Newsgroup: it.sport.arti-marziali
Titolo: Un'altra storia del WC

http://www.cyberkwoon.com/html/article.php?sid=24
The Secret History of Wing Chun: The Truth Revealed
(also appeared as "Wing Chun Controversy: Is this the truth about Wing
Chun's History")
By Benny Meng and Alfredo Delbrocco
Although the world itself has not gotten smaller, life in the Information
Technology Age (via the media of email and Internet) has made contact and
communication with people around the globe easier. Consequently, it is now
harder for information and research to be constrained or concealed, or for
only one perspective to be put forward. Most importantly, it means that
certain myths will not be perpetuated. Information pointing to the
historical origins of Wing Chun kung fu is one of them...
"The first casualty when war comes is truth." -- Hiram Johnson
Put simply, the harsh truth is this: the myth of the Buddhist nun, Ng Mui
and her disciple Yim Wing Chun, the supposed founders of the Wing Chun
system, is just that - a myth. As the internet has brought information more
readily to us, it has come to light that the story of Ng Mui and Yim Wing
Chun was merely a way to conceal the truth about the system's origins and
the identities of the political rebels who actually developed it.
After almost 400 years, mounting evidence is pointing to the truth of Wing
Chun's creation and evolution. The question being; is the kung fu world
ready for it?
There is no doubt that the information which is about to be disclosed will
ruffle feathers to say the least. This is mainly because many Wing Chun
instructors throughout the world are naively, and through no fault of their
own, imparting a romanticized, fantastical history of the Wing Chun system.
They are telling and retelling a story that is little more than a fairytale.
A view of the traditional legends with an eye on history reads as an even
more fascinating point of view. And no less deserving of the term
`legendary'...
Secrets in the Shadows of Shaolin
As near as history can testify, Wing Chun was developed around 400 years ago
in a time of civil unrest. Between 1644 to 1911, the Manchurians ruled a
Chinese nation where 10% of the population (the Manchus) ruled over 90% of
the population (the Hons). To maintain control over the Hons, the Manchus
ruled with an iron fist. Aggression and oppression were the cornerstones of
the Dynasty and the Hons were banned from using weapons or training in the
martial arts. Thus, in order to overthrow their oppressors, rebel activity
was instigated by martial arts masters who were in hiding.
Rebel activity developed rapidly in the Buddhist monasteries, which were
largely left alone by the Manchus out of respect for the Buddhist culture
and religion. These Shaolin/Siu Lam sanctuaries were ideal places for
renegades to conceal themselves. They simply shaved their heads and donned
the monastic robes of the disciples of the temple. During the day, the
rebels would earn their keep by doing chores around the temple. At night,
they would gather to formulate their plans to overthrow the Manchus.
There are some that maintain that Shaolin/Siu Lam sanctuaries possessed no
political leanings. They further emphasize that the Buddhist teachings of
these monasteries would have prevented their supporting rebels and secret
societies. Such a position is emotional at best with no grounding in
historical fact. Religious leaders throughout history, in both the Western
as well as the Eastern world, have influenced politics and government since
the beginning of time. Churches have forever harbored political victims
sought by authorities which were deemed to be oppressive. In China's case,
serious precedent for such behavior on the part of the monasteries had
already been set 400 years earlier. As verified by Ving Tsun Museum
research, Jyu Yuhn Jeung, the man who led the Chinese revolt against the
Mongols and established the Ming Dynasty, was himself, a Buddhist monk.
Upon meeting, the revolutionaries identified themselves to each other with a
secret hand-signal that would come to be the formal greeting or courtesy of
Wing Chun. In fact, the traditional greeting or courtesy common to many of
today's kung fu styles has two meanings. The first meaning recognizes the
style's Shaolin origins - the left hand symbolized the union of the Green
Dragon (the left hand) and the White Tiger (the right hand) - The fighting
animals of the Shaolin monks.
