Wing Chun Kuen:
Fist of the Red Junk Opera
by Rene Ritchie, Robert Chu, & Hendrik Santo
Martial legends and martial history have been entwined together for so long it sometimes seems difficult to tell one from the other. In olden days, during times of strife (when survival could be a daily struggle for bodyguard and brigand, solider and rebel, hero and traitor), it was sometimes better to have a fantastic story than a clear history, to hide the source of knowledge and identity that could well get a practitioner, if not their whole lineage, killed. Even during times of relative peace (when making a living and feeding a family could be just as much a matter of survival), compelling legends could still offer more than simple histories, generating intrigue and interest for a local teacher intent on the selling of skills, or face and fame for those whose natures demanded of them a reputation.
Fortunately, martial arts never existed in a vacuum. Despite the turmoil of certain times and places, the agendas of certain individuals and groups, strands of history remain in both the arts themselves and the greater culture. In the case of yongchunquan (wing chun kuen), one way or another, these strands trace back to the mid-19th century Red Junk Opera Company.
Part 1: Operatic History of the Red Junk
Yueju (Yuet gak, Cantonese opera) companies of the mid-19th century were broadly divided into waijiang ban (ngoi keung ban, outside the province companies) and bendi ban (bun dei ban, local companies). The former encompassed those groups funded by the gentry and used at official functions. The latter, wandering companies like the Hongchuan Xiban (Hung Suen Hei Ban, Red Junk Opera Company).
The Red Junk name derived from the performers living year-round on heavily (even garishly) decorated boats. Designed by Yuan Tishi in Jiangxi in 1530, these boats spread across China to become the staple of the wandering troupes. Some twenty vessels strong at their peak, the Red Junk Opera Company traveled the rivers of Guangdong (Kwangtung), through towns such as Zhaoqing (Siuhing), Foshan (Futsan), and Guangzhou (Kwangchow, Canton), performing popular drama for the common villagers and townsfolk.
Chinese Opera in general is said to have begun in the Tang dynasty (618-907), during the reign of Ming Huang (712-755), when he founded the first troop, Li Yuan, (Lik Yuen, Pear Garden), who performed for him in the imperial palace in Wuhan. From there, the Disciples of the Pear Garden (as they came to be known), evolved and spread until, by the Song dynasty (1179-1278), the nan xi (nam hei, southern opera), was performed in the theaters of Hangzhou, then southern capitol.
With the Mongol invasion and the formation of the Yuan dynasty (1278-1368), the vast Southern emigration took Southern Opera fully into Guangdong province. The time of the Yuan dynasty was one of considerable growth for the opera, leading to works such as the Purple Hairpin and Rejuvenation of the Red Plum Flower, and specialized roles like sheng (sang, male), deng, (tan, female), jing (jing, painted face), chou (chow, clown), etc. The opera continued to develop through the 14th century influence of Chuanqi (Marvelous Tales), the 16th century influence of Kunqu from Jiansu Province, the 17th century move away from common clothing to specialty costumes, and the 18th century arrival of Zhang Wu (Cheung Ng).
Zhang Wu, also known as Zhang Xin (Cheung Hin), hailed from Hubei and worked as a singer in Beijing. Highly accomplished in opera, excellent in both music and drama, Zhang was also said to be unsurpassed in martial skill, especially the techniques of "Shaolin" (Siu Lum, Young Forest, though it is not clear whether this was Henan Shaolin Temple boxing system proper, or the so-called Shaolin-School which included many related and unrelated "external" arts).
Due to his performances, which expressed anti-Qing sentiments, Zhang was forced to flee the capitol. He settled in Foshan where he became known as Tan Shou Wu (Tan Sao Ng). There are several explanations given as to the origins of this nickname. One account held his tan (dispersing) arm was peerless throughout the martial arts world. A second account related he suffered from minor tan (polio, paralysis) in his left arm. A final account maintained that when he first arrived in Foshan, he survived by singing songs near the opera docks and holding out his tan (spread out) hand for money (perhaps while he became familiar with the local dialect).
Eventually, Zhang took on a number of Red Junk performers as disciples, and founded the Qianghua Huiguan (King Fa Wui Goon, Precious Jade Flower Union) Hall, in some accounts referred to as the Honghua Huiguan (Hung Fa Wui Goon, Red Flower Union), at Dajiwei (Dai Gei Mei), where he taught the traditional Jianghu Shiba Ben (Gong Wu Sup Baat Bun, Eighteen Plays of River & Lake). Later generations would regard him as the "great teacher" and zu shi (jo si, founder) of the modern Cantonese opera.
