Kim Eve believes that in the ancient past, virgins were sacrificed to the mountain Gods, which is why Mudang are women.
Kim Eve
The reason I write an essay about Korea traditional shamanism need to know
about the traditional culture of Korea by Korea people. If you read my essay on Korea traditional culture,
there are two big advantages. First, they can see the knowledge of the culture
they do not know Korea. Second, they do not experience their cultural past
directly can get a feel experienced indirectly.From now on let's learn about Shamanism in Korea traditional
culture? South
Korea has a special culture.In korea believed the ethnic religions from once
upon a time.In addition, in korea there was a magic or religion
centered on the shaman to communicate with supernatural beings directly. Easy to say, Shamanism can be described as old people believed
faith.Not only that old people are also believed Sansin.Sansin means the guardian of the
mountain. And Sansin is guardian of the villagers. Also the sansin is man.The following is a
Mudang. Mudang means those who serve God. And it acts an intermediary to convey
to people the story to listen to God speak. In addition, the mudang is mostly
women and virgin.
Cite the evidence or examples that support my topic and reason. First, above picture is a picture that shows the three
lines and tiger pine. This picture comes through reason can prove that old
people had a belief in traditional cultures as well. And three features that
appear in this picture is that it has a meaning that all three defenders. Second,
As you can see from the photos on the Sanshin is the grandfather I beard. In
other words, is that man. Why this man that the Sanshin to explain, the example
is a tiger in the picture. The tiger means a man and a guardian. And tiger is
the devil chasing mean. As a result, believed that the force strong man Guardian.Because most of those who rely on faith the power weak
women.Three, the mudang is mostly women and virgin.Most
memorial service when God was providing a live animal as a sacrifice. But sometimes
in ancient times there was a custom of offering sacrifices to live a virgin. Because
virgin is sacrificed because we think are right to know a woman with a clean
body. So the mudang is mostly women and virgin. Because it is God
dedicated.
The reason I write an essay about Korea traditional shamanism need to know
about the traditional culture of Korea by Korea people.Has this to say. “Knowing
the past can be seen now. Also, it can be seen in the future if you know the
date. Therefore A knowledge of the historical to get and studying about that
knowledge is helpful in the current generation. In addition, an analysis based
on the past of the current it can make a better future.”So would I write
an essay about Korea traditional culture.
Park SeoIn
Yes, I think
shamanism is important for Korea society, because Shamanism is a religion which
is based on the belief that the world is controlled by good and evil spirits,
and that these spirits can be directed by people with special powers. And
shamanism is a religion a happening in every region of the world. So, each of
country have a religious, cultural catholicity, dynamism.
First reason of
important on shamanism is helped to community gained wisdom, power through a
trip to a different world by shamans. For example, shamans are announce about
community will have a drought, so community people leaved on their community.
This is impossible if shamans never did trip to a different world.
Second reason of
important on shamanism is conceptual foundation of Korea religion. Nowadays,
most religions were received from other countries. But shamanism is traditional
religion in Korea. Therefore this is included about Korea history. For example,
god believed by shamans is admiral of Korean. And, that is folk tendency likes
jangseung, Korean traditional totem pole at the village entrance.
Third reason of
important on shamanism is very popular religion. Most of the Korean people are
believe shamans. They often consulted a fortune-teller by shamans. For example,
many people consulted about their boyfriend and girlfriend, their future, their
friends, their health. Each of the people is regularly go to the shaman.
I think Shamanism is helped to community gained wisdom. And, shamanism is
conceptual foundation of Korea religion. Lastly, shamanism is very popular
religion. For all those reasons, shamanism is important for Korean society.
Hwang SuJin Alice
Yes,
I think Shamanism is important for Korean society. Actually, shamanism is less
important for modern Korean society. But once upon a time, shamanism is very
important for the ancient Korean society, because our ancestors thought
shamanism was very important. And they believed shamanism. People believed in
shamans.
For example, a time-honored
story is the myth of Tan’gun. Hanw-ung (the sky of king’ son) and Ungnyeo (bear changed woman) married and had a son, who they
named Tan’gun. This story’s main characters are Hanw-ung, bear, tiger, and Tan’gun. The meaning of Hanw-ung is some people believed in the sky. They
served the sky. And the meaning of bear and tiger are that other people
believed in animals. They served animals. Especially, many people worshiped the
bear and the tiger. And the meaning of Tan’gun is that he is a shaman. And a shamanist symbol is Jang-seung. We can
frequently see Jang-seung at ancient village’s entrance. People believed Jang-seung protect the village. When evil
enters a village, Jang-seung expels the evil. So far, Jang-seung are located at
the entrance to the village. Another shamanist symbol is the stone pile. When
people pray for something, people piled stones. Then their wish comes true.
People believed in stone piles. So nowadays people trust stone piles.
Shamanism is less important for
modern Korean society. But if it wasn’t for shamanism, we wouldn’t know our ancestor’s life style. And some people
still believ in shamanism, because when old people worry about future, Old
people go to a shaman’s house. A Shaman can tell them
about their future and they trust the shaman’s speech. I think Shamanism is important for Korean society, because I
think shamanism has for a long history made it through Korea.
So I think shamanism is Korean society’s culture and life style and history.
Gong Hee Seung sent me these picture: DanGun with Tiger and Bear
Jo Hye Ran's mother had a dream that her house was haunted. In the dream, she saw ghosts and strange shapes. So, she called a mudang, who did a blessing/exorcism. Then she had a dream that her house was clear.
Lee Hyo Jin said mudangs have a magical ability. They can see ghosts, talk with them, and stop bad things. Once, she a saw a kut. Her grandmother's house caught on fire, so she hired a mudang to drive away bad energies.
Bear Tribe, Tiger Tribe
Dan Gun's full name is "Tan Gun Wang Gum" - the shaman king
wang = king, gum = sword
His Bear mother, Un Yeo, prayed to the tree Sin Dan Su
Go Ju Sun
JayJungIlChi
There is the idea that TanGun created the bear story to legitimize his rule.
Here is photo of real live young female Mudang. Her name is Misook Kim. She even have her own blog - writing stuff about modern Mudang, even called her self new Mudang. http://korea090.egloos.com/
Another one, this one Mudang is so popular that customer have to book her in advance thru her website. http://www.younhwa.com/
Handout 1:
#1 talk about nature
#2 talk about the old man
#3 talk about the tiger and pine trees
#4 talk about Korean beliefs
#5 discuss any further information you know about sanshin, mountains, tigers, etc
The Tiger can speak after 300 years, and smoke a pipe.
곰방대 (pipe), 연초 (dry leaves)
A folk painting depicts a tiger smoking a pipe. / Korea Times File
By Janet Shin
Handout 2
#1 In Korean shamanism, what is the relationship between humans and nature?
