Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

130 Folklore in the Martial Arts
a time of opposition to foreign Manchu rule are boxing styles attributed to
Yue Fei. The earliest reference is in a xinyiquan (now more commonly
known as xingyiquan [hsing i ch’uan], form and mind boxing) manual
dated 1751. The preface explains that Yue Fei developed yiquan (mind
boxing) from his spear techniques. In fact, key xingyiquan forms do have
an affinity to spear techniques, but this is not necessarily unusual, since
boxing and weapons techniques were intimately related. Cheng Zongyou,
in his Elucidation of Shaolin Staff Methods (ca. 1621), emphasizes this
point by describing a number of interrelated boxing and weapons forms.
Local legends attempt to extend the legend to regional figures, thus
providing a credible lineage for specific styles of xingyi. For example, narratives
of the origin of the Hebei style (also known as the Shanxi-Hebei
school) continue to circulate orally as well as in printed form. One narrative,
the biography of Li Luoneng (Li Lao Nan), maintains that he originally
brought xingyi back to Hebei. Subsequently, the Li Luoneng’s xingyiquan
was combined with baguazhang (pa kua ch’uan) to become the
Hebei style. Kevin Menard observes that, within the Hebei system, two explanations
of the synthesis exist. More probable is that “many masters of
both systems lived in this province, and many became friends—especially
bagua’s Cheng Tinghua and xingyi’s Li Cunyi. From these friendships,
cross-training occurred, and the Hebei style developed.” More dramatic yet
less likely is the legend of an epic three-day battle between Dong Haichuan,
who according to tradition founded baguazhang, and Li Luoneng’s top student,
Guo (Kuo) Yunshen. According to xingyi tradition the fight ended in
a stalemate (Menard). Other versions (circulated primarily among bagua
practitioners) end in a decisive victory by Dong on the third day. In either
case, each was so impressed with the other’s fighting skills that a pact of
brotherhood was sworn between the two systems, which resulted in students
of either art being required to learn the other.
During the Qing period, because of its potential anti-Manchu implications,
the popular novel Complete Biography of Yue Fei was banned by
Emperor Qianlong’s (given name Hong Li) literary inquisition. When the
Manchus came to power, they initially called their dynasty the Later Jin, after
their ancestors, whom Yue Fei had opposed. Thus, here is another example
of the relationship between martial arts practice, patriotism, and rebellion.
However, it is not until after Qing rule collapsed in the early
twentieth century that styles of boxing actually named after Yue Fei appear.
Another interesting possible allusion to Yue Fei can be found (ca.
1789) in the name of the enigmatic Wang Zongyue (potentially translated
as “Wang who honors Yue”), to whom the famous Taijiquan Theory is attributed.
Whether or not Wang Zongyue actually wrote this short treatise
or whether Wang was the invention of Wu Yuxiang (1812–1880?), whose