The next important leader of the Precious Jade Flower Union was A-Hua. A-Hua was a life-long sheng, magnificent in voice, appearance, and acting. For the first few decades of the 19th century, he alone was chosen, year after year, by the various troupes that comprised the union to perform the ceremonies and to care for the image of Huaguang (Wah Gong), the Opera God.
Following A-Hua, in the mid-19th century, was Li Wenmao (Lee Man-Mao) of Heshan, who played the opera role of er huamin (yee fa min, second painted face). It's during Li's period that the earliest verifiable practitioners of yongchunquan can also be found aboard the Red Junk:
- Huang Huabao (Wong Wah-Bo), who was sometimes said to have been a native of Gulao (Koolo), Heshan (Hoksan). Considered the dashiheng (dai sihing, senior) of the troupe, he played the wusheng (mo sang, male martial lead), and was particularly skilled in the roles of General Kwan and the Monkey King, and in the use of the gun (kwun, pole).
- Liang Erdi (Leung Yee-Tai), who played the wudan, (mo deng, 'female' martial lead).
- Dahuamian Jin (Dai Fa Min Kam, Painted Face Kam), also known as Xin Jin (San Kam, New Kam), and sometimes said to have properly been Luo Jin (Lok Kam) of Jinju (Kamjuk), Sanshui (Saamshui), who played the wujing (mo jing, martial painted face).
- Yijin (Yik Kam, Wing Gold) who played the qingdan (ching deng, proper 'female'), a virtuous leading role.
- Li Fushun (Lai Fook-Shun), also known as Xiao Fu (Siu Fook, Young Fook), who played the xiaosheng (siu sang, young male), the beardless scholar-lover.
- Cao Shun (Cho Shun), known as Dayan Shun (Dai Ngan Shun, Cross-eyed Shun), a native of Panyu (Poon Yee). He played the xiaowu (siu mo, Little Martial), and was a disciple of Yijin.
- And others, including mentions of Liang Langui (Leung Lan-Kwai), Gaolao Zheng (Go Lo Chung, Tall Chung), Huazi Ming (Fa Jee Ming, Flower Mark Ming), Huamian Biao (Fa Min Biu, Flower Face Biu), etc.
The Precious Jade Flower Union prospered until 1855, when Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi) Governor-General, Ye Mingchen (Yip Ming-Chan) branded the Precious Jade Flower Union members extortionists and threats to public morality. Their actors were slaughtered, their hall and theaters were burned down, and performances of Cantonese Opera were outlawed.
Those actors that survived moved to other provinces, joined outside province, Beijing, or other, still legal companies, became street performers plagued by market police and poverty, or hid in the towns and villages along their former routes.
The ban lasted until Juilin, who had taken over from Ye Mingchen as Governor-General, invited some actors to his Yamen in 1868 to give performances on the occasion of his mother's birthday. Among the performers were a wusheng named Guang Tianqing (Kwong Tien-Ching), popularly known as Xinhua, and a Dan named He, popularly known as Koubichang. Juilin's mother developed a special affection to He, due to his resemblance to her late daughter. Xinhua asked He to use this affection to help re-establish the Cantonese opera. Eventually, Jiulin petitioned the court, and by 1871 the ban was relaxed enough for Xinhua to establish a new association named Bahe Huiguan (Baat Hop Wui Goon, Eight Harmonies Union) in the Jiqing guild headquarters in Guangzhou. Some joined the new union and returned to the opera, others retired fully.
But what events led to Ye Mingchen destroying the Precious Jade Flower Union in the first place?
Part 2: Society History of the Red Junks
The hui (wui, societies) encompassed groups organized for a range of goals, from mutual-aid and protection, to criminal enterprise and predation, to cult expansion and rebellious sedition. They were distinguished by their drawing of members with different surnames, lack of regard for traditional hierarchies, and their practice of initiation involving blood-oath.
The origins of the Hui are found in equal parts fact and fiction. Historically, elements of the societies can be traced as far back as the Tang dynasty when local villages formed yishi (associations of adopted social groups formed from above) for the pooling of funds (for the purchase of equipment and livestock, and the paying of funerals and child birth related expenses).
