TaiJi and XingYi For Self Defence Part 9 - How and Why it Got Lost in Translation

 

Picking up where we left off in the last post, what prompted martial arts to go off track? I mentioned that it wasn’t just TaijiQuan that went off track when it came to practical self defence, but other Chinese martial arts and indeed, Japanese (Okinawan) martial arts went through the same process, why was this? 

 

The causes of the shift in focus of martial arts from battlefield skills to civil self defence to a health / fitness pursuit with martial connotations were similar though not identical in China and Japan. A little bit of history…

 

From early to mid 1800’s both China and Japan went through enormous social and political changes. In Japan after centuries of social and political isolation the Meji Restoration in 1868 restored imperial power and a slight relaxation in Japan’s isolationist policies. One of the events that prompted Japan’s desire to open their society were the events known as the Opium Wars in China. In the first Opium War 1839, the imperial Chinese Government had outlawed the opium trade and seized several British opium trading ships. The British Navy acted in defence of the opium traders (opium was, at the time, Britain’s largest export product!), the Chinese were defeated by superior western technology and forced to sign a highly unequal treaty. It was a massive humiliation for what was once a regional super power. This was followed by a second Opium War 1856, this time Britain was joined by, America, France and Russia. The outcome was the same China was once again humiliated and forced to legalise the opium trade. 

 

Japan was highly aware of this and when an American “trade” delegation arrived accompanied by some large battle ships, the Japanese found themselves also signing some very uneven trade deals, but at least they avoided a major military embarrassment. Japan became somewhat enthralled by western technology and began the process of modernising its society including its military and in due course became a major regional power as it totally abandoned its isolationist policies. This culminated in 1894 with the invasion and occupation of China’s Manchuria. A major humiliation for China and brought into focus their lack of technology and military prowess compared to their neighbours.

 

So this brings us to a point in history in the late 19th early twentieth century where Japan was rapidly building its military and China was reeling and suffering a major inferiority complex as it carried the label “Sick Man of Asia”. For slightly different reason both China and Japan wanted fit recruits for their military and China more generally wanted to address what it saw as an historical imbalance in the nations focus on intellect and academic study and a widely held disregard towards physical health. let alone military strength.

 

In Japan as a part of its modernisation it had largely abandoned its traditional ‘BuJutsu’ (Bu=War / Jutsu=Craft) arts and modified them to ‘Do arts; Judo, Aikido, Kendo etc, Do meaning way implying a philosophical life pursuit. This involved the creation of structured training and a focus on sporting competition. The concept of self defence was further down played due to the impact of exposure to western military arms, it was thought that empty hand martial skills were of little or no practical value given the effectiveness of modern firearms. 

 

Meanwhile over in Okinawa the locals had been training for generations in a variety of martial arts generically known as TouDi, which translates as Chinese Hand. These arts were, over several centuries, imported from southern China, primarily the Fujian province. Some Japanese officials became aware of the arts of Okinawa and were impressed by the general health of the Okinawan population and decided that these arts should be taken to the mainland, some time later it was thought that with some modification, they would be ideal for introduction to the school syllabus as a part of the nations drive for physical fitness. 

 

In general terms the modifications made to TouDi was the introduction of a structured training regime suitable for teaching large groups (as opposed the the more casual and haphazard Chinese approach more suited to one on one or small groups), the introduction of a training uniform and grading system based upon that used by the Judo school. It was also decided that due to the generally antagonistic relationship between Japan and China the name of the art should be changed. A very similar Kanji in Japanese to the Okinawan Tou was Kara (empty) and the Japanese version of Di is Te, hence the creation of the term Kara-Te.

 

The more specific changes to Karate training to make it suitable for use in schools was some simplification of Kata, reduced, or entirely removed attention to practical application and, as in line with other ‘Do arts, a high focus on competition.

 

At the same time over the East China Sea the newly created Republican government of China from 1911 was undergoing the same rush to westernise that Japan had gone through a few decades earlier. Part of this was the need to strengthen what was seen as a weak population, government officials went out across the nation to identify suitable martial arts for general national enhancement and those suitable for use in the military and school structure.

 

XingyiQuan was identified as suitable for military use as much of its structure leant itself well to bayonet fighting and its hand techniques are direct and relatively easy to learn to a level of basic competence. Xingyi along with a few others were deemed suitable for use in schools, with similar adjustments to those made for Japan’s school system. The government was also trying to promote martial arts for health at a time when historically martial arts were viewed as something attributed to lower social classes and thieves. A great deal of work was done to change the perception which included emphasising the long history of some martial arts, this on more than one occasion meant inventing a long history, and in general the deep philosophy behind some martial arts. In the wider population TaijiQuan was gaining attention as it was thought quite exotic having only recently come out of the Imperial Palace into public view. Furthermore Taiji’s Daoist philosophical underpinnings was attractive to the literati, the impact of this particular customer base will be looked at later. Rather like the Karate in Japan, much of Tai Chi was simplified in order to make it suitable for teaching to large groups, this is well illustrated to the changes made to both Yang and Wu styles by their main promotors; Yang ChengFu and Wu JianQuan as they both moved their business from Beijing to southern China.

 

Examining the literary history of martial arts over the period is revealing. I can find only two texts from the Imperial era, the so called Tai Chi Classics by Li Yiyu (1881) and a text attributed to Yang BanHou that became the basis for Wu family’s “Gold Book” dated approximately 1875. Li was largely influenced by the Small Frame Chen style and Yang was the second generation of the Yang family tradition. So both of the identified roots of Tai Chi are covered, both texts make little reference to the health of the individual and no mention of the state of the nation’s health. Both books are practical if a little obscure at times and deal with the practical application of skills, references to energy are largely framed in the context of mechanical structure or kinetic energy.

 

From the 1930’s through to the end of the Republican era there was an explosion of writings on martial arts and everyone that I’ve read include numerous forwards by various martial commentators and the general great and good of society and they all bemoan the sickly state of the nation and its youth. There’s also a notable shift into philosophy while  insisting martial theory complies to now fashionable modern scientific concepts and there is no shortage of references to the amazing abilities of generations past. The desire to tie martial arts and Tai Chi in particular to all aspects of China’s cultural history can be seen many times, for example Chen Xin’s magnum opus; The Illustrated Explanation of Chen Family TaiJiQuan over 700 pages covering everything from Taoist Cosmology to Chinese Medicine and of course Tai Chi. It is a fascinating read and clearly a work of great devotion by the author, but very much a product of its time.

 

Having explored why martial arts lost their way the next post will look at the how they changed.

 

 

 

 

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