It is said that a saint from India reached China. The king there wanted to meet him but the sage refused to meet him. He remained sitting meditating. Whenever he sat in meditation in a cave, he felt sleepy, so he tore off his eyelids and threw them in the snow. From these eyelids, plants grew in the ground and from these plants the intoxication which we call tea was produced. This is a saying. To keep the body healthy during meditation, that monk invented a method, today we know this method, this art by the name of Kungfu. Kungfu, the thousands-year-old martial art that jumped off the walls of the Shaolin Temple and onto the screen. If you are asked to name a few Chinese actors, then perhaps the names of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan will come to your mind first. All these actors are known for martial arts. Be it the action sequences that topple gravity in The Matrix or the quartet of animals making a splash in Kungfu Panda. Cinema spread kungfu throughout the world. What is the story of Kungfu, where, how, when and why it started, everyone will know in today's article.
There is a mountain range named Song Shang in Hunan Province of China. One of the five largest and considered sacred mountains in China. The ancient Chinese considered Song Shang to be the center of the universe. Today it is known for the Shaolin Temple, which was founded in 495 AD. Shaolin Temple was initially built to provide shelter to Buddhist monks and gradually became a center of Chinese martial arts. How did this transformation happen?
The story is that around 500 AD, a Buddhist monk from India named Boudhi Dharma. When he reached China, he met Emperor Jiao Wen. By this time Buddhism had arrived in China. Actually, Chinese travelers like Fa-hien came to India and took Buddhist texts from here to China. These texts of Pali and Sanskrit languages were being translated in China. Emperor Jiao Wen himself took up the task. On his orders, the Buddhist monks of Shaolin Temple used to do the same work. When Buddhism met Emperor Wen, the Emperor started boasting to him, telling him that this way construction would be achieved. Bodhi Dharma rejected this completely. He went straight to Shaolin Temple to tell the monks there about the actual construction. However, the chief abbot of Shaolin Temple refused to enter inside considering Bodhi Dharma as a novice. It is said that after this Bodhi Dharma camped in a nearby cave. He sat in meditation facing a wall for 9 years.
A story related to this incident is that to avoid sleep, Bodhi Dharma tore off his eyelids and threw them on the ground. Although this story from which tea plants were born seems to be a myth, since tea originated in China itself. Therefore this story shows the relationship between China and tea. It is further mentioned in the story of Bodhi Dharma that Emperor Wen, impressed by his spiritual practice, tried to meet him but Bodhi Dharma did not pay attention to the emperor. At last the emperor cut off his hand and placed it in front of him, then Bodhi Dharma turned towards him and gave his teachings to the other monks also. By now you might be wondering what all this has to do with Kungfu. Kungfu was started in this Shaolin Temple which we are talking about. For two reasons, first, when monks practiced meditation as taught by the Bodhi religion, they faced problems. The body started hurting, seeing all this the Bodhi religion made rules of exercise for the monks. In which the emphasis was on proper breathing, bending and stretching of the body. The second reason was protection from bandits and robbers. In those days, there were many robbers in China and they often targeted the monks living in Buddhist monasteries. Because monks were not allowed to own weapons, they could not defend themselves. Therefore, Buddhist monks were taught some methods of self-defense and these things later became Kungfu, martial arts.
How did kungfu spread?
With the spread of Buddhism, Shaolin Temple also came into existence. This temple was at the peak of prosperity around 700 AD. 1500 monks lived here and gradually they started getting government recognition. Emperor Tai Tsung of China's Tang Dynasty was the first emperor who gave the Shaolin Temple the right to prepare a fighting force.
Legend has it that once when the kingdom was under threat, Emperor Tai Tsung sought help from Shaolin warriors. 13 monk warriors helped the king after which the king invited them to join his court but the monks refused saying that without us the remaining monks would not be protected. Hearing this, the emperor ordered that not 13 but at least 500 monks should be prepared who could fight when the time came. After Emperor Tai Tsung, many kings came to China but during this period martial arts continued to expand. From time to time, there were attacks on monks, their monasteries were demolished and rebuilt, the monks even had to flee. All this continued till the 17th century.