The characteristic of jiebai xiongdi (sworn brotherhoods) of differing surnames is deeply embedded in the culture due to popular stories such as Sanguo Yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and Shuihuzhuan (Outlaws of the Marsh). During the early-Qing period, they gained prominence due to the xiedou (collective violence), or the internecine feuds between shi (lineages) that spread from Fujian. When smaller lineages faced the threat of larger lineages, they were forced to band together into huizu (ancestral associations). At the same time, the destruction wrought during the dynastic transition and the following shifts in population densities led many youths to migrate in search of economic opportunity. For survival and protection, these youths banded together into non-elite groups of differing surnames, in stark contrast to the hierarchies of age and divisions of wealth and lineage that had so characterized earlier societies.
The blood-oath aspect of the societies is said to trace back even further. Accounts exist from the time of the Warring States (475-221 BC) when the passing from feudal to proto-bureaucratic society led to ritualized violence, where a climate idealizing heroic honor and martial prowess, mired in inter-state, inter-lineage, and inter-personal feuding, combined with the breaking down of old institutions, led men to ally themselves into elite groups through the taking of blood-oaths.
Early on, the Qing cracked down on the societies. By 1646, membership in a blood-oath society was made punishable by a flogging of 100 lashes. By 1661, belonging to a non-blood oath society was punishable by the lash, and membership in the blood-oath society was punishable by death. This crack down led to considerable resentment among the societies and, following the end of dynastic transition in 1683 and the driving of the anti-Qing resistance underground, elements of sedition began to surface. By the turn of the 18th century, societies were already being organized in Taiwan to jushi (rise-up).
Over the next decade, the rebellious brotherhoods, mutual aid organizations, bandit groups, pyramid-structured financial enterprises, cults, and other forms of the societies continued to evolve. And, for the first time, these societies began to gain formal names. In 1728, the Fumuhui (Father & Mother Society) formed in Zhuluo, Fujian. In 1735 the Tiechihui (Iron Ruler Society) formed in Ninghua, Fujian. These new societies, and others, paved the way for the most far reaching of them all - the Tiandihui (Tien Dei Wui, Heaven & Earth Society), later and more encompassingly known as the Hongmen (Hung Mun, Vast Gate).
The Tiandihui began when Zheng Kai (known primarily as Ti Xi but with numerous aliases including Monk Wan, Monk Hong Er, etc.), Li Amin (a boxing master), Zhu Dingyuan, and Tao Yuan left their homes in Zhangpu, Fujian to seek better lives in Sichuan. There, they joined a group of "monks" who practiced magic and exorcism led by Ma Jiulong. The group did not fair well, however, and Ti Xi soon went to Guangdong and organized a group of followers in Huizhou. In 1761, Ti Xi returned home to Fujian and took up residence in the Guanyinting (Goddess of Mercy Pavillion) and transformed his group of followers into the society known as Tiandihui.
By 1766, the Tiandihui had spread through Zhangpu and Pinghe counties, and by 1767, one of the early members, Lu Mao, created a brotherhood for what may have been the first Tiandihui uprising. Their plan was to engage in theft (robbing storehouses, treasuries, and homes of the well do to) in order to raise money for their rebellious activities. In 1768, the time finally came for their uprising and they attacked the western gate of the county seat. They were easily defeated by the local guard.
Li Amin followed this uprising by forming a society to rob wealthy households and rise up in 1769. Before they could complete their uprising, however, they were discovered and executed. Ti Xi was said to have lain low following this, until he passed away in 1779, handing down the register of his society to his son, Zheng Ji, who later became a monk.
Secret Societies and Burning Temples
As the Tiandihui spread through different counties and provinces, it branched off into many groups and became known by many names. Along with its increasingly complex rituals, it also developed a rich, legendary, back-story, filled with allegory, symbolism and numerology that served to inspire recruits and lend direction to the movement. The story held that the Tiandihui/Hongmen's roots traced back to the Shaolin Temple, betrayed by jealous Qing officials after they helped the dynasty suppress the Xilufan (Western Barbarian) revolt. The temple burned down, the monks scattered, five survivors met with Ming loyalists at the Honghua Ting (Hung Fa Ting, Vast or Red Flower Pavilion), and received a sign from Heaven to "fan Qing fu Ming" ("fan Ching Fook Ming", "overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming").
By referencing an apocryphal Fujian Shaolin Temple and its warrior monks (molded from Tang dynasty accounts of Songshan, Henan Shaolin), feigning connections to Buddhist societies (from tales of the Bailian (White Lotus), and Yuan Dynasty Qing Lian (Green Lotus) and Wuwei (Motionless) Societies), and weaving in fictitious Song or Ming scion, they created a compelling counter-culture where the disenfranchised could seek some measure of pride, self-empowerment, and political significance. They also swelled their ranks and motivated their followers.
