Originally Posted by
Tainan Mantis
So, to look again at a specific quite from
Record of Taizu's Visiting Friends
...
At that time Han Tong had made a great name for himself.
But for the strong there is always the stronger.
What is the use of exaggerating your own strength?......
As early as the Ming dynasty (pre 1644) Han Tong would walk on stage and brag as follows;
My fists have beat all of Shandong
My flying feet and leaping punches are without peer
Feared by heroes everywhere
My name's fame spans a generation
The moral of the play was about being both humble and the bonds of friendship. The "visiting friends" in the title of the sonnet refers to the heroes of Shandong's Deng Prefect as we can see in the subtitle of the play
- A Meeting of Heroes at Deng Prefect-
The title of the play matches the military title taught at that time. Both the play and the military title describe Han Tong as the man from Muling Pass. The military method ended with the "Six Roads of palms and fists"
The Eighteen family Sonnet of Praying Mantis tells us that Han Tong's Tong Bei is the Mother. Meaning that the Mother of our style comes from Han Tong.
I think the next question would be, what were Han Tong's techniques?
Or, what is Han Tong's connection to Muling Pass?