Hand Combat 131
even have been suspect for their association with the lower classes. Qi’s ap-
prehension of sparring is obvious from the reluctance with which he in-
cluded it in his New Treatise on Military Efficiency. His hand combat manual
was inserted into the book’s last chapter, preceded by a disclaimer: “Bare-
handed techniques seem irrelevant to the art of mass warfare. However, ex-
ercising the limbs and habituating the body to effort are the foundation of
primary military studies. Therefore we keep [this manual] at the book’s end,
to round off our military method.”^48 Twenty years later, when the bitter gen-
eral, who had been relieved from office, sat down to revise his writings, he
decided to excise hand combat from them altogether. In 1584, he deleted
the Essentials of the Hand Combat Classic from the—nowadays rarely read—
fourteen-chapter version of the New Treatise on Military Efficiency.^49
As Ma Mingda has suggested, the distinction between the early version
of the New Treatise (which includes hand combat) and the later one (from
which it is omitted) might be related to the disparity in their author’s age.
When he compiled his original book, Qi was a young man of thirty-four. He
was surrounded by martial artists, whose bare-handed techniques intrigued
him. At the time, the energetic commander probably practiced himself and
achieved some proficiency in quan fighting. By contrast, the fifty-five-year-
old general who revised his writings was already contemplating his legacy, in
which there was no place for dubious popular arts.^50
Information on Ming hand combat is also provided by genres other than
military encyclopedias. The proliferation of sixteenth-century bare-handed
techniques is attested to by popular fiction: The Plum in the Golden Vase (Jin Ping
Mei) (ca. 1600) alludes to a style of hand combat called “Dong Family Fist”
(Dong jia quan),^51 and the hundred-chapter Journey to the West (1592) has even
the quintessential staff warrior Sun Wukong fight with his fists. When he is de-
prived of his weapon, the valiant monkey resorts to hand combat, giving the au-
thor an opportunity to display his familiarity with the contemporary jargon of
“postures” (shi and jiazi), “Long-Range Fist” (changquan), and “Close-Range
Fist” (duanquan):
Opening wide the “Four Levels Posture”;^52
The double-kicking feet fly up.
They pound the ribs and chests;
They stab at galls and hearts.
“The Immortal pointing the Way”;
“Lao Zi Riding the Crane”;
“A Hungry Tiger Pouncing on the Prey” is most hurtful;
“A Dragon Playing with Water” is quite vicious.
The demon king uses a “Serpent Turning Around”;
The Great Sage employs a “Deer Letting Loose its Horns.”
The dragon plunges to Earth with heels upturned;
The wrist twists around to seize Heaven’s bag.