A History of Chinese Martial Arts

Fuhua Huang, Fan Hong, Fuhua Huang, Fan Hong

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138645585
• eBook ISBN: 9781317239932
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Chinese martial arts have a long, meaningful history and deep cultural roots. They blend the physical components of combat with strategy, philosophy and tradition, distinguishing them from Western sports.

A History of Chinese Martial Arts is the most authoritative study ever written on this topic, featuring contributions from leading Chinese scholars and practitioners. The book provides a comprehensive overview of all types of Chinese martial arts, from the Pre-Qin Period (before 222 BC) right up to the present day in the People's Republic of China, with each chapter covering a different period in Chinese history. Including numerous illustrations of artefacts, weaponry and historical drawings and documents, this book offers unparalleled insight into the origins, development and contemporary significance of martial arts in China.

This is a fascinating read for researchers and students working in sports history, Chinese sport and Chinese Studies.

Chapter 1

Martial arts in the pre-Qin period (before 221 BC)

Chinese martial arts have a long history. As early as the pre-Qin period, martial arts had developed into a clear form based on their primitive origin. This period spans from the uncivilized primitive age to the Xia dynasty (c.2070–1600 BC), through the Shang dynasty (c.1600–1046 BC) and the Zhou dynasty (c.1046–221 BC), until the end of the Spring and Autumn (c.770–476 BC) and Warring States (c.475–221 BC) periods; that is, before the unification of the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and the Han dynasty (202 BC–AD 220). Chinese martial arts are integral to the treasury of Eastern culture. They originated and developed closely alongside Chinese civilization and constitute a significant part of the cultural history of China.

The origin of Chinese martial arts

Primitive society in China began with the appearance of Sinanthropus approximately 600,000–70,000 years ago, and ran through the unclearly recorded era of the Huangdi, Yandi, Yaodi and Shundi to the Xia dynasty. During this long period, martial arts started to sprout and develop with the beginning of human civilization. Tactical fighting is the most fundamental feature of martial arts. Therefore, the study of the origin of martial arts entails beginning with an exploration of the emergence of these tactical fighting arts.

Tactical fighting arts emerged in the struggles for survival

In primitive society, people inhabited a vast wilderness. Hanfeizi notes that there were far more beasts than human beings.¹ The fossils also show that there were a large number of beasts with incisors, in particular the ferocious sabre-toothed tiger. Huainanzi writes that in ancient times, predatory beasts ate people and violent birds were able to carry off the old and the weak.² Classic of Mountains and Seas records that wild boar and serpents were both perilous to mankind.³ In the struggle for survival, the primary fight was with wild beasts. It was in these ruthless fights that tactical fighting arts took shape.

There were two major approaches in these tactical fighting arts: using bare hands, and using tools. As far back as the Paleolithic Age, essential unarmed fighting skills, such as running, jumping, dodging, rolling, punching and kicking, had been naturally and gradually developed in fights against animals. However, using tools was a more effective way to enable mankind to defeat beasts in the struggle for survival. A great deal of primitive stoneware, including stone hammers, stone knives, stone needle-nosed chisels and boneware, has been found in Sinanthropus deposits that are more than 600,000 years old, with some of the blades still sharp. Cudgels and stoneware were the most widely used instruments, but wooden weapons such as cudgels and spears tend to decay over time, so they may not have survived the centuries. These armed and unarmed fights inevitably resulted in the accumulation of fighting experience, though such experience remained fairly undeveloped. As tens of thousands of years went by, skills such as striking and stabbing, movement, and gestures of attacking and defending were eventually formed. In mastering these skills and movements, people gradually developed self-awareness in applying them. In this way, tactical fighting arts and the awareness of martial arts emerged. This struggle for survival was the origin of martial arts.

Primitive warfare triggered the emergence of martial arts

While the struggle for survival between mankind and beasts undoubtedly led to the emergence of tactical fighting arts, fighting between men was a catalyst for the emergence of martial arts in a more direct way. There have been inter-tribal fights for food and land and inter-personal fights for spouses for time immemorial. Annals of Master Lv notes that before Chiyou was born, people fought each other with tree trunks and branches, and that these fights commenced long ago, with any notion of banning these fights seemingly impractical.⁴ This reveals that before the outbreak of large-scale inter-tribal warfare, people had already been fighting for leadership.

