Wang Chongyang
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- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wang (王)
Wang Chongyang (11 January 1113 – 22 January 1170) [Chinese calendar: 宋徽宗政和二年十二月廿二 – 金世宗大定十年正月初四] (Traditional Chinese: 王重陽; Simplified Chinese: 王重阳; pinyin: Wáng Chóngyáng) was a Song Dynasty Taoist who was one of the founders of Quanzhen Taoism in the twelfth century. He is one of the Five Northern Patriarchs of that school of Taoism. Jinyong's popular wuxia novels include a character based on Wang Chongyang.
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[edit] Name
- Family name: Wang (王)
- Given name: originally Zhongfu (中孚), later changed to Dewei (德威), changed to Zhe (喆) when became a Taoist
- zì: originally Yunqing (允卿), later changed to Shixiong (世雄), changed to Zhiming (知明) when became a Taoist
- hào: Chongyangzi (重陽子) when became a Taoist
[edit] Life
Born Wang Zhongfu in 1113, Wang Chongyang grew up in a wealthy family and received a classical education as well as training in the martial arts.
According to tradition, in the summer of 1159 when he was 48 years old, he met two Taoist immortals in a pub, Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin, who provided him with training in secret Taoist rituals. He changed his name to Zhe and adopted the Taoist name Chongyang.
In 1160 he met one of the immortals again who provided him with five written instructions, the "Ganshui xianyuan lu." According to tradition those written instructions included the names of two men who would later become his disciples, Ma Yu and Tan Chuduan. In a state of delirium, Wang Chongyang then dug himself a grave near Mount Zhongnan that he called the "Tomb of the Living Dead," and lived in it for three years.
At the end of the three years, Wang Chongyang filled in the grave and built a hut on top of it, called "Complete Perfection Hut." He lived in the hut for another four years, continuing his Taoist studies and teaching others. During that time, he met Tan Chuduan who became Wang's disciple after Wang cured Tan's illness. Qiu Chuji and Tan traveled around the local towns and villages with Wang as he founded five Taoist congregations. Later, Wang Chongyang's teachings were referred to the "Teachings of the Complete Perfection" (after the hut) and his branch of Taoism became known as the Quanzhen ("Complete Perfection") school.
In 1167, Wang Chongyang burned down the hut, dancing and chanting. He then traveled east to Shandong where he met Ma Yu and Ma's wife Sun Bu'er who also became his disciples. He ultimately collected seven disciples who were later known as either The Seven Masters of Quanzhen or The Seven Elders of Quanzhen. They are also sometimes called the Seven Immortals or Seven Perfected Beings.
[edit] Writings
Wang Chongyang was the author of many poems of Taoist instruction. According to legend, Liu Chuxuan became a follower of Wang Chongyang after seeing one of Wang's poems on a wall.
Wang Chongyang's writings include:
- "An Anthology of Complete Perfection by Chongyang" (Chongyang quanzhen ji)
- "Chongyang's Anthology on Teaching Transformation" (Chongyang jiaohua ji)
- "Chongyang's Anthology of the Ten Transformations by Dividing Pears" (Chongyang fenli shihua ji) (The phrase "to divide a pear" is a pun for "to separate," these were writings intended to convince Ma Yu and Sun Bu'er to separate in order to better cultivate the Dao.)
[edit] Disciples
Particularly notable among Wang Chongyang's seven disciples were Sun Bu'er, and Qiu Chuji. Sun Bu'er is now one of the most important female Taoist role-models. Her husband, Ma Yu, was another of the seven disciples. He eventually succeeded Wang Chongyang as the leader of the Quanzhen sect.
Qiu Chuji gained the favor of Genghis Khan and founded the famous White Cloud Monastery in Beijing. Genghis Khan granted tax-exempt status to all Quanzhen monasteries and put Qiu Chuji in charge of all religions in China. The strong start this provided helped the Quanzhen school of Taoism to flourish, and it is still strong today.
