It is worth mentioning that two famous masters did return to Wudang in 1986.  These were the Bagua master Lu Zi Jian 吕紫剑 and the Daoist nun and master of eight immortals sword Zhao Jian Ying 赵剑英.  Masters Zhu, Guo, Lu, and Zhao were at the core of a renaissance of martial arts activity on the mountain the likes of which had not been seen since the fall of the Qing dynasty, when famed martial arts master Xu Ben Shan 徐本善 was the abbot of Purple Cloud Palace.  Alongside them master Wang worked assiduously to restore other aspects of Wudang's cultural heritage, publishing two monographs - one on the history of Wudang Daoism, one on the musical heritage of Wudang mountain, while simultaneously teaching Daoist music and chanting at purple cloud palace.  To this day the Wudang press edition of Daoist morning and evening prayers, collated by master Wang, is standard throughout China, and his book on Wudang history (武当道教史略, 华文出版社 1993) is the principal academic text on the subject.

    The body of martial arts, traditional Daoist health-cultivation techniques, and alchemical knowledge amassed by master Zhong was organized under the umbrella of Wudang San Feng Pai, which emerged from the 1980's with a curriculum much more expansive and structured than what was manifest before the cultural revolution.  In fact the entire atmosphere of Wudang Daoism shifted in a much more stratified and structured direction.  Where a vast array of informal lineages abided in a relatively undifferentiated millieu in the Wudangshan of the late Qing, today there are a handful of lineages possessing huge curricula and dispensing licenses via official disciple ceremonies 拜师. This, master Zhong nostalgically related to us once, is not how things were in the old days.  

                 I personally became a disciple of master Yuang Xiu Gang 袁修刚, a native of Hubei province who came to Wudang in 1991 to learn internal martial arts from master Zhong.  Shortly after master Yuan arrived, masters Zhong and Wang initiated a daoist studies program at Purple Cloud Palace wherein eight of master Zhong's students performed the duties of full-time priests at the temple while simultaneously training intensively in the physical cultivation practices of the San Feng sect.  The idea was to transmit to these 8 students the full body of Daoist knowledge amassed by Zhong and Wang through their efforts in the 1980's - music, knowledge of scripture, health cultivation techniques, martial arts, inner alchemy, etc.  The group was nicknamed the Eight Great Vajrasattvas 八大金刚.  The eldest of them was my teacher, master Yuan, who went on to become the head chanting priest 高功 at purple cloud palace.  

San Feng Martial Arts 三丰武术

                 As it is presently structured, the martial arts of the San Feng sect are divided into eight sections known as the “Eight gates of San Feng 三丰八门.”  These are:

1. Taiji Gate 太极门 
2. Xingyi Gate 形意门 
3. Bagua Gate 八卦门 
4. Baji Gate 八极门 
5. Xuan Zhen Gate 玄真门 
6. Eight Immortals Gate 八仙门 
7. Six Harmonies Gate 六合门 
8. Nine Palaces Gate 九宫门

                 If you trace these 8 categories, you begin to see the disparate strands that contribute to present-day San Feng sect.  Our Xingyiquan and Taijiquan come principally through two dragon gate masters (Guo Gaoyi and Zhu Chengde).  Our Bagua comes from another dragon gate master (Liu Cheng Xi 刘诚喜), while our Bajiquan is simply comprised of the standard Guoshu Academy set.  Our Xuan Zhen style,  also known as Wudang Northern style, forms the foundation from which everything else stems (this style master Zhong learned in Laoshan 崂山 from Golden Mountain sect 金山派 master Kuang Chang Xiu 匡常修).  The eight immortals style he learned from a wandering Daoist “Old man Chen” 甘肃陈爷 during his travels in Hunan province.  And the last two gates are elaborations of Xingyi and Bagua respectively. 

San Feng Health Cultivation 三丰养生功

                 The middle section of the San Feng sect curriculum is not organized like the first or last sections.  There is a proliferation of health cultivation techniques, from the five elements qigong 五行气功 to standing and seated eight sections of brocade 八段锦.  There are also classical medical qigong sets like the five animal frolics 五禽戏 and “expelling the old and taking in the new” 吐故纳新.  Aside from this there is martial qigong, like iron body 筒子功, iron arm 铁臂功, iron palm 铁砂掌, iron throat 铁脖功, mystical two-finger skill 二指玄功, and Taiyi Qigong 太乙气功.  Later there are forms of health cultivation that border on inner alchemical practice like the Three Heaven Gate Enlightenment Training 三天门悟性气功 (also known as Tongzigong 童子功).  These techniques were transmitted primarily through Guo Gaoyi and Zhu Chengde.

San Feng Elixir Path 三丰丹道

                 The highest level of San Feng sect is concerned with the practice of inner alchemy.  Most of these teachings are closely-guarded secrets.  The first step is known as "establishing the foundation," 筑基 and it is divided into the following parts: regulate the body  身體要正常, engender sufficient energy 能量（陽氣）要充足, purify the heart and lessen desires  清心寡欲.

                 After this, one begins the practice of refining the heart 練心, which has two parts.  This is followed by regulating the breath 調息, which has three methods, the last of which is turtle breathing 龜息.  At this point one is ready to begin training in cosmic circulation method 周天運行法. 

                 In training the cosmic circulation method one begins with small cosmic circulation 小周天, which has two sections – collecting the medicine and leading it to the stove 采藥入爐 and regulating the fire timing 調理火候.  After the creation of the small medicine 小药, the fruit of the above practices, one proceeds to large cosmic circulation 大周天, which has several parts.  Through this practice one moves on to embryonic breathing 胎息, after which he or she can begin on the second phase of the inner-alchemical enterprise.