Sacred Mountains and Martial Arts in China
EmeiShanTop - Wikipedia
Mountains are special. Anyone who has ever lived near, or on a mountain knows it. There’s an energy there that can be seen and felt. But in China some mountains are more special than others, especially for martial arts. Mountains have Qi (Chi) energy, spirits and a difficult to define energy.* Talking with a student recently I was told stories about some of the mountains famous for martial arts. I’ve heard of Wudang Mountain, made famous by Zhang Sanfung. But these others I had to check out, and here’s what I found:
The Sacred Mountains of China are divided into two groups,
one associated with Taoism and the other with Buddhism.
The group associated with Taoism is known as the Five Great Mountains
(simplified Chinese: 五岳:Wǔyuè), whereas the group associated
with Buddhism is referred to as the Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism
(Chinese: 四大佛教名山; pinyin: SìdàFójiàoMíngshān).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Mountains_of_China
one associated with Taoism and the other with Buddhism.
The group associated with Taoism is known as the Five Great Mountains
(simplified Chinese: 五岳:Wǔyuè), whereas the group associated
with Buddhism is referred to as the Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism
(Chinese: 四大佛教名山; pinyin: SìdàFójiàoMíngshān).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Mountains_of_China
Below are the mountains I heard about being famous for martial arts:
Wudang Mountains 武当山
In years past, the mountains of Wudang were known for the many Taoist monasteries to be found there, monasteries which became known as an academiccentre for the research, teaching and practice of meditation, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist agriculture practices and related arts. As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty(25–220 AD), the mountain attracted the Emperor's attention. During the Tang Dynasty (618–907), the first site of worship—the Five Dragon Temple—was constructed.
According to legend, Zhang Sanfeng (张三丰), is the originator of Wudangquan generally and Taijiquan specifically.
He was said to be inspired by a fight he witnessed between a pied magpie (also said to be a white crane) and a viper.
From the early 20th century, Taijiquan, Xingyiquan and Baguazhang have been considered Wudang styles, following Sun Lutang. Following this classification the national martial arts tournament of the Central Guoshu Institute held in 1928 separated the participants into "Shaolin" and "Wudang".
The third biannual Traditional Wushu Festival was held in Wudang Mountains from October 28 to November 2, 2008
According to legend, Zhang Sanfeng (张三丰), is the originator of Wudangquan generally and Taijiquan specifically.
He was said to be inspired by a fight he witnessed between a pied magpie (also said to be a white crane) and a viper.
From the early 20th century, Taijiquan, Xingyiquan and Baguazhang have been considered Wudang styles, following Sun Lutang. Following this classification the national martial arts tournament of the Central Guoshu Institute held in 1928 separated the participants into "Shaolin" and "Wudang".
The third biannual Traditional Wushu Festival was held in Wudang Mountains from October 28 to November 2, 2008
WUDANG TAI CHI
Wudang Tai Chi is not simply what most people think. It is the queen of internal martial arts that unifies a number of opposites like outside, inside, dynamic, static, and internal/external to make a complete system. It’s also marvelous for health and healing.
Primal chaos sword is a unique Wudan Tai Chi style martial art as well.
Zhang Sanfeng張三豐, a highly mythologized figure said to be the founder of Tai Chi Chuan, lived in the Wudang Mountains
武當山 and the name "Wudang" used for this Tai Chi Chuan system was used in order to acknowledge Zhang Sanfeng's status as the founder of Tai Chi Chuan. There are other schools of Tai Chi Chuan that also use this name.
Outside of China the popularly known “Wudang Tai Chi Chuan” 武當太極拳 is a system of Tai Chi Chuanthat was developed by a Hong Kong 香港 based Tai Chi Chuan master known as Cheng Tinhung 鄭天熊. While Cheng Tinhung never claimed to be teaching any particular school of Tai Chi Chuan his uncle was a disciple of the Wu 吳 school of Tai Chi Chuan, which may or may not have had some influence on his own approach to the
art.
The Wudang Tai Chi Chuan system is now being taught in Europeby two of Cheng Tinhung’s disciples, Dan Docherty and Ian Cameron, both based in the United Kingdom. The system also continues to be taught in Hong Kong, and the current head of that school is Cheng Tinhung’s son Cheng Kamyan (Zheng Jianen) 鄭鑒恩, whose school is called the Hong Kong Tai Chi Association 香港太極總會.
For more information and links see:
http://china-taichi-guide.com/Menu/China-Taichi-Schools.php (Has a directory of Tai Chi Schools in China… Excellent!
http://www.daoistkungfu.com/(Tai Chi school in Shiyan City Hebei)
http://en.wudang.org/(Tai Chi school in Shiyan City Hebei)
http://www.wudangtaichi.nl/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudang_tai_chi_chuan
http://www.hktaichi.com/
http://www.taichichuan.co.uk/
http://www.five-winds.co.uk/www.five-winds.co.uk/Home.html
http://www.wudang.eu/
Primal chaos sword is a unique Wudan Tai Chi style martial art as well.
