WING CHUN HISTORY ­ an alternative viewpoint

by David PETERSON


With an almost monotonous regularity, readers of the many martial arts books, journals and magazines
are constantly confronted by version after version of the "legendary history" of the various Chinese
combat systems. Each tale seems to begin with some chance encounter between a warrior, monk, nun or
peasant with an animal or insect engaged in mortal combat with some other creature. Invariably one of
the creatures, by one means or another, manages to become victorious over the other and the observer is
able to go off and create a "new and improved" method for fighting their fellow man based upon what
they have noted in the "battle".

The "creator" usually has some kind of connection with the now famous Shaolin Temple, the one that
still stands in Henan province that is, or the one which is said to have existed in Fujian province. This
relationship established, the authenticity of the system is therefore not in question because we all know
that "If it's Shaolin, it must be good". If one was to believe every story told about Chinese martial arts, one
would be forced to accept that virtually every system extant in China is a so­called "Shaolin" style, or a
derivative thereof. 

Some stories would even suggest that the founders, or at least the "key figures" in several systems were
one and the same person. This practice of making a legitimising­link with an established "authority" is
by no means unique in Chinese society or history, nor is it uniquely Chinese to make such claims. Not
only in the martial arts, but in all kinds of enterprises can one find examples of this. To cite such an
example one need only take a look at the secret societies of China's historical past, the "notorious"
Triads. 

Far from being the criminal groups which the Australian and world media are fond of portraying, the
Triads were secret organisations formed to unite the Chinese against a common enemy. Such was the
case in the 1890's when the Boxer Movement swept across northern China, a rebellion organised by
secret societies whose aim was the expulsion of the foreign invaders from Chinese soil. 

Many of the modern Triads are legitimate groups whose aim is to help members of their own Chinese
communities around the world. Melbourne's Man Ji Dong or Chinese Masonic Society and its Sydney
counterpart, the Ji Gung Tong are perfect examples of legitimate (not to mention law­abiding) Triad
organisations. I say this in complete confidence being, as I am, a fully initiated member of the
Melbourne based group, perhaps in fact the only non­Chinese in the last 150 years to have been through
this very secret of ceremonies, the last known "gwailo" being a couple of British sailors in Macau during
the 1800's, according to what elder members here can recall being the case. 

To return to my original thrust, even these legitimate Triad groups claim to have been founded by
members of the Shaolin sect who founded these groups following the burning of the Shaolin Temple in
the late 1700's (an incident which, incidently, cannot be verified by any existing records in China and is
now thought to have been a story invented by the Triad leaders to encourage unity amongst the various
groups and to fuel the Chinese hatred for their Manchurian oppressors). These Triad "ancestors" fled to
various places in China and began inciting the people to rebel. Modern day criminal groups, such as the
14k Triad, in hoping to instil fear and respect, not to mention gain some measure of credibility for
themselves by gaining some "instant history", have adopted the customs and rituals of the real Triads.
Unfortunately, these false Triads have received more than their fair share of attention and in doing so,
have given the term 'Triad' a less than flattering interpretation. 

In keeping with this idea of "instant history" it is not unrealistic to assume that the majority of these
martial art legends are just simply "fairy tales" whose purpose was to make a system and it practitioners
seem more believable because of some assumed link with an already accepted "authority". The Chinese
have a great love and respect for the past and for tradition, hence a system with a colourful history had a
better chance of being taken seriously than one whose founder had "just-come-up-with-the-goods" so to
speak. 

The history of the Wing Chun system, as with the majority of Chinese systems, is shrouded in the mists
and legends of the past. It, like most of the well­known styles, has its "Shaolin connection". Legend has it
that the founder of the system was a Buddhist nun named Ng Mui who was one of a group of experts
who were researching the existing systems in order to develop a more stream­lined fighting style which
could be taught quickly so as to aid the Chinese in rising up against their oppressors. 

Before their knowledge could be systematised and passed on, the Temple was razed to the ground,
resulting in the death of many of the masters residing there. Ng Mui, being a nun, was not at the Temple
at the time (only monks being permitted to stay there) and so managed to escape the violence. She fled
southwards, some versions of the story having her travelling to Sichuan province while others have her
ending up in Fujian. While in the region she met up with Yim Yee Gung, a friend and past student of
her senior, the monk Ji Sin, one of the "Five Elders" of Shaolin.