In the Hung Fa Yi (Red Flower Righteous) Lineage of Wing Chun, however, the
hands are reversed: the left hand forms a fist and the right hand is open
palm. It still retains its significance to Shaolin but it also refers to the
secret society. In this context, the fist represents Yat (the Sun) and the
palm represents Yuet (the Moon). Combined, these two characters mean
"Bright" which reads and sounds like "Ming." This is the name of the
previous Dynasty - The one overthrown by the Manchurians who founded the
"Ching" Dynasty in its place. Hence, during the time of rebellion, when a
Wing Chun practitioner or secret society member saluted with a fist and open
palm pushed toward you, they were saying "Return the Ming, overturn the
Ching." Obviously, this was not a sentiment shared by the Manchus.
Late in the 1600's, the Manchurians became concerned about the Siu Lam
Temples' rebellious activities and their continual development of the
fighting arts. Therefore, they sent spies (many of them Manchu military
leaders) to infiltrate the rebels and learn the traditional Southern fist
systems as taught secretly in the Temples. The rebel kung-fu masters,
realizing this, clandestinely developed a new system that was two-fold in
purpose: firstly, it had to be learned quickly and efficiently. And
secondly, it had to be devastatingly effective against the existing fighting
systems that the Manchus were learning and teaching to their soldiers. Thus,
Wing Chun was born.
Their spy rings compromised, the Manchus decided to eliminate the threat of
spreading rebel activity by simply exterminating the Siu Lam monks.
Eventually, the Southern Siu Lam Temple was burned and destroyed.
Extensive research conducted by the Ving Tsun Museum points to a generation
of inheritors following the Southern temple's burning. Among them was a
gentleman named Cheung Ng (referred to as Tan Sao Ng in other texts). Of
this generation of inheritors, Cheung Ng is one to date that has proven to
have historically existed. After establishing the Beautiful Flower Society
Association (the precursor to the Red Opera and the public name for the Red
Flower Society) and providing Wing Chun training to the secret societies,
Cheung Ng went into hiding - Disappearing from the public eye to escape Qing
Dynasty persecution.
He was hidden by distant relatives, a Fuk Gin business family named Chahn.
The Chahn Sih Sai Ga (Chan family) were well established and wealthy.
Through indirect action they were willing to help Cheung Ng. Staying with
the family for over a decade, Cheung Ng taught the family the art of Hung Fa
Yi Wing Chun. It was preserved by the family for four generations before it
was taught to outsiders. The direct members of the Chahn family were never
directly involved with the secret societies themselves, resulting in a low
profile in Praise Spring Boxing history. The last generation of the Chahn
family to learn the art was a distant nephew, Huhng Gan Biu, who was a high
level secret society leader. In Qing archives as well as historical research
into Chinese secret societies, a person by the name of Chahn Biu was
recorded as the leader of the Heaven and Earth Society. He was caught and
executed by the Qing authorities. Due to similar names appearing in
difference sources at around the same time-frame, there is much debate as to
whether the Opera's Biu and the Heaven and Earth Society's Biu were the same
person. According to members of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun clan, Huhng Gan Biu
was the 4th generation leader of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun clan and his Wing
Chun descendants have preserved the system through to the 8th generation
Master, Garrett Gee, and his 9th generation students in today's modern era.
It was at the fourth generation that history and truth parted ways, and the
myth of Wing Chun's origins was created.
The story of Ng Mui and Yim Wing Chun.
The legend was told that among the survivors of the Shaolin/Siu Lam
massacres, was a Buddhist nun named Ng Mui. Ng Mui was believed to have been
the sole custodian of a streamlined, highly practical and effective martial
art developed within the temples. In turn, Ng Mui is said to have passed her
knowledge onto her chosen disciple, a young girl named Yim Wing Chun. As Yim
Wing Chun taught the system to others, it became known as Wing Chun. The
story spread and today many versions of it exist around the world.
