Stills from "The Great Hero Huo Yuanjia"
In 1983, the Hong Kong TV drama "The Great Hero Huo Yuanjia" was introduced to the mainland for broadcast. This was the first Hong Kong TV drama introduced by the mainland, and the sensation it caused at that time was so great that it had a deep impact on the people on the mainland that it could not be described by pen and ink. To this day, the theme song of the TV series, "The Great Wall Never Falls", is still regarded as a classic of the times:
After a hundred years of sleep, the people of the country have gradually woken up. Open your eyes and watch carefully. Which wishers to admit that because of cringe and forbearance, people are becoming more and more arrogant. Shout, shout, this is the whole country. Robbers have always wanted to invade, and they will eventually die. The Great Wall will never fall, the Water of the Yellow River will gush, and the beautiful mountains and mountains will be stacked with colorful Ridges. Ask me which country is like a disease, rush away from the blood road, wave on it! We must devote ourselves to the country's ZTE, and let the land be trampled on again! Each one shoulders the mission, the Great Wall will never fall, and the water of the Yellow River will gush for thousands of miles. The beautiful mountains and mountains are stacked with colorful Fengling, asking me which country is like being infected? Rush away from the bloody road and wave your hand! We must devote ourselves to the country's ZTE, and let the land be trampled on again!
The song combines the indestructible martial arts spirit represented by Huo Yuanjia, coupled with the poverty and weakness of modern China, and has been humiliated, which makes Huo Yuanjia's name a household name from now on and sets off a strong patriotic enthusiasm of the Chinese people. In the film and television drama, Huo Yuanjia incarnated as a national hero, holding the determination to be ashamed of the country, defeated the Western Hercules, and let the Chinese stand up.
Throughout many Huo Yuanjia film and television dramas, its plot line is almost the same, Huo Yuanjia is young and sickly, and when he grows up, he becomes a generation of martial arts masters by practicing Lost Fist, and since then he has repeatedly fought with Western Hercules in the ring, and the result is that the other party has been beaten to the ground, but unfortunately he was eventually killed by the Japanese.
Huo Yuanjia and Western Hercules fight (film and television drama plot)
However, the real Huo Yuanjia in history is very different from the image in the film and television drama, he has not fought with the Western Hercules, and the cause of death was once a mystery. To understand this unknown history, it is necessary to introduce Huo Yuanjia's life and deeds in detail.
Huo Yuanjia, born in January 1868, is a native of Jinghai County, Tianjin. This is a family of dart masters, and his father, Horndi, is the sixth generation of Yanqingquan (also known as Mizongquan). Horndi once practiced Mizong fist to perfection, and has been a bodyguard for merchants for many years, because of his high martial arts, he has never lost his hand, but he has made many enemies.
As such, Horndi quit the dart line at the age of 40 and returned to his hometown to work as a farmer, occasionally teaching his family's children martial arts training. After Huo Yuanjia was born, he often fell ill, and Huo Endi was reluctant to let him practice martial arts, fearing that he would not be able to learn well due to physical problems, which would damage the reputation of the Huo family in the future. However, Huo Yuanjia has been very interested in kung fu since he was a child, and always tries to steal it.
Huo Yuanjia saw his father teaching his brother and brother martial arts in the courtyard, and he put down his book and secretly followed suit. Once, when Brother Huo found out that Huo Yuanjia had stolen his studies, he immediately reprimanded him and again demanded that he should not learn martial arts. Huo Yuanjia naturally did not want to listen, and from then on, he got up early every day and quietly practiced martial arts in the nearby woods and by the river.
In addition to learning Lost Fist, Huo Yuanjia also quietly learned kung fu from other sects. The years flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Huo Yuanjia was already a young man in his 10s, and his physical condition had also improved greatly due to martial arts training. All this was seen by Brother Huo,perhaps he was impressed by his son's stubbornness and decided to teach Huo Yuanjia kung fu himself, but only if he could not easily compete with others.
