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Morality: The Soul of Wushu

2003-11-27 16:09 COC

    Following is an article written in 1991 by Xu Cai, former president of the Chinese Wushu Association:

    In my talk with a German friend the other day about the philosophy of wushu, I mentioned the great German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) who said that he had absorbed wisdom from China's eight-diagram theory in perfecting the binary system of numeration. My friend added enthusiastically that it was this German philosopher who proposed to invite Chinese to give lectures on Chinese philosophy of Nature. Indeed, Leibniz was the first European scholar to claim Chinese culture as of great value for European culture. In his preface to Recent Developments in China, he highly praised Chinese ethics, saying that nobody had ever believed in the existence of a nation whose ethics and ways of life could be more perfect than the Germans' and that he had awakened to China in the East. Leibniz said all this three hundred years ago, when China was under the yoke of feudalism and her ethics was bound to have a strong feudalist flavour. Nonetheless, there could be found, in the relations among the common folk, some simple social customs and moral principles which have earmarked China's cultural heritages and are still upheld as noble virtues today. And in the morality observed by wushu artists down through the ages lies the very soul of wushu as a component part of Chinese culture.

    Under the influence of traditional Chinese ethics, wushu has developed a philosophy of its own on the issue of morality, as may be seen from many watchwords, such as "Wushu mirrors morality"; "A wushu master is first valued for his moral character, not for his physical power"; and "Morality goes before pugilism". Instead of being discarded as feudalist rubbish, the moral principles underlying these sayings should be observed and developed by wushu people of all times.

    Today, when wushu is spreading far and wide in the world and facing a bright future, we should do our best to disseminate not only its techniques, but also its moral ideas, so that all its followers outside China will familiarize themselves with its ethics and temper themselves into men of the cleanest integrity. It is satisfying to note that the importance of the moral aspect of wushu has been brought home to many practitioners abroad. As pointed out by an American wushu master during his visit to China not long ago, "Many Americans know about Chinese kungfu. Now we're here in China to seek its roots. We're appreciative of the morality of wushu." His words have revealed the truth that morality is the soul of wushu, the fountainhead of all its spiritual force and technical perfection.

    One who sets great store by the moral code of wushu is fully aware that its true aim is not to beat and harm others, but to improve his health, to defend himself, to become a noble character. It has nothing to do with the evil practice of fighting in the street, bullying and hooliganism. On the contrary, a real wushu master knows how to behave himself and how to handle human relations properly -- between individual and individual, between individual and community, and between community and community. That's why the wushu community advocates reverence for the master, care for the disciple, respect for the opponent, brotherhood among different branches and schools and friendship through competition. It is worth particular mentioning that morality is not confined to training, teaching, competition and demonstration, but extended to one's conduct, personality and way of life. In ancient China, each wushu school had its own strict behests laid down in conformity with the social ethics at the time, such as the "ten commandments" for the Shaolin School and the White-Crane Boxing of Yongchun School. Sun Lutang (1861-1933), founder of the Sun-style taijiquan, often told his pupils that a wushu master must have not only two "virtuous hands," but also a "virtuous tongue," which means that he must always be modest and never speak evil of others behind their back. Only by setting up a high moral standard in his relations with fellow beings and acting accordingly can one reach perfection in the mastery of martial arts.

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