I realize it is not very modest to say so, but for folks interested in the history of Chinese martial arts, the book titled: Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals: A Historical Survey, might be of some interest. Here is the Amazon blurb on it:
Amazon.com: Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals (reannounce): Brian Kennedy, Elizabeth Guo: Books
Chinese martial arts history is actually almost impossible to track prior to the late 1800s. Most of what passes for history, is in reality legend or simply marketing hype. But what we do know about the history of Chinese martial arts is that it was filled with many fine teachers and great systems.
Since this is a thread about Chinese martial arts history, and since 99.9% of Chinese martial arts development took place in the military, maybe I should include a graphic.
Here is a graphic I found from 1873. It shows Qing dynasty soldiers, probably Manchu Banner men, practicing (or posing, pretending to practice!) spear and archery. The big smiles on the two spear guys faces reflects the reality that if you were in one of the traditional Manchu banner units in the 1800s you had it made in the shade. The reason being, you got a nice lifetime government salary, you never had to fight and you could divide your time between wine, women and martial arts as you saw fit. The reason the Manchu Banner units never had to fight was because all the heavy lifting, all the real fighting, was done by the Han (i.e. ethnic Chinese) Green Standard units or the local militias. In any event here is the graphic:
Take care,
Brian