8. Twelve leading Shaolin Heroes

I intended to give detailed accounts of all the leading Shaolin heroes at this point, but the inadequacy of available data (and the fact that Kung Fu films seldom range wider than a handful of very familiar names) forces me to limit my choice to the following 12 figures.

Hong Xiguan
Born in Huaxian in Guangdong. He was believed to be of distant royal ancestry, one of his forefathers being Prince Liang (personal name: Zhu Wenzhong), the fifteenth son of the Ming Emperor Chong Zhen. (After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu changed his name to 'Hong' as a tribute to the Qing Emperor Hong Wu - to avoid persecution from the new Qing authorities.) Hong Xiguan was one of the few who survived the burning of the Shaolin Monastery in Fujian. According to one story, he survived the catastrophe by going into hiding in the Red Junks, and there continued his revolutionary activities. His constant flight from the Qing authorities eventually brought him to Huaxian, where he married a woman named Liu Yingchun and had one son, Hong Wenting. Apart from instructing his own son in martial arts, he also took Luo Xiaojuan, Zhou Renjie and Hu Zhibiao (the son of Hu Huiqian) as his students. When his wife died, he remarried; his second wife was Fang Yongchun, the niece of Fang Shiyu. Hong founded his own fighting style, known as the Hong Fist (Hongjia Quan), which included the celebrated Tiger Crane Fist manoeuvres.

Legend has it that Hong lived to the age of 93, into the early years of the reign of Emperor Dao Guang (who acceded to the throne in 1821). He died when taken unaware in a fight by a young girl, who used the Phoenix Eye Fist (Fengyan Quan) manoeuvre against him. Apart from being a master of various fist styles, Hong was also expert in the Shaolin Pole techniques.

Fang Shiyu
Born in Zhaoxing in Guangdong.His father Fang De was a silk merchant. Feng De had two other sons by his first wife Li. The eldest was Fang Xiaoyu, the second Fang Meiyu; both studied at Shaolin under Zhi Shan. At the age of 60, after the death of his first wife, Fang De
married Miao Cuihua, the daughter of Shaolin disciple Miao Xian, and Fang Shiyu was born into this marriage. (Miao Xian, the bride's father, led a secluded life after the burning of the Songshan Shaolin Monastery: he became a saltmerchant, and ended his life in virtual destitution.)

The difference in age between Fang Shiyu and his halfbrothers was at least 20 years. Miao Cuihua, having studied under her father, was herself an expert martial artist. According to the novel Evergreen, she

"followed the wishes of her father, and bathed the one-month-old Shiyu in a herbal oil. She then swathed the infant in successive layers of bamboo strips, wooden rods and iron bars, so that his muscles, bones and joints became as hard as metal. By the time that he was three, the child was already training with an iron helmet on his head and iron boots on his feet. (...) At the age of six, he began practising the 'Horse' stance; at seven, he started learning various forms of fist and footwork. By the age of 14, his versatility extended to all kinds of weaponry. Endowed with exceptional strength, his body was all but invulnerable. Fiery and hottempered, he was an unrelenting champion of the oppressed".

Fang Shiyu was just 14 when he killed Lei Laohu (as described in section 5, above), an event that stoked the antagonism between Shaolin and Wudang. He died in his early twenties, some say in the burning of the Jiulianshan Shaolin Monastery, some say afterwards. He was particularly expert in the use of the Hua Dao (Flower Sword).

Fang Yongchun
The niece of Fang Shiyu, she was also born in Zhaoxing in Guangdong. Since Fang Shiyu's brothers were at least 20 years older than him, she must have been about the same age as her uncle. Also known as the Third Lady of Yongchun, she studied under Zhi Shan, specialising in the Yongchun Fist (although another version of the story identifies Yan Yongchun rather than her as the originator of this style).

