As far back as the records and memory serve, Wing Chun has been synonymous with the Shaolin Temple.  It is also known to give rise to sects such as the Triads, White Lotus, and Boxers.  The temple was also a big part of Buddhism in the East.
 
Wing Chun is a traditional Southern Chinese martial art from 250-300 years ago.  Historical archives explain that Wing Chun’s foundation was derived from a Shaolin Buddhist nun.  During this period, the 17th Century was referred to as the Qing Dynasty, Manchu Era. 

In its history, we find an Indian monk Bodhidharma or in China, known as Da Mo, who instructed the monks in the art of meditation.  His techniques founded a new school of Buddhism known as Chan in China and later renamed Zen in Japan.  The monks were also taught breathing techniques and movement routines so that they could endure the extreme meditation periods.  These movements and breathing techniques were said to have led to the creation of martial arts.
 
Wu Mei, a brilliant nun who endured the Manchu persecution, was the daughter of the General of the Imperial Army.  Raised in the Forbidden City, Wu Mei, pronounced Ng Mui in Cantonese dialect, had an academic education in different arts, like music, literature, medicine, and military priming. 
 
Around the Qing Dynasty (1662 - 1722), the Manchu army dethroned the Ming Emperor, Emperor Kiangsi, and conquered most of China’s capital areas.  Since the Shaolin Temple was a haven for rebel forces, they needed to identify those who would be able to have access.  To identify such people, a hand sign of the sun and moon are devised to allow friendly forces access.  The hand gesture was an open left hand over a closed right fist.  To this day, it is still used and closely related to Chinese Kung Fu and other arts as a sign one comes in peace or means no harm.
 
During this time, a Shaolin monastery, Siu Lam of Mt. Sung, located in the Henan province, had the Manchurian government afraid of the monks’ power through their kung fu training.  The Manchurian government sent in more troops to secure the area in fear of a rebellious uprising.  They even went so far as to convert Siu Lam monks to betray their monastery by setting it on fire from the inside.  There were very few survivors; however, five elders were Jee Seen, Fung Doh Tak, Pak Mei, Miu Heen, and the Buddhist nun Ng Mui.
 
Wu Mei (Ng Mui), a grandmaster in Sui Lam Kung Fu, sought a path for developing a system of Kung fu that could overcome the Manchurian military.  After Wu Mei discovered Emperor Ming’s dethroning and her parents’ murder, she turned to the White Crane Shaolin Temple in Kwangsi Province. 
 
Meanwhile, Wu Mei began developing her techniques.  She discarded any emphasis on performing skills based on acrobatics, strength, or “flowing hands with embellishing movements” and replaced them with innovative techniques. 
 
Wu Mei knew, as a woman, she could not measure the external strength of her male adversaries equipped and armed with superior bone structure and muscle mass.  Considering this, Wu Mei cultivated ways to incorporate Chi Kung into combative movements and established numerous internal power sources.
 
Some of Wu Mei’s distinctive combat strategies included the concept of “form of no form” and “strategy of no strategy.”  This resulted in her methods of attack being unpredictable and incalculable. 
 
Her “form without form” would materialize as needed, allowing her mind to be very aware while still as a lake.  However, Wu Mei favored instantaneous counters, and with no strategy, her mind could respond to an opponent’s actions. 
 
Wu Mei considered that any blocks, grabs, or slaps would imply an unnecessary step to the counter-attack.  At the time, her ideology of close-quarter combat was very different compared to the Sui Lam Systems. 
 
Relinquishing many of the old traditions that required years of practice, Wu Mei began to create new structures based on winning at all costs, combining subtlety and speed to prevail over an opponent’s natural advantages. 
 
Wu Mei’s fighting method had no name for classifying a distinct Martial Art.  Instead, she concentrated on sudden contraction and relaxation instead of stressing bone conditioning, muscular flexibility, or strength.  Her overall evolution of internal martial arts paralleled the formation of the Chen family Tai Chi Quan.  Utilizing various internal sources, Wu Mei eventually magnified public control so well that she rivaled and even surpassed the plateau of many influential Martial Artists Masters.  

Below the temple was a village she would frequent for supplies, and there Met Yim Wing Chun and her father, Yim Yee.  In later visits, Ng Mui learned they were threatened by a high-powered landowner that wanted to marry Yim Wing Chun against her and her father’s wishes.  Her father was prosecuted for a crime, which resulted in them migrating to Mt. Tai Leung, residing along the borders of the Szechwan and Yunnan provinces. 
 
Yim, at the time, was an astonishing and attractive young woman who had marriage potential, but things swayed in another direction when a local bully attempted to rape her.  As a result of hearing about the attack, Ng Mui chose to take on Yim Wing Chun as her student and passed on the knowledge she had gained at the Siu Lim Temple.  Ng Mui instructed Yim Wing Chun in specific techniques that relied on speed and agility, benefiting Yim Wing Chun’s more petite frame.  Ng Mui knew that giving her methods that relied on strength would be useless and waste valuable time and energy.  The Buddhist Nun made an oath to protect the young woman, and as time continued, Wu Mei guided her disciple to study Kung Fu religiously. 
 
Throughout Yim Wing Chun’s training, she recognized that most male aggressors were emotionally unstable.  This encouraged her to consider that a female has to respond by utilizing the economy of their enemy’s strengths against them. 
 
When she became proficient in the constructed art and felt confident in her abilities, Yim Wing Chun challenged the high landowner who assaulted her and defeated him in single combat.  She married her intended husband, Leung Bock Sau, and continued to improve the style passed onto her, which was named Wing Chun Kuen by her husband.
 
Wing Chun translates to “Perpetual/Beautiful-Springtime” in Chinese, and Kuen means fist or fist fighting style.  As time progressed, Wing Chun bestowed her skills to her husband, and he, in return, taught his brother. 
 
The Pole technique was later adopted into the art when passed down from Leung Bock Sau to Leung Yee Tai, who incorporated it into the Wing Chun System he learned for Wong Wa Boh, the Pole art being called Luk Dim Boon.

Leung Tee Tai instructed Leung Jan, who got a high reputation as a fighter who never backed down from a challenge in the Kwangtung province.  Leung Jan went on to train Chan Wa Soon, who became an instructor for the military.  He later rented the Yip family temple as a place to teach the art and took on Yip Man as one of his students at the age of thirteen.  At the age of Sixteen and the death of his Master, he learned from Leung Bick, the son of Leung Jan, and after eleven years, he became a formidable force in Wing Chun.  As everyone already knows, the great Yip Man went on to train his son and the legendary Bruce Lee.