At the end of primitive society, warfare began to occur between clans, and the emergence of organized inter-tribal battles accelerated the formation of martial arts. Ancient books record wars such as these between Huangdi and Yandi and between Huangdi and Chiyou, and that Yudi conquered the Jiuli people and the Sanmiao people. These wars strongly facilitated the production of weapons and the origin and development of tactical fighting arts. Among numerous legends, Chiyou, a descendant of Yandi, was the most famous ‘Man of War’ and there are many legends about preliminary martial arts in relation to him. According to Records of the Grand Historian, Huangdi defeated Yandi through three great battles in the vicinity of Banquan.⁵ Chiyou disobeyed Huangdi and launched an armed rebellion. Huangdi then sent all his dukes and armies to fight against Chiyou in the vicinity of Zhuolu, and eventually killed Chiyou. Chiyou was so intrepid that victory over him was only achieved at great cost. In ancient legends, people tend to attribute the invention of weapons to Chiyou. Book of Origins records that Chiyou invented the Five Weapons, namely the dagger-axe, lance, halberd, short spear and long spear.⁶ This indicates that warfare promoted the invention and development of weapons.

Chiyou was not only an inventor of weapons, but also a notable barehanded fighter. Arowana Apocrypha describes him as bronze-headed and with an iron forehead.⁷ Accounts of Marvels says his ears were like swords and halberds, and his head protruded with horns.⁸ In fighting with Huangdi, Chiyou rushed towards his enemies with his horned head, leaving his opponents helpless. This also suggests that primitive warfare to a great extent drove the origin and development of barehanded fighting skills such as catching, holding, tumbling, and striking.

The emerging sense of fighting and competition among people was another important landmark in the initial development of martial arts. Annals of Master Yan says that all objects with blood and breath have a sense of competition.⁹ Huainanzi adds that all human beings are born with this sense.¹⁰ These ancient works demonstrate the belief that competing and fighting is an embodiment of manliness.

Warfare in primitive society further reinforced this. There is a widely transmitted myth praising the martial spirit of primitive people: Xingtian, a descendant of Yandi, vied with Huangdi for leadership and power, and as a result was beheaded by Huangdi and sent to be buried on Changyang Mountain. However, he continued performing the Ganqi Dance,¹¹ with his nipples becoming eyes while his belly button became a mouth.¹² This myth states that Xingtian did not wish to stop fighting even after being beheaded. Therefore, Tao Yuanming (c.365–427) highly eulogized him in his Thirteen Poems on the Classic of Mountains and Seas, saying that Xingtian’s Ganqi Dance immortalized his intense martial spirit.¹³

To meet the needs of primitive wars, people were required to undertake military manoeuvres in order to familiarize themselves with movements of striking and stabbing, as well as wearing any battle garments necessary on the battlefield. Consequently, martial dances (or war dances) were born. In the primitive age, martial dances were also martial arts, during which performers held a variety of weapons to practice various movements and gestures of striking and stabbing. Mere decades ago, martial dances could still be found in some still-primitive Chinese minority communities. These dances were not only rehearsals of the movements of striking and stabbing, but also functioned to propagate military power through martial performance. It is recorded in Huainanzi that Shundi defeated the rebellious Sanmiao people three times, but they did not surrender. Shundi then led his warriors to perform the Ganqi Dance in front of the Sanmiao. The dance exhibited the Shun army’s great power and superb martial arts, and finally overwhelmed the stunned and frightened Sanmiao.¹⁴

In the ancient rock paintings still found all over the country, some images of preliminary martial arts can be found. For example, a rock painting in Cangyuan County in Yunnan Province shows warriors standing smartly in a horizontal line with short dagger-axes in their right hands. Some hold a square shield in one hand and a weapon with two wide ends and slim shaft in the other, their bent legs in a horse-stance squat style. Figure 1.1 provides vivid evidence of early martial arts.

Figure 1.1An image of martial dance in a primitive rock painting in Cangyuan County, Yunnan Province.

Primitive religion, education, recreation and the origin of martial arts

In primitive forms of human culture, religion, education, and recre...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of contributors
• Foreword to the first edition
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Martial arts in the pre-Qin period (before 221bc)
• 2 Martial arts in the Qin and Han dynasties and Three Kingdoms period (221bc–280)
• 3 Martial arts in the Jin and the Southern and Northern dynasties (265–589)
• 4 Martial arts in the Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (581–979)
• 5 Martial arts in the Song dynasty (960–1279)
• 6 Martial arts in the Liao, Jin, Western Xia, and Yuan dynasties (916–1368)
• 7 Martial arts in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
• 8 Martial arts in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
• 9 Martial arts in the Republic of China (1912–1949)
• 10 Martial arts in the People’s Republic of China (1949–)
• Index
• Back cover