Short History of Chinese Martial
Arts
Several terms for the Chinese martial
arts became popular in China. Guoji (National Skill) has been
used in the past, as have guoshu (National Art), zhongguoquan
(China Fist), quanfa (the Way of the Fist), and quanshu (Fist
Art). The term kung fu does not refer specifically to the martial
arts. It is more a slang usage found in the United States and
in some parts of southern China. Wushu (War Art) is perhaps the
more proper term for Chinese martial arts. The term wushu has
been officially adopted by the People's Republic of China. The
terms wushu and kung fu (in their reference to classical martial
arts) are both generic terms encompassing all the different styles,
weapons, routines and other aspects of the Chinese martial arts
in general.
It must be noted that
today there are hundreds of styles and sub-styles within the Chinese
martial arts. The different styles often mold their techniques
around a central theme, such as Taoist gods, animals, antics,
etc. The styles of tanglang (Praying Mantis), baihe (White Crane)
or yingzhao (Eagle Claw), for instance, model their techniques
after the respective animal characteristics comprising their names.
In China today, the term wushu refers
to a sport based on the movements of classical martial arts. It
is the Western countries, Hong Kong and Taiwan that are keeping
the traditional martial arts alive.
Over 2000 years ago, classical martial
arts emerged to serve the needs of the war in China, and war was
plentiful. The martial arts became a way of life for many, evolving
into a highly structured institution.
Records of exercises known as "hit
and thrust" were practiced as far back as the Shang dynasty
(17th 16th century B.C.), while the Western world birthed Stonehenge
and the Trojan War. Individual and group exercises with weapons
extended back as far as the Zhou dynasty (1066 - 256 B.C.), near
the time Homer penned his Iliad and Odyssey. Bronze swords similar
in shape and size to those seen today turned up in the "Spring
and Autumn" as well as "Warring States" periods
(722 - 211 B.C.), a time spanning the founding of Rome and the
conquests of Alexander the Great.
The Qin dynasty (221 - 206 B.C.) saw
a form of combat known as jiaoti introduced to the military as
a major form of combat and athletic pursuit, while a combat form
with bare hands called shoupo, and formal swordplay emerged during
the Han and Jin periods (206 B.C. - 420 A.D.).
In the Xui and Tang dynasties (581
- 907 A.D.), the sword was used as a theatrical prop when dancing.
The upper classes began adopting the weapon as a symbolic emblem
for the nobility. The poet Li Bai, for instance, excelled in the
art of jianshu (the sword art) during the Tang period.
The Yuan
dynasty (1279 - 1368 A.D.), arose as a result of Genghis Khan's
invasion from the north. The Khan unified scores of individual
tribes which were routinely attacking the northern borders of
China. He successfully pushed through the "Middle Kingdom's"
(China) defenses and set in motion the master plan for Chinese
subjugation, later revived in a dynasty ruled by their close neighbors,
the Manchus.
The Mongolian dynasty eventually faded
near the early part of the 4th century with the ousting of its
"foreign" (non-Han) rulers. A period of relative productivity
and peace among the Chinese followed during the Ming dynasty.
This was short lived. China was again overrun by "foreign"
powers, this time from the northeastern borders.
The Manchurians pushed through China's
northern borders capturing the city of Beijing, which later became
their capital. Here they constructed the walled-in city no Chinese
could enter - the "Forbidden City."
Pavillion of Cheerful Melodies in
the eastern section of the Forbidden City. The three story stage
is equipped with trap doors for actors to present scenes in heaven,
in the human world and in the nether regions.
Much of the classical martial arts
that the Western world has come to know is reminiscent of the
styles and attitudes forged during the Manchurian rule. The Qing
dynasty, the last great dynasty of China, produced scores of revolutionary
sects formed to overthrow the government. Secret societies knitted
themselves around classical martial artists. The most widespread
grew in southern China. Canton, then known as the "City of
Revolution," became a focal point for this activity, partitioning
it from any kind of potential affinity toward the Manchurian rule
in the north.
Although the martial arts had been
practiced by people of all levels of social classes, they were
primarily practiced by the upper classes who had the time and
money to pursue them. Slowly, however, the arts (or, at least,
many styles comprising the arts), began losing their distinction
as toys of the upper classes during this period. Political turmoil
gave the lower classes the motivation they needed to organize
for revolution. The year 1840 proved turbulent for China. The
secret societies provided a continual thorn in the side of the
existing government (still under Manchurian rule). The Bagua,
Hong White Feather and White Lotus sects represented only a few
underground organizations centered around a martial art theme.
