Zhou Tong (archer)

Zhou Tong Zhou Tong stroking his beard. Zhou Tong stroking his beard.
Teacher of General Yue Fei
Known in English as:	Jow Tong, Jou Ton, Jao Tong, Jao Tung, Chow Tong, Chou Tung and Zhou Tong
Chinese:	周侗
Hanyu Pinyin:	Zhōu Tóng
Wade-Giles:	Chou T’ung
Cantonese:	Jau1 Dung6 or Jau1 Tung4
Martial nickname:	Iron Arm
Simplified Chinese:	铁臂
Traditional Chinese:	鐵臂
Hanyu Pinyin:	Tiě Bèi
Wade-Giles:	T’ieh Pei
Cantonese:	Tit3 Bei3

This is an article about the teacher of Yue Fei. He is not to be confused with the Water Margin Bandits Zhou Tong and Zhu Tong or the Shu Kingdom officer Zhao Tong.

Zhou Tong (Chinese: 周侗; pinyin: Zhōu Tóng; circa 1040–1119 CE) was the archery teacher of famous Song Dynasty general Yue Fei. Information regarding his actual life is largely absent in history records. However, the fact that Zhou was Yue Fei's teacher has led to his popularity in Chinese folklore. Modern pop culture usually portrays him as a Shaolin monk or a layman who studied within the monastery and later taught Kung fu to Wu Song, Lin Chong and Lu Junyi, three of the "108 outlaws" on whom the Water Margin novel is based. Older documents cast him as a former soldier and always as a master of the bow and Chinese spear.

For centuries, Zhou Tong has had an intimate connection with topics related to Yue Fei, including martial arts, literature and film. Many martial arts styles associated with Yue Fei—Eagle Claw, Chuojiao and Xing Yi—commonly include Zhou Tong within their lineage history. In the folk biography of Yue Fei, Zhou's abilities as a martial artist are described as being "high and strong." Zhou's character appeared in a string of black and white Yue Fei films during the early half of the 20th century, one of which featured a ten-year-old Sammo Hung. There is even an individual wuxia novel that focuses on Zhou's fictional adventures as a young man.

Background

Major sources

Yue Fei Biography

In 1345, Yuan Dynasty Prime-Minister Toktoghan (Chinese: 脫脫) (1314-1355) finished compiling the Sòng Shǐ (Chinese: 宋史 - "History of Song"), a massive 496 volume record of various historical events and biographies of noted Song Dynasty personage. The 365th volume in this collection is the Yue Fei Zhuan (Chinese: 岳飞传 – "Yue Fei Biography") (biography 124), which was presumably written with material originally gathered by General Yue Fei's grandson, the poet and historian Yue Ke (Chinese: 岳柯) (1183-post 1240). Although it is part of a historic text, this biography includes supernatural elements. For instance, it mentions how Yue Fei’s father named him Fei (Chinese: 飞- “fly”) because a magical Peng alighted on the roof of their family home. It also states Yue Fei "possessed supernatural power" and could "draw a bow of 300 catties". Zhou Tong is only briefly mentioned in the second paragraph of the entire biography. The work states, "學射与周侗，盡其術，能左右射。侗死，溯望設祭于其冢。"

"[Yue Fei] learned archery from Zhou Tong. He learned everything and could fire with both hands. After [Zhou] Tong's death, [Yue Fei] would offer sacrifices at his tomb."

Very little is actually written about the historical Zhou Tong. On the contrary, there is a larger abundance of "legendary" material available about him, which makes it very difficult to clearly distinguish who he really was. The only reason his name is still known is because of his association with General Yue Fei.

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Front cover of General Yue Fei.

The Story of Yue Fei

Yue Fei's second biography, a wuxia fiction named Shuo Yue Quan Zhuan (Chinese: 說岳全傳 - "The Story of Yue Fei", literally "Telling the Complete Biography of Yue Fei"), was written by Qian Cai (Chinese: 钱彩), who lived sometime during the reigns of Qing Dynasty Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzheng (1661-1735). It was banned in the reign of Emperor Qianlong. There are two main versions of this novel in existence. The original had eighty chapters. There was an illustrated edition of this version published in 1912. Another edition with eighty chapters was published during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi. Starting in 1964 and finally finishing in 1995, Honorable Sir T.L. Yang (Chinese: 楊鐵樑爵士) (1934-present), former Chief Justice of Hong Kong from 1988 to 1995, current Chairman of the Hong Kong Red Cross, combined the first chapters of these works (in an attempt to weed out the overabundance of supernatural elements) to create a seventy-nine chapter version with 961 pages, which he translated into English. It is currently sold under the name General Yue Fei (ISBN 978-962-04-1279-0).

