Shaolin Hung-Gar
& Tai-Chi Institute
General Yue Fei (1103 - 1142)
of the Song Dynasty
Xing-Yi Quan
Xingyi Quan Shape Intention Fist --Historical Origins 简体中文
Historical Origins of Xingyi Quan Tradition has it that Xingyiquan
originated with General Yue Fei (1103 - 1142) of the Song Dynasty.
Recent research has questioned the truth of this tradition. General
Yue Fei is a national hero in China due to his spirit, character, and
nationalism, so it is possible that practitioners of Xinyiquan borrowed
his name to gain more recognition for the style. General Yue Fei In
recent years scholars have published much research into the origins
of Xingyiquan. There are some differences of opinion, but the general
consensus is that the Xingyiquan system grew out of Xinyi
Liuhequan. That is, that Xingyiquan originated with Li Luoneng (c.
1808 - 1890) of Hebei province, on the foundation of Xinyi Liuhequan
that originated with Ji Longfeng (1602 - 1680 also known as Ji Jike). Ji
Longfeng taught Cao Jiwu (1662 - 1722), who taught Dai Longbang (c.
1713 - 1802), who taught Li Luoneng. This has been cnfirmed by the
research of many scholars, most notably Huang Xin who spent
many years on the topic and methodologically examined a huge
amount of historical documents. It seems quite certain that Ji
Longfeng created Xinyi Liuhequan and Li Luoneng in turn created
Xingyiquan. The three main branches of Xingyiquan - three streams
from the same sources are commonly categorized by region: Shanxi,
Hebei, and Henan provinces. The source of the stream is Xinyi
Liuhequan. At present, Henan province still refers to the style as Xinyi
Liuhequan, and has essentially kept the original characteristics of
Xinyi Liuhequan, most notably the chicken step and the ten animals.
Shanxi and Hebei provinces refer to the style as Xingyiquan and really
represent one branch with only regional and stylistic differences, both
coming from Li Luoneng.
By the Qianlong reign period of the Qing Dynasty (1736 - 1796), Xinyi Liuhequan was already an established style with its own techniques and theory in Shanxi and Henanprovinces. Li Luoneng studied Xinyi Liuhequan with Dai Longbang forteen years. Li Luoneng had trained in other styles and had a strong
foundation in martial arts before studying with Dai, so after ten years
of diligent analysis and practical experience he achieved a high level
of skill in Xinyi Liuhequan. Li accumulated a great depth of theoretical
and practical knowledge over several decades of training, and this
gave him a lvel of mastery that allowed him to refine the style and
germinate the idea of creating a new style from Xinyi Liuhequan - that
is, to create Xingyiquan. By 1856 his style was spreading by this new
name. In classic Chinese there is only a small distinction between the
meaning of the characters xin (心 heart, the emotional mind) and yi (意
will, the intentional mind). So the name Xinyi was repetitive, heart also
partiall means will, and will contains heart in its meaning. Li Luoneng
changed only one character xin (心 heart) to xing (形 form, shape,
structure)to make the name (form and intent) more meaningful.
Although there is a difference of only one character in the names
xinyi and xingyi, this was a milestone of reform in martial arts history,
and a beautiful new martial flower was created n the martial arts
garden. Li Luoneng bravely undertook a systematic reorganization of
Xinyi Liuhequan.
He established a systematic training method with
the santishi post standing as the basic training, the five element fists
as the foundation, and the twelve animals as the advanced
techniques. He based his system on a combination of of the ancient
Chinese traditional theories of yin yang, and five elements (metal,
water, wood, fire and earth); the Daoist life enhancing training, and
refining methods and theories,; and martial arts internal refinement
training. In this way he developed a three-level martial training
(obvious, hidden, and transformed to train essence to transform
energy train energy to transform spirit and train spirit to transform
to emptiness. These aspects were new, and Xingyi towered in the
martial world with its systematic approach to training and scientific
(for its time) theory. Although the theoretical kernel did not depart
from Xinyi Liuhequan, it made a qualitative leap to a higher level.
Similarly, the later development of Yiquan on the foundation of
Xingyiquan created a new style with its own training methods that
emphasized will and spirit. Of course, the establishment and spread
of any style, the improvement of theory and enrichment of the
technical system take several generations of work. The Xingyiquan
now popular throughout China has evolved in theory and technique
as a result of the continued innovation of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and
6th generations. With further social advances and developments in
scientific understanding, future generations continue to make
Xingyiquan theory and techniques even more logical and modern
and enrich all of mankind.
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