Zhang Sanfeng張三豐, a highly mythologized figure said to be the founder of Tai Chi Chuan, lived in the Wudang Mountains
武當山 and the name "Wudang" used for this Tai Chi Chuan system was used in order to acknowledge Zhang Sanfeng's status as the founder of Tai Chi Chuan. There are other schools of Tai Chi Chuan that also use this name.
Outside of China the popularly known “Wudang Tai Chi Chuan” 武當太極拳 is a system of Tai Chi Chuanthat was developed by a Hong Kong 香港 based Tai Chi Chuan master known as Cheng Tinhung 鄭天熊. While Cheng Tinhung never claimed to be teaching any particular school of Tai Chi Chuan his uncle was a disciple of the Wu 吳 school of Tai Chi Chuan, which may or may not have had some influence on his own approach to the
art.
The Wudang Tai Chi Chuan system is now being taught in Europeby two of Cheng Tinhung’s disciples, Dan Docherty and Ian Cameron, both based in the United Kingdom. The system also continues to be taught in Hong Kong, and the current head of that school is Cheng Tinhung’s son Cheng Kamyan (Zheng Jianen) 鄭鑒恩, whose school is called the Hong Kong Tai Chi Association 香港太極總會.
For more information and links see:
http://china-taichi-guide.com/Menu/China-Taichi-Schools.php (Has a directory of Tai Chi Schools in China… Excellent!
http://www.daoistkungfu.com/(Tai Chi school in Shiyan City Hebei)
http://en.wudang.org/(Tai Chi school in Shiyan City Hebei)
http://www.wudangtaichi.nl/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudang_tai_chi_chuan
http://www.hktaichi.com/
http://www.taichichuan.co.uk/
http://www.five-winds.co.uk/www.five-winds.co.uk/Home.html
http://www.wudang.eu/
Wudangshan_Taoist monastery at the top of Wudang Mountains. Wikipedia
Putuoshan Wikipedia
Pǔtúo Shān(普陀山) is on an island southeast of Shanghai, in Zhoushan prefecture of Zhejiang province, China. It is famous in Chinese Buddhism, and sacred for the Goddess Guan Yin. Around 1612, the 20-year-old future Chan-master (Chinese boxing master) Yinyuan Longqi arrived at Mount Putuo while looking for his father, who had disappeared fifteen years earlier. He served tea to the monks.The religious activities can be derived from qin dynasty. During the tang dynasty, along with the development of sea silk road, Putuo Mountain became the center of Han Buddhism for Guanyin.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Putuo
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Putuo
Fóshān佛山
The town of Foshan is many centuries old, and was famous for its porcelain industry. Now, the third largest city in Guangdong, it has become relatively affluent compared to other Chinese cities, and is home to many large private enterprises. Foshan has recently seen a transformation brought by China's booming economy. Foshan is also famous for its martial arts. It contains numerous Wing Chunschools where many come to train and spar.
Foshan 800px-Xiqiaoshan - Source: Wikipedia
Mount Jiuhua 九华山
Jǐuhuá Shān; literally "Nine Glorious Mountains" is one of the four sacred mountains of Chinese Buddhism. It is located in Qingyang County in Anhui province and is famous for its rich landscape and ancient temples.
Many of the mountain's shrines and temples are dedicated to Ksitigarbha (known in Chinese as Dìzàng, Chinese: 地藏, in Japanese as Jizō), who is a bodhisattva and protector of beings in hell realms according to Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Pious Buddhists often visit Anhui to climb to Greater Tiantai peak, which is regarded as Jiuhuashan's most important peak, although it is not the tallest.
http://www.jiuhuashan.com.cn/english/
After a lot of research, I found 九华山拳 Jiuhua Boxing Jiuhuashan fist one to ten sets of turnout boxing 48-style, Wonton forty-four type, mixed techniques, and knives, guns, swords, Ge, three-section cudgel, whip, etc.
http://baike.baidu.com/view/1148512.htm?tp=4_11
Also, I found this: BAGUAZHANG, or eight diagram palm shadow boxing, is one of the major styles of traditional Chinese martial arts. It features a great variety of unpredictable blows with the palm and deft circular movements of the feet. These well-knit intricate hand and foot movements follow the directions - north, south, east, west, northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest - indicated in the Eight Diagrams as described in the Chinese classic Book of Change. Hence the name eight-diagram shadow boxing.