Some people mistakingly take this novel to be historical fact when it is purely fiction. (Example) In the introduction of his translation, Honorable Sir T.L. Yang states:

"The work is a historical novel in form, but it is in fact based almost mainly on legends which were current amongst the common people for centuries. Indeed some of the events described there are nothing more than Qian Cai's own imagination."

In this work, Zhou Tong is a secondary character, appearing only in three chapters (2 - 5) out of seventy-nine. Zhou Tong first appears seven years after newborn Yue Fei and his mother, Lady Yao (Chinese: 姚夫人), are rescued from the Yellow River flood by Wang Ming (Chinese: 王明), a country squire and Zhou's friend. He comes from the “Eastern Capital” to inspect land purchased with the earnings saved from teaching military skills to the millionaire Lu Junyi. During his stay, he becomes the new precept of the Wang estate, home to brutal children known for berating and expelling their tutors. The following day, Zhou has a confrontation with a child wielding an iron ruler as a weapon. He dodges the child’s advances and quickly makes an example of him by beating him soundly in front of the other children. From this time forward, the children are submissive and concentrate on their studies.

Meanwhile, seven-year-old Yue Fei stands on a stool and secretly eavesdrops on Zhou Tong’s lectures. One day, Zhou Tong presents a literary examination for his three pupils to finish when he is called away from the classroom by a visitor. Seeing that the tutor is gone, Yue Fei ventures inside of the classroom to look around and is captured by Wang Gui (Chinese: 王贵), the Squire’s son. Knowing that he was well-educated by his mother, the boys ask Yue Fei to finish their exams so they visit their mothers, a clever guise for playing outside. Wang Gui locks him inside of the classroom so he can’t escape before finishing. After easily completing the task, he writes a heroic poem on a whitewashed wall and signs it with his name. As Zhou returns, the children burst into the classroom and tell Yue Fei to run before he is caught. The teacher later grades their exams to find that someone had answered them in their stead. After reading Yue Fei’s poem and admonishing the children for their lies, Zhou sends Wang Gui to invite Yue Fei to the classroom. When he arrives, Zhou questions Yue Fei about his style name and his family background. Zhou then asks Yue Fei to fetch his mother so he can discuss important matters with her. With the entire Wang household assembled in the main hall, Zhou asks Lady Yao for her blessing to have Yue Fei has his adopted son and student. After some polite protest, she consents and Yue Fei knocks his head on the ground eight times to complete the adoption. The following day, Yue Fei takes his seat amongst Zhou Tong's students. Because Zhou knows Yue Fei is poor, he commands the four students to become sworn brothers. Zhou also begins to teach Yue Fei all of the eighteen weapons of war.

Six years later, Zhou Tong takes the group to visit his old friend, the abbot of a small Buddhist temple on the “Hill of Dripping Water”. Thirteen-year-old Yue Fei wanders behind the temple and finds the "Cave of Dripping Water", in which lives a magical snake. When it lunges at Yue Fei, he dodges to one side and pulls on its tail with his supernatural strength, turning it into an eighteen foot long, gold-plated spear named the “Supernatural Spear of Dripping Water”. When they return home, Zhou Tong begins to drill all of his students in the military arts--eighteen weapons of war, archery, and hand-to-hand combat. After three years of practice, Zhou Tong enters them into a preliminary military examination in which sixteen-year-old Yue Fei wins first place by shooting a succession of nine arrows through the bullseye of a target two-hundred and forty paces away. After his display of marksmanship, Yue Fei is asked to marry the daughter of Li Chun (Chinese: 李春), an old friend of Zhou's and the county magistrate who presided over the military exams.

