China Popular Itineraries |
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Wushu in the Dynasties of Ming and Qing |
By this period of time, the features of Wushu pertaining to health and entertainment had been in perfection. The Ming Dynasty saw a rapid growth of Wushu which consisted of various schools and sects of different styles in terms of tactics of weapons and boxing series. A complete system of Wushu had been realized by a number of works on Wushu, of which the most out-standing was Geng Yu Sheng Ji by Cheng Zonggui. Quan Jing and Ji Xiao Xin Shu and She Xue Xin Zi by Gao Ying. They were unprecedented both in number and content, enhancing Wushu to a large extent.
Wushu had been regulated by the Ming Dynasty. Eighteen skills of Wuyi were listed as " 1) bow, 2) crossbow, 3) spear, 4) saber, 5) sword, 6) lance, 7) shield, 8) axe, 9) yue ( a battle axe with long handle), 10) halberd, 11)whip, 12)mace, 13)guo, 14)yi, 15)fork, 16)batou, 17) lasso, and 18) baida" ("Wu Za Ju"). In Yong Zhuang Xiao Pin by Zhu Guozhen, the eighteen skills of Wuyi included other items such as free-hand skills, long weapon, short weapon, and soft weapon.
Wushu in the Qing Dynasty gained unprecedented progress, owing to the rise of White Lotus Society, Yihequan Movement and Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. Wushu was practised in public organizations and taught in different forms. New styles of boxing series were popularized.
In the Qing Dynasty, Wushu was divided into internal schools and exter-nal schools according to whether the masters of the sects were monks or non-monks of Buddhism. Wushu was also divided into south sect and north sect. The Chinese boxing series in the south (esp. along the Yantze River valley) was practised with tight postures while those of the north sect (esp. in Shan-dong and Henan provinces ) practised with broad and stretched stances. Wushu was divided, moreover, into various sects according to regional differ-ences. Some prestigious sects were Wudang, Shaolin and Emei, named after the famous mountains, or categorized by the reaches of the big rivers, Yantze River, Yellow River and Zhujiang River in China. Though confusing in a way, those categorizations reflected the variety and diversity of Wushu schools and sects in the Qing Dynasty. There were dozens of Chinese Wushu sects in the Qing Dynasty and their Chinese boxing series were as many as several hundreds, among which some well-developed were taijiquan, xingyi-quan and baguaquan.
Since the Qing Dynasty, theorists of Wushu began to view Wushu as a whole, and to look into the internal relation and regular patterns of movement inside the human body. Their studies and researches had propelled the devel-opment of Wushu remarkably. They emphasize the integrity of internalty and externalty and the combination of mental exercises and physical exercises. |
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