70 Systemizing Martial Practice
eighteen [Hangzhou] monks chose from amongst them eight men to
challenge him. The eight immediately attacked Tianyuan using their
hand combat techniques. Tianyuan was standing at that moment atop
the open terrace in front of the hall. His eight assailants tried to climb
the stairs leading to it from the courtyard underneath. However, he saw
them coming, and struck with his fists, blocking them from climbing.
The eight monks ran around to the hall’s back entrance. Then,
armed with swords, they charged through the hall to the terrace in
front. They slashed their weapons at Tianyuan who, hurriedly grabbing
the long bar that fastened the hall’s gate, struck horizontally. Try as they
did, they could not get into the terrace. They were, on the contrary,
overcome by Tianyuan.
Yuekong (the challengers’ leader) surrendered and begged forgive-
ness. Then, the eighteen monks prostrated themselves in front of
Tianyuan, and offered their submission.^52The description of Tianyuan’s martial skills would probably ring famil-
iar to readers of martial arts fiction. Several motifs in Zheng Ruoceng’s nar-
rative became standard features of this late imperial, and modern, literary
genre. Martial arts novels (and more recently films) commonly celebrate
empty-handed, and single-handed, victories.^53 However, from Zheng Ruo-
ceng’s perspective, Tianyuan’s martial skills were no fiction. The sixteenth-
century military analyst was so impressed with the Shaolin monks’ fighting
abilities that he urged the government to make regular use of monastic
armies:
In today’s martial arts, there is no one in the land who does not yield to
Shaolin. Funiu [in Henan] should be ranked as second. The main
reason [for Funiu’s excellence] is that its monks, seeking to protect
themselves against the miners, studied at Shaolin. Third comes Wutai
[in Shanxi]. The source of the Wutai tradition is the method of the
“Yang Family Spear” (Yangjia qiang), which has been transmitted for
generations in the Yang family. Together, these three [Buddhist centers]
comprise hundreds of monasteries and countless monks. Our land is
beset by bandits inside and barbarians outside. If the government issues
an order for [these monks’] recruitment it will win every battle.^54Zheng’s call for the recruitment of Shaolin monks illustrates the impact
that the piracy campaign had had on their monastery’s fame. The pirates’ at-
tacks on China’s coasts constituted a national crisis, which was discussed on all
levels of government, from local authorities in the numerous affected counties
to the highest echelons of imperial bureaucracy. Shaolin’s contribution to this
campaign reverberated through Ming officialdom. The monastery’s victories
were recorded in numerous documents ranging from local gazetteers and