Several days later, Magistrate Li bestows on Yue Fei the gift of a military horse and the group has a great feast before their return home. During their journey, Zhou Tong recommends that Yue Fei runs the horse to test its speed. Yue Fei spurs the horse on leaving Zhou Tong in pursuit. When they reach the village gate, the two dismount and Zhou Tong returns to his study where he feels hot from the race and removes his outer garments to fan himself. But he soon falls ill and stays bedridden for seven days until he passes away at age seventy-nine. After Buddhist and Taoist priests chant prayers over his body for forty-nine days, Zhou Tong is laid to rest beside the Hill of Dripping Water. Yue Fei lives in a shed by his grave through the winter and in the "second month" of the following year, his martial brothers come and pull the building down, forcing him to return home and take care of his mother.

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The front cover of Zhou Tong’s fictional biography

Biography of Song Yue, Prince of E

The Song Yue E Wang Nianpu (Chinese: 宋岳鄂王年譜 – “Biography of Song Yue, Prince of E [ Wuchang, Hubei ]”), written by Qian Ru Wen (Chinese: 钱汝雯) in 1924, is a modern semi-historical work which describes Zhou Tong as Yue Fei's second military arts teacher. It reads,

"Yue Fei began studying spear techniques at the age of eleven under a teacher named Chen Guang … By the time he was thirteen he started studying archery under Zhou Tong. When his teacher, Zhou Tong, died, Yue Fei was overcome with grief, dressed in mourning attire, arranged for sacrifices, ceremonially shot three arrows to express his respect, and vowed to dedicate himself to support the nation. When he became a general he used what he learned from Zhou Tong to train his troops, and they became renowned for their skill and discipline."

However, Master Chen Guang (Chinese: 陈广) is not mentioned in either of Yue Fei's previous biographies. He appears in many Qing Dynasty documents like the Tangyin Xian Zhi (Chinese: 湯陰縣誌 – “Tangyin County Record”) and E Wang Shi (Chinese: 鄂王事 - "Hubei Prince Matter").

Description

According to a folktale about how he met his student Wu Song, “[Zhou] was over the age of fifty and standing upright he measured about eight feet. His face had a golden tan, arched brows, a pair of bright eyes, a regular head form, a square mouth, a pair of protruding ears, and under his chin there were three locks of beard. His beard was tied into a knot [to avoid cutting it off during sword practice]...On his head he wore a sky-blue satin scarf, and he was dressed in a stately sky-blue satin coat with a silken girdle, a pair of wide black trousers without crotch and satin boots with then soles. The steel blades of his double swords shone as bright as the snow in his hands."

Later in the tale it it reads, “Who was Zhou Tong? Among the itinerant people of the rivers and lakes this man was of illustrious fame, a fame reverberating like thunder, an expert in both civillian and military matters. Iron Arm Zhou Tong, Old Master Zhou!” (“Iron Arm” being his martial nickname.)

Family

According to The Story of Yue Fei, Zhou Tong was from Shaanxi Province and had a wife and child, but both died prematurely. He comments, "My old wife died a long time ago. My small son [ Zhou Yunqing (Chinese: 周云清) ] followed my humble pupil Lu Junyi to conquer the Liaos and was killed in battle." According to the Water Margin, Lu Junyi left to fight the Liao sometime after the Outlaws' rebellion, which would put Zhou Yunqing's fictional death around 1119. But there is some conflicting information between the criss-crossing story lines.

Zhou later asks for seven-year-old Yue Fei to be his adopted son and sole heir from the boys mother, Lady Yao:

"I see that [Yue Fei] is clever and handsome and I, an old man, wish to have him as my adopted son … He need change neither his name nor his surname. I only want him to call me father temporarily so that I can faithfully transmit all the skills I have learned in my life to a single person. Later, when I die, all he has to do is to bury my old bones in the earth and not allow them to be exposed, and that is all."

Lady Yao consents and Yue Fei knocks his head on the floor eight times to finalize the adoption. A few chapters later, Song Dynasty General Zong Ze (Chinese: 宗澤) comments, “For long have I heard of Zhou Tong, whose abilities are high and strong, and who was unwilling to be an official. Since [Yue Fei] is this man’s adopted son, it is not impossible that he has some talent and knowledge…" However, the Yue Fei Biography and Biography of Song Yue, Prince of E make no mention of Zhou Tong adopting Yue Fei at all.

