Timeline — Yiquan and the Martial Arts Around It

Choose an art, a person, an event or an arrow.

historically attested legend / attribution person (lifespan) (?) lifespan unattested — the attested period of activity is shown event influence milieu / exchange ° = date outside the Yiquan sources, checked by web search

The axis is compressed: 500–1600 takes little room, the 19th and 20th centuries a lot. The dotted verticals mark the bends. On narrow screens the chart can be scrolled sideways.

How to read it, and caveats

Descent, not rank. The only continuous line to Yiquan is Xinyi → Xingyi → Yiquan (Ji Jike → Li Luoneng → Guo Yunshen → Wang Xiangzhai). Taijiquan is a sister art; Baguazhang and Liu He Ba Fa belong to the milieu — shown as dashed lines of exchange.
Legends (Damo, Yue Fei, Zhang Sanfeng, Chen Tuan) are dashed because they are attributions; the stretch runs up to the first attested evidence.
Wang and Huang Muqiao: the place, Huainan, is attested by Wang’s own text; the year is uncertain — 1925 according to Chinese sources, “at the time of the Northern Expedition” (1926–28) according to Wang. Shown as a span.
Kyokushin: impulses flowed in through Sawai’s circle — no teacher–student relationship, hence dashed.
People without attested lifespans (Hong Lianshun, Huang Muqiao, Qian Yantang, Fang Qiazhuang, Zhao Daoxin) carry a “(?)”; their dashed line shows the attested period of activity or of the encounter with Wang, not a lifespan.

Checking the dates

Confirmed (web search, October 2026): Wang Xiangzhai † 12 July 1963 (born mostly given as 26 Nov 1885; the family’s lunar-calendar date points to 1886, hence 1885/86) · Yao Zongxun 1917–1985 · Kenichi Sawai 1903–1988, return to Japan 1947 · Yang Luchan 1799–1872 · Cheng Tinghua 1848–1900 · Wu Yihui 1887–1958 · Li Kuchan 1899–1983 · Yue Fei 1103–1142 · the name “Taijiquan” from about 1854 · Yue-shi Yiquan printed 1934 · Hangzhou tournament 16–27 Nov 1929 · Shaolin 495 · Queensberry rules 1867 · judo 1882 · Kyokushin (dōjō 1953, organisation 1964).
Sources disagree — shown as a span: Ji Jike 1602–1680 or 1588–1662 · Li Luoneng 1807–1888 or 1808–1890 · Guo Yunshen 1829–1898 or 1820–1901 · Dong Haichuan born 1797 or 1813 · Chen Wangting traditionally 1600–1680 · Li Cunyi † 1921 or 1927 · Zhang Zhankui 1859/65–1938/40.
Based on the Yiquan sources, not verifiable online: Wang Yufang 1921–2012 · Wang’s Right Path 1928 · manuscript of the Eight Methods 1959 · Dachengquan 1939/40 · return to the name “Yiquan” 1947 (open) · Sawai’s defeats by Wang “around 1940” · Taikiken–Zongxun exchange 1997 · heavy bag and focus pads under Yao Zongxun in the 1980s.

Web sources: ihchina (Ji Jike) · Ji Jike · Li Luoneng · Guo Yunshen · Dong Haichuan · Wu Yihui · Wang Xiangzhai · Yao Zongxun · Kenichi Sawai · Mas Oyama · Kyokushin · Li Kuchan · Shaolin · Britannica · Chen Tuan · Zhang Sanfeng · HK01