Each of the seven disciples founded his or her own lineage of Quanzhen Taoism. They are as follows:
- Ma Yu (馬鈺) founded the Yuxian lineage (Meeting the Immortals)
- Tan Chuduan (譚處端) founded the Nanwu lineage (Southern Void)
- Liu Chuxuan (劉處玄) founded the Suishan lineage (Mount Sui)
- Qiu Chuji (丘處機) founded the Longmen lineage (Dragon Gate)
- Wang Chuyi (王處一) founded the Yushan lineage (Mount Yu)
- Hao Datong (郝大通) founded the Huashan lineage (Mount Hua)
- Sun Bu'er (孙不二) founded the Qingjing lineage (Clarity and Stillness)
Source: LOCH 94' (dramatic re-creation)
[edit] Popular culture
Wang Chongyang is a fictional character in Jinyong's Condor Trilogy. He is also known as Central Divinity (中神通) in the novels.
Wang Chongyang is mentioned throughout the novels The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes. Xie Xun mentions Wang Chongyang in chapter 7 of The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber, and also in chapter 16 in the third revision of the novel.
[edit] Martial arts
Quanzhen martial arts, Yi Yang Finger and attained proficiency in the art of Nine Negation.
[edit] History
Wang Chongyang in the world of Jinyong was an extraordinary man. He first appeared in Jinyong's novel, The Legend of the Condor Heroes as a patriotic Taoist loyal to Song Dynasty. His story was later told by one of his prominent disciples, Qiu Chuji in the sequel to the novel entitled The Return of the Condor Heroes.
[edit] The Battle for Song Dynasty
In his younger years, he assembled an army of righteous, heroic men against the Jurchens with the objective to recover the lost territories of the Song Dynasty and rescue the Han Chinese who lived under dire circumstances under the Jin rule. However, he could not overcome the strong and powerful Jurchen army and was defeated many times and in the end he gave up this dream of his.
[edit] The retreat
Wang Chongyang later retreated to an ancient tomb in Mount Zhongnan where he resided for many years contemplating on his mistakes and meditating. He refused to share the same sky with the Jurchens and made a vow never to step out of the tomb. Eventually, many friends came to urge Wang Chongyang to come out of the tomb because they considered him a hero and the Jins (Jurchens) were still marching in Song.
The emperor of the Jurchen Empire still saw Wang Chongyang as a threat even when his army was gone. So, he sent more than ten martial arts experts to find the ancient tomb and kill Wang Chongyang. However, all of those martial arts experts were inferior to Wang Chongyang and therefore all defeated and or killed by him.
After the death of that emperor the new emperor did not know of Wang Chongyang and did not see him as a threat. And so, it seemed that for a while, Wang was forgotten by the world of Jiang Hu.
[edit] Breaking the vow
It was Lin Chaoying who forced him out of the tomb in the end. Wang Chongyang had met Lin Chaoying earlier in his life and they were very close to each other. She was the only person with whom he felt a certain affinity because of her high skills in kung fu that could rival his own. During the war with the Jurchens, they exchanged correspondence.
Lin Chaoying stood outside Wang's tomb and cursed him for days until finally he stepped out of the tomb to confront her. But when he stood outside, Lin Chaoying laughed and said that he does not have to go back into the tomb anymore because he has already broken his vow by stepping out of the tomb.
From then on, Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang roamed Jiang Hu, the realm of martial arts together. They would often train martial arts together and develop their skills to a higher level. Both eventually fell in love with each other but unfortunately their prides got in their way.
Lin Chaoying would often indirectly show hints of love towards Wang Chongyang, but he pretended not to see those hints. It was not because he did not love her, but somehow he could not bring it to himself to openly accept her and start a relationship with her. Because of this Lin Chaoying thought Wang Chongyang looked down upon her and was angered. They would often quarrel and fight each other. Because Wang Chongyang was not eager to fight Lin Chaoying, she could sometimes gain the upper hand but often they would reach a draw.
[edit] The duel
The falling off between Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang was depicted by a stone slab with inscriptions in the novel, The Return of the Condor Heroes. According to Qiu Chuji who was retelling the story to Guo Jing and Yang Guo, Lin Chaoying found a way to end the endless debate between her and Wang Chongyang.