Students

Water Margin bandits

According to popular legend, Zhou Tong took the future-Water Margin bandits Wu Song, Lin Chong and Lu Junyi as his students. One source even counts the villain Shi Wen-gong among them. However, Zhou Tong never appears in the Water Margin, which was published at least a century before Yue Fei's folk biography. The Story of Yue Fei states:

"Zhou Tong had been the tutor of Lin Chong, an instructor of eight thousand Imperial Guards; and he also taught military skills to Lu Junyi, a millionaire of the Prefecture of Da Ming in Henan Province."

Zhou Tong is portrayed as lamenting the death of these two disciples when he says, "Both my pupils, Lin Chong and Lu Junyi, were also killed by villainous officials." And later, "I have...two pupils, but both of them have been harmed and killed by certain corrupt ministers." Wu Song is not included among his students in this novel, but Zhou's own fictional biography and one folktale in particular counts him as being among his first pupils. This folktale states, "Thereupon he crawled down and banged his head to the ground. Modest and amiable, the old man [Zhou] helped Wu Song to his feet, and then the old master prepared to pass on his skill of swordplay—under the moon." It also says Wu Song was twenty-nine years old when Zhou took him as his student.

Yue Fei

The Story of Yue Fei also comments Lu Junyi was Zhou Tong's last student prior to taking on young Yue fei and his four sworn-brothers Wang Gui (Chinese: 王贵), Tang Huai (Chinese: 湯懷), Zhang Xian (Chinese: 張顯) and, much later, Niu Gao (Chinese: 牛皋). He taught them "literary lessons...on even days and military lessons...on odd days." After Yue Fei aquired his "Supernatural Spear of Dripping Water", Zhou tutored all of his students in the 18 Weapons of War, but each excelled with one in particular; Yue Fei and Tang Huai, the spear; Zhang Xian, the "Hook-Sickle" spear; Wang Gui, the Yanyue Dao and Niu Gao, the double clubs. All of them learned the skill of archery in addition.

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Zhou Tong teaching Yue Fei archery.

The Yue Fei Biography states Yue Fei learned from Zhou Tong "before his adulthood". The chinese word representing "adulthood" is Guàn (Chinese: 冠 - "Formal Cap"). This actually refers to Jí Guàn (Chinese: 及冠 -“Conferring Cap"), an ancient Chinese term that means "20 years old" where a young man was able to wear a formal cap as a social status of adulthood. In the 28th chapter of the Qing Dynasty book Er Wang Shi (Chinese: 鄂王事), it states, “岳飞及冠时,外祖父姚大翁聘请当时的枪手陈广教授岳飞枪法。"

"When Yue Fei reached the conferring cap period, his maternal grandfather, Yao Daweng [ 姚大翁 ], hired a spear expert, Chen Guang, to teach Yue Fei spear fighting."

The Biography of Song Yue, Prince of E states “Yue Fei began studying spear techniques at the age of eleven under a teacher named Chen Guang … By the time he was thirteen he started studying archery under Zhou Tong...” However, as previously stated, Chen Guang is not mentioned in Yue Fei's older biographies. So Zhou Tong took him as his student sometime before Yue Fei reached the age of twenty.

Conflicting info

Because both novels are fiction, the Water Margin and The Story of Yue Fei have conflicting information when the two stories cross. For instance, the rebellion of the bandit leader Song Jiang takes place in 1119. Following the disbandment of the outlaws, Lin Chong dies of a long illness and Lu Junyi is poisoned to death. However, the The Story of Yue Fei mentions Zhou Tong talking about the death of his students before he takes seven-year-old Yue Fei as his student in what would amount to be 1110. That is at least a nine year difference in story chronology. During the same fictional timeline, Zhou Tong also mentions how his son followed Lu Junyi into battle and died while fighting the Liao tartars. The Water Margin states Lu Junyi accepted the peace treaty signed between the monarchy and the bandits and headed off to fight the Liao after 1119. Again, that is at least a nine year difference.