However, there are three important considerations in regard to the story of
Ng Mui. Firstly, outside of the legend, there is no other evidence that Ng
Mui acted in the capacity of a kung-fu grandmaster or founder of a kung-fu
system. No records. No historical documents. Nothing. Secondly, it would
have been forbidden for a nun to live in, let alone train within, a celibate
monastic environment like the Siu Lam /Shaolin Temples. Thirdly, and perhaps
most importantly, after escaping from a life and death situation as a
revolutionary, it does not make sense that Ng Mui would teach an advanced
level fighting system to a local girl with romantic problems and no
connection to the revolution. At that time in Chinese history, the Qing
dynasty had devised a special form of punishment for traitors and rebels.
After being made to confess his or her crimes, the guilty party was
executed. Afterwards, Qing officials would hunt down members of the guilty
party's family down to nine generations and execute them as traitors as
well. Teaching Yim Wing Chun a martial art would directly put her life at
risk.
With regards to the Yim Wing Chun element of the legend, consider once more
the relevance of secret rebel societies. `Yim' can be translated to mean
`prohibit' or `secret.' The term `Wing Chun' referred to a geographic
location - The Siu Lam Wing Chun Tong (Always Spring Hall), where the rebels
perhaps practiced martial arts and orchestrated their seditious activities.
The use of the term Spring symbolized the rebirth of the Ming Dynasty and
Always referred to the reestablished dynasty lasting forever. After the
destruction of the Southern Shaolin temple and its Wing Chun Tong, the
survivors changed the character of Wing from Always to Praise. The term
'Praise' referred to the fact that the revolutionaries had to spread the
word about the revolution after the destruction of their base. Thus, `Yim
Wing Chun' was actually a code-name, meaning (protect) the secret art of the
Wing Chun Hall.
If we now know that the destruction of the Siu Lam/Shaolin Temples occurred,
but that the story of Ng Mui was a diversion, the question remains - Who
were the real custodians of the Wing Chun system?
Enter the Hung Suen
We do know that many (not the legendary five) monks and rebel leaders
escaped the Manchurian massacres, and to aid the secrecy of the system,
historical material was passed directly from teacher to student. Thus, the
elders told of two Siu Lam monks/rebels who survived the temple raids and
were able to keep their Wing Chun system alive. One of these was a monk - A
22nd generation Siu Lam Grandmaster, Yat Chum Dai Si, from the Northern
Shaolin temple. The other, Cheung Ng, was a rebel training under Yat Chum
Dai Si in the Southern Temple. Fleeing the Manchurian persecutors, Cheung Ng
founded the Kihng Fa Wui Gun (Beautiful Flower Society), the roots of the
(in)famous Hung Suen (Red Boat) Opera Troupe.
Historically, we know that rebel activity flourished in the Red Boat Opera
Troupe. The Red Boats allowed talented stage performers, accomplished in
kung-fu and gymnastics, to form their own secret societies to overthrow the
Manchu Dynasty. The Troupes provided the ideal sanctuary for fleeing rebels
as the performers wore elaborate costumes and stage make-up, providing
excellent but natural/plausible disguises for them. Additionally, the
performers were known by their `stage-names' which they adopted to further
cloak their secret identities.
When Cheung Ng founded the Opera Troupe he became known as Tan Sao Ng - not
only a stage-name, but also a sly nod to his skillful deployment of the Wing
Chun deflection/striking technique, Tan Sao.
An important fact to note is that so suspicious of the Manchus and their
spies were these secret societies, that the true identities of the leaders,
members and real nature of their activities were known only to an
inner-circle within the society. Thus, genuine knowledge of kung-fu was
passed only from a master to select, trusted disciples - Thus protecting the
purity and origins of the system.
In conclusion
With the development of many different lineages of Wing Chun over the
centuries (over 10 are known to date), Wing Chun could simply be seen as a
generic name for a style with so many lineages. This is no different than
`karate' being a generic term to describe the various, yet similar Japanese
arts. However, this article has focussed on shedding light on the origins of
Wing Chun. Indeed, to chart the development of the various lineages would
require an entire book more complete than anything currently written. A
complete historical and political analysis of Wing Chun's origins and
development is currently being compiled in book form by the Ving Tsun Museum
and should be available through major publication sources within the next
twelve months.
