Taijiquan and the Search for the Little Old Chinese Man: Understanding Identity through Martial Arts Martial Arts Self Defense

337 Pages·2006·3.11 MB·English

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T T S
AIJIQUAN AND HE EARCH FOR
T L O C M
HE ITTLE LD HINESE AN
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T T S
AIJIQUAN AND HE EARCH
T L O
FOR HE ITTLE LD
C M
HINESE AN
Understanding Identity through
Martial Arts
Adam D. Frank
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TAIJIQUANANDTHESEARCHFORTHELITTLEOLDCHINESEMAN: UNDERSTANDING
IDENTITYTHROUGHMARTIALARTS
©Palgrave Adam D. Frank 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2006 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™
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Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS.
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
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countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4039-6828-9
ISBN-10: 1-4039-6828-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Frank, Adam D., 1961-
Taijiquan and the search for the little old Chinese man : understanding identity
through martial arts/by Adam D. Frank.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-4039-6828-4 (alk. paper)
1. Tai chi. I. Title.
GV504.F73 2006
613.7(cid:1)148—dc22 2006043153
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Macmillan India Ltd.
First edition: October 2006
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
Abrahams, Roger D
1993 Phantoms of Romantic Nationalism in Folkloristics. Journal of American
Folklore.106:3–37. Reprinted by permission of Journal of American Folklore.
Chen, Nancy
2002 Qiand Masculinities in Post-Mao China. InChinese Femininities/Chinese
Masculinities. Eds. Susan Brownell and Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, eds. Pp. 315–329.
Berkeley: University of California Press. Reprinted with permission of University
of California Press.
Painter, John
1988 Public lecture, July 3, Winchester, Virginia. Tape-recorded. Printed with
permission of Dr. John Painter.
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For Michael Phillips, Oscar Brockett,
and Deborah Kapchan, three
teachers who pointed the way
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C
ONTENTS
List of Figures ix
Romanization and Pronunciation Guide xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1. The Body: Daoism, Qi, and the Making of
Social-Sensual Identities 21
2. Bodies, Lineages, Alleys 59
3. Park Lives and Secret Spaces 99
4. Barbaric Glass and Indecipherable Causes: Taijiquan 131
as Public Art
5. “Through Martial Arts We Will Become Friends”: 155
Taijiquan as Master Symbol of Modernity
6. Kung Fu Fantasies and Imagined Identities 189
7. Global Chinatown 205
8. Body Redux 235
Notes 243
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viii Contents
Appendix I: Wu Style Slow Taijiquan (Wu shi taiji man
quan) Posture Names 261
Appendix II: JTA Lineage Chart 265
Appendix III: Literature of Interest on Martial Arts and
Critical Race Theory 267
Glossary 273
Bibliography 281
Index 303
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L F
IST OF IGURES
Figure 0.1 Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji Tu) 17
Figure 1.1 Master Ma Pushing Hands with Teacher
Lu at the JTA Demonstration, Shanghai
Institute of Chinese Medicine, 1995 57
Figure 1.2 Teacher Qian Pushing Hands with Author at
Monthly Meeting, Shanghai, 1995 57
Figure 2.1 Thursday Sword Class, Shanghai, 2001 97
Figure 3.1 Wu Style Taijiquan (JTA Space Marker),
Shanghai People’s Park, 2001 116
Figure 4.1 Shanghai 1930 Street Scene: Neon Sign,
2001 151
Figure 4.2 Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall
City Model, 2001 152
Figure 4.3 Bronze Girl, Ericsson Telecommunications
Building, Shanghai, 2001 153
Figure 5.1 Banner, 2001 Zhengzhou International
Shaolin Festival, the English Version of
Which Reads “To Promote Chinese
Martial Arts to Widen Opening and
Accelerate Economic Development” 171
Figure 5.2 Chen Family Teacher with Corn,
Chenjiagou, Henan Province, 2001 176