Hu Qin Shr came to Taiwan from Fujian China. He was a well-known and respected Martial Artists who practiced Luohan Quan and is credited for the naming of Shun Wu Tang.
After the Tai Ping wars, he fled to Taiwan and settled in the Yunlin area. He kept a low profile for many years until one day while visiting Sihhu, he heard the sound of drums and recognised the martial rhythms. He followed it to an open field and found Lu Rong, a renowned Bai He Quan master, who was practicing with his students. Lu Rong was also a well-known Martial Artists and came from a very rich family. He was also slightly arrogant and egotistical. He had heard of Hu Qin Shr and so wanted to show off for him with his students. After the training session he went up to Hu Qin Shr and asked him what he thought of his Kung Fu.
In those days there was no toilet paper, so ppl used bamboo to wipe their behinds. These bamboo shoots were discarded in the fields near rivers and they attracted flies.
Hu Qin Shr said Lu Rongs Kung Fu was like those flies!
Lu Rong’s students were outraged and ran towards Hu Qin Shr who was already walking away. He stopped and turned around so fast that all the students stopped and fell down from losing their balance. He said to them all, including Lu Rong, “no need to sneak up on me, I live at the Yunlin Hotel. You can find me there anytime”.
Lu Rong was so upset that he went home and didn’t eat or sleep. His mother was concerned about him and asked the students what happened. They explained to her what had transpired and that Lu Rong had lost face. She knew of Hu Qin Shr and so she went to visit him at the hotel and begged him to teach her son, since he was a very renowned Martial Artist. After a while Hu Qin Shr agreed and accepted Lu Rong as his student.
Because he was already an advanced student of Bai He, Lu Rong progressed very quickly and also excelled at Bing Zhen and Lion Dancing. His students had to learn as he was learning however Hu Qin Shr would only teach Lu Rong and he in turn would have to teach his students.
One day his students asked him what the name of his school was because they were no longer under the Bai He school. Lu Rong had to ask Hu Qin Shr this. He thought for a moment and then said “Sun Wu Tang”, but Lu Rong heard “Shun Wu Tang”. And so spread the word all over that they were Shun Wu Tang. Sun Wu was a famous Warrior General that was very respected and praised in battle also known as Sun Tsu (The Art of War). Hu Qin Shr heard from various people that Lu Rong’s school was called Shun Wu Tang and asked him why he called it this when he said Sun Wu Tang. The problem was in the language and dialects and so Lu Rong heard wrong! However the popularity of the school, its name and its teacher (Lu Rong) was already spread far and wide and so Hu Qin Shr told Lu Rong to keep the name as Shun Wu Tang.
Years went by and Lu Rong became even more renowned and attracted the attention of another Master; Wu Chi, who also had an established Tai Tzu school. There was a rivalry between his school and Lu Rong’s. The students all argued that their respective master was the better and eagerly anticipated a duel. However, Lu Rong and Wu Chi got together one day to “exchange notes”. While Wu Chi was older than Lu Rong, he decided that he wanted to learn from Lu Rong since he knew Luohan, Bing Zhen and Lion Dancing.