All of this confusion points to the fact that Qian Cai (Chinese: 钱彩), the original author of The Story of Yue Fei, did not know the actual birth date of Yue Fei. Since he was born in 1103, Zhou Tong would have become Yue Fei’s teacher around 1110 in The Story of Yue Fei if the fictional chronology is matched up with the historical. This also might lead some to believe Zhou Tong's association with the Water Margin bandits was born of folklore and later incorporated into Qian Cai's novel or visa versa. There is no historical evidence which supports the claim that Wu Song, Lin Chong, and Lu Junyi where his students.

Death

During their journey to visit the Buddhist abbot in The Story of Yue Fei, Zhou marvels at the beauty of a "smaller hill to the southeast of the Hill of Dripping Water". He tells his students, "I notice that this little hill faces a good direction and the colour of the earth is superb. The contours ar such that it resembles a powerful dragon. It will keep the winds and collect the air -- what wonderful land from the geomantic point of view!" Zhou later tells his students to "...not forget about this little hill" as he wished to be burried there after his death. A few chapters later, Zhou develops a fever brought on by an exciting horse race between him and sixteen-year-old Yue Fei. Before his death, he tells his friends, "My worthy brothers, if you want your sons [Zhou's students] to make a name for themselves, they must not leave Fei!" Then the book describes his death and burial:

"Having uttered these words, his phlegm bubbled up and he died. This was on the fourteenth day of the ninth month in the seventeenth year of the Reign of Xuan He, and his age was seventy-nine ... Buddhist and Taoist Priests were asked to come and chant prayers, for seven times seven, namely forty-nine days. Then the body was taken up to be buried beside the Hill of Dripping Water."

The quoted death date is not reliable since the Xuan He reign era of Emperor Huizong lasted only seven years (1119-1125) and not seventeen. The Story of Yue Fei states Zhou Tong died when Yue Fei was sixteen. This would be the first year of Xuan He (1119), but this too is not a reliable date since the book is fiction. So the original author more than likely created this fictional date. The Yue Fei Biography states, "侗死，溯望設祭于其冢。"

"After [Zhou] Tong's death, [Yue Fei] would offer sacrifices at his tomb."

According to the Biography of Song Yue, Prince of E, “When his teacher, Zhou Tong, died, Yue Fei was overcome with grief, dressed in mourning attire, arranged for sacrifices, ceremonially shot three arrows to express his respect, and vowed to dedicate himself to support the nation.”

Skills

See main article: Military and civilian combat arts of Zhou Tong

Various historical documents, wuxia novels and folk legends have attributed many different kinds of military and civilian combat arts to Zhou Tong. These range from mastery of the bow, double swords and Chinese spear to that of Wudang hard qigong, Chuojiao boxing and even magical X-ray eyes.

Zhou Tong can also be linked to these combat arts through his historical and folklore students. Practitioners of Eagle Claw, Chuojiao and Xingyi commonly include him within their lineage history because of his association with Yue Fei, the supposed progenitor of these styles. He is also linked to Northern Praying Mantis boxing through his students Lin Chong and Yan Qing, the adopted son of Lu Junyi. One folktale even represents him as a master of Drunken Eight Immortals boxing.

Monk or soldier?

Many modern martial arts masters believe Zhou Tong either studied at the Shaolin temple or was a full-fledged monk there. According to several books by Dr. Yang Jwing Ming, a master of Internal and Shaolin martial arts, Zhou Tong was "a very good martial artist who had studied in the Shaolin temple”. Shaolin Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit, author of the Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for Self-Defense Health and Enlightenment, writes, “Yue Fei, who developed Eagle Claw Kungfu, learned from Zhou Tong, who learned at the northern Shaolin Temple”. Again he writes, “Yue Fei’s teacher was Zhou Tong, a Shaolin master”. Eagle Claw Grandmasters Leung Shum and Lily Lau believe he was a Shaolin Monk. In his book on Eagle Claw, Grandmater Leung wrote, “Training his soldiers in fighting techniques he had learned from a Sil Lum monk named Jow Tong, Ngok Fei continuously defeated the [ Jurchen ] invaders…” During a magazine interview, Grandmaster Lau said, “Ngok-Fei inherited [the Eagle Claw hand] techniques from Chow Tong in Shaolin.”