#2 Why is the bear important to Koreans?
#3 Who is the Lord of Heaven?
#4 Discuss TanGun as a mudang
#5 How do you feel about this story?
Born in Xiamen, Fujian, Qiu grew up in her ancestral home, Shanyin Village, Shaoxing, Zhejiang. During an unhappy marriage, Qiu came into contact with new ideas. She became a member of the Triads, who at the time advocated the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and restoration of Han Chinese governance. In 1903 she decided to travel overseas and study in Japan, leaving her two children behind. Arriving in Japan in 1904, she first entered a Japanese language school in Surugadai, then later transferred to the Girls' Practical School in Kōjimachi, run by Shimoda Utako.[1] Qiu was fond of martial arts, and known by her acquaintances for wearing Western male dress and for her nationalist, anti-Manchu ideology. She joined the anti-Qing society Guangfuhui, led by Cai Yuanpei, which in 1905 joined together with a variety of overseas Chinese revolutionary groups to form the Tongmenghui, led bySun Yat-sen. Qiu was charged with responsibility for Zhejiang Province within this Revolutionary Alliance. The Chinese overseas students were divided between those who wanted an immediate return to China to join the ongoing revolution, and those who wanted to stay in Japan to prepare for the future. Qiu allied unquestioningly with the former group. At a meeting of Zhejiang students to debate the issue, she thrust a dagger into the podium and declared, "If I return to the motherland, surrender to the Manchu barbarians, and deceive the Han people, stab me with this dagger!" In 1906 she thus returned to China along with some 2,000 other students.[2]
Whilst still based in Tokyo, Qiu edited a journal by herself entitled Vernacular Journal (Baihua Bao). The journal published a number of issues using vernacular Chinese as a medium of revolutionary propaganda. In one issue, Qiu wrote a manifesto entitled "A Respectful Proclamation to China's 200 Million Women Comrades", in which she lamented the problems caused by bound feet and oppressive marriages, Qiu herself having suffered from both. She explained this in her article and received an overwhelmingly sympathetic response from her readers.[3]
Qiu felt that a better future for women lay under a Western-type government instead of the Qing government that was in power at the time. She joined forces with her cousin Xu Xilin and together they worked to unite many secret revolutionary societies to work together for the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty.
She was an eloquent orator who spoke out for women's rights, such as the freedom to marry, freedom of education, and abolishment of the practice of foot binding. In 1906 she founded a radical women's journal with another female poet, Xu Zihua, called China Women's News (Zhongguo nü bao), though it published only two issues before it was closed by the authorities.[4] In 1907 she became head of the Datong school in Shaoxing, ostensibly a school for sport teachers, but really intended for the military training of revolutionaries.
Wax figure of Qiu Jin at her desk.
On July 6, 1907 Xu Xilin was caught by the authorities before a scheduled uprising in Anqing. He confessed his involvement under interrogation and was executed. Immediately after, on July 12, the authorities arrested Qiu at the school for girls where she was a principal. She was tortured but refused to admit her involvement in the plot, but they found incriminating documents and a few days later she was publicly beheaded in her home village, Shanyin, at the age of 31. Qiu was acknowledged immediately by the revolutionaries as a heroine and martyr, and she became a symbol of women's independence in China.
The entrance to her former residence in Shaoxing, which is now a museum.
Qiu was immortalised in the Republic of China's popular consciousness and literature after her death. She is now buried beside West Lake in Hangzhou. The People's Republic of China established a museum for her in Shaoxing, named Qiu Jin's Former Residence (绍兴秋瑾故居).
Her life has been portrayed in two films, one simply entitled Qiu Jin released in 1983 and a second in 2011 named Jing Xiong Nüxia Qiu Jin (竞雄女侠秋瑾).
While Qiu is mainly remembered in the West as revolutionary and feminist, one aspect of her life that gets overlooked is her poetry and essays, though owing to her early death, they are not great in number. Having received an exceptional education in classical literature, reflected in her writing of more traditional poetry (shi and ci) Qiu composed verse with a wide range of metaphors and allusions; mixing classical mythology along with revolutionary rhetoric.
For example, in a poem Ayscough translates as, Capping Rhymes with Sir Shih Ching From Sun's Root Land (147) we read the following:
Don't tell me women are not the stuff of heroes, I alone rode over the East Sea's winds for ten thousand leagues. My poetic thoughts ever expand, like a sail between ocean and heaven. I dreamed of your three islands, all gems, all dazzling with moonlight. I grieve to think of the bronze camels, guardians of China, lost in thorns. Ashamed, I have done nothing; not one victory to my name. I simply make my war horse sweat. Grieving over my native land hurts my heart. So tell me; how can I spend these days here? A guest enjoying your spring winds?
Editors Sun Chang and Saussy (642) explain the metaphors as follows:
line 4: "Your islands" translates "sandao," literally "three islands," referring to Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, while omitting Hokkaido - an old fashion way of referring to Japan.
line 6: ... the conditions of the bronze camels, symbolic guardians placed before the imperial palace, is traditionally considered to reflect the state of health of the ruling dynasty. But in Qiu's poetry, it reflects instead the state of health of China.
On leaving Beijing for Japan, she wrote a poem summarizing her life until that point:
Sun and moon have no light left, earth is dark; Our women's world is sunk so deep, who can help us? Jewelry sold to pay this trip across the seas, Cut off from my family I leave my native land. Unbinding my feet I clean out a thousand years of poison, With heated heart arouse all women's spirits. Alas, this delicate kerchief here Is half stained with blood, and half with tears.
Here is some relevant information without the annoying commentary.
岳飛岳飞YuèFēiYue Fei (1103-1142), Song dynasty patriot and general 说岳全传ShuōYuèQuánzhuàn"The Story of Yue Fei", biography of Song dynasty patriot and general Yue Fei 张飞打岳飞ZhāngfēidǎYuèfēiZhang Fei fights Yue Fei / fig. an impossible combination / an impossible turn of events (idiom From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Yue Fei (24 March 1103 – 27 January 1142), courtesy namePengju, was a military general who lived in the Southern Song dynasty. His ancestral home was in Xiaoti, Yonghe Village, Tangyin, Xiangzhou, Henan (in present-day Tangyin County,Anyang, Henan). He is best known for leading Southern Song forces in the wars in the 12th century between Southern Song and the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty in northern China before being put to death by the Southern Song government in 1142.[1]He was granted the posthumous nameWumu by Emperor Xiaozong in 1169, and later granted the posthumous title King of È (鄂王) by Emperor Ningzong in 1211. Widely seen as a patriot and national folk hero in China, since after his death, Yue Fei has evolved into a standard epitome of loyalty in Chinese culture.
