arts empowered the individual against the larger structures of power, at
least infiction. Some articulation of this emerged in the early stories of the
bandit Song Jiangfirst written down about 1300 , probably from oral tales
already in circulation.
The Song imperial house itself was completely stamped out by the
Mongols in 1279. Once again a steppe group came into China, bringing
a new culture to imperial government. Much of their culture and martial
arts were familiar to the Chinese, and many of the trends in the martial arts
would simply continue the path begun under the Song.
138 The Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms, and Song Dynasty