She later married Hong Xiguan. One account alleges that Fang Yongchun knew the Crane Fist style, and, when she married Hong, combined it with his Tiger Fist to produce Tiger Crane Boxing. But Zhu Yuzhai's Heroes of South China identifies the Third Lady of Yongchun as a nun who taught Hong Xiguan the Tiger Crane Fist so that he could perform an act of revenge for her. And another legend concerning the Third Lady of Yongchun can be found in the lore of the White Crane school: after the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery in Fujian, the disciple Fang Huishi (whose head had not yet been shaved) escaped and went into hiding in the Shaolin Monastery, also in Fujian. There he (or she) taught all his skills to his daughter Fang Qiniang, who in turn went on to found the White Crane Fist, inspired by her observation of an actual white crane. Qiniang later became a nun, and took the name Yongchun.

It is impossible to ascertain whether Fang Yongchun, Fang Qiniang and the nun Yongchun were one and the same person or three distinct individuals.

Hu Huiqian
Born in Xuihui in Guangdong. His father owned a store near the Jinlun Tang (headquarters of the union of weavers in Guangdong) in Xiguan, and was one day beaten to death by members of the weaver's union. Hu Huiqian was at that time untrained in martial arts, and was himself badly injured in the incident. He was, however, rescued by Fang Shiyu, who introduced him to the Jiulianshan Shaolin Monastery, where he began his training. He decided to leave the monastery before completing the courses, though, and (being unable to fight his way through the corridor of wooden dummies) made his getaway through a drain. On reaching his hometown, he took his revenge on the weavers, an action that led directly to some bloody clashes between the Shaolin and Wudang schools. He subsequently established a base at the Xichan
Monastery in Guangzhou with the San-De Monk; they organised activities against the Wudang disciples and against the 'Qixia Lao' (7)(the Cantonese name for the local Manchus). Later, sensing the danger of the situation, he sent his son Hu Zhibiao to the Shaolin Monastery in Fujian. He was killed in a fight at the Xichan Monastery. His special skill was the Hua Quan (Flower Fist).

The San-De Monk
He was born in Huiyang in Guangdong, and known as Liu Yude before becoming a monk. (His name 'San-De' means 'Three Virtues'.) His father was a tea merchant in Guangzhou, whose store was in the Shuangmendi district, where a large number of Qixia Lao (Manchus) lived. The latter frequently oppressed their weaker neighbours. Liu Yude was 16 in the late years of the Emperor Yong Zheng's reign (1723-1736). He delighted in the martial arts and since ne could lift a weight as heavy as 400 catties, he became known as 'Iron Arms'. After killing a Manchu, he became a monk and took refuge in the Shaolin Monastery, where he trained under Zhi Shan. It was there that he acquired the name 'San-De'. On completion of his training, he moved to the Xichan Monastery in Guangzhou to carry on his anti-Qing activities. The monastery was eventually traced by Wudang disciples and Qing soldiers, and he died during their attack.

He was a man of massive physique, and was especially skilled in the use of a 60-catty metal stave as a weapon.

Tong Qianjin
He was born in Kejia in Guangdong. He studied at the Shaolin Monastery, but escaped before completing his formal training. Zhi Shan sent Lu Acai after him, but Lu did not follow his instructions to kill the fugitive. Tong later took refuge with the San-De Monk at Xichan Monastery. He killed Li Bashan of the Wudang school, but was himself killed by Li's daughter Li Xiaohuan. An alternative version has him dying in a fight at Xichan Monastery.
His preferred weapon was the Qianjin Zhui (literally, the Thousand Catty Weight).

Xie Afu
He was born in Nanhai in Guangdong. He entered the Shaolin Monastery at Fujian at an early age, and studied under Zhi Shan. On completion of his training, he re-entered society and made a name for himself by winning a number of murderous fights; he was popularly known as 'the outstanding talent of Shaolin'. After the destruction of the monastery, he evaded the authorities' attempts to track down all Shaolin survivors by changing his name and withdrawing to the Red Junks and working as a baotou(8) and as a servant. His fear of being recognised led him to smoke large quantities of opium, in order to alter his physical appearance. Inevitably, he became an addict, and ended his life in wretched circumstances, totally disfigured.

He was renowned for his skill with a pair of weapons called Tie Yuan-yang (literally Iron Mandarin Ducks).