Statue of Yue Fei in the Yue Fei Temple, Hangzhou. The four Chinese characters on the plaque above the statue read huan wo he shan (還我河山; "return my territory").
A biography of Yue Fei, the Eguo Jintuo Zubian (鄂國金佗稡编), was written 60 years after his death by his grandson, the poet and historian Yue Ke (岳柯) (1183-post 1240).[2][3][4] In 1346 it was incorporated into the History of Song, a 496-chapter record of historical events and biographies of noted Song dynasty individuals, compiled by Yuan dynasty prime minister Toqto'a and others.[5]Yue Fei's biography is found in the 365th chapter of the book and is numbered biography 124.[6] Some later historians includingDeng Guangming (1907–1998) now doubt the veracity of many of Yue Ke's claims about his ancestor.[7]
According to the History of Song, Yue Fei was named "Fei", meaning to fly, because at the time he was born, "a large bird like a swan landed on the roof of his house".[8]
Story of Yue Fei
Front cover of General Yue Fei."
Yue Fei's second biography, a wuxia novel titled Shuo Yue Quanzhuan (simplified Chinese: 说岳全传; traditional Chinese: 說岳全傳;pinyin: Shuō Yuè Quán Zhuàn; literally: "Telling the Complete Biography of Yue Fei", was written by Qian Cai (錢彩), who lived sometime during the reigns of the Kangxi and Yongzheng (1661–1735) emperors of the Qing dynasty.[9] A dating symbol in its preface points either to the year 1684 or to 1744.[10] It was banned during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. There are two main versions of this novel in existence. The original one had 80 chapters. There was an illustrated edition of this version published in 1912.[11] The other version also had 80 chapters and was published during the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor (1861–1875). Starting in 1964 and finishing in 1995, Sir Yang Ti-liang, former Chief Justice of Hong Kong, current Chairman of the Hong Kong Red Cross, combined the first chapters of these works (in an attempt to weed out the overabundance of supernatural elements) to create a 79 chapter version with 961 pages, which he translated into English. It is currently sold under the title General Yue Fei (ISBN 978-962-04-1279-0).
Some people mistakenly take this novel to be historical fact when it is purely fiction.[12] According to Sir Yang Ti-liang's introduction to his translation:
The work is a historical novel in form, but it is in fact based almost mainly on legends which were current amongst the common people for centuries. Indeed some of the events described there are nothing more than Qian Cai's own imagination
Several sources state that Yue was born into a poor tenant farmer's family in Tangyin County, Anyang prefecture, Henanprovince.[6][9][13][14] According to the Shuo Yue Quanzhuan, the immortal Chen Tuan, disguised as a wandering priest, warned Yue Fei's father, Yue He (岳和), to put his wife and child inside a clay jar if the infant Yue Fei began to cry. A few days later, a young child squeezed Yue Fei's hand too hard and he began to cry. Soon, it began to rain and the Yellow River flooded, wiping out the village. Yue Fei's father held onto the clay jar as it was swept down the river, but eventually drowned. Although the much older Biography of Yue Fei also mentions the flood, it states Yue Huo survived. It reads,
After [the death of his teacher Zhou Tong], [Yue Fei] would offer sacrifices at his tomb. His father praised him for his faithfulness and asked him, "When you are employed to cope with the affairs of the time, will you then not have to sacrifice yourself for the empire and die for your duty?" (侗死，溯望設祭于其冢。父義之，曰：“汝為時用，其徇國死義乎。)[5][6]
Yue Fei's father used his family's plot of land for humanitarian efforts, but after it was destroyed in the flood, the young Yue Fei was forced to help his father toil in the fields to survive. Yue received most of his primary education from his father. In 1122 Yue joined the army, but had to return home later that year after the death of his father.[5] In ancient China, a person was required by law to temporarily resign from their job when their parents died so they could observe the customary period of mourning.[15] For instance, Yue would have had to mourn his father's death for three years, but in all actually only 27 months. During this time, he would wear coarse mourning robes, caps, and slippers, while abstaining from silken garments.[16] When his mother died in 1136, he retired from a decisive battle against the Jin dynasty for the mourning period, but he was forced to cut the bereavement short because his generals begged him to come back.[5]
Zhou Tong teaching Yue Fei archery.
Shuo Yue Quanzhuan gives a very detailed fictional account of Yue's early life. The novel states after being swept from Henan to Hubei, Yue and his mother are saved by the country squire Wang Ming (王明) and are permitted to stay in Wang's manor as domestic helpers. The young Yue Fei later becomes the adopted son and student of the Wang family's teacher, Zhou Tong, a famous master of military skills. (Zhou Tong is not to be confused with the similarly named "Little Tyrant" in Water Margin.) Zhou teaches Yue and his three sworn brothers - Wang Gui (王贵), Tang Huai (湯懷) and Zhang Xian (張顯) - literary lessons on odd days and military lessons, involving archery and the eighteen weapons of war, on even days.
After years of practice, Zhou Tong enters his students into the Tangyin County military examination, in which Yue Fei wins first place by shooting a succession of nine arrows through the bullseye of a target 240 paces away. After this display of archery, Yue is asked to marry the daughter of Li Chun (李春), an old friend of Zhou and the county magistrate who presided over the military examination. However, Zhou soon dies of an illness and Yue lives by his grave through the winter until the second month of the new year when his sworn brothers come and tear it down, forcing him to return home and take care of his mother.
