She then refined the style further and it became known as Ng Bo Mui Fa Kuen (Plum Flower Fist). These three styles are the predecessors of Wing Chun.

During the reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), gung-fu was practiced in the Siu Lum (Shao Lin) monastery in southern China primarily as a form of physical exercise. With the usurpation by the Manchurians and the establishment of the Ching Dynasty, however, many Ming patriots sought protection in the temple where their lives were not endangered and where some of the people were sympathetic to their cause. Meanwhile, they readied themselves for the day when they would attempt to overthrow the ruling government. It was during this period of time that gung-fu reached its peak in China. Quite ironically, when almost everything was prepared to launch their strike, the Mings were betrayed by an insider. Consequently, the Ching emperor feared a revolution was astir, and his soldiers attacked and burned the monastery. Only a handful of people and the five elders escaped the burning temple.Ng Mui, a Siu Lum master, began to teach the arts to laymen. These disciples were obliged to conceal their activities because the Ching government had dispatched numerous martial arts experts to exterminate them. Ng Mui realized that she would have to save the Siu Lum fighting arts from the emperor's efforts to erase all traces of their existence. Thus, she devised a new, modified system of fighting based on her knowledge of what she had mastered in the temple. In essence, the style utilized techniques of efficiency of motion and direct line attacks and could be perfected in a short period of time.
Ng Mui's best student, a beautiful young girl named Yim Wing Chun, lived with her father, Yim Sam Soak, in a small village where they earned their livelihood by making and selling bean cakes.Yim Wing Chun's popularity in the area and news of her beauty attracted the attention of a malevolent landlord named Wong. Although such matters were often customarily prearranged between two families before the birth of the children, and Yim Wing Chun was already promised to Leung Bok Chau, Wong decided he would marry her anyway.