In Wing Chun tradition prevalent opinion is that art has
military origin and was in fact made by the best military officers at the time.
As the legend goes , best military leaders of the Ming dynasty , better known
as Five Elders, gathered in Shaolin monastery ( either southern or northern )
and created superior martial style which supposed to make training period short
and give an advantage to the rebel army which according to the Wing Chun
tradition had over a million people. There are of course many variations to
this story, in different traditions, different characters were credited for
creation the perfect military art and sometimes these characters stay unnamed
but still labeled as high ranking military officers.
From historical point of view the story is complete
fabrication with no basis in real events. Let’s start with Shaolin monastery.
Northern Shaolin was never a place of Kung Fu research and development. It had,
like any other feudal estate, a large portions of fertile land and monks were
trained in basic infantry tactics to defend the land from outlaws. Also, monks
were required to participate in wars as infantry because Shaolin, as every
other feudal estate had an obligation to send a certain number of soldiers to
the imperial army in a time of war. Monks practiced to fight in organized units
using long weapons and shields and later, when introduced to China, fire arms. There
was no such a thing as “Shaolin Kung Fu”, just a classical infantry training.
On top of all , Shaolin was one of the most significant religious centers in
China and monks’ main focus was on religious practice , as in all other
monasteries all over the world, not Kung Fu practice. More about North Shaolin
temple and its true history can be found here:
Southern Shaolin never existed. There are no historical
records of such a place, no written records nor physical evidence. Today, there are 3 or 4 places under that name but no “Southern
Shaolin” existed before the end of 20th century. Those places are
just tourist attractions made for one purpose only, to draw Kung Fu enthusiasts
from all over the world and make them spend as much money as they can. History
as science is very clear about Southern Shaolin- it never existed in reality,
only as legend which first appeared by the end of the 19th century. More about Southern Shaolin can be found here:
Same goes with Five Elders. According to Wing Chun
creation myth all of them were high ranking officers on Ming court, descendants
of important families who served the dynasty for generations. They had best
education and of course they were the best Kung Fu fighters at the time. After
the fall of the Ming dynasty they found refuge in Shaolin monastery and used it
as a base of rebellion. One of their priorities was to make superior fighting style
which would significantly make the training time shorter and give the rebels an
advantage in combat. They combined their knowledge and experience to create
that art. One of them betrayed the
rebellion and the monastery was destroyed by Ching soldiers who used English
artillery. Elders scattered all over China and founded their own styles. Wing
Chun supposed to be the product of Five Elders’ effort or at least the closest
thing to it. There are at least three out of five Elders who are in different
accounts credited for founding Wing Chun. In some legends even after the
destruction of the monastery two of them (Ng Mui and Miu Shin) combined their
knowledge and created Wing Chun. It is
said that Wing Chun is superior to all other fighting systems because it
requires short time to be mastered (3 to 5 years), it is close combat system so
there is no need to waste time on learn fighting on all other distances and it
uses only two weapons, long pole
and twin knives.
For all martial styles, being included in military
training, was always a sign of special status and quality. There are a lot of
stories in which brave soldiers and generals are using their Kung Fu skills to
defeat enemy and win great victories. But how much really Kung Fu was important
in Ming dynasty army and military tactics and is possible that Wing Chun
legends have at least some foundation in reality and the art has military
origin?
Military
system of Ming dynasty
Hongwu Emperor, the founder of Ming dynasty, organized a
military system known as the Wei-suo. The goal was to have soldiers become
self-reliant farmers in order to sustain themselves while not fighting or training
.During the Ming Dynasty, soldiers had one of the lowest social standings .In
the Ming Dynasty military was an inherited job and they came from a warrior
class. They got land to use form the government in exchange for obligation to
join the army when invited. They also had to buy their own military equipment
and weapons. This system collapsed in 1430’s and the army was reorganized and
composed from the professional soldiers who worked for salary. Ming were
allowing individual generals to put together private full time professional
armies, though disguised under the term "house servants", these
retinue warriors were usually very well equipped and trained. In total, the Ming army in the late 14th
century numbered approximately 1.2 million hereditary soldiers, number of
soldiers in the 17th century reached 3 million people. During the
reign of Yongle (Zhu Di) three training camps were established, which troops
were sent to in rotation. The first specialized in infantry warfare, the second
in cavalry warfare and the third in artillery. While this worked very well at
first, it stagnated after 1435 and had to be revived in 1464 by the Chenghua
emperor.