Huo Yuanjia
At the age of 22, a foreign martial artist came to his home to exchange martial arts. Huo Yuanqing, the younger brother of Huo Yuanjia, who had learned martial arts since he was a child, fought with him, and he was not an opponent. Brother Huo En saw that this person was a fierce enemy and was ready to take a shot himself, at which time Huo Yuanjia stood up and defeated the provocateur in one fell swoop.
After the news of this incident, coupled with Huo Yuanjia's usual love of fighting and hugging, the result was soon a small reputation in Tianjin. However, the victory of this contest did not change Huo Yuanjia's situation, he first came to work in the Huaiqing medicine shop in Tianjin City, because of his strength, he once won the title of "Huo Hercules" . ”
While working in the pharmacy, Huo Yuanjia met a nobleman, Nong Jinsun, the treasurer of the Huaiqing Medicine Shop. Nong Jinsun, a native of Xuancheng, Anhui, studied in Japan in his early years and later joined the League. After completing his studies, Nong Jinsun returned to China on the orders of Sun Yat-sen and opened a medicine shop in Tianjin as a cover to carry out revolutionary activities.
Nong Jinsun's prestige is very high, and he is described in detail in the book "Biography of a Chivalrous Hero in Modern Times" by Pingjiang Buxiaosheng (a famous modern martial arts novelist, formerly known as Xiang Kairan):
“...... In dealing with the British and Americans, not only did they dare not have the slightest disrespectful words and disrespectful attitude towards him personally, but they did not dare to say insults to China's national system and contempt for ordinary Chinese to him. There are British and Americans who do not know his character and usually bully Chinese, and treat him as a foreign slave who can generally speak British, and they all turn their faces at once and use harsh words to refute them. Otherwise, they will immediately break off their friendship, and they will never talk when they meet from then on. The British and Americans saw that he did not speak indiscriminately, did not act in a disorderly manner, and was superior in learning and morality, and that none of those who knew him did not have considerable respect for him. ”
Nong Jinsun was interested at seeing Huo Yuanjia at first sight. Huo Yuanjia could provoke a thousand pounds of medicinal materials at a time, and he could also push two large bluestones, so powerful that he was stunned by the other guys in the medicine shop. Since then, Nong Jinsun has paid special attention to Huo Yuanjia. At that time, the situation was turbulent, the streets of Tianjin were chaotic and bandits were rampant, and Huo Yuanjia often stood out for the poor.
After observing for a while, Nong Jinsun thought that Huo Yuanjia was a hot-blooded man, so he privately told him a lot of revolutionary truths. Blood, revolution, country, nation, these terms that seem to have nothing to do with Huo Yuanjia slowly affected Huo Yuanjia, and he gradually understood that life should have a higher pursuit.
In addition to Nong Jinsun, the "Great Sword King V" also had a great influence on Huo Yuanjia. Wang Wu, whose real name is Wang Zhengyi, whose ancestral home is Cangzhou, Hebei, is a famous martial artist in the Late Qing Dynasty in the Beijing-Tianjin area, ranking fifth after worshiping the master, plus he is good at wielding a large sword, and he is a decent person, so he got the name "Big Knife King Five." ”
After the Sino-Japanese War, in the face of the corruption and incompetence of the Qing court, Yushi An Weijun went to the court to ask the imperial court to severely punish the traitors, but he was punished by the Qing court and exiled to the frontier. Wang Wu was very angry and voluntarily took on the responsibility of escorting An Weijun. Later, Wang Wu had a close relationship with Tan Si, one of the "Six Gentlemen of Wu Shu".
After the failure of the Wushu method, the "Six Gentlemen of Wushu" were beheaded on the streets of Beijing, which made Wang Wu grief-stricken. In order to avenge Tan Sitong, Wang Wu organized assassination operations many times, which made Huo Yuanjia very impressed, and the two established a deep friendship. There is a saying that Huo Yuanjia also learned the sword technique from Wang Wu, and Wang Wu even taught it.
