The history of 點

[Tainan Mantis]

The character 'dian' is not very common in the names of techniques of Mantis, but it comes up frequently in the method of applications. For this reason, I believe that tracing the etymolgy of this character may give us clues as to some of the early sources of Mantis Boxing.

Tracing the etymology of the character dian to earlier sources.
I started with Wushe's book Record of Arms (1662) as it is an early Qing Dynasty review of Ming Era spear manuals from various sources including Shaolin E-Mei as well as family methods such as Yang Family and Ma Family.

An interesting side note; it is the first appearance of a spear manual by a Ming Era Shaolin Monk who instructed Cheng Zongyou before Cheng published his book on Shaolin weapons methods at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

In order to trace the roots of this character, we must first determine which is the correct character to use. There is the dian, which commonly means small, or to place a 'dot' in calligraphy writing

點

As well as the character 顛
Resolving the question of which is the correct character to use for dian has proven to be an almost impossible issue to decode.

These characters are sometimes used interchangably from manual to manual. Bit by bit I will show some comparisons for your examination.

[Tainan Mantis]

The Ancient formula states that it is the falling and lifting method

Here is a sample of the character 顛 being used.
At first I didn't think of this character until I read into the text. It mentions the technique from the form called Plum Flower Road called Phoenix Falls three times on the head.

...take the opportunity to apply 'phoenix falls on the head'

Here the character 顛 is used
In all manuals of mantis that I have come across this technique is written with the character 點.

Since it is easy to argue that either character could be correct, it is possible that a custom of using the 點 character emerged within mantis.

[Tainan Mantis]

Here is a sample of how dian is used in Mantis from the formula called

Five Interconnected Hands Uncanny Essentials

The first two essentials

Apply the ‘empty strike (back hand)’.
Diagonal dividing coiled elbow. ‘Dian’ (back hand) to the central gate and change to jade ring....

As was the custom of Cui Shoushan the character 點 is used.
As is common in his writing, he uses 點 at the beginning of the application.

[Tainan Mantis]

Here, Li Kunshan uses the same character 點to describe his 'Pheonix falls on the head three times'
This is in contrast to the character 顛 used in Wushe's Book of Arms as shown above in describing 'phoenix falls on the head.'

[mooyingmantis]

Here is a sample of how dian is used in Mantis from the formula called

Five Interconnected Hands Uncanny Essentials

The first two essentials

Apply the ‘empty strike (back hand)’.
Diagonal dividing coiled elbow. ‘Dian’ (back hand) to the central gate and change to jade ring....

As was the custom of Cui Shoushan the character 點 is used.
As is common in his writing, he uses 點 at the beginning of the application.

Kevin,
I find it interesting that in this passage he uses both: 點 (traditional character) and 点 (simplified character).

[Tainan Mantis]

The simplification of CHinese characters dates at least to the addition of the horse hair brush. The cultural revolution just standardized them.
You can get an idea of ancient simplification of CHinese characters by looking at the modern Chinese phonetic system as well as the Japanese phonetic system. Both are simplified Chinese characters from several dynasties past.

[holymantis]

Wow .
(Resolving the question of which is the correct character to use for dian has proven to be an almost impossible issue to decode. )
why is it you make this all look easy Kevin ,from what i see the problem is you have to know and understand the Movements(the said weapon) and the style (Mantis) also to even understand the Caligraphy. and then try to decode it. thankyou for this info it all helps.


regards roy

[-N-]

There is a lot of cultural context to understanding anything.

Nothing special. That's just how it is.

I joke with the students that 300 years from now, the leaking palm strike might be known as "Leroy's Pimp Slap".

I see Mike Dasargo teaches his students with a lot of current western cultural reference that has meaning for them that helps them understand their kf better.

[holymantis]

and thats my problem i was taught that way myself!
so to understand Chinese is not so easy for me.......

[xiao yao]

In my lineage, "dian bu 点步" is a quick shuffle step to advance (you bring the back foot up to the front foot before moving the front foot) for example before executing a deng ta

in this case, dian means a quick and light step

dian can also mean striking a pressure point - dian xue 点穴