There are various stories about the founding of Tai Chi Chuan, but Chang San-Feng, who was certainly the greatest teacher of the system, is generally given the major credit.
Chang San-Feng is also known as Chang Tung and Chang Chun-pao. His ancestors lived on Dragon-Tiger Mountain, a Taoist historical site in Kiang-Hsi Province in the southeast of China.
Chang San-Feng was born at midnight on April 9, 1247 and the anniversary of this day is now celebrated by the followers of Tai Chi Chuan with food, drink and Tai Chi.
Jumping back slightly more in history. In 527 AD Ta-Mo, an Indian Bodhidarma master, came to the Shao-Lin temple in the northern province of Ho-Nan, China. This was during the Liang Dynasty.
Ta-Mo found many of the monks weak and unhealthy and even prone to falling asleep during sermons and meditation. He encouraged the monks to exercise and created; Yin-Gin Ching (the change of tendons), Hsi-Swi Ching (the marrow washing) and Eighteen Budda's Hands. He invented Shao-Lin Boxing.
After Ta-Mo died, his followers left Shao-Lin and boxing was abandoned for several hundred years until Joy-Yuang, a master monk, once again began to teach at the temple. He learned of the Eighteen Budda's Hands and decided to improve the system by adding his own skills. Shao-Lin Chuan was developed into Seventy-Two Hands and earned a better reputation.
The treasures of the Shao-Lin temple were called the five Chuans, each named for the animal best exemplifying its attributes. Each Chuan originally had only six postures each. By contrast, today each Chuan has over one hundred.
The original Chuans are:
In 1459, Emperor Yiu-Chung bestowed a title of immortality on Chang. According to legend Chang San-Feng was born at the end of the Sung Dynasty, lived through the entire Yuan Dynasty to the reign of Tien-Chung in the Ming Dynasty, a period of more than 200 years.