Chen Clan Academy

Me failing to look composed - but I have mastered the self-portrait timer. Next on the list, personal grooming. Nice courtyard though.

Every tai chi teacher I have had - several - likes to explain why the form of tai chi they are teaching is in some way superior to all the other forms you might possibly have studied in the past and are possibly considering (heresy) studying in the future. I guess it's a kind of marketing technique. All tai chi teachers have a direct and personal link with someone who has a direct, personal and familial link with some form of the "true" Tai Chi. This may be the great great great great great grandson of the man who defeated the incumbent court instructor at the Forbidden City sometime in the 19th century (maybe we should add a few more of those "greats") or it may be the 19th direct descendant of the man who invented tai chi, back whenever people in China didn't feel the need for early morning exercises.

For a while I learned Chen-style tai chi from a very nice and seriously devoted fan of the Chen clan. Indeed, I even met the said 19th direct descendant, whose jacket alleged he was : Chen Xiao Wang - Little King Chen. He seemed a bit grumpy for a tai chi master, but there was no doubt he knew his stuff. I'm not sure if it's fair to point out that another Chen-style (it IS a nice style) teacher I had later claimed that he had learned from a completely different direct family descendant in a completely different city in China. Chen is, unfortunately, a very common surname in a country that doesn't really have enough to go around.

Anyway, the chance to visit the Chen Clan Academy was too much to pass up. Actually, over the years I've seen a lot of the traditional Chinese rich family enclave, and probably I don't need to see many more unless I can work out a way to live in one. But the Chen clan, that's personal. I've met one of them.

I didn't see any mention of tai chi, unfortunately, so either it was a very minor sidelight or a different branch of the family. It's a pity, because this place would certainly have made a very impressive tai chi school. Massive courtyards for practice. Any devotee of the classic historic kongfu movie wouldn't fail to recognise, if not the place itself, the spirit of the place. Although in reality I think it was mainly rich people swanning around being elegant and doing culture, and a very nice place for doing that it would have been as well.

One thing that never fails to impress me about the old style Chinese buildings is how cool they are, despite the lack of air conditioning. Obviously 30 foot ceilings over massive halls help, but even in narrow corridors there's a distinct temperature differential with outside. In fact, even in walkways, where inside is a debatable concept, it is significantly cooler in/on/under the walkway than not in/on/under etc.

There were some features on this building I haven't seen before, either, making it a worwhwhile trip for more than one reason. The roof decorations - which look pretty original, unlike the obviously modern replacement brickwork in the walls - are actually extremely decorative and in my experience unique. Normally a couple of slinking dragons on the diagonal poles is about all you get, plus a bunch of curly stuff & a bit of gilt. But here - see photo - there is some serious committment to decoration going on. As it happens pretty much the entire decoration is a complex series of puns on animal names and various different ways of saying "success in the imperial examinations". Puns that make me think the South has always had a very strong accent or there have been some significant pronunciation shifts over the years. Or possibly that the Chinese like a vile pun as much as say, the English.

The other highlight, which I must immediately get for home, was the screenwork with blue/white glass circles inset. I'm not sure the photo really captures how good this looked, and how good it made the rest of the room look. For a feature wall, this beats the hell out of extremely strange coloured paint.

I resisted the temptation to buy the reproduction bamboo books; partly because they were expensive and mainly because they weigh a ton. I think I will start making my own out of old bamboo blinds when I get home.

The whole academy is set in a very nice park and has its own subway station. Today it had it's own collection of baby-buying Americans too. Interesting how the world finds innovative ways to shift the econmic load from poor to rich countries. The ticket doubles as a postcard - first one to ask gets it!