Yue eventually marries and later participates in the imperial military examination in the Song capital of Kaifeng. There, he defeats all competitors and even turns down an offer from Cai Gui (蔡桂), the Prince of Liang, to be richly rewarded if he forfeits his chance for the military degree. This angers the prince and both agree to fight a private duel in which Yue kills the prince and is forced to flee the city for fear of being executed. Shortly thereafter, he joins the Song army to fight the invading armies of the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty.[9]
The Yue Fei Biography states,
When [Yue] was born, a Peng flew crowing over the house, so his father named the child Fei [(飛 - "flight")]. Before [Yue] was even a month old, the Yellow Riverflooded, so his mother got inside of the center of a clay jar and held on to baby Yue. The violent waves pushed the jar down river, where they landed ashore ... Despite his family's poverty, [Yue Fei] was studious, and particularly favored the Zuo Zhuan edition of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the strategies of Sun Tzuand Wu Qi. (飛生時，有大禽若鵠，飛鳴室上，因以為名。未彌月，河決內黃，水暴至，母姚抱飛坐瓮中，衝濤及岸得免，人異之。-- 家貧力學，尤好【左氏春秋】、孫吳兵法。)[6]
According to a book by martial arts master Liang Shouyu, "[A] Dapeng is a great bird that lived in ancient China. Legend has it, that Dapeng was the guardian that stayed above the head of Gautama Buddha. Dapeng could get rid of all evil in any area. Even the Monkey King was no match for it. During the Song dynasty the government was corrupt and foreigners were constantly invading China. Sakyamuni sent Dapeng down to earth to protect China. Dapeng descended to Earth and was born as Yue Fei."[17]
Martial training
Illustration of Zhou Tong, Yue Fei's teacher
The Biography of Yue Fei states, "Yue Fei possessed supernatural power and before his adulthood, he was able to draw a bow of 300catties and a crossbow of eight stone. [Yue Fei] learned archery from Zhou Tong. He learned everything and could shoot with his left and right hands."[6][18]Shuo Yue Quanzhuan states Zhou teaches Yue and his sworn brothers archery and all of the eighteen weapons of war. This novel also says Yue was Zhou's third student after Lin Chong and Lu Junyi of the 108 outlaws in Water Margin. The Chronicle of Yue, Prince of E of Song) says he studied the bow and military tactics under Zhou Tong and the spear under the spear master Chen Guang (陳廣). Before he was an adult, Yue could draw a bow of 300 catties and a crossbow of eight stones and could shoot a bow with either his left or right hand.[11][17][19] The E Wang Shi records, "When Yue Fei reached adulthood, his maternal grandfather, Yao Daweng (姚大翁), hired a spear expert, Chen Guang, to teach Yue Fei spear fighting."[20][21]
Both the Biography of Yue Fei and E Wang Shi mention Yue learning from Zhou and Chen at or before his adulthood. The Chinese character representing "adulthood" in these sources is ji guan (Chinese: 及冠; pinyin: jí guàn; literally: "conferring headdress"), an ancient Chinese term that means "20 years old" where a young man was able to wear a formal headdress as a social status of adulthood.[22][23] So he gained all of his martial arts knowledge by the time he joined the army at the age of 19.[6][19]
These chronicles do not mention Yue's masters teaching him martial arts style; just archery, spearplay and military tactics. However non-historical or scholarly sources state, in addition to those already mentioned, Zhou Tong taught Yue other skills such as hand-to-hand combat and horseback riding. Yet again, these do not mention any specific martial arts style. One legend says Zhou took young Yue to an unspecified place to meet a Buddhist hermit who taught him the EmeiDapengqigong (峨嵋大鵬氣功) style. This is supposedly the source of his legendary strength and martial arts abilities.[13][17] According to thirteenth generation lineage Tai He ("Great Harmony") Wudangquan master Fan Keping (范克平), a collector of rare martial arts manuals,[24] Zhou Tong was a master of various "hard qigong" exercises.[25][26]
Yue Fei's mother writes jin zhong bao guo on his back, as depicted in a "Suzhou style" beam decoration at the Summer Palace, Beijing.
Yue Fei's tattoo
According to historical records and legend, Yue had the four Chinese characters jin zhong bao guo (simplified Chinese: 尽忠报国; traditional Chinese: 盡忠報國; pinyin: jìn zhōng bào guó; literally: "serve the country with the utmost loyalty") tattooed across his back. The Biography of Yue Fei says after Qin Hui sent agents to arrest Yue and his son, he was taken before the court and charged with treason, but
Yue ripped his jacket to reveal the four brush-stroke characters of "serve the country with the utmost loyalty" on his back. This proved that he was clearly innocent of the charges. (飛裂裳以背示鑄，有“盡忠報國”四大字，深入膚理。既而閱實無左驗，鑄明其無辜。)[6]
It does not comment when and who gave him the tattoo, though. Later fictionalizations of Yue's biography would build upon the tattoo. For instance, one of his earliest Ming era novels titled The Story of King Yue Who Restored the Song dynasty (大宋中興岳王傳) states that after the Jurchen armies invaded China, young heroes in Yue's village suggest that they join the bandits in the mountains. However, Yue objects and has one of them tattoo the aforementioned characters on his back. Whenever others want to join the bandits, he flashes them the tattoo to change their minds.[27]
Portion of the stele mentioning the tattoo.
The common legend of Yue receiving the tattoo from his mother first appeared in Shuo Yue Quanzhuan. In chapter 21 titled "By a pretext Wang Zuo swore brotherhood, by tattoos Lady Yue instructed her son", Yue denounces the pirate chief Yang Yao (杨幺) and passes on a chance to become a general in his army. Yue Fei's mother then tells her son, "I, your mother, saw that you did not accept recruitment of the rebellious traitor, and that you willingly endure poverty and are not tempted by wealth and status ... But I fear that after my death, there may be some unworthy creature who will entice you ... For these reason ... I want to tattoo on your back the four characters 'Utmost', 'Loyalty', 'Serve' and 'Nation' ... The Lady picked up the brush and wrote out on his spine the four characters for 'serving the nation with the utmost loyalty' ... [So] she bit her teeth, and started pricking. Having finished, she painted the characters with ink mixed with vinegar so that the colour would never fade."[9]
The Kaifeng Jews, one of many pockets of Chinese Jews living in ancient China, refer to this tattoo in two of their three stele monuments created in 1489, 1512, and 1663. The first mention appeared in a section of the 1489 stele referring to the Jews' "Boundless loyalty to the country and Prince."[28] The second appeared in a section of the 1512 stele about how Jewish soldiers and officers in the Chinese armies were "boundlessly loyal to the country."[29]
Adult life
Portrait
The "Four Generals of Zhongxing" painted by Liu Songnian during the Southern Song dynasty. Yue Fei is the second person from the left. Han Shizhong is fifth from the left and Zhang Jun is fourth from the left.