Lin Chaoying proposed a duel: If Wang Chongyang defeated her, she would commit suicide. But if she won, Wang would have to surrender his ancient tomb to her or become a Taoist priest or a Buddhist monk and live in the vicinity of the ancient tomb on Mount Zhongnan for at least 10 years. The underlying meaning was giving up the tomb to her meant marrying her and living in the tomb together. Or if he did not want to, he had to become a Taoist priest or a Buddhist monk and thus preventing him from marrying another woman.
Wang Chongyang consented to this and asked how they would duel. Lin Chaoying said that whoever could write on a stone slab with his fingers would win. Wang Chongyang knew he could not do that and said he lost. Lin Chaoying walked over the stone slab and gently stroked the slab a few times. Then, she started to use her fingers to carve a poem and after she was done she smiled wryly that Wang Chongyang was destined to become a Taoist priest. Lin Chaoying knew very well, that her level in martial arts was inferior to Wang Chongyang and proposed this duel, because by stroking the stone slab, she smeared a chemical substance on the slab to make it soft and thus making it possible for her to write on. The very next day, Wang Chongyang became a Taoist priest and resided at Mount Zhongnan.
[edit] The founding of Quan Zhen sect
Wang Chongyang only found out how Lin Chaoying won many years later, when Huang Yaoshi visited him and he asked Huang if he knew how it was possible that Lin Chaoying could write on stone. Huang Yaoshi saw the slab and laughed and said he did not master this technique yet of writing on stone and said he would return one month later. After a month, Huang Yaoshi came back and together with Wang Chongyang they went back to the slab. Huang Yaoshi stroked the slab a few times too and started to write another poem on the slab. Wang Chongyang was extremely surprised and touched the slab and found out that it was soft and realised how Lin Chaoying won.
In the beginning Wang Chongyang was very reluctant to become a Taoist priest, but after studying Taoist codices for some time he understood Taoism and became an enlightened priest. Thus, Quanzhen School was founded.
His sworn-brother Zhou Botong became his younger martial arts brother and learnt martial arts from Wang Chongyang. He accepted seven disciples, teaching them Taoist philosophies and martial arts. They were the famous Seven Masters of Quanzhen; Ma Yu, Tan Chuduan, Liu Chuxuan, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi, Hao Datong and Sun Bu'er.
[edit] The tomb once more
After many years, Lin Chaoying died. Wang Chongyang quietly entered the ancient tomb again to pay his final respects to the woman he loved. However, when he saw the martial arts Lin Chaoying carved on the walls of the tomb he was shocked. Almost every stance of his Quanzhen martial arts was countered. He was amazed by the marvellous Jade Maiden martial arts Lin Chaoying created. In the Return of the Condor Heroes, the Jade Maiden manual of Lin Chaoying became the ultimate kung fu text fought over by her grand-disciples, Xiaolongnü and Li Mochou.
Wang Chongyang later went into retreat for three years, hoping to create a new set of martial arts to overcome the Jade Maiden Scriptures by Lin Chaoying. He was able to come up with some new styles but not the desired results he wanted. He gave up this objective to create a new set of martial arts and respected Lin Chaoying’s talent in martial arts.
[edit] The school of Quanzhen
Meanwhile, the Quanzhen school became the most prominent martial arts school in the entire realm of martial arts and was known as the Taoist orthodox martial arts school. The main principles of Quanzhen school was to help others and resist the Jurchens aggressors in the north. Thus, Wang Chongyang and the Quanzhen school not only won the respect of martial artists but also of the common people.
[edit] The scriptures of Jiu Yin Zhen Jing
Several decades later, the Genuine Scriptures of Nine Negation (9 Yin Manual of Jiu Yin) (Jiu Yin Zhen Jing) appeared in the realm of martial arts. Many martial artists had died over this scripture; everyone wanted to claim this manual whatever it takes. The situation became more and more chaotic as about a hundred martial artists had already died over this manual.
To prevent anymore chaos, Wang Chongyang decided to invite the most prominent and powerful martial arts masters of that time to settle this dispute about the manual once and for all. He invited East Heretic Huang Yaoshi, West Venom Ouyang Feng, South Emperor Duan Zhixing and North Beggar Hong Qigong. They agreed to duel at Mount Hua and whoever was the victor could claim the title of the number one martial arts expert of the time and have the Genuine Scriptures of Nine Negation. The duel would consist of a theoretical and a practical part, lasting for seven days and seven nights. In the end, Wang Chongyang was victorious.
