Gymnastics 181
Daoist encyclopedias and medical literature to the classics of Chinese philosophy
that articulated the culture’s traditional worldview. The very names of such fight-
ing techniques as Taiji Quan and Bagua Zhang were borrowed from Chinese cos-
mology, betraying the styles’ spiritual aspirations. In the two martial arts, the
practitioner re-enacts the process of cosmic differentiation—from the primor-
dial unity through the interplay of the yin, the yang, and the eight trigrams to the
myriad phenomena—only to reverse the course of history, thereby achieving
mystical union with the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji). To the degree that these fight-
ing techniques self-consciously express philosophical tenets, their articulation
belongs to the history of ideas. Even though the agent of the martial arts is the
body, their evolution is in this respect the domain of intellectual history.
The late Ming broadening of empty-handed styles into self-conscious sys-
tems of thought was likely one reason for their growing popularity. Seven-
teenth-century Shaolin monks did not turn their attention to hand combat
because it was militarily effective. In real battle, bare-handed fighting was not
as useful as the staff fighting the monks had previously utilized, not to mention
fighting with sharp weapons or firearms. Rather, Shaolin monks were probably
fascinated by the medical, religious, and philosophical opportunities that were
opened by the new empty-handed techniques. The synthesis of martial, thera-
peutic, and religious goals has been a primary reason for the popularity of
hand combat both in its native land and in the modern West.
If modern hand combat is not only a fighting method but also a system of
thought, then it is not surprising that its evolution was partially spurred by in-
tellectual developments. Late Ming syncretism provided a philosophical foun-
dation for the integration of bare-handed fighting and daoyin calisthenics,
permitting Daoist mystics to explore Buddhist-related martial arts and allow-
ing Shaolin monks to study Daoist gymnastics. Intellectual trends were joined
by political upheavals that contributed to the transformation of the martial
arts. The Manchu conquest turned the attention of the literati elite to the fight-
ing techniques of the unlettered masses. As leading scholars began to practice
folk martial arts, they rewrote them in a sophisticated language. The articula-
tion of hand combat in therapeutic and religious terms was due in large mea-
sure to their espousal by members of the elite.
The seventeenth-century transformation of bare-handed fighting was ac-
companied by the emergence of a novel martial arts mythology. Shaolin monks
gradually accepted a legend that had originated outside the monastery accord-
ing to which their fighting techniques had been invented by the Chan patri-
arch Bodhidharma. The legend of the Buddhist saint evolved in conjunction
with the myth of a Daoist immortal. As the “External” Shaolin martial arts
were attributed to a Buddhist master who reputedly resided on the sacred Mt.
Song, an “Internal” school of fighting was ascribed to a Daoist recluse who sup-
posedly hid on the holy Mt. Wudang. The two legends matched each other in a
perfectly harmonious mythological structure, the flawless symmetry of which
has likely been the source of their ongoing appeal.