138 Fist Fighting and Self-Cultivation
An Official–Cum–Martial Artist
Wang Zuyuan (ca. 1820–after 1882) might illustrate the interest of some Qing
officials in martial practice. A scholar of some reputation and the holder of a
minor bureaucratic post, Wang was an amateur martial artist who had been
practicing since his early teens. His devotion to his hobby was such that in his
thirties he traveled to the Shaolin Temple, where he studied for several months.
The training Wang received at the monastery stood him in good stead in his
later years. Still a low-ranking bureaucrat in his sixties, he noted, “Whenever I
chase my superiors, rushing behind them, I am as light-footed as a young man.
Hastening to kneel down for sacrifice, I have never failed in propriety. This
may demonstrate the strength I have gained [by my martial practice].”^2 The
Shaolin martial arts provided at least one Confucian official with the stamina
necessary for the performance of his ritual duties.
Which martial arts did Wang study at Shaolin? A likely answer is provided
by a manual he published in 1882, which he titled Illustrated Exposition of Internal
Te chni q u e s (Neigong tushuo). The treatise was not authored by Wang. It had been
issued as early as 1858 by one Pan Weiru under another name: Essential Tech-
niques of Guarding Life (Weisheng yaoshu). However, when Wang happened upon
it, he realized it was identical to a manuscript he had obtained at the Shaolin
Monastery in 1854 or 1855. He therefore published Pan’s manual anew, restor-
ing its original Shaolin title: Illustrated Exposition of Internal Techniques.^3
Wang’s manual outlined several sets of gymnastic exercises that integrated
limb movements, breathing, massage, and meditation. One training program,
“Formulas of the Divided External Technique” (“Fenxing waigong jue”) in-
cluded seventeen exercises, which were assigned each to a different body part:
the mind, body frame, head, face, ears, eyes, mouth, tongue, teeth, nose,
hands, feet, shoulders, back, abdomen, loins, and kidneys. Here are a few ex-
amples in a translation that was made by the Western physician John Dudgeon
as early as 1895. At the time Dudgeon was teaching anatomy and physiology at
the Tongwen Academy in Beijing. Apparently he practiced the exercises with a
local instructor:
The He ad: 1. – Close the ears with the hands, let the index finger fold
itself on the middle one and thrum the two bones at the back of the
skull with the index finger to make them sound. This is called
sounding the “heavenly drum.” Note: This is to remove the harmful
air from the “wind pool” acupuncture opening in the region of the
mastoid. 2. – Twist the neck with the hands and glance back to the
right and left and at the same time rotate the shoulders and arms
twenty-four times each—to remove the obstructed air in the stomach
and spleen. 3. – Interlock the hands and grasp the back of the neck,
then look upwards and let the hands wrestle with the neck—to
remove pain of the shoulders and indistinctness of vision.