Dong Hai Chuan is the acknowledged founder of the style. A native of Zhujiawa, south of Wenan County in Heibei Province. When he was young, he studied the Erlang Quan of Shaolin. He was poverty-stricken but chivalrous, and he drifted from place to place. Legend suggests that during his travels through China, he studied with a Taoist, Bi Chengxia, in Mt. Jiuhua in the southern part of Anhui Province, one of China's five sacred mountains. Later Dong learned other skills from Guo Yuanj'l, nicknamed the "Iron Stick Taoist." After several years of study, he created a new style "Turning Palms" and use his techniques to defeat many famous martial artists.

 
 

Dong traveled to Beijing in 1875. He was employed in the house of Prince Shan Qi's during the reign of the Emperor Guang Xu . One legend described how Prince Shan Qi became aware of the remarkable abilities of Dong. In this story, Shan Qi was a great lover of Wushu. The prince was famous for holding parties where he invited the greatest martial arts in the country to demonstrate their skills. During one of those events, a servant with a large tray of tea couldn't get through to the prince because of the large crowd. In order to help, Dong took the tray with the tea and got to the prince by running on the wall which was over everyone's head. The prince immediately recognized the Dong's unique skills and quickly promoted Dong. Another version of the discovery of Dong also occur during a party hosted by the Prince. In this story, Prince Shan Qi asked his bodyguard Sha Huihui to demonstrate his martial arts skills. Sha was a strong man and his breath taking performance drew prolonged applause from the audience. During the heat of the moment, he issued an open challenge to those present. No one dared to accept the challenge. At that moment it happened that Dong Hai Chuan was serving food and drinks to the guests. He heard the challenger but hesitated over whether he should answer it. When he saw no one come forward, he volunteered to take on Sha Huihui. After a few bouts, he made a sweeping, forceful movement with his palms and flung Sha to the ground a dozen feet away. Everyone was struck dumb by his prowess. The prince was so impressed that he later made Dong head of his bodyguards.
 

Dong became one of the prominent martial artists in the court and from that time on he began to teach Baguazhang in Beijing and the surrounding areas. He taught many students in Beijing and all his students were known for their quality and skills. Dong Hai Chuan died in 1882 at the age of 84. He was buried beside the Red Bridge outside Beijing's Dongzhi Gate. On his graph was an epitaph written by his followers and a list of his students. This tomb was damaged during the cultural revolution. In 1980, the tomb was renovated and moved to Wan'an Cemetery.

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