Yuejia Boxing
01 · Historical Records
Yuejiaquan (Yue Family Fist) is one of the traditional martial arts forms created by the famed Song dynasty general Yue Fei, and it is distributed in areas such as Huangmei County and Wuxue City in Hubei Province. Its qinna (grappling) techniques include yinshou fengna (sealing capture with the yin hand), yangshou quna (driving capture with the yang hand), tengshe chanwan (flying serpent coiling the wrist), shizi gunqiu (lion rolling the ball), jianjian duiwan (shoulder tip against the wrist), jinsi chanwan (golden thread coiling the wrist), shuangqin xiacha (double capture with downward insertion), baiyang gaisuo (hundred forms changing the lock), kunzhu wusuo (binding a pig without a rope), chaoyang wangyue (facing the morning sun, gazing at the moon), jiuxiong banbei (gathering the chest, wrenching the back), panguan tuosan (the judge bearing his umbrella), shoujin chena (tight hand pulling capture), and shouzhi tuowan (straight hand supporting the wrist).
02 · Core Techniques & Process
According to legend, Yue Fei gathered the essence of the fist styles and leg techniques used in the army and created Yuejiaquan specifically so that soldiers could fight and defeat the enemy. To resist the Jin army, Yue Fei once led his troops to garrison Wulang Pass in Huangmei; afterwards he left his son Yue Zhen in command of troops to continue the defense of Huangmei, and Yuejiaquan thus spread through the region. Yuejiaquan is composed of five parts: fist techniques, weapon techniques, internal exercises, grappling, and orthopedic medicine prescriptions. The fist routines include yizi quan (one-character fist), erlian quan (twin-linked fist), sanmen zhuang (three-gate stance), simen jia (four-gate frame), wufa (five methods), liuhe (six harmonies), qixing (seven stars), bafa (eight methods), jiulianhuan (nine links), shizi zhuang (cross stance), shier gong (twelve palaces), shiba chui (eighteen poundings), sishiba lianchai shou (forty-eight linked disassembling hands), heihu (black tiger), wuhu (five tigers), meihua quan (plum blossom fist), and tun-tu (swallowing and spitting). Weapons include the fork, rake, mace, staff, hook, sickle, sabre, spear, sword, halberd, hammer, and whip. The exercise methods include bafa (the eight methods), libu chushou (standing-step striking), shiba fa (the eighteen methods), konglian fa (empty practice), dashi (striking postures), libu (standing step), jinbu (advancing step), shier biao shou (twelve biao hands), zhouzi fa (elbow methods), jianjian fa (shoulder-tip methods), shoujin fa (hand-strength methods), and bashi shou (eight-posture hands). Orthopedic prescriptions cover bone-setting and reducing swelling, injuries from falls and blows, bleeding from blade wounds, bleeding from head wounds, and swollen injuries to the foot. Yuejiaquan has short, compact frames and fierce techniques; its stances are deep and its footwork steady, and its attack and defense are flexible. It emphasizes combat effectiveness while emitting sounds with the breath, and is suited to close-quarters fighting. Because its practice requires guiding the martial with the civil, nurturing the martial through the civil, and aiding the civil through the martial, it has earned the reputation of a "culture fist." In the Huangmei region the master-disciple transmission of Yuejiaquan takes two forms: transmission to descendants of the Yue family, and transmission to descendants of the generals under Yue Fei's command.
From one-character to three-gate boxing
The ladder of routines from the one-character fist through the three-gate stance to the ten-character stake, with their companion sets.
Forty-eight linked breaks and eighteen hammers
Sets devoted to breaking and applying techniques, forming the bridge from drills to fighting.
The seizing methods
A long catalogue of locks and breaks, from snake-coiling wrist turns to lion rolling the ball.
Bone-setting formulas taught alongside
The art's fifth part is medicine: formulas for fractures, bruises, cuts and swellings taught with the boxing.
Yue Zhen, Yue Ting and Wulang Pass
Yue Fei garrisoned Wulang Pass and left his son Yue Zhen in Huangmei, where the art took root among his descendants and his officers' heirs.
The name cultural boxing
Because practice joins letters to arms, the art is known as cultural boxing, its moral teaching as important as its technique.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yuejiaquan in Huangmei centers on the county seat, the townships of Dahe, Xiaochi, Kuzhu, and Dushan, and villages where the Yue clan lives in concentration. The Kuzhu area still preserves the tombs of Yue Zhen and Yue Ting, sons of Yue Fei, along with settlements of Yue descendants, and for this reason the boxing lineages have divided into two branches: one transmits the art to descendants of the Yue family, whose genealogy has now been continued down to the 28th generation; the other transmits it to descendants of the generals under Yue Fei's command, and has passed through 26 generations. Besides the fist techniques, the two branches train together in the same weapons — fork, rake, mace, staff, hook, sickle, sabre, spear, sword, halberd, hammer, and whip — and orthopedic prescriptions for bone-setting and reducing swelling, injuries from falls and blows, and bleeding from blade wounds are taught alongside the boxing.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yuejia Boxing.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The transmission genealogy of the Yue family descendants has reached the 28th generation; the descendants of the subordinate generals have transmitted the art through 26 generations. Many renowned martial arts masters have emerged among the practitioners and inheritors of Yuejiaquan. Yuejiaquan embodies the patriotic spirit of serving the country with utmost loyalty, and it also carries the educational value of traditional martial learning that guides the martial with the civil, nurtures the martial through the civil, and aids the civil through the martial. The style emphasizes the cultivation of essence (jing), vital energy (qi), and spirit (shen). It has practical value in benefiting the body and mind and refreshing the eyes and spirit, a martial aesthetics value that combines the natural beauty of the human body with artistic beauty, and a socio-cultural value in harmonizing communities, strengthening cohesion, and transmitting culture.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Yejin 05-2551
- Lei Jie
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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