Southern Song era artist Liu Songnian (劉松年) (1174–1224), who was best known for his realistic works, painted a picture, "Four Generals of Zhongxing" (中興四將).[30] The group portrait shows eight people — four generals and four attendants. Starting from the left: attendant, Yue Fei, attendant, Zhang Jun (張浚), Han Shizhong (韓世忠), attendant, Liu Guangshi (劉光世), and attendant.[31]
According to history professor He Zongli of Zhejiang University, the painting shows Yue was more of a scholarly-looking general with a shorter stature and chubbier build than the statue of him currently displayed in his tomb in Hangzhou, which portrays him as being tall and skinny. Shen Lixin, an official with the Yue Fei Temple Administration, holds the portrait of Yue Fei from the "Four Generals of Zhongxing" to be the most accurate likeness of the general in existence.[32]
Character
Calligraphy written by Yue Fei
In his From Myth to Myth: The Case of Yüeh Fei's Biography, noted SinologistHellmut Wilhelm[33] concluded that Yue Fei purposely patterned his life after famous Chinese heroes from dynasties past and that this ultimately led to his martyrdom.[5] Apart from studying literature under his father Yue He (岳和), Yue Fei loved to read military classics. He favored the Zuo Zhuan commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals and the strategies of Sun Tzu and Wu Qi. Although his literacy afforded him the chance to become a scholar, which was a position held in much higher regard than the common soldiery during the Song dynasty, Yue chose the military path because there had never been any tradition of civil service in his family. Therefore he had no reason to study Confucian classics in order to surpass the accomplishments of his ancestors or to raise his family's social status to the next level. His fourth generation ancestor, Yue Huan (岳渙), had served as a lingshi (令使) (essentially a low-level functionary),[34] but he was never a full-fledged member of the civil service rank.[35]A second theory is that he joined the military in the hopes of emulating his favorite heroes.[5]
Scholars were always welcome in Yue Fei's camp. He allowed them to come and tell stories and deeds of past heroes to bolster the resolve of his men. This way he was able to teach them about the warriors that he had constructed his own life after. He also hoped that one of these scholars would record his own deeds so he would become a peer amongst his idols. He is recorded in saying that he wished to be considered the equal of Guan Yu and other such famous men from the Three Kingdoms period. Yue succeeded in this endeavor since later "official mythology" placed him on the same level as Guan Yu.[5]
Yue was careful to conduct himself as the ideal Confucian gentleman at all times for fear that any misconduct would be recorded and criticized by people of later dynasties. However he had his faults. He had a problem with alcohol during the early part of his military career. Yue drank in great excess because he believed it fitted the image of heroes of old. However once he nearly killed a colleague in a drunken rage, the emperor made him promise not to drink any more until the Jurchen invaders had been driven away.[5]
Family
Yue Yun (岳雲), Yue Fei's eldest son
According to Shuo Yue Quanzhuan, Yue had five sons and one daughter. The History of Song records that Yue Yun (岳雲) (1119–1142) was adopted by Yue Fei at the age of 12[36] whilst others claim he was his biological son;[21] Yue Lei (岳雷), the second, succeeded to his father's post; Yue Ting (岳霆) was the third; Yue Lin (岳霖) was the fourth; and Yue Zhen (岳震), the fifth, was still young at the time of his father's death. Yue Yinping was Yue Fei's daughter. The novel states she committed suicide after her father's death and became a fairy in heaven. However, history books do not mention her name and therefore she should be considered a fictional character.[21] Yue Fei married the daughter of Magistrate Li when he was 16 years old (1119).[9] However, the account of his marriage is fictional.[21]
The Biography of Yue Fei states that Yue left his ailing mother with his first wife while he went to fight the Jin armies. However she "left him (and his mother) and remarried."[5] He later took a second wife and even discussed "affairs" pertaining to his military career with her. He truly loved her, but his affection for her was second to his desire to rid China of the Jurchen invaders. Her faithfulness to him and his mother was strengthened by the fear that any infidelity or lacking in her care of Lady Yue would result in reprisal.[5]
Yue forbade his sons from having concubines, which he almost took one himself. Even though she was presented by a friend, he did not accept her because she laughed when he asked her if she could "share the hardships of camp life" with him.[5] He knew she was liberal and would have sex with the other soldiers.[5]
Though not mentioned in the memoir written by Yue Fei's grandson, some scholarly sources claim Yue had a younger brother named Yue Fan (岳翻). He later served in the army under his brother and died in battle in 1132.[21]
The son of an impoverished farmer from northern China, Yue Fei joined the Song military in 1122.[37] Yue briefly left the army when his father died in 1123, but returned in 1126.[38] After reenlisting, he fought to suppress rebellions by local Chinese warlords responsible for looting in northern China. Local uprisings had diverted needed resources away from the Song's war against the Jin.[39] Yue participated in defending Kaifeng during the second siege of the city by the Jin in 1127. After Kaifeng fell, he joined an army in Jiankang tasked with defending the Yangtze. This army prevented the Jurchens from advancing to the river in 1129.[40] His rising reputation as a military leader attracted the attention of the Song court. In 1133, he was made the general of the largest army near the Central Yangtze.[41] Between 1134 and 1135, he led a counteroffensive against Qi, a puppet state supported by the Jin, and secured territories that had been conquered by the Jurchens.[42] He continued to advance in rank, and to increase the size of his army as he repeatedly led successful offensives into northern China. Several other generals were also successful against the Jin dynasty, and their combined efforts secured the survival of the Song dynasty. Yue, like most of them, was committed to recapturing northern China.
Stone Lake: The Poetry of Fan Chengda 1126-1193 states, "...Yue Fei ([1103]-1141)...repelled the enemy assaults in 1133 and 1134, until in 1135 the now confident Song army was in a position to recover all of north China from the Jin dynasty ... [In 1140,] Yue Fei initiated a general counterattack against the Jin armies, defeating one enemy after another until he set up camp within range of the Northern Song dynasty's old capital city, Kaifeng, in preparation for the final assault against the enemy. Yet in the same year Qin [Hui] ordered Yue Fei to abandon his campaign, and in 1141 Yue Fei was summoned back to the Southern Song capital. It is believed that the emperor then ordered Yue Fei to be hanged."[43]
Battle of Zhuxianzhen near Kaifeng in Henan where Yue Fei defeated the Jin army in 1140. Painting on the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace in Beijing.
Six methods for deploying an army
Yue Ke (岳珂) states his grandfather had six special methods for deploying an army effectively:
Careful selection
He relied more on small numbers of well-trained soldiers than he did large masses of the poorly trained variety. In this way, one superior soldier counted for as much as one hundred inferior soldiers. One example used to illustrate this was when the armies of Han Ching and Wu Xu were transferred into Yue's camp. Most of them had never seen battle and were generally too old or unhealthy for sustaining prolonged troop movement and engagement of the enemy. Once Yue had filtered out the weak soldiers and sent them home, he was only left with a meager thousand able-bodied soldiers. However, after some months of intense training, they were ready to perform almost as well as the soldiers who had served under Yue for years.[5]
Careful training
When his troops were not on military campaigns to win back lost Chinese territory in the north, Yue put his men through intense training. Apart from troop movement and weapons drills, this training also involved them leaping over walls and crawling through moats in full battle garb. The intensity of the training was such that the men would not even try to visit their families if they passed by their homes while on movement and even trained on their days off.[5]
Justice in rewards and punishments
He rewarded his men for their merits and punished them for their boasting or lack of training. Yue once gave a foot soldier his own personal belt, silver dinner ware, and a promotion for his meritorious deeds in battle. While on the reverse, he once ordered his son Yue Yun to be decapitated for falling off his horse after failing to jump a moat. His son was only saved after Yue's officers begged his mercy. There were a number of soldiers that were either dismissed or executed because they boasted of their skills or failed to follow orders.[5]
Clear orders
He always delivered his orders in a simple manner that was easy for all of his soldiers to understand. Whoever failed to follow them were severely punished.[5]
Strict discipline
While marching about the countryside, he never let his troops destroy fields or to pillage towns or villages. He made them pay a fair price for goods and made sure crops remained intact. A soldier once stole a hemp rope from a peasant so he could tie a bale of hay with it. When Yue discovered this, he questioned the soldier and had him executed.[5]
Close fellowship with his men
He treated all of his men like equals. He ate the same food as they did and slept out in the open as they did. Even when a temporary shelter was erected for him, he made sure several soldiers could find room to sleep inside before he found a spot of his own. When there was not enough wine to go around, he would dilute it with water so every soldier would have a cup to drink from.[5]
In 1126, several years before Yue became a general, the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty invaded northern China, forcing the Song dynasty out of its capital Kaifeng and capturing Emperor Qinzong of Song, who was sent into captivity in Manchuria. This marked the end of the Northern Song dynasty, and the beginning of the Southern Song dynasty under Emperor Gaozong.
