---
title: Liu Qilan (劉奇蘭, 1819–1889) — pillar of Hebei Xingyi
---

**Liu Qilan** (**劉奇蘭 / Liú Qílán**, 1819–1889) was one of the principal disciples of [**Li Luoneng**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/li-luoneng), the founder of Xingyiquan — and the figure through whom the largest share of modern **Hebei Xingyi** descends. A Shen County gentleman praised for his refined body-method and, unusually, for teaching the art openly, he was the father of the manual-writer **Liu Dianchen** and the teacher of **Li Cunyi**.

## Life

Born in **深縣 (Shen County), Hebei** — the same martial heartland that produced Li Luoneng and Li Cunyi — into a **scholarly, well-off family**. He had trained in **金剛拳 (Jingangquan)** before becoming a direct disciple of **Li Luoneng** when Li came to teach at the Liu household, and is counted among Li's **"eight" principal disciples**. He was admired for a fine **body method (身法)** — the phrase *"龍形搜骨" ("dragon-shape searching the bones")* attaches to him — and, in **Sun Lutang's** account, for teaching *"without bias toward his own school."* He died in 1889.

## What he gave the art

Liu is the chief propagator of the **Hebei branch** of Xingyiquan, which through his students became the most widely-transmitted Xingyi in the world.

## Students and lineage

- **His son, Liu Dianchen (劉殿琛, also 劉文華)** — wrote the **《形意拳術抉微》 (1920)**, the standard Hebei-Xingyi technical manual of its era (and one held in the codex's `Sources/internal-arts-manuals/`).
- **Li Cunyi (李存義, 1847–1921)** — a celebrated saber-fighter and caravan guard who founded the **中華武士會 (Chinese Warriors' Association)** in Tianjin in 1912.
- **Zhang Zhaodong (張占魁 / 張兆東)**, **Geng Jishan (耿繼善)**, **Wang Fuyuan (王福元)**, and others seeded schools across Hebei and Tianjin.

## See also

<PageRef space="notes" slug="xingyi" text="Xingyi (形意拳) — the full style overview" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="li-luoneng" text="Li Luoneng (李洛能) — his teacher, the founder of Xingyiquan" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="guo-yunshen" text="Guo Yunshen (郭雲深) — his co-disciple under Li Luoneng" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="history" text="A Short History of Chinese Martial Arts" />

## Sources

**[1]** Sun Lutang's account of his teachers' generation (1924), translated by Paul Brennan — [The Voices of Sun Lutang's Teachers](https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/the-voices-of-sun-lutangs-teachers/) — the period testimony on Liu Qilan's open transmission and his place in the Li Luoneng line.

**[2]** *形意拳*, Chinese Wikipedia ([zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/形意拳](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BD%A2%E6%84%8F%E6%8B%B3)) — Liu Qilan among Li Luoneng's eight disciples; the Hebei branch; his students.

**[3]** 劉殿琛 (Liu Dianchen), *形意拳術抉微* (1920) — his son's manual, held in the codex; the Liu-family Hebei Xingyi in print.