Thomas Chen
11-30-2001, 07:42 AM
Hi Guys
I just posted an article on legendary Chinese swordsmen at the Chinese swordsmanship forum of www.swordforum.com (http://www.swordforum.com) , thought I may as well post it here as well for you guys to enjoy.
Essay:
According to one Chinese military source, China has engaged in a total of 3790 recorded internal and external historical wars from 1100 BC (Western Zhou period) to 1911 (the end of the Qing Dynasty), ie. 3790 recorded wars in a timespan of 3011 years, an average of 1.26 wars per year from 1100 BC to 1911.
Such is China's long history of warfare and unending dynastic renewal , that it is not surprising that expert warriors such as strategists, tacticians, field generals, commandos, assassins, marksmen archers, elite calvary and anti-calvary infantry and of course swordsmen would emerge. But let us confine our discussion here to the swordsmen.
Based on 2000 year old historical records of the Han Dynasty, the earliest legendary swordsman was not a man but a woman. :)
Goujian, the King of the State of Yue (496-465 BC, late Spring and Autumn period) was supposedly to have been introduced by his loyal and able minister Fan Li to a young lady who was famous as a sword fighter. The story goes........
--------------------------------------------------
The King (Goujian) asked her, " Of all the methods of fighting with the sword, which is the best ?"
She answered, " I was born in the depth of the forests and I grew up in the wilds where no other people have ventured. So there was no "method" for me and I followed no course of instruction, for I never ventured into the feudal fiefs. Secretly, I yearned for a true method of fighting and I practiced endlessly. I never learned it from anyone: I just realized one day that I could do it."
"And what method do you practice now?" asked the King.
"The method involves great subtlety and constant change [of movement]; its principles involve great mystery and depth. The method involves both "front doors and "back doors" as well as hard and soft aspects. Opening the "front door" and closing the "back door" closes off the soft aspect and bring the hard aspect to the fore.
"Whenever you have hand-to-hand combat, you need to have nerves of steel on the inside, but be totally calm on the outside. I must look like a demure young lady but fight like a startled tiger. My profile changes with the action of my body, and both follow my subconscious. Overshadow your adversary like the sun; but scuttle like a flushed hare. Become a whirl of silhouettes and shadows; shimmer like a mirage. Inhaling, exhaling, moving in, moving back out, keeping yourself out of reach, using your strategy to block out the adversary, vertical, horizontal, resisting, following, straight, devious, and all without a sound. With a method like this, one can match a hundred; a hundred men can match ten thousand. If Your Majesty wants to try me out, you can have a demonstration right away."
The King of Yue was overjoyed and immediately gave her the title "Daughter of Yue". Then he ordered the divisional commanders and crack troops to practice the new method so that they could pass on to the troops. From then on, the method was known as "The Daughter of Yue's Swordsmanship".
This excerpt is from the Han Dynasty work, "The Sping and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue", and is found on pages 156-157 of the book "Chinese Archery", author and translator: Stephen Selby (HongKong University Press, 2000)
--------------------------------------------------
As you can see from the passage, this lady's swordsmanship principles embody very much the essence of Sun Tzu's Art of War...to be devious, unpredictable and the constant use of the indirect approach ...... emphasizing mobility.(Incidentally, Sun Tzu was a fellow contemporary of hers if she was indeed a real historical figure.) Could anyone who are trained in the Chinese sword arts enlighten us on the similarities & differences between the archaic original swordplay above and the contemporary swordplay of today ???
Around the same time that this legend was recorded in the Han Dynasty, there was a swordsmanship manual in circulation known as the "Way of the Sword" or "Jian Dao"(Japanese kanji pronunciation is "Kendo") in 38 chapters. Sadly, this book was lost, but one could get a rough idea of Han Dynasty swordsmanship through the passages recorded above.
The late Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of China(500BC - 221BC) were incredible times for the study of swordsmanship. The King of the State of Chao was recorded as having loved swordsmanship and having 3000 swordsmen at his palace, where they competed against each other in bare-blade swordfights before the King day and night. After a year, the death rate was about 10 percent of the total number.