Chief among the secret societies of this era was the Triad or
Heaven, Earth and Man society, reputedly formed by the five Shaolin
monks who survived the government-destroyed temple that was located
in the Songshan mountains in Honan province. This partially preserved
temple still exists today.
Though many secret societies were formed
in China for political reasons, some were formed for a variety
of other reasons. The Elder Brothers Society, for example, based
its organization upon a concept of friendship modeled after that
of General Guan Ye and his two brothers (legendary figures in
Chinese history). The Red Eyebrows came into existence around
the beginning of the Christian era and were originally a body
of rebels who painted their eyebrows red. The Boxers, who became
highly visible during the anti-foreigner Boxer Rebellion around
the turn of the century, practiced a strain of classical martial
arts steeped in magic and witchcraft called Xiangong (The Power
of the Gods). Though the Boxers gained a wide following during
their war against foreign involvement in Chinese affairs, many
participants in the revolution were convinced that the incantations
they recited would render them impervious to their enemies' bullets.
Religious sects felt the brunt of Qing
dynasty's wrath . In the 17th century, when the Manchus (a Mongolian
race from Manchuria which conquered China in 1644) established
their rule, the Chinese (specifically the Han people) were ordered
to wear their hair in a pigtail as a sign of submission. Many
scholars, artisans and martial arts masters turned their backs
on this practice. To avoid wearing the pigtail, they withdrew
from public life and entered monasteries such as Shaolin, where
their heads were shaved.
Adding to the growing internal strife,
another threat loomed from outside as foreign powers moved to
establish trade routes with China. The year 1840 marked the beginning
of the Opium Wars, the first lasting a full two years, which ended
with Great Britain forcibly opening China to foreign trade, granting
territorial concessions and the rights of inland navigation, supporting
missionary intervention and taking over the island of Hong Kong.
Other foreign powers found China somewhat easier. The country
was technologically backwards.
Confucian cultural and political systems
concentrated heavily upon education for the upper classes but
viewed technology as gadgetry unworthy of the dignity of a scholar.
The martial arts in some forms had developed into an acceptable,
quasi-scholarly pursuit as well as a method for personal defense.
During this time the Chinese economy was collapsing, adding to
the internal pressures. This culminated in the Taiping Rebellion
of 1850.
The Taiping Rebellion was one of the
more significant events in 19th century China. Social unrest brought
into conflict the basic elements of traditional Chinese society:
the Confucian way of life. Taiping "troupes" were schooled
in the martial arts handed down from one family or another - or
from the oral traditions surviving from the Shaolin temples. By
1864 the rebellion was squashed, however, with the enlisted help
of the very foreign powers which caused much of the problem in
the first place. Millions of people died during the battles that
followed. Those members of the rebellion not killed in battle
were marked for execution by the government. For many of these
dissidents, the only alternative was to flee the country.
Between 1848 and 1900 over 200,000
Chinese emigrated to America from Guangdong province. Some stayed
in San Francisco's Chinatown, the second largest community of
Chinese outside Hong Kong and China today, while others joined
the gold rush or worked their way east on the railroad. In San
Francisco's Chinatown the secret societies took root again. They
became the infamous Tong Brothers . With these expatriate revolutionaries
grew the first western vestiges of classical Chinese martial arts,
forming a large part of the philosophical base of many of the
secret societies.
During the mid-1800's Chinese martial
arts were cloaked in secrecy, as they had been in China. Outsiders
knew nothing of them. Not until much later were they available
for the non-Chinese. When the martial arts did come within grasping
range of a non-Chinese, they were viewed as a mysterious, secretive,
magical practice used strictly for fighting, because that was
the image projected by the secret societies.
The lineage of Shaolin martial arts
has been continued directly into the present day through Grandmaster
Su Kong Tai Djin (1859 - 1928) pictured on left and Grandmaster
Ie Chang Ming (1880-1976) pictured on the right.
Sin The' Gym
282 Gold Rush Road
Lexington KY 40503
Phone: 859-275-2148
Send comments to: remy@starlight.com