Chen Style Taijiquan Comparison: 4 Different Lineages

[Overview]
Chen Style Taijiquan is arguably the oldest style of Taijiquan; it likely played a crucial role in the development of Yang Style Tai Chi, and yet it is probably the newest style of Tai Chi to come to the west, thanks to its international promotion by the "Four Tigers" of Chenjiagou (the Chen Village).
This video aims to at least provide a basic visual reference for some of the prominent lineages (or "frames") of Chen Style by providing side-by-side comparison of the Yilu form. Video sources can be found in this playlist: • Chen 4 Lineages: Sources
[Terms: Dajia, Xiaojia, Laojia, Xinjia]
Currently, we understand "Dajia" to refer to the frames taught by Chen Fake or in the popular modern Chen Village lines, while "Xiaojia" usually refers to methods taught by Chen Xin, Chen Boxiang, Chen Liqing, etc. However, in the past, this "Xiaojia" was called by "Xinjia” by Chen Ziming, while the old teachings of Chen Wangting were called "Laojia". According to some narrative accounts, 14th gen Chen family member Chen Youben (brother of Chen Changxing) taught nephew Chen Gengyun (son of Chen Changxing) the "old methods" with progressively large to small movements as to ensure speedy progress, leading to the creation of this "Xinjia" method. Later, the large movements were said to have been taught to family members such as Chen Fake, and outsiders. This eventually lead to the distinction between "Dajia" and "Xiaojia", the former of which Chen Fake and Chen Zhaopi were said to have practiced and taught.
However, it is worth noting that Chen Fake's method was quite nuanced, and in fact it is said to contain both large and small elements, leading some to dismiss the dichotomy of "Dajia" and "Xiaojia". But Chen Fake's methods would soon lead to another controversial dichotomy, a new way of using "Laojia" and "Xinjia".
In the 40s, Chen Village was in a state of decline. Dajia practitioner Chen Zhaopi, who had been in Beijing for some time, soon returned to the village in his old age and made the decision to teach for the sake of ensuring the art's survival in the village, and he taught the “Four Tigers” shortly before his death.
After Zhaopi’s death, Chen Fake's son Zhaokui was eventually asked to teach at the village, so he began visiting occasionally to teach over a period of several years, before his own death, continuing Zhaopi’s efforts. However, what he taught was notably different from what was taught by Chen Zhaopi. This led the villagers to call his frame "Xinjia" and Zhaopi's "Laojia".
The extent to which Chen Zhaokui's method was really "new" is debated, noting that he learned it from his father Chen Fake, who was one of Chen Zhaopi's teachers. There are also a number of factors that could have impacted transmission: age of teacher and student, health of the teacher, skill of the teacher, amount of time learning under a teacher, cultural norms before and after the revolution, etc. These factors among others may have had a considerable impact on the transmission of the art in the mid-late 20th century, and put into question the terms Laojia and Xinjia, as well as Xiaojia and Dajia.
[About Lineage: Dajia]
In terms of lineage, some key players of the older generation who preceded what we see in this video are Chen Fake, Chen ZhaoPi, Hong JuSheng, and Chen Zhaokui.
Here, Chen Xiaowang is practicing "Laojia" Yilu which was taught by Zhaopi, however it is inevitable that he would have some influence from Zhaokui.
One of Chen Zhaokui's most accomplished students, Zhang Maozhen, practices his Yilu.
Li Enjiu, a student of Hong JunSheng and standard bearer for “Practical Method” Chen Taijiquan, practices his Yilu here. AKA Hong Style.
[Xiaojia]
Regarding Xiaojia, Chen Xin taught Chen KeZhong, who taught Chen BoXiang (though the origins of the Xiaojia go back further than Chen Xin), who practices his Yilu here.
[This video]
The first part of this video has Zhang Maozhen's performance as a reference point. As a result, Chen Boxiang's performance is considerably slowed down, as his is done the quickest. Meanwhile Chen Xiaowang's and Lu Enjiu's performance were sped up, slowed down, or even paused at different points to sync up properly with Zhang Maozhen's movements for the most visual coherency.
The forms were paused at times when the respective video would have been otherwise been slowed down too much to be watchable (or the software didn't allow the clip to be slowed down so much). Instead of blacking out the videos, I used a freeze frame to maintain visual coherency.
At the end of the video, we see the next generations of these lines: Chen Yu and his son Shiwu of the Chen Zhaokui line (Erlu used due to availability); Chen Xiaowang’s son Yingjun; Li Enjiu’s student Huang Kanghui; and Chen BoXiang’s student Chen Chunsheng. Speeds were adjusted slightly to sync movements.
00:00 4 Lines
15:43 CY, CSW
17:53 CXW, CYJ
21:22 LEJ, HKH
23:08 CBX, CCS

[@tonbonthemon]

Further comments since the description limit was reached: I want to say that part of making this video came from my own experience of not being clear about the differences between different lineages. While all Taiji lineages share things in common and arguably have the same fundamental "engine", differences do exist, and they can partly be delineated by acknowledging that there are different sub-lineages in Taijiquan. Therefore, for the person who is unfamiliar and confused by all of the names thrown around here and there, and all the differences in external appearance and choreography, I hope this video can be helpful as a visual reference... though in the end, it is up to the individual to do the nitty-gritty research on these lines, and for the seeker to find one that resonates with them the most.

[@tonbonthemon]

Also, since the description was too long to incorporate this, I will provide some literal translations for the Chinese terms: Dajia and Xiaojia: Large frame and small frame ; Laojia and Xinjia: Old frame and New frame. As suggested, these labels are not absolute and it is helpful to understand where they come from.

[@Figarful]

Excelente trabajo. Muchas gracias.

[@khu1020]

謝謝🙏，好像陳發科的弟子是另一風格。演化的過程不同，自古以來產生許多宗派，這是好事。

[@sdflyer28]

There is only one style of taiji on display here - Chenshi. Video features not different lineages but rather two different Chen frames " Big" and "Small" . "Small" fame believed to be original and not as wide spread as "big" one. Chen Xiaowang, Zhen Maozhen, Chen Yu, his son and other dude that awfully similar to Ma Hong performance way (featured in this video above) are all representative of "big" frame. They all have learnt xinjia aka "new frame" or gongfujia from renown master Chen Zhaokui. Chen Yu is Chen Zhaokui only son, and Chen Xiaowang is his nephew. Choreography between frame and masters may appear different visually but internally Chen engine is the same. Not many people know that and even less understand it. Sadly this is one of many reasons why so called "tai chi" master been constantly publicly embarrassed and beaten.. Copy choreography is easy, copy gong fu is impossible. Fantasy worlds vs reality , you name it LOL

[@tonbonthemon]

Lots of differing opinions on this stuff. I call them styles or substyles because they have stylistic differences despite being under the label "Chen Style". I call them lineages or sublineages because those unique characteristics are often found in students of a particular teacher (e.g. CZK, CZP, HJS), and they are fairly consistently passed down through the succeeding generations. For example, practitioners in the CZK line will have a fairly different approach to developing the frame than one will find in CXW's or HJS's. Different philosophies and approaches to posture, expression etc. As for the extent that they all have the same engine... huge can of worms there. I think over the coming generations, the differences will become even more explicit as each school develops further. One can say that's due to loss of gongfu but I think that's just idealistic. It's the natural course of things. Each generation will lose something while (at least hopefully) gaining another.