None of Yue Fei's biographies--Yue Fei Biography, The Story of Yue Fei and Biography of Song Yue, Prince of E--ever mention Zhou as having trained in or being a monk from Shaolin. This could mean Zhou Tong's portrayal as a Shaolin monk arose during the Qing Dynasty or later as an Eagle Claw legend separate from much older records which paint him as a former soldier and master of the bow.

Zhou in popular culture

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Actor Jing Ci Bo as Zhou Tong

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Actor Yu Cheng Hui as "Master Shadow-Glow"

Film

• Yuè Fēi (Chinese: 岳飛) (1940). Zhou Tong was portrayed by Huang Shou Nian (黄寿年).

• Jīng Zhōng Bào Guó (Chinese: 尽忠报国 - "Serve the Country Loyally") (1940). Zhou Tong was portrayed by Li Ming (黎明, not to confuse with Leon Lai, a similarly named actor). The name of this movie comes from the famous tattoo on Yue Fei's back.

• Yuè Fēi Chū Shì (Chinese: 岳飛出世 - "The Birth of Yue Fei") (1962). Zhou Tong was portrayed by Jing Ci Bo (Chinese: 靓次伯). A ten-year-old Sammo Hung played young Yue Fei. This film was largely based on The Story of Yue Fei.

Veteran martial arts actor Yu Cheng Hui (Chinese: 于承惠), who played the villain "Wang Renzhe" in Shaolin Temple (1982) and "Master Shadow-Glow" in Seven Swords (2005), has expressed interest in playing Zhou Tong in a future movie. In an interview, Mr. Yu said he never shaved his famous beard for any role, even at the request of movie producers, because he wanted to portray the "Iron Arm, Zhou Tong".

Shortly after filming New Police Story in 2004, Jackie Chan reported that he would produce and play Yue Fei in a bioepic about the general’s life. Jaycee Chan, Jackie’s son, will share the role as young Yue Fei. Jackie said, “There's already a rough draft right now, we've even found a co-star. In fact, filming of ‘Genghis Khan’ is also under consideration, but it must be a good script, because a lot of people have filmed this story, and the story itself is complicated and randomized, so up to now, there isn't a concrete plan yet. And [the script for] ‘Ngok Fei’ is nearly completed." He continues, “I think Yue Fei is a man with great sense of loyalty, so am I. I've been loyal to Golden Harvest, to friends and to my country!" Filming will not begin until Jackie finishes filming several other projects (including Rush Hour 3), but he is willing to work for reduced pay so he can work with his son. This is because he believes the box office results will be good. However, Director Tang Jili (唐季礼) says the role of Yue Fei could possibly go to Andy Lau. It has yet to be announced which actor will portray Zhou Tong.

Literature

The wuxia paperback novel Tiě Bèi Jīn Dāo Zhōu Tóng Zhuàn (Chinese: 铁臂金刀周侗传 - "Iron Arm, Golden Broadsword: The Biography of Zhou Tong"), written by Wang Yun Heng (Chinese: 汪运衡) and Xiao Yun Long (Chinese: 筱云龙), details the fictional adventures of Zhou Tong as a young man. It has 451 pages, 72 chapters and reads "left-to-right" like an english language novel. Black and white line drawings sporadically appear (from 20 to every 40 pages) throughout the publication to illustrate the action in a certain chapter. These pictures are reminiscent of the Manga genre. This is now a very rare book. In 1986, only 66,000 copies were made.

Storytelling

The Story of Yue Fei is a favorite among Pingshu (Chinese: 评书) or Pinghua (Chinese: 评话) storytellers, which is a modern-day form of Shuoshu (“talk-story”) storytelling that became popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties. One of the most famous of these artists is Liu Lanfang (1944-present), a noted singer and actress. She first made a name for herself in 1972 when she sang the full-length script of The Story of Yue Fei. In September 1981, the Chunfeng Literature Publishing House published the 100-chapter pingshu script of Yue Fei’s tale.

Yangzhou Pinghua (Chinese: 扬州评话 – “Yangzhou storytelling”) is divided into major (Da shu) and minor (Xiao shu) texts. The Story of Yue Fei is one of the major texts, along with the Water Margin. One of the most famous singers of the Water Margin tale was Wang Shaotang (1889-1968). He compiled four scripts from the Water Margin tales about the bandits Wu Song, Shi Xiu and Lu Junyi and formed his own school of storytelling called the “Wang School Shui Hu”. It is important to note this as Zhou Tong is either mentioned in or connected to the tales these storytellers sing about.

