The revival of Wudang Daoist martial arts

DeBernardi, Jean and Wu, Xu 2024. The revival of Wudang Daoist martial arts. Martial Arts Studies (15) , pp. 26-41. 10.18573/mas.162

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper writes the recent history of the revival of Wudang Taiji Boxing. In 20th-century China, first reformers, then communists stigmatized traditional martial arts. But after China's leaders, under Deng Xiaoping, initiated a new era of reform and opening up in 1978, all that changed. In 1980, a member of the Qing royal family who had spent seven months at Wudang Mountain in 1929 performed the style he had learned at Wudang at a national sports event. In so doing, he sparked a revival leading to the formation of the Wudang Taoist Martial Arts Academy and other academies and groups. The modern history of Taiji Boxing is not only the history of a martial arts form, but also of the secularization of Chinese ideology, suppression of religion, the reworking of traditional practices of self-cultivation as exercise and sport, and the commercialization and commodification of martial arts for a global audience.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2057-5696
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	23 July 2024
Date of Acceptance:	25 June 2024
Last Modified:	26 Jul 2024 11:34
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/170872

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item