the greatest poets in China's Tang period, which is often called China's "golden age" of poetry. Around a thousand existing...

 (the great Tang Dynasty poet) was said to have searched for Xu Xuanping, but couldn't find him. He was, however, inspired to compose some poetry, after seeing the Immortal's Bridge, before he departed.

According to some schools of T'ai chi ch'uan, Xu is considered to be the Tao Yin

Tao Yin

Tao Yin is a series of breathing exercises practiced by Taoists to cultivate ch'i, the internal energy of the body according to Traditional Chinese Medicine....

 teacher of Zhang Sanfeng

Zhang Sanfeng

Zhang Sanfeng was a semi-legendary Chinese Taoist priest who is believed by some to have achieved immortality, said variously to date from either the late Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty or Ming Dynasty. His name is said to have been Zhang Junbao 張君寶 before he became a Taoist.Zhang's legend is that of...

, whom they say later created the martial art of T'ai chi ch'uan. Other schools hold that Xu himself was a T'ai chi ch'uan practitioner, and that the style Xu Xuanping passed down was simply called "37", because it consisted of 37 named styles or techniques. During this time it was also known as Chang Quan 長拳 or Long Boxing as a reference to the flowing power of the Yangtze River 揚子江, (which is also known as the Chang Jiang 長江 or Long River). He had a disciple called Song Yuanqiao who passed the Song Family T'ai chi ch'uan system down through the generations to Song Shuming

Song Shuming

Song Shuming [宋書銘] lived in Beijing during the early years of the 20th Century. He practiced an ancient Daoist martial art said to have been passed down through his family from one of his ancestors called Song Yuanqiao [宋遠橋], who was a disciple of Xu Xuanping during the Tang Dynasty. His martial...

.

External links

• http://www.eng.taoism.org.hk/daoist-scriptures/biographies-of-immortals/pg3-4-3.asp Reference to Xu Xuanping worth exploring if texts can be acquired