The written history of China dates back to the Shāng 商 dynasty, which ruled approximately between 1600 and 1046 BC. During these more than three thousand years of history, the Middle Kingdom (中國 Zhōng Guó) has varied in extension over and over again by encompassing or leaving out different groups and territories to form what is now the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó).
Although in this section we will normally focus on the history of Chinese Martial Arts, we do not want to exclude other historical events even if they are not related to this field.
The triads, criminal organizations, had their origins in a split of the Hung Mun 洪門 Society, or Society of Heaven and Earth (天地會 Tiāndìhuì), a secret organization that fought to overthrow the Qīng 清 dynasty in the later years of the Chinese imperial era.
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Chán 禪 differs from other Buddhist schools by attaching greater importance to meditation and intuition than to ritual, intellectual understanding, or study of sacred texts. In China emerged the idea of a “separate transmission” of the Buddhist dharma, external to the scriptures, which transcended language and only took place directly from master to disciple.
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Wǔ Zétiān 武則天 (625-705) is the only woman in Chinese history to have held the imperial throne. Although other women held the position of regent as empress dowager (皇太后 húangtàihòu), none of them truly took up the throne of the Son of Heaven (天子 Tiānzǐ).
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Many Kung Fu styles trace their origins to an alleged Shàolín 少林 temple in the southern province of Fújiàn 福建, which would be attacked by the troops of the Qīng 清 dynasty, and from which only five monks, known as the Five Elders or Five Ancestors of Shàolín (少林五祖 Shàolín wǔ zǔ), would escape.
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Qī Jìguāng 戚繼光, a general of the Míng 明 dynasty and military genius, not only invented the “mandarin duck” formation (鴛鴦陣 yuānyāng zhèn), but modified the design of the Chinese long sabre based on the Japanese one, and also studied Japanese sword techniques to introduce them into the handling of this weapon.
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The Silk Road (丝绸之路 Sīchóu Zhīlù) was a network of land roads that made up one of the most important trade routes in history. Zhāng Qiān 張騫 was an important figure in the opening of this trade route and the cultural exchange between East and West.
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Qī Jìguāng 戚繼光 was a general of the Míng 明 dynasty, famous for leading expeditions against the attacks of the Japanese pirates wōkòu 倭寇 and later against the Mongols in the north. He was a military genius who, among other achievements, invented the “Mandarin Duck” formation (鴛鴦陣 yuānyāng zhèn), which we will examine in this article.
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General Yuè Fēi 岳飛 (1103–1142) was a famous Chinese national hero of the Sòng dynasty 宋朝, who is credited with creating different styles of martial arts, such as the Eagle’s Claw (鷹爪派 Yīng Zhǎo Pài) or Xìng Yì Quán 形意拳, among others.
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Wǔ Qín Xì 五禽戏 (Five Animals’ Game) is a series of Qì Gōng 氣功 exercises, designed to strengthen the body and preserve health, whose creation is usually attributed to Huá Tuó 華佗, a Chinese physician who lived during the Hàn 漢 dynasty.
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From the first sabres of the Shāng 商 dynasty, to the most recent of the twentieth century, the sabre (dāo 刀) is a weapon that has continued to evolve throughout the history of China, and has been used by regular armies as well as by all kinds of militias, bandits and martial artists.
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