Prior to this, Ng Mui had witnessed a fight between a snake and a crane (some versions say a rodent
and a crane, or a fox and a crane, etc.) and from this event had been finally able to systematise the
knowledge which she and her colleagues had been experimenting with. On learning that the daughter
of Yim Yee Gung, the beautiful Yim Wing Chun, was being forced into marriage with a local ruffian,
Ng Mui devised a way of stalling for time during which she taught the young Wing Chun her "new"
method. The rest, as they say, is history, .....or is it? 

As far as records accurately describe, we know absolutely nothing of Yim Wing Chun or the inheritors
of her skills, that is until we come across the one man in the history of the system whose existence can be
verified and who is known to have taught the system that is said to be named after Ng Mui's student.
His name was Leung Jan, a herbal doctor who lived in the southern Chinese city of Fatsaan during the
early 19th century. As a fighter he was renowned for his unrivalled skill and was reputed to have never
been beaten. He taught only a handful of students, the best known of whom were his two sons, Leung
Chun and Leung Bik, and Chan Wa Sun who was also known as "Money-changer Wa". 

Leung Jan himself was said to have learnt from two people, Wong Wa Bo and Leung Yee Dai, both of
whom were said to have been experts at different aspects of Wing Chun, and at least one of whom
(Leung Yee Dai) was a travelling performer with a Chinese opera troupe which moved from place to
place by boat. This is where I would like to put forward an alternative view of the history of Wing
Chun.

As stated earlier in this discussion, if one or more persons came up with a new idea concerning martial
arts, it would conceivably be very difficult for them to convince anyone of its value if it did not boast
some kind of link with past events, places or people. To digress for a moment, the sophisticated nature
of the Wing Chun system does not allow one to easily accept that any one person could have devised its
many sophisticated theories on their own. It is much more likely, as is the case with modern disciplines
such as boxing, free­style Karate and the many eclectic combat arts, that only after several generations,
and with the input and experiences of many individuals, that such a system would begin to develop
into something of such depth. 

The nature of Wing Chun is such that it is quite easy to accept that a woman did indeed have some role
to play in its development. It is an extremely logical, scientific system, which always makes use of skill
over strength, economy of motion over flowery motion, and is well suited to someone of smaller stature
and strength. This is in no way meant to be interpreted as a sexist viewpoint, simply as one of many
observations to be taken into consideration. The fact that Leung Yee Dai was said to be employed on a
boat should not be dismissed lightly either. On closely observing the basic stances and footwork
patterns of Wing Chun, it is indeed possible to accept that this system had its origins on the deck of a
boat where it would have been quite impractical to jump about or throw high kicks. Wing Chun's Saam
Gok Bo, or "Triangular-sliding stepping", and Yi Ji Kim Yeung Ma, or "Goat-gripping stance", are perfectly
suited to maintaining stability on something as unstable as the deck of a boat. 

Then there is the issue of the name of the system. Was, as the legend suggests, the system named after
the first and only student of the nun Ng Mui, or is there another explanation? According to most
accounts of the original Shaolin Temple, one of the halls in the grounds of the Temple was known as the
Evergreen Hall, the first character being identical in sound, though differing in form and meaning, to
that which makes up the first part of Yim Wing Chun's name. In mainland China today there still exists
at least one style of Wing Chun which uses this same character rather than the one favoured by the
"Hong Kong" school. 

Some other schools of southern Chinese martial arts also make reference to this Evergreen Hall,
claiming it was one of the main sites in the Shaolin Temple for training, or that it was the residence of
the monk Ji Sin and that when he taught his version of the hybrid style, he named it Wing Chun in
memory of his former home. While training in Hong Kong over the years I have spent many long hours
discussing the history of Wing Chun with instructors of the style, one of whom teaches another branch
of the Wing Chun tree which traces its line back to the monk Ji Sin. This instructor, Sifu Cheng Kwong
relates a history which brings the two branches of the Wing Chun line back together, firstly around the
time of Yim Wing Chun's husband, Leung Bok Chau, and again at the time of Leung Yee Dai. Sifu
Cheng Kwong also believes that when the funeral tablet for Yim Wing Chun was being prepared, the
first character of her personal name was written down incorrectly and was in fact meant to be the word
meaning "evergreen" rather than the one which has come to be used, the meaning of the combined words
in the "Hong Kong" Wing Chun meaning "to sing praises to springtime". 

