important consistent practice with other forms of martial arts. They were
also able to point out that Chinese long sword practice still included two-
handed forms of long swordfighting, though most was one-handed.
The interest of Ming literati in the long sword should be seen as a further
step in the evolution of literati engagement with the martial arts. Tang
Dynasty men of letters might still practice martial arts without tainting
their credentials as Confucian gentlemen. Archery for them still had pos-
itive connotations, or at least had not come to be seen as a negative marker
of undue interest in martial practice. During the Song Dynasty, literati
fundamentally rejected the practice of martial arts, including even archery,
as antithetical to their identity as men of letters. Literati were gentlemen
who ruled by virtue of their intellects and education-based self-cultivation.
Civil gentlemen were morally superior. For some Ming men of letters, at
least, fencing with the long sword was a marker of heroic temperament and
profound erudition.
Spear Techniques
The spear combined the practical value and importance of the sword with
the elaboration and specialization of the long sword. Martial arts manual
writers catalogued an extraordinary number of spear styles, including
detailed enumerations, descriptions and illustrations of the names, stances,
and techniques of those styles. Styles from Shandong and Hebei claimed
descent from the famous Song Dynasty Yang family of generals (Yang
Family Spear Technique). Shaolin had its own style, as did the Buddhist
temples on Mount Emei. Many styles were named for families: Li Family
Short Spear, Ma Family Spear Technique, Jin Family Spear, and even a
Zhang Fei Divine Spear. As with other martial arts, there was considerable
regional variation and many local practitioners.
Spearfighting was a critical martial art for the military, and it garnered a
commensurate amount of attention. Soldiers appear to have been given a
much more thorough training in spearfighting than was strictly necessary
forfighting in formation. They were fully trained in individual combat
with the spear, with a basic set of techniques found in all spearfighting
styles. One training regimen was designed to provide the complete spear
fighting style in one hundred days.^15 Basic training included man-to-man
sparring, conditioning soldiers tofight one-on-one.
The Ming military’s approach to spearfighting indicates a deeper engage-
ment with the martial arts than we might have assumed. Manual writers
were at pains to survey and discuss the available styles of spearfighting
180 The Ming Dynasty