Yue Fei Studies the Archery

According to a moral tale called “Yue Fei Studies the Archery” in You Er Hua Bao (Chinese: 幼儿画报 – “Children’s Pictorial”) Magazine, a Chinese magazine tailored for children ages two through seven, young Yue Fei purchased a bow, a sword, and a spear to practice martial arts on his own since he did not have a teacher to train him properly. One day when he was chopping fire wood, he passed by a village with a martial training hall ran by a famous master. Yue Fei immediately asked the master to become his student, not even knowing that this person was none other than Zhou Tong. Zhou told the boy “Your skill in wushu is inadequate, so you must first train the eyes.”

As a part of his training, Yue Fei began to stare directly into the morning sunrise. At first the training was hard because the bright sun hurt his eyes, but he continued to practice the skill of the “far-sighted person” for many years. One day, Zhou came to Yue Fei and pointed to an object high up in the sky. When he focused his trained vision, Yue saw that it was a lone goose. Zhou then directed Yue to scan some trees that were one hundred paces away. Yue again focused his vision and caught sight of two black cicadas on a tree. Zhou then laughed in approval and said “Now that your eyesight is practiced, I not only receive you as my student, but as my adopted son. I will now teach you wushu.”

Yue Fei practiced diligently and became a master of the eighteen weapons of war. He could draw a three-hundred catty bow and, with a “whiz” of the arrow, shoot a leaf from one-hundred paces away. The moral of the story is that achievements are only made through diligent practice.

How Wu Song becomes Zhou's student

The following tale alternatively known as “Meeting Zhou Tong By Chance” and "Swordplay under the Moon" belongs to the “Wang School Shui Hu” of Yangzhou storytelling. It acts as a Shu wai shu (Chinese: 书外书 - “Story outside of the story”), meaning it takes place during the Water Margin, but is outside of the main storyline. The tale takes place after Wu Song’s older brother is killed by his wife, but before he kills her and her lover and becomes a bandit. It explains how he came to learn swordplay from Zhou Tong.

Wu Song was given orders to travel on assignment to the eastern Song capital of Kaifeng after becoming a constable for the Yanggu District police force in Shandong province. When he arrived in Kaifeng, Wu Song took his introduction letter to the office of the local administration building and retired to an inn to await his summons. The following day, he left his inn to explore the bustling city.

The city of Kaifeng was one of the largest in the world at this time and it was full of various kinds of shops and heavy traffic from people coming in and leaving the city. As Wu Song walked along enjoying the organized chaos, the sky changed color and it became a torrential down pour with rain the size of casks (a play on “raining buckets of water”). It rained so much that waves flowed across the ground and mist rose around the houses. The rain hurt the top of Wu Song’s head so he huddled under the roof of a small shop along with several other people vying for safety. But as soon as it started, the rain suddenly stopped.

Wu Song continued on his way when he came to a large Chinese style bridge. It was called the Tianhan Bridge. It was arched, so people had to use steps to ascend to the top. When he stepped onto the bridge, Wu Song lifted up his clothing and looked down at his feet so he could avoid the huge puddles of water left from the freak rain shower. Unbeknownst to him, he was walking directly towards an elderly man who was descending the stares right above him. Wu Song continued to walk up the bridge without looking in front of him. This old man was Zhou Tong and he was in a hurry. When Zhou saw Wu Song approaching him on the bridge without watching in front of him, the old master took the large young man to be another martial arts master who wished to tarnish Zhou’s reputation by throwing him off of the bridge with a shoulder strike. So Zhou prepared for a counter-attack and began to swallow air with a subtle “Hm!” and directed his energy to his right shoulder, which turned red then purple and became as hard as rock underneath his clothing. When the two brushed shoulders, despite being a master of Iron Shirt and Drunken Eight Immortals boxing, Wu Song was nearly knocked off of the bridge and the pain caused saliva to pour from his mouth. The attack left him weak in the knees and one side of his body was completely numb. He thought after all of his years of practicing the martial arts that his body was nearly invincible, but he had met his superior in Zhou Tong. Instead of cursing and reprimanding the old man, Wu Song held his tongue, which greatly impressed Zhou. In lieu of a kind word, Zhou simply bowed in apology to Wu Song and went on his way since he was in a terrible rush.

