Meihuaquan (Plum Blossom Boxing)
01 · Historical Records
According to tradition, the history of Wei County plum blossom boxing can be traced back to the Yongle reign of the Ming dynasty. At that time, one branch of the Zhang-lineage plum blossom boxing of Lijiazhai in Wei County moved to Wei County together with migrants from Shanxi; later two branches of Pingxiang plum blossom boxing were brought into Wei County in turn.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Plum blossom boxing is formally named the "Stem-and-Branch Five-Posture Plum Blossom Stakes Boxing", so called because it is practised on the stakes. When practised on the ground it is called the "Stem-and-Branch Five-Posture Grounded Plum Blossom Stakes Boxing", popularly called "plum blossom stakes", "plum blossom boxing" or "mei boxing". It is current chiefly in Henan, Hebei, Shandong and elsewhere. The basic contents of plum blossom boxing are the five postures, eight-direction steps, eight-direction free-hand techniques and so on. Plum blossom boxing is formally called the "Stem-and-Branch Five-Posture Plum Blossom Stakes Boxing"; practice on the stakes is called stake training, and practice on the ground is called the "Stem-and-Branch Five-Posture Grounded Plum Blossom Stakes Boxing", popularly "plum blossom stakes", "plum blossom boxing" or "mei boxing". Besides the five postures, its basic contents include eight-direction steps, eight-direction free-hand techniques, complete sets, twisting fist and weapons. The five postures of the stake steps are "great, smooth, stubborn, small, defeat"; advance and retreat alike follow the eight directions, and it holds that one "trains one's skill on the stakes and practises one's boxing on the ground". Disciples of the civil section manage the internal affairs of the boxing through civil and ritual reasoning, while disciples of the martial section grasp the principles of the boxing through practice; the two sections assist one another.
Five forms, eight-direction steps and loose hands
The core syllabus comprises the five forms, eight-direction stepping and the eight-direction loose-hand drills.
The Li village branch and the Zou and Zhang branches
Wei county keeps the Li village line together with the Zou and Zhang branches from Pingxiang, known as the big and small frames.
Zhao Sanduo and the rise of the Boxers
In autumn 1898 the Wei county boxer Zhao Sanduo and the Red Boxing master Yan Shuqin raised the Yihequan at the Jiangzhuang horse field.
The 1898 memorial recording Wei county boxing
An April 1898 memorial from the Shandong governor to the Zongli Yamen already records plum blossom boxing around Wei county.
The civil hall leads the martial hall
Organizationally the civil hall leads the martial hall; novices are received through formal rites and learn doctrine before technique.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In the fourth month of the twenty-fourth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1898), the "Memorial Received by the Zongli Yamen from Zhang Rumei, Governor of Shandong" already contains records of plum blossom boxing in the Wei County area. Wei County plum blossom boxing is distributed mainly in Lizhai Village, Zhaizhuang Village, Lizhuang Village and Zhangguanzhai Village of Wei County, as well as in Wuqiang, Beijing and the Liangshan area of Shandong. According to the Guangzong County Gazetteer and the Pingxiang County Gazetteer, plum blossom boxing entered southern Hebei in the late Ming and early Qing. The "Memorial Received by the Zongli Yamen from Zhang Rumei, Governor of Shandong", of the fourth month of the twenty-fourth year of the Guangxu reign (1898), already records activity of plum blossom boxing in the Wei County area. In the autumn of that same year, Zhao Sanduo, a Wei County inheritor of plum blossom boxing, joined with Yan Shuqin, an inheritor of red boxing from Liyuantun in Guan County, Shandong (now part of Wei County), gathered together the practitioners of plum blossom boxing and red boxing, renamed the practice "Yiquan" (Righteous Unity boxing), and rose in revolt at the Jiangzhuang horse ground, becoming an important force in the Boxer Movement.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xingtaimeihua Boxing · Meihuaquan (Plum Blossom Boxing).
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the autumn of the twenty-fourth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty, Zhao Sanduo, a Wei County inheritor of plum blossom boxing, joined with Yan Shuqin, an inheritor of red boxing from Liyuantun in Guan County, Shandong (now part of Wei County), gathered together the practitioners of plum blossom boxing and red boxing, renamed the practice "Yiquan" (Righteous Unity boxing), and rose in revolt at the Jiangzhuang horse ground, becoming an important force in the Boxer Movement. The origins of plum blossom boxing remain a subject still awaiting study. At present Wei County plum blossom boxing consists mainly of three branches: the plum blossom boxing of Lijiazhai in Wei County, and the Zou and Zhang branches from Pingxiang (popularly called the "big frame" and the "small frame"). Wei County plum blossom boxing today comprises both the plum blossom boxing of Lijiazhai and the two branches, Zou and Zhang, brought in from Pingxiang (popularly called the "big frame" and the "small frame"). The number of postures and routines differs somewhat from branch to branch, and together they form the plural pattern of Wei County plum blossom boxing. Taking apprentices requires the performance of the rites of accepting disciples and acknowledging the master; the boxing manuals and the civil principles are handed down orally and by personal demonstration; and after entering, disciples begin with the civil and then move on to the martial.
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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