Infantry
At first, standard company numbered 100 men. Each 100 man
squad consisted of 40 shielded spearmen, 30 archers, 20 shielded swordsmen and
10 men operating firearms. Later, the army was reorganized and the standard
company increased in number to 112 men, though they were likely similarly
equipped. These soldiers undertook a sophisticated training program, whereby
infantry were well trained for maneuvering around the battlefield and
performing specific drills in the heat of combat, taking different attacking or
defensing formations, changing positions and other necessary tasks.
Chinese armies of the Ming period used a wide variety of
spears. All were generally quite long, from 2,5 to 3 meters or even longer.
Some types were specially designed for dismounting horsemen.
Ming heavy armor
Ming archers were armed with long composite bows and
various types of arrows, including specialized designs tipped with deadly
poison and rocket arrows. Crossbows were also used on large scale.
Chinese swords of the Ming period had their origins in
central Asian sabres. Ming infantry swordsmen usually carried a goose-quill or
willow leaf sabre. Sabres were used in combination with a shield by special
fighting squads.
Ming rifleman
In the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Chinese
firearm technology was the most advanced in the world. Ammunition came in the
form of both arrows and solid balls. In later period, number of firearms in Ming army significantly
increased and brought a lot of change in tactics and military equipment.
Cavalry
Cavalry were a minority in the Ming military. However,
they were still an essential component of Chinese armies.
Ming cavalry were divided into two types--lancers and
mounted archers. The former were equipped with helmet, armor and sabre, as well
as a long spear and round shield. The latter were also armored and carried a
sabre, but the primary weapon of a horse archer was his composite bow.
Artillery
Chinese armies of the Ming period made wide use of
artillery. Both on the field as well as for the siege and defense of
fortifications. Almost every military expedition had a substantial artillery
train. This contributed greatly to the success of early Ming armies against
Mongol nomads and rivals.
Ming era cannon
Officer
core
Military officers were ranked in a hierarchic grading
system and were given merit evaluations every five years. However, military
officers had less prestige than officials. This was due to their hereditary
service (instead of solely merit-based) and Confucian values that dictated those who chose the
profession of violence (wu) over the cultured pursuits of knowledge (wen).Military
officers were not excluded from taking civil service examinations, and after
1478 the military even held their own examinations to test military skills. In
the early half of the dynasty, men of noble lineage dominated the higher ranks
of military office; this trend was reversed during the latter half of the
dynasty as men from more humble origins eventually displaced them.
Military Tactics
One of the notable features of the Ming military was its
centralized planning. The entire army would be re-equipped and re-trained for a
specific campaign to meet specific tactical requirements which depended of the
enemy’s number , tactics, technology ,also important were geography , logistics
, climate ect.
Some insight in Ming army tactics can be found in manuals
written by Qi Jiguang (November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588) a military general
of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading the defense on the coastal
regions against Wokou pirate activities in the 16th century. Qi is also known
for writing the military manuals Jixiao Xinshu and Record of Military Training ,which
he based on his experience as a martial educator and defensive planner in the
Ming military forces. He is regarded as a hero in Chinese culture. In his own
words :” Fighting in large formation, against great enemies, is
different from fighting in rings or arresting few bandits. In great formation,
thousands of men are advancing in order. The braves are not allowed to advance
(further than the rest of the army), and the cowardly are not allowed to
withdraw. (If our enemy) thrusts with a forest of spearheads, (then we can
only) thrust back with a forest of spearheads. (If our enemy) slashes with a
storm of blades, (then we can only) strike back to return the favor. (Everyone)
can only advance together, there's hardly any room to flip one's hand, let
alone dodging left and right! If even one man looks behind, everyone will be
left in doubt. If even one man is distracted and missed one step, everyone will
lose morale. There's no way one can advance and withdraw freely (when fighting
in formation)."
Ming dynasty shield formation
The writings of general Qi Ji Guang give us some insight into how a large
formation battle would look like in Chinese warfare. Qi Ji Guang described
thousands of soldiers fighting with pikes and sabres in a formation so dense
that "there's hardly any room to flip one's hand", and discipline was
of utmost importance. Ming Chinese placed great emphasis on the use of spear
and pike. Chinese did not use their pikes to perform smashing or
slashing attack in the same manner as Japanese pikemen, although some
experienced Chinese pikemen could smash their pikes to the ground and use the
bouncing effect to guide the pikes into the abdomens of their enemy.
Ming infantry formation
During an engagement with other pikemen, Ming shieldmen
were instructed to hack off enemy pikes using their sabres. Behind the rows of
shields and pikes there were rifleman and bowman who supported them with
constant fire. Infantry was generally supported by artillery fire while cavalry
was used for sudden attacks after artillery preparation to break enemy lines
and enable infantry to enter.