Yue fought a long campaign against the invading Jurchens in an effort to retake northern China. Just when he was threatening to attack and retake Kaifeng, corrupt officials advised Emperor Gaozong to recall Yue to the capital and sue for peace with the Jurchens. Fearing that a defeat at Kaifeng might cause the Jurchens to release Emperor Qinzong, threatening his claim to the throne, Emperor Gaozong followed their advice, sending 12 orders in the form of 12 gold plaques to Yue Fei, recalling him back to the capital. Knowing that a success at Kaifeng could lead to internal strife, Yue submitted to the emperor's orders and returned to the capital, where he was imprisoned and where Qin Hui would eventually arrange for him to be executed on false charges.[9]
There are conflicting views on how Yue died. According to The History of China: (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations) and other sources, Yue died in prison.[13][44] The Chronicle of Yue, Prince of E of Song says he was killed in prison.[6]Shuo Yue Quanzhuan states he was strangled to death. It reads, "...[Yue Fei] strode in long steps to the Pavilion of Winds and Waves ... The warders on both sides picked up the ropes and strangled the three men [Yue Fei, Yue Yun, and Zhang Xian (張憲), Yue's subordinate] without further ado ... At the time Lord Yue was 39 years of age and the young lord Yue Yun 23. When the three men returned to Heaven, suddenly a fierce wind rose up wildly and all the fires and lights were extinguished. Black mists filled the sky and sand and pebbles were blown about."[9]
The Secrets of Eagle Claw Kung Fu: Ying Jow Pai comments, "Finally, [Yue Fei] received the 'Twelfth Golden Edict' [from the emperor calling him back to the capital], which if ignored meant banishment. Patriotism demanded that he obey. On his way back to the capital he stopped to rest at a pavilion. Qin Hui anticipated Yue Fei's route and sent some men to lie in wait. When Yue Fei arrived, Qin's men ambushed and murdered him. Just 39 years old, Yue Fei like many good men in history, had a swift, brilliant career, then died brutally while still young."[45]
According to A Chinese Biographical Dictionary, "[Father and son] had not been two months in confinement when Qin Hui resolved to rid himself of his enemy. He wrote out with his own hand an order for the execution of Yue Fei, which was forthwith carried into effect; whereupon he immediate reported that Yue Fei had died in prison."[14] Meaning he had Yue and his son executed but reported they both died while in captivity.
Other sources say he was poisoned to death.[46][47] Still, a great number simply say he was executed, murdered, or "treacherously assassinated".[48][49][50]
Shuo Yue Quanzhuan states after having Yue Fei, Yue Yun, Zhang Xian arrested under false charges, Qin Hui and his wife, Lady Wang (王氏), were sitting by the "eastern window", warming themselves by the fire, when he received a letter from the people calling for the release of Yue Fei. Qin was worried because after nearly two months of torture, he could not get Yue to admit to treason and would eventually have to let him go. However, after a servant girl brought fresh oranges into the room, Lady Wang devised a plan to execute Yue. She told Qin to slip an execution notice inside the skin of an orange and send it to the judge presiding over Yue's case. This way, Yue and his companions would be put to death before the emperor or Qin himself would have to rescind an open order of execution.[9] This conspiracy became known as the "East Window Plot".[51] A novel about this incident, titled Dong Chuang Ji (東窗記; "Tale of the Eastern Window"), was written during the Ming dynasty by an anonymous writer.[52]
When asked by Han Shizhong on what crime Yue had committed, Qin Hui replied, "Though it isn't sure whether there is something that he did to betray the dynasty, maybe there is." The phrase "perhaps there is" or "could be true" (Chinese: 莫須有; pinyin: mò xū yǒu, often mistranslated from Ancient to Contemporary Chinese as "you committed no crime") has entered the Chinese dictionary as an expression to refer to fabricated charges.[53] Decades later, his grandson, Yue Ke (岳珂), had retrieve documentary evidence of his grandfather's achievements, and published an adulatory biography of him. Emperor Xiaozong eventually posthumously pardoned and rehabilitated Yue. For their part in Yue's death, iron statues of Qin Hui, Lady Wang, and two of Qin's subordinates, Moqi Xie (万俟軼) and Zhang Jun (張俊), were made to kneel before Yue Fei's tomb (located by the West Lake, Hangzhou). For centuries, these statues have been cursed, spat and urinated upon by people. The original castings in bronze were damaged, but later were replaced by images cast in iron, but these were similarly damaged. However now, in modern times, these statues are protected as historical relics.[54]
There is a poem hanging on the gate surrounding the statues that reads, "The green hill is fortunate to be the burial ground of a loyal general, the white iron was innocent to be cast into the statues of traitors."[55]
According to one source, "In 1162 Emperor Xiaozong of Song restored his honours, and gave proper burial to his remains. A [tomb] was put up in his memory, and he was designated Zhongwu (忠武; "Loyal and Martial"). In 1179 he was canonized as Wumu (武穆)."[14]
According to the novel Xi You Bu, a satire of Journey to the West, written in 1641 by the scholar Dong Ruoyu (also known as Dong Yue, 1620–1686), the Monkey Kingenthusiastically serves in hell as the trial prosecutor of Qin Hui. At one point, the Monkey King asks the spirit of Yue Fei if he would like to drink Qin's blood.[52]
The two styles most associated with Yue are Eagle Claw and Xingyi boxing. One book states Yue created Eagle Claw for his enlisted soldiers and Xingyi for his officers.[56] Legend has it that Yue studied in Shaolin Monastery with a monk named Zhou Tong and learned the "elephant" style of boxing, a set of hand techniques with great emphasis on qinna (joint-locking).[45][57][58] Other tales say he learned this style elsewhere outside the temple under the same master.[13] Yue eventually expanded elephant style to create the Yibai Lingba Qinna (一百零八擒拿 - "108 Locking Hand Techniques") of the Ying Sao (Eagle Hands) or Ying Kuen (Eagle Fist).[45] After becoming a general in the imperial army, Yue taught this style to his men and they were very successful in battle against the armies of the Jin dynasty.[13] Following his wrongful execution and the disbandment of his armies, Yue's men supposedly traveled all over China spreading the style, which eventually ended right back in Shaolin where it began. Later, a monk named Li Quan (麗泉) combined this style with Fanziquan, another style attributed to Yue, to create the modern day form of Northern Ying Jow Pai boxing.[45][59]
