1900 brought the retaliation of an eight-nation expe-
ditionary force comprising British, French, Italian,
Russian, German, Japanese, Austro-Hungarian, and
American troops.
The boxer’s fists and talismans proved no match
for bullets as China entered the twentieth century.
Under the Manchu Qing dynasty they were a symbol
of China’s backwardness, but after the Revolution of
1911, the traditional martial arts became a symbol of
nationalism when they were introduced into the pub-
lic school system as a uniquely Chinese form of phys-
ical fitness.
One survey conducted in 1919 identified 110 dif-
ferent boxing styles being practiced throughout the
country (73 in the Yellow River region of north
China, 30 in the Yangze River region, and 7 in the
Pearl River area). Many professional martial artists
opened their own guoshuguan (training schools), and
some became associated with a government-spon-
sored Central Martial Arts Institute that was estab-
lished in the Nationalist capital of Nanjing in 1927.
The institute was originally organized into Wudang
(internal—including only taijiquan, baguazhang, and xingyiquan) and
Shaolin (external—comprising all other styles) branches according to the
Chinese view of their two major boxing schools. Using boxing as its foun-
dation, the institute produced martial arts instructors for public service.
Prior to the anti-Japanese War of Resistance (1937–1945), nationwide form
and contact competitions were held, with mixed results.
The Nationalists abandoned the program when they retreated to Tai-
wan in 1949, but the Communists built upon its foundation. Under the
Physical Culture and Sports Commission, they integrated traditional mar-
tial arts into their physical education programs and developed standardized
routines of changquan(long boxing), nanquan (southern boxing), taiji-
quan, and weapons routines for nationwide practice and competition.
During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), as-
pects of the traditional martial arts, such as teacher-disciple relationships,
were severely criticized, and many old, valuable documents were destroyed
in what could be termed a decade of blind ignorance. Since the Cultural
Revolution, especially after 1979, there has been a revival of the program,
although interest in state-sponsored activities has dwindled.
Meanwhile, there has been recognition of the fact that the earlier em-
phasis on standardized routines has resulted in neglect and loss of some as-30 Boxing, Chinese
A modern picture of
a Buddhist
monastery on
Mount Wudang.
(Courtesy of Paul
Brians)