By 1802, the Tiandihui was well established in Guangdong province, with over a thousand reported members involved in mutual aid, financial gain, criminal activity, and rebellion. The latter began in Yongan (Wing On). Organized by Chen Lanjisi, head of the Tiandihui (Increase Brotherhood Society), they wore a hong jin (hung gam, red turban, perhaps in homage to the Red Turban Rebellion that had threatened the Mongol Yuan dynasty before it fell to the Ming) as a way of identifying themselves, and attacked several local villages. The Qing massed troops to meet them under the command of Li Hansheng and Sun Quanmou and, eventually, by the army of General Huang Biao. The fighting went on for a short time until Chen was captured.
In 1812, the Tiandihui went through another important phase in its evolution. On January 4, in Shunde (Shundak), Yan Guiqiu (Yim Kwai-Kiu), Yan Peiyu (Yim Poi-Yuk), and two others agreed to form a society for mutual protection. By January 9, they had 66 recruits, and adopted the name Sanhehui (Saam Ho Wui, Three Harmonies or Triad Society). 
Yan continued to recruit, bringing 151 more members. These members spread and founded their own chapters until, by 1831, the Sanhehui covered much of the south, divided into 5 fang (branches) - Fujian, Guangdong, Yunnan, Huguang, and Zhejiang.
Opium Wars and Taiping Rebellion
While the societies grew from within, pressure mounted from without as well. The tea trade causing a huge deficit with China, England looked increasingly to opium to help balance the scales. The Qing began prohibitions against the opium trade in 1729 and outlawed it in 1796, but failed to make any real headway in restraining its use. By the 1830s, lower prices and led to a surge in opium imports, and in late-1838, the Qing sent Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu to Guangzhou to handle the problem. The Opium War began in 1839.
While small successes by local militia in support of Qing forces, such as in Sanyuanli in 1841, led to new blossoming in heroic tales, Peach-Garden inspired oaths, increased reliance on braves and militia, and a general build up of morale, the overall defeat at the hands of the British (including the ceding of Hong Kong) in 1842, only caused anti-Qing sentiment to increase among the population.
In 1843, the Three Harmonies Society rose up under the cry of "Red Pole (leader) aboard the stage, acting in the opera (meeting the association), speaking the 36-mantras, cutting the finger and taking the blood-oath." They levied their own taxes and engaged in banditry to raise money, and feuded with the rival Wolunghui (Sleeping Dragon Society). Under the watch of gun-wielding guards, they encouraged peasants, farmers, and eventually entire villages to join them. Police, magistrates, and others joined until, in 1844, they threatened to take control of the county seat. Only the intervention of gentry-raised militia, led by Zheng Guihong, stopped them.
In 1845 the societies took pause again when the quasi-religious movement known as Taiping (Tai Ping, Great Peace) emerged. Taiping was founded by Huayuan (Fa Yuen), Guangdong native Hong Xiuquan (originally named Huoxiu). Hong, after several failed attempts at passing the licentiates exams and exposure to the translated bible tracts of Chinese Christian converts, fell gravely ill and had a dream where he was the second son of God, charged with driving the Qing demons from the land and establishing the Taiping Tianguo (Tai Ping Tien Kwok, Great Peace Heavenly Kingdom). When he recovered he began a movement that spread from his own, Hakka people, throughout the south. The Taiping Rebellion would rage until 1864, when Hong Xiuquan died in disgrace among his concubines, one of over 20 million deaths that would occur during the struggle.
In 1854, Liu Duchuan (Lao Doo-Chuen), brother of Guangdong Three Harmonies Society member and Shanghai Xiaodaohui (Siu Do Wui, Small Knife Society) leader, Liu Lichuan (Lao Lee-Chuen), was sent back to Guangdong (which had been charged with paying 80.6% of the Opium War reparations) to help organize an uprising in support of the Taiping. In June, He Liu (Ho Lok), a smuggler and society member whose brother had been murdered in a prefectural purge, began to raise a band of men in search of vengeance. Helped by Liu Yingcai (Lao Ying-Choi), he prepared to attack the Dongguan county seat.
They moved on Stone Dragon town. Thirty thousand members and six hundred boats worked towards the goal of "taking down the Dragon, lifting the tiger, stopping the goat, bowing the Buddha, and reaching the Western paradise." In this code, dragon signified the Stone Dragon, tiger the Tiger Gate, goat the Goat City (Guangzhou), Buddha the Buddha Mountain (Foshan), and Western Paradise the province of Guangxi.