Another famous swordsman/assassin who lived slightly after was the immortalized Jingke, whom everyone knows tried to assassinate the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang Ti with a top quality dagger that was poison-coated. He failed, of course, and the rest is history. He was recorded in the history books as having loved book-learning and swordsmanship and had even engaged a fellow swordsman in a debate on the tactics and principles of swordsmanship.
Xiangyu, the famous warrior and contender (his then title was known as "the Hegemon of Chu") who fought against Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, studied swordsmanship under a relative and complained that swordsmanship teaches one to fight one foe at a time, but he wanted to learn to fight ten thousand foes. His relative proceeded to teach him military strategy instead.
In the Han Dynasty (206BC - 220AD), numerous Chinese swordsmanship styles/schools flourished and swordsmanship was all the rage. Below is the translation of the friendly match between Cao Pei (who proceeded to become Emperor of the Wei Dynasty and ruled 220-226AD, just around the end of the Three Kingdoms period) and fellow general Dengzhan. Cao Pei's father was the famous general Cao Cao, one of the main protagonists in the Ming classical military novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This is the firsthand account written by Cao Pei:
---------------------------------------
".......I had also learned swordsmanship, and had many teachers. Different places have differing styles of swordsmanship, but it is at the Capital (Luoyang City) where it really excels. At the Capital, during the time of (Han Dynasty) Emperors Huan and Ling, there was an official by the name of Wangyue who was correspondingly famous. A Mr Shi-ah from Henan province once said that he had studied under Wangyue, and had learned all his techniques. Hence, I proceeded to study under Shi-ah, and became thoroughly familiar with his swordsmanship style and skills.
In the past, I have had drinking sessions with Generals Liuxun, Fenwei and Dengzhan. All this while, I had long heard of Dengzhan’s skills in empty hand techniques and in the five types of weapons, plus an ability to use his bare hands to engage opponents with bladed weapons. I also had long discussions with him on swordsmanship, and had criticized his swordsmanship skills as deficient. As I had loved swordsmanship and was skilful at it, Dengzhan requested for a (friendly) match.
As we were all in the midst of heavy drinking and chewing sugarcane stalks, we decided then to use sugarcane stalks as our swords. After walking down from the elevated platform to ground level, we started fighting…...…. it resulted in me hitting him on the shoulder 3 times. Everyone around laughed……. Dengzhan was not satisfied, and asked for a rematch. I told him that my movement was too hectic, not accurate enough to strike his middle chest area, which was why I decided to strike his shoulder instead. Dengzhan thereupon repeated his request for a rematch.
........As I had anticipated that he would aim for a rapid forward advance and strike me in the middle chest area, I pretended to move forward towards him, thereupon he rushed upon me. Retreating my steps suddenly, I then (simultaneously) proceeded to strike him on his head. Everyone on the elevated platform was stunned ………. I proceeded to go back to my seat, and while laughing, said, “In the past, just as Yangqin made Chun Yuyi give up his past methods of medicine, and taught him anew his own methods, I hope General Deng would let go of his old ways….and learn the correct Way.”
(The above is translated from the "Chapter of the Wei Dynasty", from the "Records of the Three Kingdoms")
------------------------------------------
There are many other warriors who studied swordsmanship and were skilled in the Jian and Dao throughout the later dynasties. Many of them are recorded in the official Chinese dynastic histories.
In parting, I wish to highlight a prominent Chinese swordsman who lived in the early part of the 20th century, who went by the name Sun Yu Feng, and who was a famous martial artist of the equally famous Jing Wu Association. Sun Yu Feng was so reknown that he even had the nickname " the Saber King of Five (Chinese) Provinces". He was the master of the Shaolin Luohan Swordsmanship (using a two-handed dao) and was known to have dispatched bandits and robbers with it. Another famous disciple of his, Huang Xiao Xia, had taught this form to Chinese soldiers and civilians in the anti-Japanese resistance movement in 1920s-30s to counter the invading Japanese soldiers' swordplay. This form is still practiced and taught in HongKong. How I wish I could fly down to HongKong and learn from the instructors there. If only I can find the time........
Thomas Chen
[This message was edited by Thomas Chen on 11-30-01 at 10:00 PM.]