Military
system of the early Qing dynasty
Eight
Banner System
Before official
founding of the Qing dynasty and conquest of China , Nurhaci, a chieftain of
the Chien-chou Juchen Manchurian tribe
who is considered to be the founding father of the Manchu state in China, established
a banner system The Banner system was developed by Nurhachi in 1601.He organized his warriors into four
companies of 300 men each. The companies were distinguished by banners of
different colors—yellow, red, white, and blue. In 1615 four more banners were
added. As the Manchu increased their conquests, the size of the companies grew
until each came to number 7,500 men divided into five regiments, divided, in
turn, into five companies.
In 1633, during the early Qing dynasty, the Manchu rulers
began to incorporate Mongols and other tribal groups, as well as Han Chinese,
into the Eight Banner system. Beginning in the late 1620s, Nurhaci's successors
incorporated allied and conquered Mongol tribes into the Eight Banner system.
Eventually, the numbers of Chinese soldiers caused Manchu leaders to form them
into the "Old Han Army" , mainly for infantry support. In 1631, a
separate Chinese artillery corps was formed. In 1635, a Mongolian "Eight
Banners" was created. Four Chinese banners were created in 1639 and
finally the full eight were established in 1642. .
Among the Banners gunpowder weapons, such as muskets and
artillery, were specifically wielded by the Chinese Banners who also served as
infantry and were also used classic Ming dynasty infantry tactics and weapons.
Manchu and Mongolians served traditionally as cavalry, mostly as bowman.
Green
Standard Army
After capturing Beijing in 1644 and gained control of
large of former Ming territory, Manchus accepted in their service Ming forces
that surrendered to the Qing. They were integrated a new military unit called
the Green Standard Army, named after the color of their battle pennants.. Green
Standard armies were created in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Jiangnan in 1645,
in Fujian in 1650, in Lianguang (Guangdong and Guangxi) in 1651, in Guizhou in
1658, and in Yunnan in 1659.They maintained their Ming-era ranks and were led
by a mix of Banner and Green Standard officers. These Chinese troops eventually
outnumbered Banner troops three to one.
Even though the Manchu banners were the most effective
fighting force during the Qing conquest of China, most of the fighting was done
by Chinese banners and Green Standard troops, especially in southern China
where Manchu cavalry could play less of a role.The Banners and Green Standard
troops were standing armies, paid for by the central government. In addition,
regional governors from provincial down to village level maintained their own
irregular local militias for police duties and disaster relief. These militias
were usually granted small annual stipends from regional coffers for part-time
service obligations.
Ming
Dynasty fall and Qing occupation of China.
Reasons
for the fall of the Ming Dynasty
One major cause of the Ming collapse was a succession of
relatively weak and disconnected emperors. Early in the Ming period, the
emperors were active administrators and military leaders. By the end of the
Ming era, however, the emperors had retreated into the Forbidden City, never
venturing out at the head of their armies, and seldom even meeting in person
with their ministers.
A second reason for the collapse of the Ming was the huge
expense in money and men of defending China from its northern and western
neighbors. This has been a constant in Chinese history, but the Ming were
particularly concerned because they had only just won China back from Mongol
rule under the Yuan Dynasty.
Next major reason of the fall was corruption of the
officials. Very few government officials were not corrupt during this period. A
large portion of all taxes, military wages, even disaster relief funds from the
central government were pocketed by officials from all levels of government.
The
administration went bankrupt and couldn't even make wage payments on time. As a
result, soldiers often fragged their officers to demand wages or looted
civilian villages. Needless to say, most of these troops had terrible morale
Next major reason for fall of th Ming dynasty was the
shifting climate, and disruptions to the monsoon cycle of rains. Heavy rains
brought devastating floods, particularly of the Yellow River, which swamped
farmers' land and drowned livestock and people alike. Peasants had no food, but
corrupt officials pocketed disaster relief money and didn't relieve any tax
burden. The masses couldn't survive like this and rebelled against the
government. Weak government and low moral of the army simply couldn’t do
anything to stop the uprising. Peasant rebels run rampant all over central and
western China, resulting in severe damage to the Ming heartland. There were
fewer and fewer generals capable of dealing with these threats. When peasant
rebel leader Li Zicheng marched on Beijing, the commanders of Datong and Xuanfu
(two entire military districts!) surrendered to him without a fight. This gave
him a direct path to Beijing, which he conquered after only two days of siege,
resulting in Emperor Chongzhen committing suicide.
