Xingtaimeihua Boxing
01 · Historical Records
The Guangzong County Gazetteer and the Pingxiang County Gazetteer both record that plum blossom boxing was introduced into the area in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
It folds the Eight Trigrams of the Zhouyi into the principles of the boxing and transforms yin, yang and the Five Phases into the techniques of the moves, training body and mind together; it has grown steadily more distinguished and has produced famous masters such as Zou Hong and Jing Tingbin. The organization of plum blossom boxing is divided into a civil section and a martial section, with the civil section leading the martial section. The movement routines of plum blossom boxing are plain and dignified, mighty and stirring; they have both the aesthetic value of performance and the practical function of defeating an enemy in combat. Plum blossom boxing also cultivates the civil through the martial and supports the civil through the martial. Both its guiding ideas and its routines follow the principles of the Five Phases, the Eight Trigrams, the Nine Palaces, the Supreme Ultimate and the Infinite in traditional Chinese culture, and plum blossom boxing is therefore honoured as the "boxing of culture". Plum blossom boxing is taught for the most part orally and by personal demonstration, and the oldest master still practising is 87 years old. Plum blossom boxing in Guangzong and Pingxiang, together with the way it has been transmitted, has been called by scholars and experts a "living fossil" for tracing the origins of Chinese martial arts and for studying its training methods, routines and combat. Practising plum blossom boxing not only strengthens the body and improves health; it also enlivens the cultural life of the masses and lifts the national spirit.
The civil and martial halls
The society is divided into a civil hall governing doctrine and a martial hall practising technique, with the civil hall in charge.
The four stages of training
Training proceeds in four stages: the solo frame, then paired boxing, twisting boxing and weapons.
The five-post plum blossom stakes
The full name of the art is the five-post-forms plum blossom stake boxing, named from practice on stakes; the stake skill itself is now nearly extinct.
Transmission manuals and genealogies
The lineage is documented and manuals survive; the inheritor Li Yuzhuo holds war prefaces and collected writings on plum blossom boxing.
Jing Tingbin and Guangzong plum blossom boxing
Guangzong produced celebrated boxers such as Zou Hong and Jing Tingbin, the latter a leader in the later Boxer movement.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Plum blossom boxing is current in the Guangzong, Pingxiang and Wei County area of Xingtai in southern Hebei, with Guangzong and Pingxiang counties as its main centres. Martial training is graded into four levels and forms: posture frames, complete sets, twisting fist, and weapons. Xingtai plum blossom boxing has been transmitted in the Guangzong and Pingxiang area for more than three hundred years. Love of country and of the people is its rule and its maxim, its line of master and disciple succession is clearly recorded, it has now reached the seventh generation, and boxing manuals survive.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Meihuaquan (Plum Blossom Boxing) · Meihuaquan (Plum Blossom Boxing).
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The leadership of the civil section concentrates on studying the civil principles that gather the essential meaning of the "three teachings" and takes charge of the internal affairs of the boxing; disciples of the martial section come to grasp the principles and methods of the boxing through martial training. Today, however, the masters who fully master the esoteric skills of plum blossom boxing are all elderly or deceased, and many techniques stand on the verge of being lost; plum blossom stakes in particular has all but disappeared. Urgent rescue and protection of plum blossom boxing is therefore needed. Zhang Xiling (official file record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1959, a native of Xingtai, Hebei. Zhang Xiling attaches great importance to the innovation and development of plum blossom boxing, and especially to its basic postures. In order to carry the skills of plum blossom boxing forward, Zhang Xiling has many times travelled to other places to observe and exchange, to take in and study them deeply, and to explore new lines of development for plum blossom boxing. He has also many times led the plum blossom boxing martial arts team in performances across the country and abroad, spreading the spirit of Eastern plum blossom boxing and receiving unanimous praise. Representative inheritor of Xingtai plum blossom boxing, the first national-level intangible cultural heritage project. To hand on the art of plum blossom boxing, Zhang Xiling, principal of the civil-and-martial school at the holy site of plum blossom boxing, has trained more than 460 disciples of plum blossom boxing. Li Yuzhuo (official file record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1948, a native of Xingtai, Hebei. The Qianwei Village where Li Yuzhuo lives is a "holy site of plum blossom boxing". It was the first place in Zhili where the founding masters of plum blossom boxing taught in the early Qing; it has transmitted the civil principles and the martial skills of plum blossom boxing from generation to generation, and is held in high esteem throughout the region. Li Yuzhuo is well versed in both the civil principles and the martial skills of plum blossom boxing, and is familiar with the rules governing entrants, the taking of apprentices and the teaching of apprentices. As the head of the county-wide plum blossom boxing association, he has done everything in his power and borne every burden without complaint for the transmission of plum blossom boxing. Representative inheritor of Xingtai plum blossom boxing, the first national-level intangible cultural heritage project. To rescue and transmit plum blossom boxing, in 1982 Li Yuzhuo and his nephew opened a plum blossom boxing fitness guidance station and a plum blossom boxing civil-and-martial primary school in his village, formed plum blossom boxing martial arts teams in 56 villages, and ran training classes for core practitioners, cooperating with the relevant departments of Xingtai County on the survey, rescue and protection of plum blossom boxing — all of which greatly kindled the enthusiasm of plum blossom boxing practitioners for transmission and practice. Li Yuzhuo has many times led the Guangzong plum blossom boxing team to perform and exchange at home and abroad, and has repeatedly won prizes in competitions at every level. Li Yuzhuo has in his collection "Wuxu", "Xu Wu Xu", "Zhongguo Meihua Zhuang Wenwu Dafa" and other works; he holds a grade-two instructor honorary certificate issued by the State Sports Commission, and the People's Government of Xingtai County has conferred on him honorary titles such as "martial arts family", in recognition of his contribution to the rescue and protection of plum blossom boxing.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Xiling 01-0045
- Liyuzuo 01-0046
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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