148 Fist Fighting and Self-Cultivation
Taiji Quan is a product of the Ming-Qing transition period. It inherited,
developed, and created a synthesis of the various Ming bare-handed
styles that were practiced by the people and the military, combining
them with the ancient methods of gymnastics (daoyin) and breathing
(tuna). It absorbed the ancient material philosophy of yin and yang as
well as the Chinese fundamental medical concept of meridians (jingluo)
[in which the qi flows], creating a bare-handed technique that equally
cultivates the internal and the external.... After it integrated the
methods of gymnastics and breathing, Taiji Quan was not merely able to
advance the motion of joints and muscles, but it was also capable of
coordinating movement and breathing, enhancing the performance of
the internal organs.... In Taiji Quan training the three aspects of
consciousness, movement, and breathing are harmoniously integrated.
The holistic approach to training and the emphasis upon the unity of
the internal and the external are the hallmarks of Taiji Quan practice.^29Lin Boyuan has argued similarly that daoyin gymnastics transformed the
late imperial martial arts. Unlike Ming hand combat that was intended for fight-
ing only, Qing bare-handed styles were also meant to cure and prevent illness.
The very adjective “martial” is misleading, or limiting, when applied to the new
synthesis. Fighting is only one aspect of the bare-handed styles that emerged
during the seventeenth-century Ming- Qing transition:
During the Ming period, the various hand combat styles were all one-
sided, specializing in actual fighting only. By contrast, Qing quan styles
emphasized diverse training, creating a particularly thorough synthesis
with the methods of daoyin and yangsheng (“nourishing the vital prin-
ciple”). This integration was motivated by a double-purpose: Firstly, it
added efficacy to the bare-handed fighting methods; secondly, it
strengthened the body, preventing and curing disease.... The Qing
widespread integration of daoyin training and martial practice demon-
strates that the recognition of daoyin’s efficacy became more common.
Daoyin transformed the popular martial arts in terms of contents,
methods of training, and goals. The martial arts were no longer fighting
methods only. They were transformed, rather, into a physical activity
that is variously practiced, that enhances both skill and strength, and
that is efficacious in curing and preventing illness. Evidently, by Qing
times the martial arts evolved into a completely unique method of
physical education.^30Even though the seventeenth century was pivotal in the integration of hand
combat and gymnastics, the synthesis was not born overnight. The process of
combining gymnastics, breathing, and fighting probably spanned several cen-
turies. It is likely that as early as the mid-Ming (the fifteenth and sixteenth