Failing economy, political factions internal wars,
government corruption, low moral in army, incompetent rulers, peasants rebellions
, all these factors caused the fall of the Ming empire even before Manchus came
to power.
Qing
conquest of China
The Ming faced several famines, floods, economic chaos,
and rebellions. Li Zicheng rebelled in the 1630s in Shaanxi in the north, while
a mutiny led by Zhang Xianzhong broke out in Sichuan in the 1640s. Many people
were killed in this self-proclaimed emperor's reign of terror.
Death of the last Ming emperor
In February 1644, rebel leader Li Zicheng had founded the
Shun Dynasty in Xi'an and proclaimed himself king. In March his armies had
captured the important city of Taiyuan in Shanxi. Seeing the progress of the
rebels, on 5 April the Ming Chongzhen Emperor requested the urgent help of any
military commandant in the Empire. But it was too late: on 24 April Li Zicheng
breached the walls of Beijing, and the Emperor hanged himself the next day on a
hill behind the Forbidden City. He was the last Ming emperor to reign in
Beijing.
Soon after the emperor had called for help, Ming general Wu Sangui who was guarding the
Great Wall rushed with his army to Beijing .Wu Sangui and his Ming army were on
their way to Beijing, marching through the Shanhai Pass at the eastern end of
the Great Wall of China. Wu received
word that he was too late, and the capital had already fallen. He retreated to
Shanhai. Li Zicheng sent his armies to
confront Wu, who defeated them in two battles. Frustrated, Li marched out in
person at the head of a 60,000 men-strong force to take on Wu. It was at this
point that Wu appealed to the closest large army nearby - the Qing leader
Dorgon and his Manchus. He agreed to attack Li's army, but only if Wu
and the Ming army would serve under him instead. On May 27, Wu agreed. Dorgon
sent him and his troops to attack Li's rebel army repeatedly; once both sides
in this Han Chinese civil battle were worn out, Dorgon sent his riders around
the flank of Wu's army. The Manchu set upon the rebels, quickly overcoming them
and sending them flying back toward Beijing.Li Zicheng himself returned to the
Forbidden City and grabbed all the valuables he could carry.
The newly allied armies captured Beijing on June 6. On
October 30, 1644, about 5 months after the Qing army occupied the capital, Hong
Taiji's son Fulin became the Emperor Shunzhi, and he announced the new dynasty
was founded.The Manchus, who had positioned themselves as political heir to the
Ming emperor by defeating the rebel Li Zicheng. Soon after Manchus wiped out the last remnants of rival regimes
established by Li Zicheng (killed in 1645) and Zhang Xianzhong (Chengdu taken
in early 1647). Finally, they managed to kill claimants to the throne of the
Southern Ming in Nanjing (1645) and Fuzhou (1646) and chased Zhu Youlang, the
last Southern Ming emperor, out of Guangzhou (1647) and into the far
southwestern reaches of China.
Qing conquest of entre territory of Chine took a while,
last Ming loyalist stronghold , Taiwan, surrendered in1683. While the entire
country was in chaos new established
Qing government accepted all the generals from the Ming dynasty into
their ranks and allowed them to keep their positions. It was actually the Green
Standing Army who did most of the fighting against Ming loyalist led by Han
Chinese Banners. Chinese were fighting against Chinese for the Manchu’s
benefit.
After gaining control of the Chinese empire the Manchus
quickly absorbed much of Han high culture. They also kept much of Ming dynasty
government organizations system with few differences. Military personal and intellectuals
were highly valued by new dynasty. Manchus need capable people to establish and
strengthen their rule over China so they change their policy toward these two
groups which were discriminated during Ming rule. Towards the end of the Ming
dynasty, from the late sixteenth century on, intellectuals had become increasingly
disaffected with the Ming and had tacitly withdrawn their support. Many
scholars had spent most of their lives preparing to hold an official post, only
to end up with nothing. The new dynasty needed men of talent, and shrewdly made
a show of respecting scholars. Same thing was happening with military officers.
Analysis
Ming dynasty haven’t lost the war with Manchus because
Manchus had stronger force or had better technology or better strategy. In
fact, Ming dynasty fell apart before Manchus even engaged in the events.
Manchus simply seized the opportunity and took the place of the already fallen
dynasty. Ming dynasty caused its own demise creating political and economical
chaos. When Manchus came there was no one to fight against them. Ming generals
massively betrayed former rulers and sided with conquerors in order to keep
their positions , titles and property. The truth is most of the fighting
against pockets of the resistance were done by former Ming army who turned
against few loyalists. There was between 250 and 350 thousands Manchus (
actually only 120 000 Manchus , the rest were Mongolian and Han banners) who
conquered Ming China who nominally had over 3 000 000 soldiers.
