Meihuaquan The Link Between Man and Heaven

Di Enrico Storti, Luca Bizzi e Giuliano Furlini

Questa non è la semplice traduzione in Inglese del libro "MEIHUAQUAN –

L'Uomo in Comunione con il Cielo", ma ne è una revisione ed un

arricchimento sia del testo che delle immagini. Il sottotitolo è una

traduzione del concetto filosofico Cinese dell'Unione tra Cielo e Uomo

che rappresenta la reciproca interazione ed armonia tra il macrocosmo

(Cielo) ed il microcosmo (Uomo). La Scuola di Arti Marziali del Fiore di

Prunus mume si propone come strumento per realizzare questa condizione.

Descrive perciò il contesto culturale, linguistico, sociale e religioso

di questo stile e ne delinea il percorso di apprendimento marziale. Le

teorie tradizionali che sottostanno all'allenamento sono messe in

relazione con i concetti delle moderne scienze motorie. Fornisce

immagini, biografie e lignaggi di eminenti praticanti. La parte finale

descrive l'introduzione di questo stile in Italia con l'arrivo del

maestro Chang Dsu Yao, e l'errata convinzione che si trattasse di

Shaolinquan. Rispetto alla versione italiana è stato ridotto ad alcune

pagine più significative il registro della Scuola di Liu Baochun, il

maestro di Chang Dsu Yao.

• Lingua: Italiano
• Editore: Youcanprint
• Data di uscita: 23 ago 2021
• ISBN: 9791220340830

Anteprima del libro

Index

Index

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Wénchǎng and Wǔchǎng

The Name

Gānzhī

Meaning of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches

Millenarianism and Méihuāquán

Tiān Dì Rén

24 postures 二十四势 and 24 vital breaths 二十四气

Four Gates, Eight Directions, Heaven and Earth

The Méihuāquán and sacred dances

Méihuāzhuāng

The psycho-physical activity of Méihuāquán or the Practice

The Jiàzi

The rhythm

Flexible Inflexible

The Five Requirements

Hands Eyes Body Technique Steps

Internal External and Six Combinations

The Five Figures

Sìmén and Bāfāng in the Méihuāquán

The Méihuāquán Footwork

Steps in the Eight Directions

Variants and Variables

Group practice

Exchanges of Blow

In Hézé

From Victory Boxing to Achievement Boxing and Strategic Lines

The Weapons of Méihuāquán

The weapons of the Méihuāquán and the classifications of the Chinese weapons (tables)

Internal exercises

Religious aspects of Méihuāquán

Tiān Dì Jūn Qīn Shī

Divinities and Incense

Style manuals and religious books

The Méiquán Mìpǔ

Table Manual Names of Méihuāquán

Generational characters

The 100 Generational Characters of Méihuāquán 梅花拳百字辈

The Moral Rules of Méihuāquán

Yang Bing and the Moral Rules of Méihuāquán

The Rules defined by Wáng Shǒuyì

Discussion on the origins of Méihuāquán

The constitution in the Western Zhōu era

Foundation during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period

The Shaolin Temple

Dōng Dàchéngjiāo

Bāguàjiào

Historical origins from the time of the Míng Dynasty

Biographies of masters

Zōu Hóngyì

The lineage of Zōu Hóngyì

Yáng Bǐng

The lineage of Yáng Bǐng

Zhāng Cóngfù

The lineage of Zhāng Cóngfù

Bái Jīndǒu

The lineage of Bái Jīndǒu

Hán Qíchāng

The lineage of Hán Qíchāng

Wáng Shǒuyì

The lineage of Wáng Shǒuyì

Lù Jiànmín

Chang Dsu Yao and the Méihuāquán

Chang Dsu Yao and Liú Bǎojūn Were Mainly Masters of Méihuāquán

Chang School and Méihuāquán

The biography of Chang Dsu Yao and the death of Liú Bǎojūn

The lineage of Chang Dsu Yao

Excerpts of the Liú School of Plum Blossom Boxing Register

Excerpt 2

Excerpt 3

Excerpt 4

Excerpt 5

Excerpt 6

Excerpt 7

References

Books

Articles and Thesis

Enrico Storti

Luca Bizzi

Giuliano Furlini.