As stated earlier on, I consider it fair to assume that several people, over a long period of time (rather
than one or two people making up an entire system in just one generation), gradually developed and
refined the techniques and concepts of the Wing Chun system, pooling their combined knowledge and
experiences in order to do so. As my own instructor, the late Sifu Wong Shun Leung of "Hong Kong"
Wing Chun fame suggested, it is most likely that a group of "Gung Fu fanatics" with a wealth of
knowledge and experience, gradually developed what we now call Wing Chun Gung Fu, refining it
further and further with each successive generation. 

Taking this notion even further, on more than one occasion I have heard it said by my teacher that it was
not until when being interviewed by a reporter one day in the 1950's that the late Grandmaster of the
system, Yip Man, made mention of any of the history prior to Leung Jan's time. It seems that there was
popular martial arts magazine circulating then which regularly did feature articles on the various
schools in the Colony and one surmises that, in order to follow the pattern already established, Yip Man
may well have embellished the story somewhat.

Sifu Wong surmised that the system was transmitted down the coast and along the rivers of
south-eastern China by the people who ply those waters, such as fishermen, traders, opera junk
performers and others, who would have had a use for good fighting skills and many an opportunity to
test, refine and exchange skills. Finally, one extra piece of the puzzle fell into place during my quest for
answers when I found, quite by accident while reading a Chinese book on a completely different
subject, that tucked away in southern Fujian province, about one hundred kilometres "as the crow flies"
north of the port city of Xiamen lies the small town of Wing Chun, the characters being exactly the same
as those in the name for the Evergreen Hall!

Could it be then, that over several generations a group of dedicated martial artists, seeking more
efficient ways to engage in combat, gradually came to develop this unique method, and that they
passed it on, friend to friend, relative to relative, teacher to student, until it made its way to Fatsaan
where it was eventually learnt and refined even further by Leung Jan? Perhaps, as Sifu Wong suggested,
they were people living on the water who travelled regularly up and down the coastline of southern
China? That would account for the opera performer Leung Yee Dai coming across the art while himself
travelling on the opera boat. It would also help to explain how the Wing Chun system inherited its Luk
Dim Boon Gwan or "Six-and-a-half-point-Pole" form, the techniques of which greatly resemble the poling
actions used when travelling upstream along the many river deltas in that region. And what better name
for their brilliant invention than Wing Chun, the name of the village from whence they had come? 

While it is highly unlikely that we will ever know for certain what the true origins of Wing Chun are, it
is interesting to consider these possibilities. The one factor which is irrefutable is that the Wing Chun
method is one of the world's most evolved combat systems. It is structurally sound and stands up to the
most stringent scientific scrutiny, not to mention its very impressive record on the streets of Hong Kong
and elsewhere. What is most important is that the man who brought Wing Chun to the public, the late
Grandmaster Yip Man, should be remembered for the role he played in developing the art, and for
passing on his unique skills to his four original students, Leung Seung, Lok Yiu, Tsui Sheung Tin and
Wong Shun Leung, each of whom have contributed in some special way to the development of Wing
Chun's reputation for being a combat skill not to be taken lightly. 

As Sifu Wong so often said, though we don't know who the ancestors of Wing Chun were, it is our duty
to carry on the tradition, to pass on the art as we have learned it, and to develop in our own students a
pride in the system that they have inherited, and a desire to raise the skills of Wing Chun to even
greater heights. Whether we owe a debt of gratitude to a nun and her student, or to a group of fishermen
and an opera star, the fact remains that Wing Chun is a magnificent achievement which should be
preserved for future generations. If we, the most recent generation of practitioners, pursue these ideals,
the future looks bright for Wing Chun Gung Fu.