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Emei Shan, (mountain) is one of the most renowned Buddhist and Daoist sanctuaries in China. The mountain is located in the basin of Sichuan Province. The beautiful majesty of this mountain has caused it to be named Emei, "The most beautiful mountain under heaven." Visitors of this mountain are treated to several peaks, bubbling springs, cascading waterfalls, tall ancient trees and abundant flowers along the many mountain paths leading to the many scenic spots and temples that dot the mountain side from the base to the summit. |
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Emei is famous in China for numerous rare and mysterious martial arts that developed there from the Gongfu (Hard work over time) of Daoist, Buddhist and also laymen. Daoist temples were first erected on this mountain in the eastern Han dynasty (200 B.C.). Later Mount Emei became one of the holy Buddhist Mountains when Buddhism flourished in the Tang dynasty (800 A.D.).
At one time over one hundred temples were operating simultaneously. Buddhist and Daoist monks lived in harmony practicing meditation, healing arts Daoyin (Yoga) herbalism and the various modalities of their spiritual practices. Even today there is left behind in the museums a great wealth of poetry, literature, painting and medicinal knowledge as well as martial arts that developed on Mount Emei. |
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Martial art methods came collectively to be called
the Emei Wushu school. Many of the arts blend the training methods, sparring
techniques, hand forms, and weapon forms of both Buddhist and Daoist styles into
one. Traditional Emei Wushu is both Buddhist and Daoist in nature as well as a
mixture of internal and external martial arts. At the same time, the Emei school
has extracted the essence of Shaolin, Wudang and other schools of Northern
China.
Many famous body guard families and military men have also visited the Mountain
to learn martial arts and later developed their own styles from the eclectic
methods that flourished on Emei. In this way hundreds of "hidden" styles many of
which were taught only to member of a family or clan were created thrived and
later disappeared.
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Being mysterious has always been the perception
of many people about Emei Wushu. That is because the Emei Wushu has never
been readily passed on to "outsiders." There is an old Chinese saying,
"Shandong province has highwaymen, Hebei province has Wushu experts, and
Sichuan province has the men of Emei chivalry." This means that these three
provinces produce top quality Wushu talents. However, the Emei chivalry man
is mysterious and is similar to the Chinese legendary Yuxia (Knight Errant)
who like Chinese robin hoods performed only good deeds and keep their
methods hidden from the eyes of the profane. A few of the rare "hidden"
styles are said to still exist in and around this mysterious abode of
Daoists and Buddhists. |
Like a huge river having many tributaries, the Emei Wushu school has many branches. Each branch has its own distinctive styles in sparring, weaponry and hand techniques. A few of these methods include:-
