(Sun Lutang) The author Lan Tai, the headline signing author, wrote two articles about Wulin in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. A friend gave me advice that martial arts and traditional martial arts are two skills. Just because some martial artists didn't take part in martial arts in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China doesn't mean they can't achieve martial arts. First of all, I welcome these friends to leave messages for me, because my other carefully studied articles are not optimistic, and often only one or two friends leave messages. Secondly, I want to say that I don't agree with the view that martial arts and martial arts are two skills. Just as writing stereotyped writing and writing poems in the imperial examination are two kinds of literati, it is absurd. Eight-part essay is a form of composition that pays great attention to rhythm, format and logical thinking ability. A well-written eight-part essay writer is not necessarily a good poet, but he is sure to compose poems. To put it simply, a scholar who can be admitted to a scholar will definitely recite poems and write poems; On the other hand, scholars who can recite poems and write poems may not be admitted to the scholar, because the scholar in Ming and Qing dynasties is the most difficult to be admitted. The same is true of martial arts, whether riding or shooting. Holding a stone lock, pulling a ten-force bow and dancing a heavy knife require very high strength and can be tested in martial arts. In general, at least it proves that he is better than many ordinary people. So will such a martial man have no advantage in competing with ordinary boxers? According to Professor Kang's personal experience in the ninth section of China Wushu, the real contest is actually "grasping and throwing", and whoever falls will be finished ... I was there at that time, and no one used the martial arts method: some people waited for each other with imaginary steps, but when they got up, they just grabbed and threw, without posture. According to historians' statistics, in Hebei during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially in the Qing Dynasty, the martial arts examination was very prosperous, and the number of people taking the examination was particularly large. In the 26th year of Kangxi (1687), for example, 840 students were admitted to Wuxiang Examination, including Hebei Province (Zhili) 108 students, and 60 students from other provinces at most. Not to mention a province in Hebei, Cangxian County in Hebei Province alone produced 248 martial artists in the Qing Dynasty, which is called the hometown of martial arts. Cangxian not only has a large number of martial arts, but also leads other counties in Hebei with 30 martial arts scholars. In the Qing Dynasty, there were 32 top martial arts champions in Hebei province, while only 5 in Shanxi province. The Records of Handan County also recorded the prosperity of Wushu, especially its popularity in Xian Tong and Guangxu periods. Fashion is the research trend of Wushu students. Bows and arrows, people who are brave in action have a tendency to spread their wings and fly high ... Martial arts Chinese style is successful in almost every subject, and it is more than two people. According to the above historical data, we can completely draw a conclusion: the fundamental reason for the prosperity of Hebei Wushu in Qing Dynasty is that it is good at martial arts, goods and emperors. "It's like the imperial examination era. The reason why a certain place has a strong style of writing is because there are many local scholars and literati. Therefore, the main reason why Yang Luchan and Sun Lutang, the "first generation masters", did not take the martial arts exam was not that they practiced martial arts, rather than riding and shooting machetes; The real reason is that Yang Luchan and Sun Lutang must have failed in the martial arts exam in the Qing Dynasty. In the Qing dynasty, there was indeed a chain of contempt for martial arts. The first-class martial arts talents are Kao Wuju, the second-class martial arts talents run escort agencies, and only the last martial arts talents can make a living by teaching boxing. After the Opium War, the big powers opened the China market with artillery. One of the consequences is that a large number of farmers go bankrupt, and these bankrupt farmers flock to cities to survive. The biggest problem for these bankrupt farmers to make a living in a strange city is to find a job and be bullied. The chaotic situation at that time led to the prosperity of the escort agency industry, and a large number of young men with combat skills were urgently needed. Therefore, for bankrupt farmers, martial arts can't be bullied, and brothers and sisters can hold groups to keep warm. Secondly, they can go to the escort agency to find a job through martial arts. This led to the prosperity of the martial arts school industry, and also gave Yang Luchan, Sun Lutang and other "grandmasters" the capital to settle down. Why do second-class martial arts talents run escort agencies? This is because opening an escort agency requires funds, at least cattle carts and animals, which is beyond the preparation ability of ordinary people; In addition, the escort agency industry is similar to today's security and express delivery companies. Not only the escort in the escort agency must know how to fight, but also the official and Qinglin must know people. After all, the escort agency is here to make money, not to fight. To protect a guard, we had a fight with the greenwood man, and several guards died. No amount of money can compensate. More importantly, the real escort agency is not running around, just taking one or two fixed routes. For example, the "Hui You Escort Agency" in the broadsword Wang Wu takes only a few routes from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, because Hui You Escort Agency is supported by big businessmen in Zhangjiakou. Escort agencies are not only bodyguards, but also undertake escort and guarding services, or places with escort agencies are monopolized by escort agencies. There is a simple reason. Escort agencies have at least a family business, and they can find people when something goes wrong, while the civil Boxers "come and go without a trace", so it is very difficult to win the trust of employers. To put it simply, it is difficult to set up an escort agency unless you get the support of a wealthy businessman for one or two generations in a city. Judging from the experiences of Yang Luchan and Sun Lutang in their early years, they were both from poor families, and they only left their hometown to develop in big cities from their generation. They didn't get into martial arts and didn't have the capital to run an escort agency, so they had to open a museum to teach their apprentices. But what boxing and mentoring need most is not real skill, but popularity, which is the main reason why Yang Luchan and Sun Lutang become "a generation of masters" today. In fact, Sun Jianyun, the youngest daughter of Sun Lvtang, had to admit when she recalled her father's life. Sun Lutang first learned to gesture with flowers and fists, yes, that is, gesture with flowers and fists. Sun Lutang learned Huaquan probably because he wanted to go out to play showmanship, because Huaquan was very suitable for performance. At that time, the British "London News Pictorial" also specially reported the flower boxing performance; The performer demonstrated all kinds of difficult movements, running around the deck, flying up and down, attacking forward for a while, and retreating from defense for a while. The band beat gongs and drums to cheer for the performers. The young martial artist attracted a burst of laughter from the audience when he showed his superb skills. Good actions and legendary experiences can make the business of the martial arts school prosperous. Yang Luchan and Sun Lutang know it well, so today we will take a look at the miracles left by Yang Luchan and Sun Lutang. For example, Yang Luchan floats in the air, but birds don't fly; Sun Lutang was faster than running a horse, and defeated five Japanese samurai in his 60s. But I want to say here that these "miracles" are very unreliable, especially the story that Sun Lutang defeated five Japanese samurai in 1969. After careful textual research, it can basically be confirmed that they are false. As for how to fake it, let's talk about it next time. To be continued. References:

This paper discusses the relationship between escort agencies and martial arts inheritance in Ming and Qing Dynasties, the study of martial arts practitioners in Ming and Qing Dynasties, the influence of the end of martial arts system in Qing Dynasty on the development of martial arts in China, and the concern of western society for China sports in late Qing Dynasty-taking London News Pictorial as an example; As the basis of research, this paper briefly discusses the development of folk Wushu in the late Qing Dynasty, and studies the development of Zhili Wushu in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.