Meihuaquan

The link between man and heaven

Title | Meihuaquan The Link Between Man and Heaven

Author | Enrico Storti, Luca Bizzi, Giuliano Furlini

ISBN | 9791220340830

© 2021 All rights reserved by the Author

No part of this book may

be reproduced without the

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all those who have contributed directly and indirectly to the making of this book. Starting from the conceptual and practical contributions, we mention:

Wáng Shǒuyì (and all his family), Lù Jiànmín (and all his family), Zhāng Huázhōng, Zhào Dàléi, Chéng Xiàowǔ, Lǐ Yàlóng and all our martial uncles, Liú Bǎoyìn, Yáng Yànmíng and his son Yáng Zhìqiáng, Mèng Zhāolì, Sāng Xījié, Xù Wénbīn, Zhōu Wěiliáng, Wáng Zhìzhōng, Yàn Zǐjié, Suí Yúnjiāng, Zhào Jǐngquán, Ren Junmin, Yan Yan, the dear departed Liú Màishōu, Liú Xiǎotíng and Liú Zǐtíng, Hán Bǎiguǎng, Zhāng Xīlǐng, Mǎ 'Àimín.

Jiǎ Yù and all the other disciples of Jiǎ Hǔchén who welcomed us in Dàtóng.

Thanks to our xiōngdì Wú Tāo, Cuī Guǎngdōng, Chéng Wényàn, who have solved many logistical problems and helped us to get in touch with relevant Circles of the School.

A special mention must go to Furlini Alberto and Cicerone Francesco, who lent themselves for some educational photos.

A particular acknowledgment to Thomas Green who first reviewed the manuscript and gave us his suggestions and thoughts.

Thanks to Raymond Ambrosi, and Natalie Hatton for their willingness to read the manuscript; Debora Marchesini, for the text revision work and Giulia Gobetti for reworking some masters' paintings. Thanks to Mounes Santini and Edoardo Antolini for the encouragement to continue and for some useful suggestions. Thanks to Andrea Brighi for his stimulus to write this book that we would have liked to publish it with his publishing house. To Fabio Smolari, who gave us his degree thesis from which we got ideas and inspiration. To Alessandro Panighetti for some precious technical comparisons.

To Chén Niánxīn (Marco) and Zhōu Yǒngqín (Silvia) for the concrete help, crucial when China was still a mysterious and unreachable place for us.

But above all, thank you for the friendship that binds us, even to those whom we have indeed forgotten to mention, who welcomed us and supported us in our research and to whom we are equally profoundly grateful.

To Wáng Shǒuyì, a great master of life

Introduction

Thanking our masters, we present this work using a phrase by Sun Lutang:

I have practiced this art for more than forty years and am still no better than ignorant. What I am presenting is based on what I have heard from my teachers and what I have read in old manuals. My intention is [that of Confucius (Lun Yu, 7.1):] I transmit but do not create, [for I believe in and love the old ways].¹

In fact, our work is the result of field research and readings on the Méihuāquán with the aim of providing an image of this school that is following reality and far from dogmatic. Let us forget to find in this book the absolute truth about Méihuāquán, but, on the contrary, you will find a partial description of one extraordinary complexity. In this text, we will talk about religion, philosophy, medicine, martial arts, and everything else we found in the Boxing School of the Prunus mume Blossom. In it, you find a partial critical reinterpretation of the Méiquán Mìpǔ 梅拳秘谱. While emphasizing its recent origin and (partial?) recopying from renowned manuals of other styles, this rereading does not diminish the value of the work that reflects the teachings of Hán Qíchāng (16th generation). For convenience, we will call that branch Beijing School, deriving from that called Xiǎojià created by Zhāng Cóngfù² (8th generation³). Hán Qíchāng students listed in the book Méihuāzhuāng⁴, are Wáng Zhìzhōng, Lǐ Pèijī, Lù Qírén, Yàn Zǐjié, Lǐ Niànzhōu, and Lú Gōnglǐ. Most of these masters, together with Hán Jiànzhōng, son of Hán Qíchāng, have published books and articles about Méihuāquán. That large production of written material as well as the diffusion in China of Beijing School, have determined its supremacy, which is shown by recent articles and books on Méihuāquán reporting theories and terminologies coming from it and the Méiquán Mìpǔ. In an attempt to put the various branches' ideas, practices, and language on an equal footing, we began to compare and relocate them to their correct philological dimension. Not easy to read, it makes clear the effort of our research, which had to take advantage of continuous training in the various contexts in which our journey through the Méihuāquán led us.

