brother supposedly discovered the treatise in a salt store, remains one of
the fascinating uncertainties of modern martial arts history. Suffice it to
note here that the term “taijiquan” is only found in the title of the treatise,
while the treatise itself is essentially a concise, articulate summary of basic
Chinese martial arts theory, not necessarily the preserve of a single style of
Chinese boxing.
As noted above, the traditional history of yongchun maintains that
this southern Chinese boxing system was invented by a Buddhist nun
named Wu Mei (Ng Mui) who had escaped from the Shaolin Temple in
Hunan (or in some versions, Fujian) province when it was razed in the eigh-
teenth century after an attack by the dominant forces of the Qing dynasty
(1644–1911) that officially suppressed the martial arts, particularly among
Ming (1368–1644) loyalists. After her escape and as the result of witness-
ing a fight between a fox (or snake, in some histories) and a crane, Wu Mei
created a fighting system capable of defeating the existing martial arts prac-
ticed by the Manchu forces and Shaolin defectors. Moreover, owing to its
simplicity, it could be learned in a relatively short period of time. The style
was transmitted to Yan Yongchun, a young woman whom Wu Mei had
protected from an unwanted suitor. The martial art took its name from its
creator’s student.
Traditional histories of yongchun (and of other systems that claim ties
to it) portray a particularly close connection between yongchun practition-
ers and the traveling Chinese opera performers known as the “Red Junk”
performers after the boats that served as both transportation and living
quarters for the troupes. These troupes reportedly served as havens for
Ming loyalists involved in the resistance against the Qing rulers and offered
refuge to all manner of martial artists.
Incontrovertible historical evidence of the exploits of Bodhidharma,
Yue Fei, and Wu Mei has been blurred, if not eradicated, by the passing
centuries. Details from the biographies of such figures remain malleable
and serve the ends of the groups that pass along their life histories. Re-
cently, arguments have been presented, in fact, that suggest that Wu Mei
and Yan Yongchun are fictions into whose biographies have been com-
pressed the more mundane history of a martial art. Such may be the case
for many of the folk heroes who predate the contemporary age. Even in the
case of twentieth-century figures, traditional patterns emerge.
Japanese karate master Yamaguchi Gôgen exemplifies the contempo-
rary martial arts folk hero—particularly within the karate community and
especially among students of his own Gôjû-ryûsystem. Peter Urban, a lead-
ing United States Gôjû master, has compiled many of the orally circulated
tales of Yamaguchi. Typical of these narratives is the tale of Yamaguchi’s
captivity in a Chinese prison camp in Manchuria. Urban recounts the oral
Folklore in the Martial Arts 131