During the Boxer Rebellion, Wang Wu chose to fight alongside the Boxers, but was later killed at the age of 56 because he was outnumbered. After Wang Wu's death, his head was cut off and hung on the city gate. Huo Yuanjia, who was in Tianjin, knew about it, and rushed to Beijing overnight, taking advantage of the night to steal Wang Wu's first rank and hand it over to his relatives for burial.
Boxers
Wang Wu's tragic death in this way deeply touched Huo Yuanjia and he was depressed for a while. Huo Yuanjia was listless all day, which attracted the attention of Nong Jinsun. Nong Jinsun talked to Huo Yuanjia to understand the reasons behind it. Huo Yuanjia sighed for a long time and said, "Hundreds of years ago, I was born hundreds of years ago, killing thieves with spears and short swords to repay the country, and making immortal deeds, such as picking mustard ears." Now that science is clear, firearms are out, and the formations are changed, although there is martial courage, will they be used for safety? ”
Huo Yuanjia's words meant doubting the significance of martial arts training, and he thought that if he was born in ancient times, his kung fu would definitely shine. But now in the face of foreigners' guns, any kung fu is vulnerable, like a flower rack, and continuing to practice martial arts is not the wisest choice. Apparently, Huo Yuanjia was worried about the future of Kung Fu.
Nong Jinsun said a lot of words of encouragement to Huo Yuanjia, but still failed to change his mind, until an incident occurred, so that Huo Yuanjia understood that he was moaning without illness, and Chinese kung fu was not a flower rack at all.
In 1901, a Russian Hercules named Schivanlov came to Tianjin to fight. Schivanlov was very arrogant, and publicly published a statement in the newspaper: We must fight all over China's invincible hands and let the "sick man of East Asia" really see what is the world's first Hercules.
At that time, China was bullied by the great powers, and Huo Yuanjia was furious as soon as he saw the statement, and immediately said that he wanted to challenge Schivanlov. Siqifanlov inquired privately and learned that Huo Yuanjia had real kung fu, and he was timid. Soon, Huo Yuanjia came to the door and questioned Siqifanlov on the spot: "Why insult me Zhonghua?" I'm going to challenge you! ”
Huo Yuanjia and Western Hercules fight (plot)
Schivanlov was originally sensationalist, and quickly replied: "This lute, I have come here to sell art and food, so I am making my own words to attract the audience, why do you have to compete with me!" It turned out that the so-called Russian Hercules' statements were gimmicks in order to earn tickets.
Huo Yuanjia listened and put forward three conditions: first, re-publish the newspaper and tell himself that he was not insulting Chinese kung fu; second, apologize in public; third, if he couldn't do it, Huo would have to duel with you.
Schivanlov could only do so, and it did not take long for him to leave Tianjin in a daze. With the real kung fu to expose the illusion of Siqifanlov, huo Yuanjia realized his own value, and he gradually believed that kung fu might inspire the confidence of the people, which may become a path to save the country.
The news of "not going to the ring to scare off the Russian Hercules" made Huo Yuanjia famous, and various statements about him were circulating in the streets and alleys of Tianjin, and even the phenomenon of "all being proud to see Huo Yuanjia" appeared. Huo Yuanjia, who was originally depressed in his heart, was suddenly boosted: From now on, I will use this martial art to awaken the bloodiness of the people.
Nong Jinsun later moved to Shanghai, and soon there was another opportunity to make Huo Yuanjia famous. In 1909, the American Hercules Opiyin came to Shanghai, this person is very arrogant, it is said that "the abdomen can bear the weight of eight hundred pounds of iron, can drag the automatic car backwards." "Opie Yin set up a ring to defeat many masters, shouting Chinese was not vulnerable at all.