Knowing all these facts was there a need for inventing
new fighting style that rebels could use in order to restore Ming dynasty? The
answer is no. There are two main reasons why there was no need for inventing
any new style of fighting, not only Wing Chun, against Qing dynasty.
- First,
Ming dynasty already had superior strategy and tactics to fight Manchus and
they fought them successfully for centuries. From the very beginning of Ming
rule they had to fight with Mongolian tribes on the northern borders of the
empire and they developed effective tactics to keep them outside their borders.
As long as the empire was politically and economically stabile Mongolians had
no chance against Ming army. Simply there was no need to invent any new way to
fight the Qing, it was already developed and successfully used for centuries.
- Second
reason is that people of China were not eager to fight against Qing. It was in
fact common people of China who rebelled and took down the Ming dynasty. At the
beginning of its rule Qing dynasty brought social and economical order and
growth. The most significant fact of early and mid-Qing social history was
population growth. The population doubled during the 18th century. Such a
population growth is not possible without stable economy ,strong and
competent government , social and
political order. People simply weren’t interested in rebellion and Qing dynasty
included Han people in every aspect and level of the government .
In terms of historical development of Chinese martial
arts, styles like Wing Chun and other southern (and northern) styles as we know
them today developed in second half of 19th century. Martial styles
are invention of the modern times, something that first appeared in 19th
century. Although many “histories” and “traditions” are pushing back their
origins far back in the past the truth is no style today is older than 150 -180
years. During Ming and most of the Qing dynasty rule martial arts were
concentrated strictly on military use and put accent on weapons techniques.
Only high ranking officers learned how to fight “one on one” and had full
systems of fighting with preferred weapon, the rest of the soldiers practiced
to fight in formation. Styles in today’s sense of meaning didn’t exist. There
were prominent teachers and someone traced his lineage through the line of
teachers but there defined styles didn’t exist, same teacher would teach
completely different things to different students. Wing Chun simply couldn’t
exist before 19th century because martial styles didn’t exist before
that time.
From tactical point of view, story that Wing Chun is
invented to fight Qing army is complete nonsense. Qing dynasty with Ming army
adopted their way of fighting and military technology. Let’s think for a moment
could be Wing Chun used against Qing army?
- First,
no martial style as we know them today could be used against any army from 17th
or 18th century. Modern styles are focused on individual fighting
and empty hand techniques with rudimentary weapons training. Armies of the past
fought in organized groups and put all their time in weapons training , various
maneuvers used in a battlefield . No matter how good someone’s skill can be a
group of single fighters stand no chance against a group well trained army
unit. Wing Chun has no trace of any training for organized group fighting. Even
if all participants in some imaginary conflict use same weapons , let’s say
long poles, a group of fighters which fight in a formation will simply run over
any group of a group of fighters without any formation. Individual skill was
never a determining factor in any army, in any war at any point of history.
- Second,
Wing Chun uses two weapons, Long Pole and Double Knives. It is obvious that
Wing Chun is a style invented to be used without armor nor shields. Wing Chun
is almost impossible to use if a fighter is wearing an armor and usage of
shield is also impossible. Even if opponents use same weapon but one has
protection of the armor and shield it is obvious who will win.
- Third,
Qing army had cavalry, infantry and artillery. Imagine fighters without armor,
armed with long poles without any formation fighting against cavalry. There are
enough examples in history of exactly the same encounters and all finished
exactly the same, cavalry slaughtered the opponents.
Wing Chun against artillery?
I think the answer is pretty obvious, The artillery was the main reason why
Ming dynasty manage to fight off Mongolian tribes for such a long time.
Wing Chun against infantry?
On one side there are people without any protection, no formation and armed
with short knives and long poles. On the other side there is a wall of shields
and a forest of pikes, longer than WCK poles with long steel points. They move
as one and simply cut to pieces everything and anything on their way. Behind
countless rows of pikeman there is a great number of archers who support
advancing of front rows and among them there are a significant number of
rifleman who either supported pikeman from the flanks or shoot before close
quarter engagement. We have many examples in history how similar encounters
ended.
From this reasons, story that Wing Chun is invented as
some miracle solution for restoring the fallen Ming dynasty is pure nonsense. It
is nothing more than a marketing that aims at the particular emotional and
psychological points in practitioners. Wing Chun is invented in particular
moment of history for particular reason and it is a perfect solution for the
problem and the environment which it was invented for and there is no need to
give it credit and attributes that art does not have.
