The undiscovered styles of Emei
The scenic area of Emei has long supported one of the most colourful ecosystems in the world, revered in history by wandering Daoists for the medicinal value of the herb and plant life, and more recently, recognised by UNESCO as a protected World Heritage Site. And yet, what we know about Emei mountain is contrasted sharply by what we do not know about Emei martial arts. Unlike the wash of information about popular styles like Tai Chi or Xing Yi that overwhelms martial artists in the west, Emei wushu has not benefited from the same exposure in the west.
A 'brief' history of the Sichuan Province
The Warring States period (481-221BC) provides us with some of the earliest records of martial arts in the Sichuan region. Bronze weapons and porcelain figurines excavated in Emei Shan City and nearby Leshan city indicate an established martial tradition in the area strongly linked with the military. Not surprising, given that it was during this period of political turmoil that the indigenous Ba and Shu cultures were overcome by the conquest of the neighbouring Qin empire, which eventually went on to reunify the disintegrated Zhou kingdom almost 100 years later under the rule of the 'Tiger of Qin', Qin Shi Huang Di. Military activity of this sort was to become a recurring theme in the Red Basin of Sichuan for the next two thousand years.
The Qin base of power was aligned strongly to the western regions of China. Troubled in the north by the nomad tribes, in the east by the old feudal states and in the southeast by the unconquered coastal regions around modern day Fujian province, the areas around modern-day Sichuan provided the Qin empire with its economic foundations. Man-made advances (like the Cheng Du canal system constructed by Li Ping in the 4th century BC), the area's natural resources (iron ore and salt was available in abundance) and its physical location (proximate to major trade routes to India and the west, and on a major tributary of the Yang Zi river) all contributed to Sichuan's central role in the early Chinese dynasties.
The borders of the Chinese empire were soon extended under the Emperor Han Wu Di (141-87BC), which in Sichuan resulted in an extension southwest towards Tibet. Contributing to the eventual collapse of the Later Han dynasty, agricultural and industrial productivity rose in the Sichuan region in response to imperial encouragement to fund the western expansion of the empire, which, along with other political factors, resulted in the destabilising power balance reflected in the Three Kingdoms period (221-265AD).
At the turn of the new millennium, the Sichuan region found itself swiftly becoming the battleground for the major religious philosophies that have shaped China's history. In the first century AD, Buddhism was conveyed via the Silk Road from India to China. First settling in Sichuan and subsequently finding a spiritual home on Emei mountain, the doctrine of individual salvation rapidly established itself among the Chinese people who may have become tired of the austere and demanding Confucian mores. The Puxian school of Buddhism that initially won over China offered a powerful end to the realities of daily suffering and the complex iconography was equally attractive to a populace excluded from the semi-feudal ceremonies of the imperial court.
Throughout the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries, numerous temples were built on Emei devoted to Buddhist teaching and across China, the philosophy began to take hold. In 399BC the Chinese missionary Fa Xian travelled to India to retrieve and translate Buddhist texts and in the early 6th century, two Indian preachers arrived at the imperial court - Paramartha initially, followed by Bodhidharma (Da Mo) in 527AD. Da Mo of course is recognised from the Shaolin Temple legend, where he was reputed to have created the foundations for Shaolin martial arts.
The indigenous Daoist religion around Mount Emei and Sichuan was seriously wrong-footed by the onset of Buddhism. Emei Shan had originally been a Daoist hermitage, made famous by the legend of the Yellow Emperor, who was said to have visited Emei mountain to learn and practice Daoism. Emei offered isolation, a strong and abundant natural herb and plant life and a perceived connection with the mysterious and immortal deities of the west and so was popular with Daoists. The legend of Lao Zi passing through the Qin borders into the west held so much appeal precisely because of the mysticism associated the lands beyond the western fringes of China's rule. Yet at this point Daoism still existed primarily as a philosophical school loosely associated with peasant magicians, so the rapid uptake of Buddhism, aided by an established host of icons and deities, was a massive threat.
Around the late 1st century AD, the famed Zhang Dao Ling established the Zhengyi Meng Wei sect of Daoism on Calling Crane Mountain in northern Sichuan, also known as the 'five bowls of rice' school. This alternative title may be a reference to the ancient Chinese ideal of 'five generations in one hall', emphasising the importance of family and longevity in Chinese society and highlighting the expectation that a Daoist must be familiar with magic and internal alchemy to prolong life. The church founded by Zhang Dao Ling was the first organised Daoist community and many of the Daoist pantheon worshipped today spring from this era (such as the Queen Mother of the West, an immortal integral to the classic novel Journey to the West), representing one of the major branches of Daoism in existence today. It is entirely likely that this school grew in direct opposition to the Buddhist expansion in that area.
Sichuan Daoism never fully recovered from the Buddhist emergence as the dominant religion in Sichuan or on Emei. After a Chinese mission to India in the 9th century AD, commissioned by the Song emperor Zhao Kuang Yin, the monk Ji Ye was authorised to teach what he had recovered from India on Emei mountain, alongside the building of new temples and cultural artefacts. The Giant Buddha at Leshan saw completion in the 9th century as well, and by the 10th century, a committee had been established by the imperial court to oversee the Emei area and its many cultural and religious properties. Emei mountain is now regarded as one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China, but is also sometimes referred to as the 7th heaven of Daoism in China, reflecting its status behind the five major Daoist peaks and Mount Wudang.