《Declaration》
In this context, Nong Jinsun, who was in Shanghai, invited Huo Yuanjia to go south, hoping that he would defeat Oppiyin. In April 1909, the 41-year-old Huo Yuanjia took his apprentice Liu Zhensheng south to Shanghai, preparing to set up a fight against Oppiyin. Regarding the matter of setting up a ring, on December 3, 1909, the Shanghai "Declaration" clearly reported:
Huo Junyuanjia is directly subordinate to people, fine boxing, the crown of the Northern Province, this time occasionally came to Shanghai, quite itchy. Long look up to the south of the strong people, by the way to visit friends, special stage in Shanghai Jing'an Temple Road Zhangyuan Production Association Conference Hall in the big theater stage to compare fist strength, if you can beat The Hollix, give valuable gifts. Shanghai Chinese and Western people who are willing to come to the test are invited to enter the registration from 2 o'clock to 5 o'clock in the afternoon of the third day of the first and second thoughts.
The next day, the "Declaration" published another notice, entitled "The Pioneering Move of The Chinese and Western Hercules to Compare Fist Strength":
It was also reported that Hercules Huo Yuanjia had appeared in the audition the day before yesterday, and his fist strength was extremely brave, and there was no one who dared to compete with it. Yesterday, the American Hercules Opiyin and Huo Jun made a book of life and death, reported the house hunting according to the routine, prepared a thousand yuan for the Yingyang as a color object, and fought with death on the music factory song stage at two o'clock this afternoon, and there will be a fierce fight at that time, which is a pioneering move that China has never had before.
From these two reports, it can be seen that Huo Yuanjia does have the idea of fighting with Hercules, but it can be seen from words such as "occasionally coming to Shanghai", "technical itching", "long looking up to the strong people in the south", "registering", "coloring things" and so on, this is like a commercial performance. So, did Huo Yuanjia and Oppi Yin fight?
Hercules Huo Yuanjia biography
Let me tell you clearly, there is none. The Oppi pitch was originally a gimmick to earn more admission tickets. This can also be seen in the Report of the Times on December 5 of that year:
Huo Jun's thousand yuan money had also been prepared, and when he stayed on the stage for the most time, because of the lack of corner skills, there were many spectators, but he asked everyone in the audience to let him hit him three times at will, and those who did not dare to respond for a long time were scattered by multiple sets of boxing techniques.
On the same day, the "Declaration" also made an explanation accordingly:
Because the Chinese and Western witnesses were not together, and the arresting room thought that it was too late to send a note, it was necessary to reschedule it separately; at three o'clock in the afternoon yesterday, both China and the United States discussed with each other at the venue, and Opi Yin and the future wrestling were not allowed to use their feet to hook and poke the fa, and Huo Jun had his own heart to pass on the Chinese boxing technique, and could not sacrifice his strengths and use his weaknesses, so they could not properly discuss each other.
In other words, huo Yuanjia and Oppiyin's confrontation was a propaganda tactic because the witnesses of both sides, the rules of the contest, and the note could not be printed. However, the people could not manage so much, directly saying that Opie Yin fled in fear of being defeated by Huo Yuanjia, and Huo Yuanjia became famous for a while.
Huo Yuanjia did not fight with OppiYin, which did not hinder his development in Shanghai, and the public's mood for practicing kung fu was high. Huo Yuanjia and others saw this as an opportunity, and in June 1910, with the assistance of Nong Jinsun and martial arts colleagues, Huo Yuanjia founded the "Chinese Jingwu Gymnastics Association" in Shanghai, which was later the Jingwu Sports Association.
At that time, there was a deep gap between the martial arts factions from each other, Huo Yuanjia was completely different from them, he broke the portal prejudice, personally taught everyone the Lost Fist, and taught his practice experience without reservation, which made the martial arts community greatly praised, and many people came to sign up to learn.
Shanghai Jingwu Sports South Association was established to commemorate the establishment of the photo
The fiery scene of the Jingwu gymnastics meeting caused the japanese judo club in Shanghai to be jealous, and they did not believe in Huo Yuanjia's kung fu and decided to send several judo masters to provoke. Unexpectedly, these judo masters were not opponents at all, and even Huo Yuanjia's apprentices could not beat them.