According to legend, Yue combined his knowledge of internal martial arts and spearplay learned from Zhou Tong (in Shaolin) to create the linear fist attacks of Xingyi boxing.[13][60] One book claims he studied and synthesized Buddhism's Tendon Changing and Marrow Washingqigong systems to create Xingyi.[61] On the contrary, proponents of Wudangquan believe it is possible that Yue learned the style in theWudang Mountains that border his home province of Henan. The reasons they cite for this conclusion are that he supposedly lived around the same time and place as Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of t'ai chi; Xingyi's five fist attacks, which are based on the Five Chinese Elements theory, are similar to tai-chi's "Yin-yang theory"; and both theories areTaoist-based and not Buddhist.[62] The book Henan Orthodox Xingyi Quan, written by Pei Xirong (裴锡荣) and Li Ying'ang (李英昂), states Xingyi master Dai Longbang
...wrote the 'Preface to Six Harmonies Boxing' in the 15th reign year of the Qianlong Emperor [1750]. Inside it says, '...when [Yue Fei] was a child, he received special instructions from Zhou Tong. He became extremely skilled in the spear method. He used the spear to create methods for the fist. He established a method called Yi Quan [意拳]. Mysterious and unfathomable, followers of old did not have these skills. Throughout the Jin, Yuan and Ming dynasties few had his art. Only Ji Gong had it. (于乾隆十五年为“六合拳”作序云：“岳飞当童子时，受业于周侗师，精通枪法，以枪为拳，立法以教将佐，名曰意拳，神妙莫测，盖从古未有之技也。)[63][64]
Inside the grounds of Yue Fei's tomb and shrine in Hangzhou; the inscriptions at the far end read "Serve the country with the utmost loyalty".
The Ji Gong mentioned above, better known as Ji Jike (姬際可) or Ji Longfeng (姬隆丰), is said to have trained in Shaolin Monastery for ten years as a young man and was matchless with the spear.[60] As the story goes, he later traveled to Xongju Cave on Mount Zhongnan to receive a boxing manual written by Yue Fei, from which he learned Xingyi. However, some believe Ji actually created the style himself and attributed it to Yue Fei because he was fighting the Manchus, descendants of the Jurchens who Yue had struggled against.[65] Ji supposedly created it after watching a battle between an eagle and a bear during the Ming dynasty.[66] Other sources say he created it while training in Shaolin. He was reading a book and looked up to see two roosters fighting, which inspired him to imitate the fighting styles of animals.[60][67][68] Both versions of the story (eagle / bear and roosters) state he continued to study the actions of animals and eventually increased the cadre of animal forms.[60]
Several other martial arts have been attributed to Yue Fei, including Yuejiaquan (Yue Family Boxing), Fanziquan (Tumbling Boxing), andChuojiao quan (Feet-Poking Boxing), among others.[69][70][71] The "Fanzi Boxing Ballad" says: "Wumu has passed down the Fanziquan which has mystery in its straightforward movements." Wumu (武穆) was a posthumous name given to Yue after his death.[14] One Chuojiao legend states Zhou Tong learned the style from its creator, a wandering Taoist named Deng Liang (鄧良), and later passed it onto Yue Fei, who is considered to be the progenitor of the style.[69][72]
Besides martial arts, Yue is also said to have studied traditional Chinese medicine. He understood the essence of Hua Tuo's Wu Qin Xi (五禽戲 – "Five Animal Frolics") and created his own form of "medical qigong’’ known as the Ba Duan Jin (八段錦 – "Eight Pieces of Brocade"). It is considered a form of Wai Dan (外丹 – "External Elixir") medical qigong.[73] He taught this qigong to his soldiers to help keep their bodies strong and well-prepared for battle.[74][75] One legend states that Zhou Tong took young Yue to meet a Buddhist hermit who taught him EmeiDapeng Qigong (峨嵋大鵬氣功). His training in Dapeng Qigong was the source of his great strength and martial arts abilities. Modern practitioners of this style say it was passed down by Yue.[17]
Connection to Praying Mantis boxing
According to Shuo Yue Quanzhuan, Lin Chong and Lu Junyi of the 108 outlaws in Water Margin were former students of Yue's teacher Zhou Tong.[76] One legend states Zhou learned Chuojiao boxing from its originator Deng Liang (鄧良) and then passed it onto Yue Fei, who is sometimes considered the progenitor of the style.[69] Chuojiao is also known as the "Water Margin Outlaw style" and Yuanyang Tui (鴛鴦腿 - "Mandarin Duck Leg").[77] In chapter 29 of Water Margin, titled "Wu Song beats Jiang the Door God in a drunken stupor", it mentions Wu Song, another of Zhou's fictional students, using the "Jade Circle-Steps with Duck and Drake feet".[78] A famous folklore Praying Mantis manuscript, which describes the fictional gathering of eighteen martial arts masters in Shaolin, lists Lin Chong (#13) as a master of "Mandarin ducks kicking technique".[69] This creates a folklore connection between Yue and Mantis boxing.
Lineage Mantis master Yuen Man Kai openly claims Zhou Tong taught Lin Chong and Lu Junyi the "same school" of martial arts that was later combined with the aforementioned seventeen other schools to create Mantis fist.[79] However, he believes Mantis fist was created during the Ming dynasty, and was therefore influenced by these eighteen schools from the Song dynasty. He also says Lu Junyi taught Yan Qing the same martial arts as he learned from Zhou Tong.[80] Yuen further comments that Zhou Tong later taught Yue Fei the same martial art and that Yue was the originator of the mantis move "Black Tiger Steeling [sic] Heart".[80]
Poetry
At the age of 30, Yue supposedly wrote his most celebrated poem, "Man Jiang Hong" ("Entirely Red River"). This poem reflects the raw hatred he felt towards the Jurchen-ruledJin dynasty, as well as the sorrow he felt when his efforts to recoup northern lands lost to Jin were halted by Southern Song officials of the "Peace Faction". However, several modern historians, including Princeton University Prof. James T.C. Liu, believe certain phrasing in the poem dates its creation to the early 16th century, meaning Yue did not write it.[81]
Posterity
Among the Yue Fei's descendants there was Yue Zhongqi zh:岳钟琪, the minister of defence (兵部尚書, Bingbu Shangshu) and general governor of Shanxi and Gansu province during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng.