Why will we talk about religion, philosophy, medicine, martial arts, ...?

Wénchǎng and Wǔchǎng

The Méihuāquán 梅花拳 is a complex and articulated reality that merges and intertwines intimately with Chinese history, culture, philosophy, and religion.

A particular trait of this school is that it has been handed down and taught within two distinct but interconnected sectors: the Wénchǎng⁵, the so-called civil⁶ field of knowledge, and the Wǔchǎng⁷, the military field. This strange distinction rests on a characteristic dualism of Chinese civilization since ancient times.

The founders of the Zhōu dynasty⁸ (1045-221 BC) received the posthumous names of Wén and Wǔ, which are complementary symbols of cultural sophistication (refinement) and warrior power.⁹ Anne Cheng explains that the Wén¹⁰ character is associated with two homophones:

1. 理 lǐ that is the natural order;

2. 礼 lǐ that is the ritual spirit. These are ways to bring reality to the universe.

Wén's original handwriting can represent a dancer disguised as a bird with feather motifs painted on his chest ... Wén, which is the drawing with magical functions in the context of an animistic religious mentality, therefore comes to designate in broader terms the sign and precisely the written sign.¹¹

Indeed, the Zhōu themselves considered the writing their salient feature, so much so that:

they attributed the posthumous name of Wén to the founding King of their dynasty, while the martial value of his successor King Wǔ would have represented its traditional complement.¹²

We find this combination in the imperial organization which, through civil and military examinations, chose its officials:

According to the Chinese government's principles, the civil and military components were supposed to be like the two wheels of a chariot: if either were neglected, the government would not run smoothly. Examinations, too, were divided into civil and military categories… ¹³

In this regard, Wú Zhìqīng¹⁴ reports:

Chén Liàng¹⁵ (1143－1194), a Neo-Confucian from the Southern Song era, wrote in the preface to his Considering Ancient Theories¹⁶

The ways of civil and martial started out the same. It was late generations that they branched off into two things. The scholar is focused on pen and page, whereas the warrior is concerned with sword and shield. They mock each other and seek to succeed over each other. [In times of peace, the scholar wins. In times of conflict, the warrior wins.] Each has his strengths and his moment to be useful, so why can they not be in accord?¹⁷

The Méihuāquán has overcome this rivalry by creating a complementary role that allows achieving a synthesis of this antinomy formed over the centuries, thus anticipating this statement by Sun Lutang:

Both martial and literary studies have the same principles¹⁸, principles with the same rules but different properties.

In the Boxing School Méi,¹⁹ they say:

Civil and Military fully integrate.²⁰

While the Chinese civilization has been permeated by these two features since its beginning, in the Qīng Period (1644-1911), they were used as an organizational model by the Heterodox Sects²¹, internally divided into two sectors in which their adepts were more specialized in cultural or martial aspects respectively.

Lù Yáo²² describes it like this:

In the period of the Qīng Dynasty, we find the organizational model of the civil and military areas; our research has allowed us to characterize the Méihuāquán and the Líguàjiāo (doctrine of the Lí trigram). The Méihuāquán already has the appearance of a civilian and a military area, at least during the Kāngxī reign (1662-1723). The Líguàjiāo, instead, reveals the division into a civilian camp and a military camp at the arrival of the Qiánlóng reign period (1736-1796).

Lù Yáo is a history professor at the University of Shandong. Since the 1980s, he has conducted extensive research, in the rural areas, on the origins of the so-called Boxer Uprising. He gathered news on the Prunus mume Boxing and the other Doctrines handed down secretly in the same area during this time. He came to these conclusions:

The Plum Blossom Boxers are not only a martial arts group with their characteristics but also a society with the nature of a secret popular religion.²³

The distinctive feature of the Plum Blossom Boxers was that they had civilian and martial camps from the beginning.²⁴

And again:

Unique [among martial arts schools] is Méihuāquán, it also has a civil and military organizational structure, like religious doctrines.²⁵

