Huang Sheng Shyan was born in Minhou County of the Fujian province in Mainland China. He began studying Fujian White Crane with Xie Zhong-Xian at the age of 14. In 1947 he resettled in Taiwan where he became a disciple of Cheng Man-ch'ing. Huang emigrated to Singapore in 1956 and then in the 60’s moved to Malaysia, both times with the express purpose of propagating the art of taijiquan.