I just posted an article on legendary Chinese swordsmen at the Chinese swordsmanship forum of www.swordforum.com (http://www.swordforum.com) , thought I may as well post it here as well for you guys to enjoy.
Essay:
According to one Chinese military source, China has engaged in a total of 3790 recorded internal and external historical wars from 1100 BC (Western Zhou period) to 1911 (the end of the Qing Dynasty), ie. 3790 recorded wars in a timespan of 3011 years, an average of 1.26 wars per year from 1100 BC to 1911.
Such is China's long history of warfare and unending dynastic renewal , that it is not surprising that expert warriors such as strategists, tacticians, field generals, commandos, assassins, marksmen archers, elite calvary and anti-calvary infantry and of course swordsmen would emerge. But let us confine our discussion here to the swordsmen.
Based on 2000 year old historical records of the Han Dynasty, the earliest legendary swordsman was not a man but a woman. :)
Goujian, the King of the State of Yue (496-465 BC, late Spring and Autumn period) was supposedly to have been introduced by his loyal and able minister Fan Li to a young lady who was famous as a sword fighter. The story goes........
--------------------------------------------------
The King (Goujian) asked her, " Of all the methods of fighting with the sword, which is the best ?"
She answered, " I was born in the depth of the forests and I grew up in the wilds where no other people have ventured. So there was no "method" for me and I followed no course of instruction, for I never ventured into the feudal fiefs. Secretly, I yearned for a true method of fighting and I practiced endlessly. I never learned it from anyone: I just realized one day that I could do it."
"And what method do you practice now?" asked the King.
"The method involves great subtlety and constant change [of movement]; its principles involve great mystery and depth. The method involves both "front doors and "back doors" as well as hard and soft aspects. Opening the "front door" and closing the "back door" closes off the soft aspect and bring the hard aspect to the fore.
"Whenever you have hand-to-hand combat, you need to have nerves of steel on the inside, but be totally calm on the outside. I must look like a demure young lady but fight like a startled tiger. My profile changes with the action of my body, and both follow my subconscious. Overshadow your adversary like the sun; but scuttle like a flushed hare. Become a whirl of silhouettes and shadows; shimmer like a mirage. Inhaling, exhaling, moving in, moving back out, keeping yourself out of reach, using your strategy to block out the adversary, vertical, horizontal, resisting, following, straight, devious, and all without a sound. With a method like this, one can match a hundred; a hundred men can match ten thousand. If Your Majesty wants to try me out, you can have a demonstration right away."
The King of Yue was overjoyed and immediately gave her the title "Daughter of Yue". Then he ordered the divisional commanders and crack troops to practice the new method so that they could pass on to the troops. From then on, the method was known as "The Daughter of Yue's Swordsmanship".
This excerpt is from the Han Dynasty work, "The Sping and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue", and is found on pages 156-157 of the book "Chinese Archery", author and translator: Stephen Selby (HongKong University Press, 2000)
--------------------------------------------------
As you can see from the passage, this lady's swordsmanship principles embody very much the essence of Sun Tzu's Art of War...to be devious, unpredictable and the constant use of the indirect approach ...... emphasizing mobility.(Incidentally, Sun Tzu was a fellow contemporary of hers if she was indeed a real historical figure.) Could anyone who are trained in the Chinese sword arts enlighten us on the similarities & differences between the archaic original swordplay above and the contemporary swordplay of today ???
Around the same time that this legend was recorded in the Han Dynasty, there was a swordsmanship manual in circulation known as the "Way of the Sword" or "Jian Dao"(Japanese kanji pronunciation is "Kendo") in 38 chapters. Sadly, this book was lost, but one could get a rough idea of Han Dynasty swordsmanship through the passages recorded above.
The late Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of China(500BC - 221BC) were incredible times for the study of swordsmanship. The King of the State of Chao was recorded as having loved swordsmanship and having 3000 swordsmen at his palace, where they competed against each other in bare-blade swordfights before the King day and night. After a year, the death rate was about 10 percent of the total number.