Folk hero
Yue Fei's stature in Chinese history rose to that of a national folk hero after his execution.[82] Qin Hui, and in some cases Emperor Gaozong, were blamed by later historians for their supposed role in Yue Fei's execution and conciliatory stance with the Jin dynasty.[83] The allegations that Qin Hui conspired with the Jin to execute Yue Fei are popular in Chinese literature, but have never been proven.[84] The real Yue Fei differed from the later myths that grew from his exploits.[85] The portrayal of Yue as a scholar-general is only partially true. He was a skilled general, and may have been partially literate in Classical Chinese, but he was not an erudite Confucian scholar.[38] Contrary to traditional legends, Yue was not the sole Chinese general engaged in the offensive against the Jurchens. He was one of many generals that fought against the Jin in northern China, and unlike Yue Fei, some of his peers were genuine members of the scholarly elite.[41] Many of the exaggerations of Yue Fei's life can be traced to a biography written by his grandson, Yue Ke. Yue Fei's status as a folk hero strengthened in the Yuan dynasty and had a large impact on Chinese culture.[86] Temples and shrines devoted to Yue Fei were constructed in theMing dynasty. A Chinese World War II anthem alludes to lyrics said to have been written by Yue Fei.[87]
Bibliography
Franke, Herbert (1994). "The Chin dynasty". In Denis Twitchett, Denis C.; John King Fairbank. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 710–1368. Cambridge University Press. pp. 215–320. ISBN978-0-521-24331-5. (hardcover)
Lorge, Peter (2005). War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900–1795. Routledge. ISBN978-0-203-96929-8.
Tao, Jing-Shen (2009). "The Move to the South and the Reign of Kao-tsung". In Paul Jakov Smith; Denis C. Twitchett. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 5, The Sung dynasty and Its Precursors, 907-1279. Cambridge University Press. pp. 556–643. ISBN978-0-521-81248-1. (hardcover)
This blog has nice photos of West Lake and Yue Fei's Temple in Hangzhou.
Stories from History: Yue Fei and Wuhan (Part 1)
October 20, 2011 | By Yangchun
(Clearwisdom.net)
Statue of Yue Fei in Yue Fei Temple
Yue Fei lived from the years 1103-1141. He was born in Tangyin County of Xiangzhou, now a part of China's Henan Province. Yue Fei is well remembered in Chinese history as a great general and national hero of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Yue Fei was a diligent student. He developed good skills in the martial arts and joined the army at the age of 19. Shortly afterwards, his father passed away, so Yue Fei left the army to go home and mourn his father.
In 1126, the Jin Dynasty invaded the Southern Song Dynasty. Yue Fei joined the army again and thus resumed his military career to defend the country. Living by the principle to “serve the country with utmost loyalty” he carried out the mission to take back the land that was occupied by the Jin invaders. His army was well trained with strong discipline and “would rather die of hunger than rob people, and die of cold than tear people's houses down to burn.” Yue Fei's army continuously defeated the Jin army and were well liked by the people.
In his military career, Yue Fei directed 126 battles and didn't even lose a single one. He is a true “forever-victorious general.” Jin's army was so afraid of Yue Fei's army that they said, “To shake the mountains is easy, but to shake Yue Fei's army is barely possible.”
Yue Fei's mother writes “Jing Zhong Bao Guo” or “served the country with utmost loyalty” on his back, as depicted in a decoration on a beam at the Summer Palace, Beijing.
According to history, Yue Fei's mother, Mrs. Yao, died at his military base in Ezhou (in Hubei Province) in March 1136. Deciding to resign his official position, Yue Fei left without reporting to the emperor. He carried her coffin to Lu Mountain, Jiangxi Province and submitted a report to request approval to stay in mourning for his mother. But the emperor ordered him to come back to serve the country. So Yue Fei “converted his filial piety to loyalty (to the emperor and the country)” and returned to his position.
Yue Fei exhibited honesty and high moral standards when taking official positions. He often said, “If officials do not like money and generals do not fear death, the world will be in peace.”
Being a general, Yue Fei liked reading Zuo Zhuan, a history book about the Spring and Autumn Period (722 BC – 468 BC) and military books by Sun Tzu, etc. During the break times between battles, he also wrote and read poems with his staff. Fourteen of his poems and three ci have been passed down, among them, “Man Jiang Hong” demonstrates his strong patriotism and determination to defend his country.
Yue Fei also enjoyed calligraphy. His writing of regular script in small characters followed Yan Zhenqing's (a leading calligrapher in China) style while his running-regular script followed Su Shi's (another famous calligrapher) style. Several of his stone inscriptions still exist. The “First and Second Memorials on Dispatching the Troops” was the most famous one.
The main historical sites in Wuhan that are related to Yue Fei are:
Yue Fei Pavilion
The Yue Fei Pavilion is located in front of the Yue Fei Bronze Statue in Huanghe Park. It faces south and was built in 1937 and renovated in 1981. It was built with stone and wood and has hexagonal tips pointing up to the sky and green glazed roof tiles. The whole construction is simple and dignified.
The stone stele of Yue Fei's picture (it was said to be from the Valiant Temple of Prince of E located outside the Big East Gate in Wuchang) is inside the pavilion.
Yue Fei Bronze Statue
岳飞铜像
“Return My River and Mountains” (Yue Fei's calligraphic writing)
《还我河山》
The bronze statue of Yue Fei is eight meters (27 feet) high. It sits on a two-meter base. It depicts Yue Fei holding the reins of the horse, exhibiting valiant demeanor, righteousness, and a powerful stare, as if looking at the rivers and mountains of the country. A 25.6 meter (85 feet) wide blue stone relief depicts the scene of his army defeating Jin's army. His ci (a type of poem) “Man Jiang Hong – Thoughts after Climbing the Huanghe Tower” was engraved on it. The whole sculpture is powerful and smooth, and evokes a shocking effect on people.
After the Japanese invaded Beijing in 1937, Wuhan's anti-Japanese groups found a green stele that was from the Tenth Year of Wanli Period in the Ming Dynasty (1582). The stele had Yue Fei's picture and an eulogy poem by Zhang Yixian from Dali City, Yunnan Province. Several groups selected Hu Zhi, a member of the Xinhai Revolution Club, to lead the effort to collect money and build the Pavilion of Yue Fei's Picture of eight meters east of the temple. The stele was erected inside the pavilion. The pavilion thus became famous due to the stele.
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