History, Religion, and Chinese Martial Arts 201
Changes and, in some cases, Buddhist scriptures. The result was a unique amal-
gamation of physiological and spiritual vocabularies. Beginning with the sev-
enteenth century Sinews Transformation Classic, fighting manuals simultaneously
employed diverse religious terminologies to articulate their spiritual goals.
The imagination of Daoist immortality, the cosmology of the Supreme Ulti-
mate, and the vocabulary of Buddhist enlightenment were equally harnessed
to describe the practitioner’s mystical experience.
Why the late Ming? Why was a martial arts synthesis created at that period?
The sixteenth century witnessed remarkable economic and cultural creativity,
from the growth of domestic and international commerce to the spread of
women’s education, from the development of the publishing industry to the
maturation of new forms of fiction and drama. Hand combat evolution could
be seen a s anot her ind icat ion of t he v ibr anc y of late Ming societ y. More specifi-
cally, the integration of Daoist-related gymnastics into bare-handed fighting
was related to the age’s religious syncretism. A climate of mutual tolerance per-
mitted Shaolin practitioners to explore calisthenic and breathing exercises
that had been colored by Daoist hues, at the same time it allowed daoyin aficio-
nados to study martial arts that had evolved within a Buddhist setting. Intellec-
tual trends were joined by political traumas as the Manchu conquest of 1644
convinced literati of the necessity to explore the folk martial arts. As scholars
trained in bare-handed techniques, they rewrote them in a philosophical par-
lance. The broadening of the martial arts into a self-conscious system of
thought was largely due to their practice by members of the elite.
The spiritual aspect of martial arts theory was joined by the religious set-
ting of martial arts practice. Temples offered martial artists the public space
and the festival occasions that were necessary for the performance of their art.
Itinerant martial artists resided in local shrines, where the peasant youths
trained in fighting. The temple’s role as a location for military practice leads us
to a topic we had only briefly touched upon: the integration of the martial arts
into the ritual life of the village. Future research, anthropological and histori-
cal alike, would doubtless shed much light on peasant associations that com-
bined military, theatrical, and religious functions. Preliminary studies of such
local organizations as lion-dance troops and Song Jiang militias (named after
Water Margin’s bravo) reveal that their performances have been inextricably
linked to the village liturgical calendar. The very names of some late imperial
martial arts troops betray their self-perception as ritual entities; in the villages
of north China, congregations of Plum Flower martial artists are called “Plum
Flower Fist Religion” (Meihua quan jiao).^3
This is not to say that all martial artists were equally keen on spiritual per-
fection. The traditions of hand combat are extremely versatile, allowing for di-
verse interpretations and emphases. Whereas some adepts seek religious
salvation, others are primarily concerned with combat efficiency; whereas some
are attracted to stage performance, others are intent on mental self-cultivation.
Various practitioners describe the fruits of their labors in diverse terms.