But Wang Chonyang's reasons for the duel were different. He entered the tournament of Mount Hua not to claim the manual or for the title of number one martial arts master, but to prevent the realm of martial arts thrown into turmoil and innocent lives wasted on this scripture anymore. He did not want to study the martial arts in the manual and prohibited all Quanzhen disciples to learn it. However he derived one of Quanzhen's most powerful formation, the big dipper formation, from the nine yin
But out of curiosity he flipped through the manual and read it. After about ten days he absorbed the contents of the scripture and became proficient in the Art of Nine Negation. He laughed heartily and knew know how to counter the Scriptures of Jade Maiden by Lin Chaoying. He went back into the tomb and carved a few techniques of the Nine Negation on the walls of the ancient tomb, which could counter the Scriptures of Jade Maiden. Later, in The Return of the Condor Heroes, Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü found these texts and learned it.
[edit] The Pre-Heaven skill and the Yi Yang Finger
One year after the tournament, Wang Chongyang and Zhou Botong travelled to the Dali Kingdom to meet Duan Zhixing. Wang Chongyang said that he admired the Yi Yang Finger of the Duan Family and wished to learn this skill and in exchange he would teach Duan Zhixing the Pre-heaven skill. The reason for this was that Wang Chongyang knew he was dying and wanted to pass his Pre-heaven skill to Duan Zhixing so someone would be around to counter the West Venom after he himself died. He and Zhou Botong stayed in Dali for about half a month.
Prior to his death, he wished to burn the Scriptures of Nine Negation but he could not do it. Because he realised that the manual was not his to burn and hoped that in the future someone would make good use of the scriptures. But he issued a final order that no disciple of the Quanzhen School was allowed to learn the martial arts of the manual. With that, Wang died.
[edit] The west poison's assault
Zhou Botong and the Seven Masters of Quanzhen were mourning for their Master, but later that night several martial arts experts came to the Chongyang Palace Shrine with the purpose of stealing the scripture. The Seven Masters quickly went outside to engage the enemies individually to prevent those martial arts experts from entering the shrine and possibly harming the body of Wang Chongyang. Only Zhou Botong remained in the main hall to wake. At this point West Poison Ouyang Feng came with the purpose of stealing the scripture. Zhou Botong did his best to stop Ouyang Feng, but was no match for him and was defeated.
Ouyang Feng was about to snatch the scripture which was put next to the coffin of Wang Chongyang. Suddenly the lid of the coffin was smashed and Wang Chongyang emerged from the coffin used his Yi Yang Finger to hit Ouyang Feng between the eyebrows. Ouyang Feng was heavily injured and quickly ran off. Nonetheless that blast of Wang Chongyang severely injured him and he had to use at least five years time to recover.
It seems that a few days earlier, Wang Chongyang sensed that Ouyang Feng was lurking about in the vicinity. So he feigned his own death to lure him over and injure him. Wang Chongyang sat down cross-legged to rest; Zhou Botong did not disturb him because he knew that using Yi Yang Finger and the Pre-heaven Skill absorbs a lot of energy. He quickly helped the Seven Masters to drive off the other enemies. All of them were very happy that Wang Chongyang was alive but when they came back to the main hall they saw that this time Wang Chongyang had really died.
Although Jinyong did not mention the exact age when Wang Chongyang died, but it is presumed that he died when he was 80 odd years old.
[edit] Third edition of Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre
In the recently revised edition of HSDS, Wang Chongyang is mentioned again in chapter sixteen. It seems that after Wang Chongyang won the first Huashan tournament he met a Buddhist monk at Songshan. He had a drinking contest with this monk and lost. The bet was if Wang lost, the monk would be allowed to read the Scriptures of Nine Negations.
[edit] References
- Daoism Handbook, Livia Kohn, editor. (Handbook of Oriental Studies Section Four, Volume 14.) Brill Academic Publishers, 2000.
- The Taoist Manual: An Illustrated Guide Applying Taoism to Daily Life, Brock Silvers. Sacred Mountain Press 2005.
[edit] External links
- 王喆生平事迹考述 (Chinese)
