As Brothers Swear Allegiance, Enemies Plot Destruction.

[Tainan Mantis]

Any Chinese readers?

There is an old story of Zhao Kuangyin swearing to a brotherhood before he became known as Song Taizu.
He swore this brotherhood with Zheng En and Chai Rong. Kuangyin came from a line of military men, his father was well known, but his senior brother Chai Rong and his junior brother Zheng En were unknown and poor.

Chai Rong pushed around a wheelbarrow full of umbrellas trying to get by and Zheng En carried a pole of sesame oil on his back selling it from a gourd.

When the three brothers got together to swear their oath in the novel Fei Long Chuan Zhuan the author included a short line to foreshadow their future (you could call this a device in Chinese plot making). I have been playing with this translation, I feel the following follows the meaning of the legend a little bit better than what is literally written.


As brothers swear allegiance, enemies plot destruction.
　　漫道拜盟稱慶幸，須知讎敵暗分排。

[mooyingmantis]

How does this relate to mantis?

[Tainan Mantis]

Zheng En and Kuangyin are two of the legendary creators that make up Mantis. They protected Chai Rong with their kung fu techniques.

[Tainan Mantis]

Nowadays Zheng En is relatively unknown. There once was a time in literature when he was known as the tiger who descends the mountain to protect a pair of dragons. Dragons represent the emperor and the tiger represents the protector. He holds the special literary distinction of acting as bodyguard for both Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin, two men who later became emperor.

We know Zheng En as the master of the 纏封 chan feng wrapping and sealing techniques of mantis.

In Literature he was thought of as a reincarnation of the Black Tiger God of Wealth 黑虎星官. For this reason, Zheng En, under his heavenly name, is still revered as god, in much the same way as Guang Gong is.

What I find so interesting is that one of the people imitated in kung fu, Zheng En, is worshipped as a god. But, as far as I have been able to determine, no one in the kung fu world is aware of Zheng En's heavenly origins and no one in the modern spirit worshiping world is aware of Zheng En's part in the creation of kung fu styles such as Mantis.

Actually, we can also link him to the creation of Song Taizu's longfist, which means that Taiji also owes a part of its origins to Zheng En.

In what temple is a statue of Zheng En still placed on an alter or where does it still reside in a temple? Likely Taiwan or Hong Kong, any clues?

[Tainan Mantis]

The first three people on the family tree of Mantis are Zhao Kuangyin, Han Tong and Zheng En. They all worked as protectors and friends of Chai Rong. Chai Rong is the hero who rose up from umbrella peddler to emperor. A fascinating and true story that is not well known today. In reading over the story I am amazed at the quality of the writing and the plot and can see how it could be taken as a part of the martial stories of martial styles such as Mantis and Longfist.

Stories of revolting against the empire would no doubt be popular during periods of Chinese history when the Chinese were ruled by outside forces.
The Yuan, Jin and Qing are three examples that together cover half a millennia.

In researching the revolutionary aspects of Chai Rong's three protectors, Zhao Kuangyin, Han Tong and Zheng En I came across a sentence by Chai Rong that serves to incite the populace to revolutionary war. part of the upcoming book on the history of Mantis, I found this particular paragraph to be some of the most powerful words spoken by Chai Rong.

Chai Rong spoke, "Marshal, since ancient times heroes must commit to the trend of the times. Today the imperial court has transformed into a state of chaos and the affairs of the nation are harmed. Great ministers of the nation can exploit this, take a hold of this great army and guard a place of strategic importance. Take advantage of this opportunity and we can send troops and start an uprising and kill our way to Bian Liang and exterminate those vile ministers given to flattery and install a new sovereign. There is no reason that we can't do this!"

But, I can't help asking myself, is it possible that phrases like this uttered not by an outlaw, such as they are in Heroes of the Marsh but by a man who actually became the ruler of China may have been perceived as dangerous literature during certain periods of Chinese history?

We already know that Heroes of the Marsh was banned during the Qing dynasty. Could literature that styles such as Longfist and Mantis descend from also have been banned?

I would like to see a list of banned books during the Qing dynasty as a source of revolutionary literature that martial artists may have used for inspiration to revolt.

[bawang]

whats with your obsession with fairy tales?

[Bai Chi]

whats with your obsession with fairy tales?

What's your obsession with being an a5shole towards everyone?

Not everyone is as narrow minded, ignorant and cynical as you. Let them explore historical significance as they like not how you see fit.

[Tainan Mantis]

whats with your obsession with fairy tales?

In literature there are a series of stories, plays, drum songs, oral tales and novels that romanticize events that took place in the 950's. These events came to influence our modern styles of kung fu.

This literary-historical link can be traced from before the Song in 960 to the Ming and through the Ming down to the present day. These influences came down through the ages to influence all the styles that relate to the first Emperor of the Song Dynasty Zhao Kuangyin. This includes such styles as Longfist, Taiji and Praying Mantis to name a few.

By properly understanding the history and context of our martial arts it gives us a deeper respect for the training and philosophy that martial artists have devoted their life lives.

...hence the obsession