92 Systemizing Martial Practice
personal example that vindicates Buddhist military action. If Vajrapâÿi can de-
scend from heaven to defend a Buddhist temple, then by implication his Shao-
lin devotees can resort to arms as well. That his legend was read in this way is
indicated by several hymns (zan) in honor of the staff-wielding deity. The
hymns seek moral grounds for the god’s military action in the Buddhist virtue
of loving kindness (ci; Sanskrit: maitreya). They suggest that the protection of
the Buddhist faith—even if it involves violence—is an act of compassion. Cheng
Zongyou’s brother, Yinwan, who authored one hymn, summarizes the argu-
ment: “Loving-kindness,” he writes, “is cultivated through heroism” (ci yi yong
yang).^36
Fictional Staff-Wielding Monks
Staff fighting occupied a central place at the Shaolin Monastery, both in the
lives of its resident monks and in the myths of its tutelary deities. However, it
was not limited to that monastic circle. Late Ming military experts were in-
trigued by Shaolin staff techniques, precisely because of the weapon’s promi-
nence in common military training. Government troops, such as Yu Dayou’s
and Qi Jiguang’s, were regularly instructed in the art of the staff, which was
considered useful not only in its own right but as an introduction to other
fighting methods. Yu Dayou expressed the common view when he wrote that
“staff training is comparable to the study of the four books. The hooked
sword, the broadsword, the spear and the rake resemble each one of the six
classics. When the four books are understood, the underlying principle of
the six classics becomes clear. If one can handle the staff, he will achieve pro-
ficiency in the methods of all other sharp weapons.”^37
Widely used in the late Ming military, the staff was far from being the mo-
nopoly of Shaolin monks. Still, popular perception associated the weapon with
the Buddhist clergy. This does not mean that all staff experts were believed to
be monks, but that fighting monks were usually imagined as staff experts. Evi-
dence of this common perception in Ming society is provided by fiction and
drama. Novels and plays that were written during the Ming—and even during
the preceding Yuan and Southern Song—periods depict fighting monks as
staff experts. Four well-known examples come to mind: Huiming of the ro-
mantic comedy The Western Wing (Xixiang ji), Lu Zhishen of the martial arts
novel Water Margin, Yang the Fifth (Yang Wulang) of the military saga Yang
Family Generals, and, most beloved of all, Sun Wukong of the mythological epic
The Journey to the West (Xiyou ji).
Sun Wukong
Probably the most famous Buddhist warrior in Chinese literature, Sun
Wukong figures in a body of legends surrounding Xuanzang’s (596–664)
historical journey from China to India in search of Buddhist scriptures. The