This style of Chinese boxing was very popular during the time of the Qing Dynasty's Emperor Dao Guang who reigned from 1820 to 1850. The story goes that Dong Haichuan of Wen'an County in Hebei Province was the man who created this style of boxing. Dong was fond of kung fu since he was a child. He was poverty-stricken but chivalrous, and he drifted from place to place to eke out a living. When he came to Jiuhua Mountain in the south of Anhui Province, he met the Taoist priest Bi Chengxia who taught him the secrets of the Taoist school of wushu… http://www.smilingtiger.net/origin.htm
Many of the mountain's shrines and temples are dedicated to Ksitigarbha (known in Chinese as Dìzàng, Chinese: 地藏, in Japanese as Jizō), who is a bodhisattva and protector of beings in hell realms according to Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Pious Buddhists often visit Anhui to climb to Greater Tiantai peak, which is regarded as Jiuhuashan's most important peak, although it is not the tallest.
http://www.jiuhuashan.com.cn/english/
After a lot of research, I found 九华山拳 Jiuhua Boxing Jiuhuashan fist one to ten sets of turnout boxing 48-style, Wonton forty-four type, mixed techniques, and knives, guns, swords, Ge, three-section cudgel, whip, etc.
http://baike.baidu.com/view/1148512.htm?tp=4_11
Also, I found this: BAGUAZHANG, or eight diagram palm shadow boxing, is one of the major styles of traditional Chinese martial arts. It features a great variety of unpredictable blows with the palm and deft circular movements of the feet. These well-knit intricate hand and foot movements follow the directions - north, south, east, west, northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest - indicated in the Eight Diagrams as described in the Chinese classic Book of Change. Hence the name eight-diagram shadow boxing.
This style of Chinese boxing was very popular during the time of the Qing Dynasty's Emperor Dao Guang who reigned from 1820 to 1850. The story goes that Dong Haichuan of Wen'an County in Hebei Province was the man who created this style of boxing. Dong was fond of kung fu since he was a child. He was poverty-stricken but chivalrous, and he drifted from place to place to eke out a living. When he came to Jiuhua Mountain in the south of Anhui Province, he met the Taoist priest Bi Chengxia who taught him the secrets of the Taoist school of wushu… http://www.smilingtiger.net/origin.htm
Jiuhuashan 450px-Wanfo_Pagoda_1
Mount Emei 峨嵋山
Mount Emei 峨嵋山 Éméi Shān is a mountain in Sichuan province, China. Mount Emei is often written as 峨眉山 and occasionally 峩嵋山 or 峩眉山 but all three are translated as Mount Emei or Mount Emeishan: 峨嵋 means "lofty brow." At 3,099 metres (10,167 ft), Mt. Emei is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China.
16th and 17th century sources allude to the practice of martial arts in the monasteries of Mount Emei made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin. (Wikipedia)
Emei School of Martial Arts:
http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com/en/9Kaleidoscope2119.html
According to Boxing Records of Emei Martial Arts, the founder was a Taoist priestess, who later entered Buddhism. She was quite good at practicing and studying of boxing of various schools. And she created a new boxing from Kungfu of various schools. She spent 13 years achieving this. Since in ancient China, women were also called "Emei", so the set of boxing movement was also named "Emei Boxing". After that, her disciples settled in Mt. Emei, and called it "Emei Boxing" as partial tone of Mt. Emei.
http://www.57ems.com/emei-shan/martia-art376.html
http://www.ninedragonbaguazhang.com/emei.htm
http://www.kungfu-taichi.com/servlet/kungfoo/Action/Resource/ResourceKey/1589
Wiki-ref:
Zhāng Kǒngzhāo 張孔昭 (c. 1784) (in Chinese). Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods 拳經拳法備要 Quánjīng Quánfǎ Bèiyào.
Henning, Stanley E. (Fall 1999a). "Academia Encounters the Chinese Martial Arts".
China Review International 6 (2): 319–332. doi:10.1353/cri.1999.0020.ISSN1069-5834
16th and 17th century sources allude to the practice of martial arts in the monasteries of Mount Emei made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin. (Wikipedia)
Emei School of Martial Arts:
http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com/en/9Kaleidoscope2119.html
According to Boxing Records of Emei Martial Arts, the founder was a Taoist priestess, who later entered Buddhism. She was quite good at practicing and studying of boxing of various schools. And she created a new boxing from Kungfu of various schools. She spent 13 years achieving this. Since in ancient China, women were also called "Emei", so the set of boxing movement was also named "Emei Boxing". After that, her disciples settled in Mt. Emei, and called it "Emei Boxing" as partial tone of Mt. Emei.
http://www.57ems.com/emei-shan/martia-art376.html
http://www.ninedragonbaguazhang.com/emei.htm
http://www.kungfu-taichi.com/servlet/kungfoo/Action/Resource/ResourceKey/1589
Wiki-ref:
Zhāng Kǒngzhāo 張孔昭 (c. 1784) (in Chinese). Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods 拳經拳法備要 Quánjīng Quánfǎ Bèiyào.
Henning, Stanley E. (Fall 1999a). "Academia Encounters the Chinese Martial Arts".
China Review International 6 (2): 319–332. doi:10.1353/cri.1999.0020.ISSN1069-5834
QI - What is it?