Another famous swordsman/assassin who lived slightly after was the immortalized Jingke, whom everyone knows tried to assassinate the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang Ti with a top quality dagger that was poison-coated. He failed, of course, and the rest is history. He was recorded in the history books as having loved book-learning and swordsmanship and had even engaged a fellow swordsman in a debate on the tactics and principles of swordsmanship.
Xiangyu, the famous warrior and contender (his then title was known as "the Hegemon of Chu") who fought against Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, studied swordsmanship under a relative and complained that swordsmanship teaches one to fight one foe at a time, but he wanted to learn to fight ten thousand foes. His relative proceeded to teach him military strategy instead.
In the Han Dynasty (206BC - 220AD), numerous Chinese swordsmanship styles/schools flourished and swordsmanship was all the rage. Below is the translation of the friendly match between Cao Pei (who proceeded to become Emperor of the Wei Dynasty and ruled 220-226AD, just around the end of the Three Kingdoms period) and fellow general Dengzhan. Cao Pei's father was the famous general Cao Cao, one of the main protagonists in the Ming classical military novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This is the firsthand account written by Cao Pei:
---------------------------------------
".......I had also learned swordsmanship, and had many teachers. Different places have differing styles of swordsmanship, but it is at the Capital (Luoyang City) where it really excels. At the Capital, during the time of (Han Dynasty) Emperors Huan and Ling, there was an official by the name of Wangyue who was correspondingly famous. A Mr Shi-ah from Henan province once said that he had studied under Wangyue, and had learned all his techniques. Hence, I proceeded to study under Shi-ah, and became thoroughly familiar with his swordsmanship style and skills.
In the past, I have had drinking sessions with Generals Liuxun, Fenwei and Dengzhan. All this while, I had long heard of Dengzhan’s skills in empty hand techniques and in the five types of weapons, plus an ability to use his bare hands to engage opponents with bladed weapons. I also had long discussions with him on swordsmanship, and had criticized his swordsmanship skills as deficient. As I had loved swordsmanship and was skilful at it, Dengzhan requested for a (friendly) match.
As we were all in the midst of heavy drinking and chewing sugarcane stalks, we decided then to use sugarcane stalks as our swords. After walking down from the elevated platform to ground level, we started fighting…...…. it resulted in me hitting him on the shoulder 3 times. Everyone around laughed……. Dengzhan was not satisfied, and asked for a rematch. I told him that my movement was too hectic, not accurate enough to strike his middle chest area, which was why I decided to strike his shoulder instead. Dengzhan thereupon repeated his request for a rematch.
........As I had anticipated that he would aim for a rapid forward advance and strike me in the middle chest area, I pretended to move forward towards him, thereupon he rushed upon me. Retreating my steps suddenly, I then (simultaneously) proceeded to strike him on his head. Everyone on the elevated platform was stunned ………. I proceeded to go back to my seat, and while laughing, said, “In the past, just as Yangqin made Chun Yuyi give up his past methods of medicine, and taught him anew his own methods, I hope General Deng would let go of his old ways….and learn the correct Way.”
(The above is translated from the "Chapter of the Wei Dynasty", from the "Records of the Three Kingdoms")
------------------------------------------
There are many other warriors who studied swordsmanship and were skilled in the Jian and Dao throughout the later dynasties. Many of them are recorded in the official Chinese dynastic histories.
In parting, I wish to highlight a prominent Chinese swordsman who lived in the early part of the 20th century, who went by the name Sun Yu Feng, and who was a famous martial artist of the equally famous Jing Wu Association. Sun Yu Feng was so reknown that he even had the nickname " the Saber King of Five (Chinese) Provinces". He was the master of the Shaolin Luohan Swordsmanship (using a two-handed dao) and was known to have dispatched bandits and robbers with it. Another famous disciple of his, Huang Xiao Xia, had taught this form to Chinese soldiers and civilians in the anti-Japanese resistance movement in 1920s-30s to counter the invading Japanese soldiers' swordplay. This form is still practiced and taught in HongKong. How I wish I could fly down to HongKong and learn from the instructors there. If only I can find the time........
Thomas Chen
[This message was edited by Thomas Chen on 11-30-01 at 10:00 PM.]