In Méihuāquán, these two sectors entailed two different learning stages. Even if today there are situations in which it is no longer the case, in the past, a neophyte became part of the family of the Prunus mume Flower through the entry into the wǔchǎng and only after an adequate period of martial preparation could be chosen (privilege intended for a few) to enter the wénchǎng. In fact, in Méihuāquán, it is said:

The civil practice uses the martial practice as a basis; the martial practice uses the civil practice as a guide. They assist and are accomplished by collaborating, as theory and practice mutually invigorate the body to improve health and discipline temperament cultivating morals.²⁶

The wénchǎng practitioners should bring together the martial practice and the underlying theory; the wǔchǎng practitioners, on the other hand, should embody the theoretical principles²⁷ in the martial work²⁸. As we will see later, however, the wénchǎng has the character of a real Religious Doctrine which requires an unsolicited conversion from the practitioners of the simple wǔchǎng.

The research we present considers the work done by some eminent scholars. We first mention Yáng Yànmíng²⁹, great-grandson of the famous master Yáng Bǐng³⁰. Yáng Yànmíng has written countless articles and two books dealing with the culture of Méihuāquán: Méihuāquán Tōngyì³¹ (constant principles of the Plum Blossom Boxing School) and Wǔtànhuā Yáng Bǐng yǔ Xíwǔxù³². We met several times with him, and he helped us get in touch with practitioners from the Nèihuáng³³ area.

Other references are:

Zhōu Wěiliáng³⁴, a wǔshù³⁵ historian, who focused on the events of Méihuāquán, on his relations with the Religious Sects and to whom we owe some interesting hypotheses;

Yàn Zǐjié³⁶, who first published excerpts from the style manuals;

Lù Yáo³⁷, professor of history at the University of Shāndōng³⁸, who published some Méihuāquán’s genealogies that he reconstructed through the reading of manuals and interviews with practitioners.

These authors were fundamental because they systematized the data that emerged in a non-homogeneous (and sometimes contradictory) way from the practitioners' manuals and direct testimonies, comparing them with historical documents.

In the following pages, we will try to reorganize all this knowledge around some key concepts, giving a clearer idea of ​​the cultural complexity preserved in the Méihuāquán.

___________________

¹ 余習藝四十餘年,不揣固陋,因本聞之吾師所口授暨所得舊譜.加以詮釋, 蓋亦述而不作之意也, (book) Sūn Lùtáng, 1915

² 张从富

³ (book) Hán Jiànzhōng, 1990, p. 2

⁴ (book) Hán Jiànzhōng, 1989. These are the characters of the names that appear in méihuāzhuāng introduction: 王志忠, 李佩基, 陆其仁, 燕子杰, 李念周 e 卢恭礼; the Lú Gōnglǐ卢恭礼surname is incorrectly written with the ideogram lú芦

⁵ 文场

⁶ The Wen character can also be translated as secret, a concept that would perfectly adapt to the use made of it within sectarian organizations.

⁷ 武场

⁸ Zhōudài周代

⁹ (book) Anne Cheng, 2000, p.28

¹⁰ 文

¹¹ (book) Anne Cheng, 2000, p.40

¹² (book) Anne Cheng, 2000, p.40

¹³ (book) Ichishada Miyazaki, Conrad Schirokauer, 1976, p. 102

¹⁴ (book) Wú Zhìqīng, 1929

¹⁵ 陈亮

¹⁶ zhuógǔlùn 酌古论

¹⁷ written by Wang Yongbin 王用賓https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2017/09/30/chaquan-4/

¹⁸ wǔxué yǔ wénxué yīlǐ 武学与文学一理, https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/the-xingyi-manual-of-sun-lutang/

¹⁹ Méiquán 梅拳, abbreviation of Méihuāquán

²⁰ wénwǔ yītǐ 文武一体

²¹ heterodoxy, as opposed to orthodoxy, is defined by the Devoto Oli, a vocabulary of the Italian language, The profession of doctrines or opinions, especially religious, different from those universally accepted as true. In our case, this term is preferred by many historians instead of Heresy and refers to all those popular doctrines that were declared non-compliant by the Chinese imperial government, especially if considered dangerous for the established order. An example among all is the book that is titled Popular Religious Movements and Heterodox Sects in Chinese History.