He Liu's uprising began a chain reaction through the region, and on June 11, 1854, Chen Kai (Chan Hoi) and Liu Duchuan lead 7000 Three Harmonies Society members to revolt in Foshan. On June 12th, members of the Precious Jade Flower Union, under the direction of Li Wenmao, took to the streets in full costume, waving red banners. A few hundred at first, within a few days, tens of thousands of common people joined as well, showing their allegiance with red turbans. And the Hung Gam (Hong Jin, Red Turban) Rebellion was born.
The rebels burned the Qing offices, and on July 4, took control of the town and ushered in the Daning (Dai Ning, Great Peace). Their troops came to be known as the Hong Bing (Hung Bing, Vast Army), with Chen Kai as the Chen Nan Wang (Chan Nam Wong, Subdue the South King) and Li Wenmao as his second.
Hill bandits soon began to move on the Guangdong capitol, Guangzhou. On July 14, Kan Xian, who had previous started a revolt in Huayan, assaulted the north gate. He Liu marched to join them, and from Panyu, Red Turbans camped on the Manchu parade grounds outside the east gate. Bannermen and local militia defended the city. On August 19 and 24, Chen Kai and Li Wenmao tried to crush the militia forces between Foshan and Guangzhou but failed. Soon thereafter, rebel infighting began to take its toll. By September 5, He Liu pulled out, by September 7, the siege began to falter, and by November 5, it broke.
The take over of Foshan lasted until January, 1855 when, following mistreatment at the hands of some of the rebels, the locals became solidly pro-government. On January 18, Bannermen and local braves succeeded in routing the rebels and taking back the city. Then Governor-General Ye Mingchen's purge began.
Li Wenmao retreated to Guangxi. His forces captured several cities, including Liuchow, where he established the Da Sheng (Great Achievement) Kingdom. Li's regime enjoyed popular support, but in 1858 he was wounded in a failed attempt to seize Guiling. He died soon thereafter. Chen Kai died in 1861.
It was during this time, following the destruction of the Precious Jade Flower Union, while some of the surviving members hid in Foshan and surrounding towns and villages, that they first taught their martial arts to non-Red Junk members. But what did they teach?
To be continued . . .
Compiled from Peking Opera by Colin MacKerras, The Chinese Theater in Modern Times by Colin MacKerras, Study On The History Of The Cantonese Operas by Mak Siu-Ha (as quoted by Yip Chun), History Of Chinese Opera by Mang Yiu (as quoted by Yip Chun), Dictionary of History and cultures of Foshan by the White Flower Fine Arts Publications (as quoted by Leung Ting), History of the Cantonese Opera by C.O.H.P., Origins of the Tiandihui by Dian Murray and Qin Baoqi, Hongmen Real History by Qin Baoqi, Secret Societies Reconsidered by David Ownby (Editor), et al, God's Chinese Son by Jonathan D. Spence, Historie de la Kiang Nan by A.M. Colombel, Twelve Years in China by John Scratch, Strangers at the Gate by Frederic Wakeman, and the oral and written histories of Cho Family, Sum Nung, Yip Man, Pan Nam, Gulao, and other branches of wing chun kuen.
About Rene Ritchie, Robert Chu, & Hendrik Santo:
Rene Ritchie, Robert Chu and Hendrik Santo, between them, have written numerous articles for Inside Kung Fu, Martial Arts Masters, Martial Arts Legends, Martial Arts Illustrated, and other publications. Robert Chu and Rene Ritchie are co-authors, along with Y. Wu, of the book Complete Wing Chun published by Charles E. Tuttle. Hendrik Santo began learning the Wing Chun Kuen of Cho Hung-Choy in Malaysia in the 1970s. Since then, he has spent much time researching both the nature of the art and the nature of Buddhism. Robert Chu, a licensed Acupuncturist/Chinese herbalist, has been involved in the martial arts since 1972, specializing in wing chun kuen and its weapons, principally under Hawkins Cheung (Yip Man), and Kwan Jong-Yuen (Yuen Kay-San & Gulao). In addition, he has a background in Hung ga kuen and is a successor to Lui Yon-Sang's flying dragon tiger gate combat pole in the United States. Rene Ritchie began studying the Yuen Kay-San/Sum Nung system of Wing Chun kuen under the guidance of Ngo Lui-Kay (Ao Leiqi) in 1990. He maintains the WingChunKuen.Com site on the Internet World Wide Web, and is co-administrator, along with its founder Marty Goldberg, of the Internet Wing Chun Mailing List. Rene Ritchie is also author of Yuen Kay-San Wing Chun Kuen available from Multimedia Books/Unique Publications.