What is the martial arts world of China people?

If you like watching martial arts novels or movies, you may have noticed that many martial arts stories are set in the Ming Dynasty. For example, Jin Yong's Sword with Royal Blood is set in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. "Eternal Dragon Slayer" is also the Ming Dynasty, and even Zhu Yuanzhang appeared. Another example is some classic martial arts movies, such as "Royal Guards", which tell the story of the Ming Dynasty. Some martial arts stories don't specify the time background, such as the legendary swordsman and Xinlongmen Inn. Many people tend to assume that the story background is in the Ming Dynasty. But the question is, with such a long history in China, why are these martial arts stories so fond of the Ming Dynasty?

Anecdotes about chivalrous men have been circulated in the pre-Qin philosophers' era. For example, Sima Qian made biographies of various chivalrous assassins in history in Historical Records. But after all, this is only a historical event recorded in the official history and has not formed a social culture. The prosperity of Wushu culture did not reach its peak until the Ming Dynasty. For example, there was an Amin Wuzong in the Ming Dynasty. His martial arts were high, and his behavior was very free and easy, full of chivalry. Moreover, in the Ming Dynasty, not only the royal aristocrats advocated martial arts, but also novels describing men and women at the bottom of society tried their best to eulogize the chivalrous spirit. The most famous novel in Ming Dynasty is Water Margin, in which almost all Liangshan heroes are examples of outlaws. Although its fictional background is Song Dynasty, it is obvious that what Shi Naian wants to express is the social mood at that time.

But why did Ming society advocate martial arts so much? In fact, this is closely related to the formation of social atmosphere and the changes of political and humanistic environment at that time.

During the Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates often harassed the coastal areas of China, so many famous anti-Japanese heroes were born, such as Yu and Qi Jiguang, whose great achievements will be immortal. But you may not know that there are many chivalrous men in the staff of these famous anti-Japanese soldiers. Many of them even sacrificed heroically for the generals, and scholars died for their bosom friends, which became the core values in the rivers and lakes of the Ming Dynasty at that time. In addition, there are various schools in martial arts novels. You may think that maybe only Shaolin and Wudang are real, and other strange gangs are probably fictional. This is where you are wrong. The social ecology of sects in martial arts novels is really a true portrayal of the Ming Dynasty. We haven't even heard of many small sects, but they really flourished at that time. Believers of these sects not only practice martial arts for self-defense, but also teach their martial arts to disciples everywhere. The "Eighteen Martial Arts" that we often talk about was decided in the Ming Dynasty.

One reason is that the channels of imperial examination in Ming Dynasty are increasingly narrow, and it is difficult for many apprentices to realize their life ideals through the imperial examination system. As a result, they had to expand their life ideals and living space from other directions, and the saying that nothing is a scholar was born in the social environment at that time. These literati's ideal of success by gaining fame has failed, and they are still considered worthless. I certainly hope that society can respect their existence. So they began to seek to break through the order and establish another kind of values similar to chivalrous demeanor in order to gain social recognition.

So in the Ming dynasty, a new group appeared, called "mountain people", that is, hermits living in the deep mountains. Later, Badashan people in the Qing Dynasty and Qi Baishi in modern times both called themselves Baishishan people, and this title began to appear in the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the later mountain people who were mostly literati, the mountain people in Ming Dynasty often traveled with swords and were active in rivers and lakes, which had a considerable impact on society. In addition, even those literati who have gained fame and mastered the right to speak, their living environment is very depressed. As we all know, the East Factory, the West Factory and the Royal Guards were special secret institutions in the Ming Dynasty. These secret services joined hands to closely monitor the officials and people at that time, which restricted the lives of literati everywhere. Even though these literati were in Korea, they were forced to yearn for another chivalrous life of pleasure, kindness and hatred. Therefore, we can also see that in martial arts works, eunuchs, fathers-in-law, and guards in the Royal Guards who supervise the East Factory and the West Factory are often vicious villains with high martial arts skills, which is really closely related to the negative evaluation of them by the society at that time. Therefore, a real martial arts novel can not only tell a good story, but also give comments to future generations, from which you can have a deeper understanding of the social humanities it reflects.