Alongside the religious conflict played out in Sichuan, the area has been characterised by the many faltering empires that have chosen Sichuan as a 'last post' against their antagonists. In legend, the Yellow Emperor retreated to the area during his war with the eastern Emperor Chi You, and eventually triumphed using what is thought to be his own invention, a compass, when a sandstorm erupted during the Battle of Zhulu. In 755AD, the Tang emperor Xuan Sung (also known as Ming Huang - the Brilliant Emperor) was forced into an abject retreat after a coup led by An Lu Shan captured the capital at Zhang An almost unchallenged before his return to power. Five hundred years later, as the Mongol hordes invaded China from the north during the 13th century, the Southern Song dynasty formed a resilient battle line in northern Sichuan that was eventually overcome in the brutal Mongol onslaught. The idea of escape to the west was not one reserved only for disheartened philosophers.
In more recent times, Sichuan has not seen the same economic and industrial expansion afforded to the eastern coast of China, where trade and the western (American and European) influence has fuelled development. Emei mountain itself is now a major tourist attraction, predominantly for the internal Chinese market, attracted by the scenery and cultural relics. In 1982 the Chinese government registered Emei as a 'Scenic Area', before applying for its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995. Although the area still retains some of its famous bio-diversity and one of few surviving panda communities (semi wild) anywhere in the world, the rapid pace of development has irreversibly damaged Emei in particular. The development of Emei Shan city, and the various construction projects on the mountain itself, including a cable car and abandoned mini-railway, forced a member of the Chinese Daoist Association, Zhang Hua Ne, to remark:
"Holy mountains are meant to be hard to climb, arduous to explore, for in that struggle lies humility. To build cable cars is not just to disturb the natural balance, it is to deprive us of a sense of awe."
The martial arts of Emei
The martial arts of Emei, despite a tumultuous history stretching back over two-and-a-half thousand years, have remained one of the great unknowns for western martial arts enthusiasts. Landlocked by Tibet to the west, Yunnan to the south and Shaanxi to the east, the Sichuan province did not experience the same mass coastal emigration at the onset of Communist rule in the early 20th century that helped popularise many Fujian styles in Europe and America. Neither did it benefit from the same state sponsorship that saw the Song Shan Shaolin Temple launched in the 1980's as official ambassador of Chinese martial arts to the western world.
Legend holds that the creator of Emei martial arts was the powerful female Daoist sage Jiu Tian Xuan Nu. Her exceptional skill was in wielding a straight sword typical to many Daoist wushu styles, which led to a local sword heritage called Xuan Nu Sword. Many researchers feel strongly that Emei martial arts were created by a woman because of this, and also because of another rare weapon style, the hairpin, which points to a female creator.
Yet the idea that a single person could be responsible for the creation of what is seen as a regional product is not held in high regard, much in the same way as the idea that an individual could claim heritage for a regional cooking style. Many believe, more reasonably, that Emei martial arts were a product of the regional Ba and Shu culture and the constant flux of travellers, traders on the Silk Road, Daoist and Buddhist pilgrims, criminals in exile, bandits, imperial officials and invaders. Certainly, many martial artists in Emei claim that there are well over 2500 'styles' in the Emei repertoire (the Chinese sometimes use the word 'style' as roughly equivalent to a 'pattern' or 'form' in English.), including free hand, weapons and techniques. Emei martial arts are said to feature movements suited for the small frames of the Sichuan people, incorporating deceptive movements and close range strikes appropriately.
Famous stylists from the area have included Si Tu Xuan Kong, who was better known under the name Bai Yuan Gong (White Ape Man). Credited with the invention of Tong Bei style, which mimics the movements of a monkey to flail the arms like whips, he was also famous for a sword style which was studied by the emperor's wife, Yue Nu. Another famous stylist was the semi-legendary Bai Mei Dao Ren (White Eyebrow Daoist), who lived during the Southern Song dynasty. Known as a powerful martial artist, he was called upon by the imperial court to put down martial artists who opposed the emperor, including some Shaolin stylists (which is why there are many legends that claim Bai Mei was responsible for the destruction of the Southern Shaolin Temple.). Bai Mei martial arts became popular in Guangdong province and have subsequently travelled to the west, although not in large numbers.
Emei martial arts researchers inevitably credit the influence of Daoist internal practices on wushu in the area. The Yellow Emperor was said to have practiced and taught the practice called 'San Yi Wu Ya', which uses yin and yang and Five Elements theory to develop inner essence, whilst many local people believe that Zhang Dao Ling was the first person to develop Daoist sexual practices and martial arts exercises for health.
The Wushu Scholar team, while privileged to have travelled to the Emei area and observed a number of exceptionally professional wushu schools and stylists, believes that we have barely scratched the surface of a martial tradition that has developed in one of the most thriving and colourful regions of China.