Around 1644 there was a major change in power in China. There were a group of people from Manchuria, an area in north-eastern China. Those people, who were called Manchus, took control of the kingdom and overthrew the Ming dynasty of China. After this the Qing dynasty started. During the Qing dynasty, many types of restrictions were imposed on the Manchu people. Such as ban on possessing weapons, ban on civil service opportunities and foot winding of women, this was a practice in which girls' feet were broken and tied tightly to change their shape. They were made to wear small shoes. The Manchu people took help of Shaolin Temple to escape this oppression. Manchu people started taking training in Shaolin Temple. From this training, the technique of Kungfu, which is known as Wing Chun, was invented. This technique was effective for close combat. In which fast movements and moves are given preference. It was developed for this purpose so that even smaller and weaker people can defend themselves against larger or stronger opponents without using much force. The only weapon used in Wing Chun is called Butterfly Sword. It is small and can be easily hidden. Wing Chun technique became quite famous later on. There is a folk tale associated with this technique, he tells you.
There was a girl who sold tofu with her father. Once when she was selling in the market, a local gangster was attracted by her beauty and started pressurizing her for marriage. This gangster was an expert in martial arts, so the girl asked for help from a Shaolin monk to get rid of him. He also asked for one year's time from the gangster to take a decision. She told the gangster that if he defeated her in a fight after a year, she would marry him. The gangster got ready. The girl started training with a Shaolin monk. The monk trained him in Wing Chun technique. After 1 year, the girl fought with the gangster and defeated him. After this she married the boy of her choice. Like Wing Chun, there is another technique of Kungfu, it is called Wing Chun Kuen. There is also an interesting story associated with it.
There used to be a Shaolin monk. He was looking for five disciples to fight his enemies. One day he went to a drama company's show and during that time he saw a boy who was very strong in physique and very adept in performing duties. The monks wanted to make him their disciple but they decided to test him first. One day when the drama company was boarding the boat, Shalin Monk, a monk, appeared there. He requested to board the boat but was refused so the monk placed one of his feet on the boat and caught it in a river wave. Despite all efforts, the boat could not move forward, so the boy whom the Shaolin monk wanted to make as his disciple. That boy was watching everything. Seeing the monk's art, he recognized that he was a great person and he started requesting to become his disciple. Shaolin Monk thus selected five disciples and taught them a technique of Kungfu which was kept completely secret. This technique of Kungfu was later called Ke Weng Chun Quan.
Kungfu in modern times
We are aware of the names of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan through films. There is another name related to Kungfu which has become famous because of Hollywood, that name is Ip Man. The fictional story of Ip Man is shown in films but in reality he was also a legend fighter. Hue Chan Wa, a martial arts teacher in 19th century China. Just a little while ago we told you about Wing Chun technique. Chan Wa was an expert in this technique. However, he used to give training only to selected students. One day a 12 year old boy came to him. The boy had a bundle in his hand and inside the bundle were 300 silver coins. Chan Wa thought that the boy had stolen these coins from somewhere but later he learned that he had been collecting these coins since childhood so that one day he could learn martial arts. Chan Wa agreed to make him his disciple and he proved to be his last disciple. Chan Wa never accepted any student after this boy. This boy later came to be known as Ip Man. Brusali was his disciple. Bruce Lee gave a new dimension to Kungfu and through him this martial arts technique first reached the screen or what is called Hollywood and then became popular all over the world. Kungfu Panda, Kungfu Soccer, Kungfu Hustle, these movies watched dubbed in Hindi on Set Max became the introduction of Kungfu to India. Indians also learned about it and today there is a Shaolin Temple in India too where people go to learn martial arts.
Anil Paal
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