After Zhou disappeared into the bustling crowd, Wu Song rubbed his shoulder and he returned to his inn. He ate his lunch and supper in turn, but felt it was too early to go to bed. So he went outside into a quiet courtyard behind the inn to do a little Shadowboxing underneath the starry nighttime sky. He untied his belt and wrenched it to the left and right until it was very tight and tied it into a not. He then focused his energy and began to practice his Drunken Eight Immortals boxing. But before he was even half way done with his routine, the loud screams of another person’s martial arts practice interrupted his concentration. So he grabbed a bench to steady himself on and looked over the top of a brick wall that opened into the hall of a large mansion to the east of the inn.

In the middle of the hall sat three tables laden with all the myriad kinds of food. But the stately-looking people attending this sumptuous feast were underneath the eaves of the hall watching a person practice his swordplay in the manor’s courtyard. This person was none-other-than Zhou Tong and he had his beard tied into a not so he would not accidentally cut it off with his double swords. Zhou wielded his swords to and fro and did it so fast that the flashes of light cast from the swords made it look like his entire body was wrapped in snow. Even if a person threw a bowlful of writing ink at him, not a single drop of it would tarnish his clothing. Wu Song became mesmerized by Zhou’s display of superior swordsmanship. When he twirled around and ended up facing in his direction, Wu Song recognized Zhou as the old man that he had bumped into on the bridge earlier in the day. He realized that Zhou must be a great master adapt in the art of the “deep breath” technique.

During his practice, Zhou let out a mountain-crumbling scream and fell onto his back, kicking one leg into the air. Wu Song felt sorry for Zhou because he thought maybe the man was too old to practice the martial arts and had lost his balance. However, Zhou screamed again and this time he shot high into the sky with his swords held under his armpits. After a few more poses, it finally dawned on Wu that Zhou was indeed practicing the forms of the immortals Iron-Crutch Li and Han Xiang from the Drunken Eight Immortals. Zhou was so good at this style that his performance once caused a fellow warrior to become intoxicated. Wu then remembered back to his own martial arts master who had told him there were only two people in the world (including Wu) who could perform this boxing. Because Zhou’s performance was so great, Wu Song went against the rules of etiquette and shouted praise from the top of the wall.

This shouting interrupted Zhou before he could finish the forms for the rest of the Eight immortals. He spun around and asked his aristocratic audience who it was that was shouting prays of his performance. But they were unable to answer because their snobbery prevented them from noticing anything outside of their own amusement. However, one of their level-headed servants heard the noise and pointed towards the brick wall. Zhou used his magical X-ray eyes to peer through the brick wall and into Wu Song’s bone structure to see he was a special person indeed. When Wu praised Zhou’s performance, he formed an instant friendship with the old man. Zhou invited Wu over the wall to partake in the festivities.

When Zhou asked for his name, he was delighted to learn Wu Song was the same fellow who became famous for killing a man-eating tiger with his bare hands on Jingyang Mountain in Shandong province the previous year. When Wu learned who Zhou Tong was, he immediately dropped to his knees, knocked his head on the floor and pleaded to become his student. Wu was thrilled to meet this “master of the older generation” who was famous throughout the rivers and lakes for his skill in military and civilian martial arts. Zhou helped Wu up and began to teach him swordplay under the moon.

External links

English

• Swordplay under the Moon – Another name for the tale about how Wu Song meets Zhou Tong. Go to the bottom of the page for the choice of reading a small section of the tale or watching a short clip of the verbal performance.

Chinese

• Template:Zh icon "History of the Song" Chinese Wikipedia entry
• Template:Zh icon 470 volume version of the "History of the Song"
• Template:Zh icon "The Story of Yue Fei"
• Template:Zh icon "Yue Fei's Biography" from the History of the Song
• Template:Zh icon Zhou Tong teaches Yue Fei a skill that improves his eysight for archery
• Template:Zh icon Why doesn't Zhou Dong's apprentice have to die a natural death?
• Template:Zh icon Zhou Tong What kind of a person?