²² (book) Lù Yáo, 2000, pp. 186-187

²³ (book) Ma Xisha and Meng Huiying, 2011, p.276

²⁴ (book) Ma Xisha and Meng Huiying, 2011, p.277

²⁵ (book) Lù Yáo, 2000, p. 192

²⁶ 文练以武练为基础，武练以文练为指导，相辅相成，强身健体与修身养性互为体用

²⁷ wénlǐ文理

²⁸ wǔgōng 武功

²⁹ 杨彦明

³⁰ 杨炳

³¹ 梅花拳通义

³² 武探花杨炳与《习武序》

³³ 内黄

³⁴ 周伟良

³⁵ 武术, martial arts, is the modern term that indicates Chinese martial practices

³⁶ 燕子杰

³⁷ 路遥

³⁸ 山东

The Name

Translating the term Méi 梅 in English must have been a significant problem because there is no term in our western languages that corresponds or fully renders the botanical species to which it refers, namely the Prunus mume or the Armeniaca mume³⁹ if not even the Chimonanthus praecox⁴⁰. This plant does not have a common name in English, precisely because it is absent outside the East Asia. So, if, on the one hand, it is not wrong to use the English word Plum⁴¹, in the absence of a counterpart, on the other, it is not even totally correct.

In this linguistic void, by convention, we have chosen to use Plum, referring to the Prunus mume and the symbolic value of its flower with five petals, in the way it is idealized within the boxing style of the same name and in the Chinese culture.

The Five Petals connect to the Five Phases or Elements and the Five Figures or Postures typical of this school. This flower also represents resistance to adversity and modesty. As Lu You⁴² (1125-1210) describes in his famous poem Ode to the Plum Blossom⁴³:

Let other flowers be envious!

He craves not Spring for himself alone.

His petals may be ground in the mud,

But his fragrance will endure.

The Manual of the Prunus mume of Huáguāng⁴⁴ of the Song era, in the Discussion on the Shape that the Painting of the Plum Stakes⁴⁵, lists a series of symbolic correlations which, as we shall see, return throughout the culture of style⁴⁶:

… A plum tree has schema (xiang象) and thereby gives dimension to its constituent energy-matter (qi气). The flowers are yang and schematize heaven (tiān 天). The trunk (mù 木) is yin (阴) and schematizes earth (di 地). Since we could divide both into five sub-categories, changes and variations occur based on the distinction between odd and even numbers.

A pedicle (dì蒂), from which a flower derives, is a schema for the Superior Ultimate (Tàijí 太极) and thus has One Speck (dīng丁). An ovary (fáng房), from which a flower manifests itself, is a schema for Three Realms (sāncái 三才) and thus has Three Dots (Sān diǎn三點). A calyx (è 萼), from which a flower divides itself, is a schema for Five Phases (wuxíng 五行) and thus has Five Leaves (wǔyè五叶). A stamen (xu 鬚), from which a flower take forms, is a schema for Seven Luminaries (Qizhèng 七政⁴⁷) and thus has Seven Stalks (Qī jīng七茎). Withering (kū 枯), in which a flower realizes its end, is repeated by Ultimate Number (Jíshù 极 数) and thus could be rendered with Nine Variations (Jiubian九變). All the schema from which a flower derives are yang (阳), and they are manifested in odd numbers.

Roots (gēn 根), from which a plum tree originates, is a schema for Two Modes (Èryí 二 仪⁴⁸) and thus has Two Bodies. The root (běn 本), from which a plum tree develops itself, is a schema for Four Seasons (Sì shí 四时) and thus could be rendered with Four Directions. Branches (zhī 枝), from which a plum tree forms itself, is a schema for Six Combinations (Liùyáo 六爻⁴⁹) and thus has Six Parts. Twigs (shāo 梢), from which a plum tree prepares itself, is a schema for Eight Hexagrams (Bāguà 八卦) and could be represented in Eight Knots. The tree (shù 树), in which a plum completes itself, is a schema for Full Number (Zúshù 足数) and could be rendered with Ten Kinds. All the schema from which a plum tree derives are yin (阴), and they are manifested in even numbers.

Furthermore, the forward-facing blooming flower (huāzhèng 花正) has