Bak Mei - Historical Bai Mei

Historical Bai Mei

In 2012 an academic research was done on the historical origins of the style of Baimei Quan (Pak Mei Kuen or White Eyebrow Fist) and the validity of the monk Bai Mei, using the resources of US University Professors of Chinese and Buddhist Studies as well as Mr. Xiong Feng of the Emei Shan museum, Sichuan Province China.

The earliest reference to the monk Bai Mei as an actual person comes in the Wuxia novel called Wunnian Qing (A Thousand Years Green or Evergreen) as being one of the five ancestors who survived the sacking of the Shaolin Temple (circa 1727) by the Qing army. Yet there are many problems with this source, as follows;

• It is a work of fiction (anonymous) and has no historical basis whatsoever.
• There is no historical evidence to suggest that the Shaolin Temple of Henan Province was ever attacked and destroyed by the Qing armies.
• There are conflicting versions as to who the suppossed five survivors were.

It is easy to see how a past work of fiction, originally written as a piece of propoganda, became interwoven in the fullness of time into the collective mind as historical fact. The Bai Mei caricature, a mysterious monk originating from the Shaolin Temple with white eyebrows and awesome power, was in all probability employed to create a lineage with the said Temple, giving the style a veritable heritage as well as alluding to wisdom and venerability. The oral tradition is that Chan master Bai Mei had a disciple, Guanghui, to whom he passed on the arts.

Guanghui means Vast Benevolence and is a typical Buddhist nomination for either a monk or a temple; indeed there are several temples throughout China that bear this name. Yet on searching through the surviving gazetteers for Mount Emei there is no mention of a monk named Guanghui. There is no material evidence to suggest that Guanghui came from Emei Shan; all we have is the oral tradition from Zhang Liquan (Cheung Lai Chuen) that his Shifu, Zhu Fayun, came from a temple in Sichuan Province.

Zhu Fayun. Fa, in the context of a monk's name, means Buddhist Teachings and Yun means Cloud. The Chinese character Zhu formed part of the ancient word Tianzhu, meaning India. Zhu Fayun is said to have been a Buddhist monk from Emei Shan in Sichuan Province on a pilgrimage to the Guangxiao (Bright Filial Monastery), in Guangzhou. This is enirely plausible as the Guangxiao monastery is one of the oldest temples in south China as well as being one of the most influential Buddhist shrines. During his stay in Guangxiao, Zhu Fayun commited to teach Zhang Liquan (Cheung Lai Chuen) the Baimei arts.

Zhang Liquan (1882-1964). It would seem that Zhang Liquan was essentially an honest man with respect to his martial arts. He learnt three different styles from three different masters prior to having met Zhu Fayun. He formally acknowledges each of his former Shifu by name and honors them by keeping at least one of their forms in the Pak Mei syllabus. At a later stage in his career, Zhang Liquan formulated several of his own forms, including Tuotiao Quan (Cantonese: Tit Til Kuen) and Simen Bagua (Cantonese: Say Mun Ba Gua) which he openly professed were his own works. It would appear contradictory to suggest that such a man, who has been totally honest about the origins of all that he has learnt, would deny the existence of one teacher, or indeed invent a fictional character to disguise his own works when he has already affirmed creating several of his own.

All the supplementary forms in the Pak Mei syllabus, whatever the original style, fall under the collective classification of Nan Quan (Southern Fist) or more precisely DongJiang Quan (East River Fist). A common denominator to all these forms is that they are divided into two parts; the second being a repetition of the first, performed in the opposite direction. They also have numerous stances and techniques in common and share similar terminology and methodology. Accordinly there have been attempts to suggest that Baimei quan forms part of these southern or Hakka styles or indeed is a concoction of these various styles. Yet none of the four Baimei original forms are performed in two halves, nor do they share any stances or techniques with the supplementary forms. Similary the Baimei opening salutation, Wuhu Sihai (Cantonese: Ng Wu Say Hoi) is not found in any other style apart from Baimei derivatives. Put simply Baimei quan is unique among all Chinese Wushu.

Source: Baimei Wuyi (White Eyebrow Martial Arts) ISBN 978-189251537-7