A hypothesis that Cheung Ng was indeed the inheritor of the art from
Southern Temple, and the guiding force behind its employment as a complete
combat training system for rebels, certainly has more historical weight
behind it than the legend of a young girl. It represents a much more
plausible explanation of Wing Chun's roots considering the completeness of
the art in terms of total combat effectiveness. It also gels with the
historical background of the times preceding the Red Boat Opera travels.
However, as with all historical study, one hypothesis can give great impetus
to further in-depth study, giving rise to even more revelations. In short,
more study grounded in the proper structure and atmosphere of true
historical research will get us even closer to reality. Hats off to the Ving
Tsun Museum staff and researchers for moving our search into the realm of
scientific investigation and giving us another starting point for serious
research!
Myths are often created to simplify something or to disguise the true nature
of the subject to make it more palatable to the mind. Consequently,
sometimes people want to believe the myths despite scientific or historical
evidence to the contrary. A fiction can be more comforting than the truth -
A fairytale easier to grasp than a treatise. The legend of Ng Mui and Yim
Wing Chun is a great story. It just isn't true.
In light of being told one story for centuries, it will be difficult for
some to accept the truth in minutes, hours or even months. But studying the
martial arts, and Wing Chun in particular, is a continual quest for truth.
Personal truth, social truth, spiritual truth, and yes, historical truth.
I trust you have enjoyed your enlightenment on the true origins of Wing
Chun.
An internationally published author, Sifu Benny Meng is the founder and
Curator of the Ving Tsun Museum in Dayton, OH, USA. A practitioner of Wing
Chun for over 15 years, Sifu Meng has come into contact with most of the
major families in Wing Chun. More information is available on the Ving Tsun
Museum at 
http://www.vtmuseum.org
 or by mail at 5715 Brandt Pike, Dayton, OH
45424, phone/fax 
(937) 236-6485
.
Sifu Alfredo Del-Brocco has been training in Wing Chun for over 15 years,
firstly under the guidance of Grand Master William Cheung, then under Master
Rick Spain. Today he teaches around 350 active students in his Brisbane
Kwoon. Sifu Alfredo was also the recipient of the 1998 Australasian Blitz
Kung Fu Instructor of the Year Award. Sifu Alfredo can be contacted at
http://www.wckfo.com.au
 or by phone / fax : (07) 3229 8694

OK chi mi dice che vuol dire??????
 :)))))))))))
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 By Benny Meng and Alfredo Delbrocco
Durante una delle riunioni di studio - delle quali ti ho parlato - ci è 
capitato di tradurre anche questo testo. Mi pare fosse stato Robin, 
magari può postare sull'NG la sua versione in italiano.
Cmq non mi convince molto e per diverse ragioni (alcune sono state 
illustrate in modo esemplare in alcuni scritti di Leung Ting stesso, per 
esempio quando afferma che i nomi di Ng Mui, Yim Wing Chun e Leung Bok 
Chau compaiono in troppi racconti, anche di praticanti di stili 
lontanissimi dal WC/WT per essere del tutto inventati); soprattutto per 
il fatto che ritengo impossibile creare uno stile della complessità del 
WT "a tavolino" come sostengono Meng e Del Brocco. E' chiaramente il 
frutto di una lunga evoluzione.
ciao,
Jashugan
(WingTsun)
-- 
«Se nel fondo dei tuoi occhi si riflettono la prosperità
od i passi falsi della nazione, nell'affollarsi di nubi
in cielo per opera della divintà tra i venti si spanderà
la tua fragranza». (Hiroaki Samura)

Wing Chun is a great story. It just isn't true.
Sarà ma a me la 'realtà storica' sembra molto più affascinante :-)
VL

frutto di una lunga evoluzione.
Beh, c'è da presumere che i creatori del WC non siano partiti da zero
ma da una bagaglio di conoscenze precedentemente acquisito (Shao Lin
Chuan?), il che non mi pare poi così improbabile il fatto che poi
dalla sua prima codifica ai giorni nostri ci sia stata un'ulteriore
evoluzione mi pare altrettanto probabile.
VL