Chongmi Liu
He was born in Guangzhou. His real name was Lin Aliu. At the age of 15, he began working as an apprentice husker (or ricepounder) in a rice shop. He was powerfully built and exceptionally strong; he was able to move with great agility while shouldering five or six hundred catty loads. He averaged three to four catties of wine and ten bowls of rice at every meal, and would still insist that that he had never eaten one full meal in his life. His prodigious appetite lost him his job in the rice shop, and he remained without work for some time because potential employers were reluctant to accept the onus of feeding him. In a miserable condition, he sought charity from the monks of the Haichuang Monastery in Henan, who employed him as a trunkcarrier(9) . Surprised by his great strength, Abbot LeYin recommended him to Zhi Shan at Shaolin to study martial arts. He trained for six years at the monastery before his characteristic impatience made him eager to leave. He was successfully fighting his way through the Luohan Hall when a sudden cramp struck him in his right leg; he was seriously injured by the wooden dummies, but rescued at the last moment. He later followed Hu Huiqian's example, and left the monastery via a drain. He made his way to the Xichan Monastery in Guangzhou, where he stayed as a follower of the San-De Monk. He was celebrated for his Iron Fist style.

Lu Acai
He was a Manchu, whose father was stationed in Guangdong. He was orphaned at an early age, and raised by an uncle,who mistreated him so frequently that he ran away to work as a servant at the age of 12. His life was lonely and hard until a chance meeting with a monk (believed to be the Shaolin disciple Li Baifu) at a Cantonese opera performance that marked a religious festival. He became the monk's disciple, and studied martial arts under him for seven years. With his sifu's recommendation, he went on to study at the Jiulianshan Shaolin Monastery under Zhi Shan. After the destruction of the monastery, he fled to Guangzhou, where he adopted Huang Qiying (Huang Fei-Hong's father) as his pupil. He soon withdrew from the martial arts and from society as a whole to study medicine. He died at the age of 68 in his home, known as Leshan Lodge. Huang Qiying was his only student. He was especially adept at the Hua Quan (Flower Fist), and was sometimes referred to as Hua Quan Lu Acai.

Huang Qiying
He was bom in Xiqiao in the county of Nanhai in Guangdong. When young, he earned a living performing acrobatics in thestreet. Oneday, while performing outside the residence of the general of Guangdong, he was noticed by Lu Acai, who appreciated his talent and took him on as a pupil. During ten years of training under Lu, he mastered the best of his sifu's skills. He later became the martial arts instructor of the general of Guangdong's infantry regirrrent. His wages in the post were so meagre that he was forced to establish a herbal medicine dispensary on Jingyuan Street to support his family.

He passed his skills on to his son Huang Fei-Hong (subject of countless Kung Fu films), who in turn taught several disciples including Lin Shirong, Gui Jiaoqi and Liang Kuan.

Tieqiao San
His real name was Liang Kun, and he was later known as 'the great master of the Hong Fist'. In his youth, he studied martial arts under the famous Shaolin master Li Huzi ('Bearded Li', also known as 'Golden Hook'). He loved studying martial techniques, and travelled around in search of friends and great masters, frequently seeking out the company of Buddhist monks. Dedicated training in Shaolin techniques helped him to develop a rocksolid stance. He went on to teach martial arts at the Guangzhi dyeworks at Rainbow Bridge in Guangzhou; he became an extremely wellknown figure.

He was born during the reign of the Emperor Jia Jing (1796-1821), lived through the reigns of Emperors Xian Feng and Tong Zhi, and died in the 12th or 13th year of the reign of Emperor Guang Xu (1887 or 1888). His death was caused by overzealous training in the '36 Point Copper Ring Pole' technique, under the monk Yuan Guang at Hai-chuang Monastery. He had long been an opium smoker; the monk advised him to break the habit and to train in the pole technique instead. But he pushed himself too hard for his age, fell ill and died around the age of 70. His familiar name translates literally as 'Iron Stance Three'.

Su Qier
He was born in Hunan, and was originally known as Su Cau. He is better known as 'Beggar Su'. For a time, he made a living by performing martial arts in the street with his sister, and they eventually arrived in Guangdong. He at one point opened a martial arts school at the building of the Sansheng She, a club in Guangzhou.

He was an expert in Shaolin pole techniques, and delighted in leading the life of a wanderer.

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