Cangzhou Martial Arts
01 · Historical Records
Bajiquan, whose full name is 'Kaimen Bajiquan', has been practised in Mengcun Town, Mengcun Hui Autonomous County, Hebei Province for 300 years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The boxing and weapon routines of Bajiquan are mainly the Bajiquan stance-form, Bajiquan, Liudakai, Kubada, Silangkuan, Liuzhoutou, Taizong quan, Taizu quan, Hua quan, Feihu quan, the Chunqiu saber, the Tiliu saber, the Liuhe great spear, the Liuhe flower spear, the Xingzhe staff, Baguntou, the Chunyang nine-palace sword and the like. The boxing and weapon routines may be practised solo or in pairs. Bajiquan takes Liudakai and Kubada as its technical core; its routines include the small Bajiquan stance-form, Bajiquan (also called 'Bajiquan paired practice'), Liuzhoutou, Gangong Bajiquan, the new Bajiquan stance-form and Bajiquan double-soft. In weapons it centres mainly on the Luhe great spear and the paired 'Dazhua Luhe' form; the force it seeks stresses collapse, shake, burst, strike, press, poke, squeeze and lean, as well as the colliding-lean force and the wrapping-and-binding force. Its characteristics are concise movement, a combination of long and short techniques, rapid emission of force, prominence given to colliding, leaning, binding and throwing, layered use of elbow techniques, and a stable base. Practice of Bajiquan is not constrained by the site, the equipment, age, sex or other factors, and it is simple and easy to learn. Long-term practice not only strengthens the body and improves health, but also achieves the aim of cultivating interior and exterior alike and purifying the mind. Bajiquan integrates mechanics, medicine, physiological science and philosophy into one, and draws on Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist and Islamic culture; it vividly demonstrates the real situation in which human beings struggle against nature in order to survive, and displays an optimistic spirit of pressing forward without hesitation.
The six openings and eight moves
The six openings and eight moves form the technical core, around which cluster the small frame, the boxing set also called the paired form, the six elbows and the new frame.
The six-harmony spear and its power words
The weapons are chiefly the six-harmony spear and its paired drill, with power expressed as bursting, shaking, thrusting, crowding, poking, pressing and leaning.
The catalogue of Baji routines
The syllabus lists the Baji frame, six openings, eight moves, Silang Kuan boxing, six elbows, Taizong and Taizu boxing, Hua and flying-tiger boxing, Spring-and-Autumn blade, willow blade, spears, staff and the Chunyang nine-palace sword.
Fourteen generations of Open-Door Baji
Known in full as Open-Door Baji boxing, it has run for three centuries in Mengcun and now counts fourteen generations spread across China and abroad.
Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist and Islamic threads
Easy to learn and free of场地 or equipment constraints, the art joins mechanics, medicine and philosophy and draws on Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist and Islamic traditions.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Mengcun Bajiquan has its cradle in Mengcun Town, Mengcun Hui Autonomous County, Hebei. Over nearly three hundred years it spread from the single locality of Mengcun to Cangzhou, Yanshan, Nanpi and other places, and it was carried beyond the passes by martial arts masters into the Northeast and Northwest. Today Mengcun, Cangzhou, Tianjin, Lanzhou and Changchun, as well as Japan, Korea, Singapore and the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions, all have organisations for practising it.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Cangzhou Martial Arts · Cangzhou Martial Arts · Cangzhou Martial Arts · Cangzhou Martial Arts.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Fourteen generations of transmission have now been completed, transmitters are found throughout the country, and the art has spread far to Japan, Korea, Singapore and other countries and to the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions. Today many boxing manuals, boxing methods and boxing arts are on the verge of being lost as old masters pass away, and urgently need strengthened protection. Shi Tongding (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): male, of Hui ethnicity, born in 1961, a native of Botou, Hebei. The Liuhe quan practised by Shi Tongding is characterised by movements that are extended, light and agile, by hand techniques that flow in unbroken sequence, by stillness containing movement and movement containing stillness, by clear footwork, by a balance of hardness and softness, by a marked contrast of movement and stillness, and by a free-flowing and practical character. It lays stress on yin and yang and demands that the rising and falling, the moving and the still, be coordinated and matched: mind accords with intention, breath with power, hands with feet, elbows with knees and shoulders with hips. Besides the basic skills common to all schools, there are also training methods for foundation work and special techniques, such as the routine 'Thirteen Guardians', the Five Animals, Xiantianjing, catching and tossing sandbags, and fancy jar-grabbing. The principal hand forms of Liuhe quan are the fist, the palm, the hook, the open and the concealed hand; the principal striking methods are chopping, smashing and thrusting; and the principal leg methods are flicking, kicking, pushing off, hooking and spinning. In 2002 Shi Tongding founded 'Liuhe Wu', using the club as its vehicle and the Liuhe name as its medium, jointly promoting the development of Liuhe quan. A representative inheritor of Cangzhou martial arts, a project of the first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage. Since taking up the post of coach in 1985, Shi Tongding has trained disciples of whom new talents have repeatedly emerged, and they have won prizes many times in various national martial arts competitions. Chen Jingyu (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): male, of Han ethnicity, born in June 1959, a native of Cangzhou City, Hebei Province. He was trained at the same time by two modern martial arts coaches, Hu Zhengshun and Liu Hongchang, organically combining Yanqing quan with modern martial arts and summarising unique training methods and teaching experience. His performance style is graceful in posture, well modulated in fast and slow, and free and unconstrained. A representative inheritor for Cangzhou martial arts (Yanqing quan), a project of the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage. He takes the protection and transmission of Yanqing quan as his own task, accepts disciples widely, and has successively trained and taught a large number of pupils free of charge.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Shi Tongding 01-0040
- Chen Jingyu 03-1205
- Wu Lianzhi 03-1206
- Guo Guizeng 05-2536
- Qi Mingsong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。