Ng Mei was a monk from the Shaolin Temple, and is credited to having developed the Wing Chun system. Her first student was named Yim Wing Chun, and therefore the system has been named after her.
Legend has it that Ng Mei invented the style when she witnessed a fight between a crane and a rodent. The use of the wing of the crane deflecting the strikes from the rodent was the idea behind the Bong Sau. Varying stories of this have been heard, such as that between a crane and a snake, however as heard from Chu Shong Tin, one of Yip Man’s original students, the story contains a rodent.
As the style was developed by a woman, it is important that the style doe not rely on brute strength, and therefore the Wing Chun system does not rely on it, yet it is extremely powerful.
Legend has it that Ng Mei taught Yim Wing Chun the system to fight off a local bully, whom she was being forced to marry. After defeating him, she no longer had to marry him. Later she taught her husband - Leung Bok Cho - And Wing Chun has been passed down as can be seen in the lineage tree