The Hong clan, named after Hongwu, the title of the reign of the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was one of the secret associations in the Qing Dynasty. It is believed to have been set up in the 13th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1674).

Hong-clan boxers practised their own style of Chuan, which has been passed on to the people for about 300 years. During this time it exerted great influence on the people and many branch styles developed, such as the Hong Quan of Guangdong Province and the Hong Quan of Hubei Province.

Most of the routines of the Hubei Hong Quan are hand plays, such as the general hand plays, defensive hand plays, Jingang (Buddha's warrior attendant) hand plays, etc. Influenced by the Wudang-style Chuan, one of the famous schools in China, the Hubei Hong Chuan also includes newly developed routines called Jiugong-shou, nine-palace hand plays and Laojuntang, the Hall for Laozi, founder of Taoism. Two-way spear holding plays are the main methods to deal with the Hubei Hong Quan, which emphasizes both attack and defence.

The Guangdong Hong Quan is a routine of animal imitating movements of the dragon, snake, tiger, leopard, crane, lion, elephant, horse, monkey and small-sized wild beasts.

The Hong Quan, which places an emphasis on stances, is powerful and mighty. The Guangdong style concentrates on interim actions and turns on the ground to ward off the attack from the opponent. The Hubei style focuses on generating power when delivering feet and fist blows. It demands hard blows and Chuan. straightforwardness.