Breaking the Chains
Page 39
No doubt it would be possible to fabricate various genealogies for Ving Tsun Kung Fu. The system could have been passed from Ng Mui to Ving Tsun on the Szechwan/Yunnan border; it could have been invented on the waterways of southern China; Shao-lin monks could have created it. This much is certain the province of Kwangtung appears to be the place where Ving Tsun evolved. That the first historical Sifu of a martial art created by a woman appeared at a time when southern China contained divisions of female soldiers associated with the Taiping Army could be coincidence. It is said Ving Tsun Kung Fu is based on science and that the science it has most affinity with is geometry. Geometry arrived in China with Matteo Ricci and his Jesuit colleagues. Matteo Ricci lived in Kwangtung for several years. If Ving Tsun depends to any extent on geometry it would not have come into existence without the arrival of the Jesuits.
Given the relationship between the K'ang-hsi emperor and the Jesuits, plus the emperor's many boat trips to the lower reaches of the Yangtze, and his interest in martial arts, it would even be possible to make a case for Ving Tsun's creation by the emperor himself. Support for the truth of Yip Man's genealogy could be suggested by both Szechwan and Yunnan being sources of salt. Ving Tsun's husband may have had business interests in both provinces, as he was a salt merchant.
Martial arts and religion have long been associated. Individuals who believed themselves beloved by a particular god or goddess have endeavoured to established empires in honour of their deity. Armies dedicated to forcing the world to obey the laws of a particular prophet or his god have established kingdoms. Some of mankind's earliest recorded stories are about conflict between different deities or groups of deities. One widespread myth concerns the enmity between the bird of heaven and an evil serpent. Mythi dealing with this topic tend to present the serpent as an enemy and usurper of a sun god, or sun-goddess (sun mother). The henges, stone and wood, of Western Europe testify to a solar religion in which concentric circles were significant. Venus of Willendorf type statuettes proclaim this religion to be more than 24 000 years old. A vision of the sun contained in black concentric circles could have led to the development of this religion.
The bird of heaven vision (a white-winged white circle) is also associated with solar religions. A man (Jesus) who had a vision of 'that spirit like a dove' founded Christianity. In various traditions the serpent is associated with a golden apple, apple of immortality, or fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This apple or fruit is most probably the apple-like fruit of the opium plant. In the Book of Revelation, the 'old serpent' that deceived the whole world looses a war in heaven and is cast out into the earth. There it makes war against those who have the testimony of Jesus, it gets imprisoned for 1000 years, and when it is released it gathers all nations to a great battle. It looses the battle and ends up in a lake of fire and brimstone. In this tradition the serpent is called a dragon, Satan, and Devil. Both images (bird of heaven and evil serpent) are present in Christianity - enmity between the bird of heaven and the evil serpent is implicit.
According to Revelation Jesus and his followers are engaged in a battle with a serpent that deceives the whole world. It is unlikely the author intended his readers to identify this serpent as the serpent featured in the story of Adam and Eve. The serpent in that tale advocated the use of a fruit that would cause the user to become like God. Opium was used in religious ceremonies in the eastern Mediterranean area, Greece, and Mesopotamia long before the appearance of Abraham. In some ancient traditions the serpent was representative of a goddess, and from Crete comes evidence of opium harvesting serpent goddesses. Old Testament writings draw on Mesopotamian traditions (Sumerian and Akkadian), and it seems likely the Adam and Eve story entered Hebrew tradition from a Mesopotamian source. The serpent in the Garden of Eden tale appears to signify an opium-based religion that flourished in the eastern Mediterranean region at least as early as 3000 BC. As it exists in the Old Testament, the Adam and Eve story is a warning of the consequences of involvement with opium. It would be an error to think of the serpent from the Old Testament as a supernatural entity. The author of Revelation drew on Old Testament imagery but did not make exact replications. Consequently, no connection between the serpent in Revelation and a fruit from a tree of knowledge of good and evil can be made. In the Garden of Eden story the serpent has no distinguishing features (beyond the ability to speak), however, the serpent of Revelation is described precisely.
Next Page >>