The Japanese were not willing to accept defeat, and they left their harsh words to invite masters from Within Japan to Shanghai to fight Huo Yuanjia. However, at this moment, Huo Yuanjia suddenly died. On September 14, 1910, Huo Yuanjia died in Shanghai at the age of 42. Huo Yuanjia's death was only 3 months after he founded the "Chinese Jingwu Gymnastics Association".
Huo Yuanjia died in his prime, very suddenly, which really made people doubt the cause of death. Regarding the cause of Huo Yuanjia's death, the "Jingwu Benji" published in 1919 put forward the idea of "poisoning by the Japanese":
"On the morning after lux (i.e., Huo Yuanjia) died, qiu doctor (that is, japanese doctor Akino) had already returned to the cave, and the disciples of Lux Gate were suspicious, and the remaining medicine that Lux took every day was inspected by the public hospital, and the hospital doctor said: 'This chronic rotten lung medicine is also'."
Published to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the "Jingwu Sports Association", the "Jingwu Benji" is worthy of recognition, and many later sources have cited the description in it. Coincidentally, the famous martial arts novelist Xiang Kairan mentioned earlier also held this view, believing that Huo Yuanjia died at the hands of the Japanese.
Xiang Kairan
If Xiang Kairan's statement is reliable, then Huo Yuanjia's death process is like this: when the Japanese were competing with Huo Yuanjia, they spied that Huo Yuanjia was suffering from choking cough, and thought that this was a good opportunity to assassinate him. The Japanese pretended to "respect" Huo Yuanjia and invited him to a banquet, during which they offered to introduce him to a famous Japanese doctor.
Huo Yuanjia was very grateful, but after taking the medicine prescribed by the Japanese doctor, the vomiting blood symptoms did not improve, but the condition worsened day and night. Not long after, Huo Yuanjia vomited blood and died. Afterwards, Huo Yuanjia's apprentice took the remaining medicine to the test, and it turned out that it was a chronic rotten lung drug, which was extremely toxic.
In addition to the "Japanese poisoning theory", there is also a saying that he died of his own illness. Chen Gongzhe, one of the founders of the "Jingwu Sports Association", believed that Huo Yuanjia died of illness, and he believed that the lung damage caused by Huo Yuanjia's improper practice of Qigong "swallowed the qi and injured the lungs", and as a result, he vomited blood and died.
After Huo Yuanjia died, he was initially buried in Shanghai. Just a year later, with the efforts of his son Huo Dongge and disciple Liu Zhensheng, Huo Yuanjia's remains were moved back to the huo family ancestral tomb in Xiaonanhe Village, Qing District, Tianjin. Since then, film and television dramas with Huo Yuanjia as the theme have emerged in an endless stream, and he has transformed into a national hero and become the embodiment of justice.
In 1989, in view of Huo Yuanjia's influence, the local government of Tianjin's Xiqing District decided to build the Huo Yuanjia Cemetery Cemetery. After the cemetery was repaired, everyone was ready to relocate Huo Yuanjia again. When the graveyard was excavated and the coffin was opened, the scene in front of everyone was not expected, and Huo Yuanjia's remains were all blackened, which was obviously caused by poisoning.
Huo Yuanjia cemetery
At this point, 79 years after Huo Yuanjia's "illness and death", the cause of his death was finally revealed. There was also a report confirming huo Yuanjia's cause of death, which was published on August 6, 2008, xinhua net. It is said that Huo Wenting, the grandson of Huo Yuanjia, and the relevant personnel of the Xiqing District Cultural Bureau, after years of visits and investigations, finally confirmed that the Japanese put the poison of chronic rotten lungs in the medicine on the grounds of treating Huo Yuanjia.
In any case, in the dark age of the late Qing Dynasty, Huo Yuanjia's indomitable martial arts spirit was like a burning torch, igniting the blood of countless Chinese people. Even though there are many wild history legends about Huo Yuanjia later, and many of them have exaggerated elements, Huo Yuanjia's life deserves our respect and deserves our praise as a national hero!