Kusanku's Shaolin Roots

[AlienRage]

I believe it's clear that the style of martial arts Kūsankū passed on was a form of Fujian White Crane, based on several techniques that mirror that style, along with the supposed transmission of the Hakutsuru kata. It was also reported that he lived in Fukien, therefore it makes sense that Kūsankū was trained in Southern Shaolin Ch'uan Fa. However, it appears that the practitioners of Southern Shaolin Ch'uan Fa around that time (1700's) were actually defectors of the Emperor who came down from the North, causing the government to down the Southern Shaolin temple sometime between 1647 and 1732. I find it odd that Kūsankū was a practitioner of this Southern Shaolin art, yet he was sent as a respected dignitary (assumingly by Qianlong Emperor) to Japan in 1756. Is anyone able to offer an explanation as to how this is possible, given the facts that are known?

If Qianlong Emperor did send Kūsankū to Japan in 1756, that would surely mean that Kūsankū himself was a Shaolin monk in good standing with the Emperor, because in 1735-1736, Qianlong Emperor proceeded to raid the main Shaolin Temple to oust any "fake monks" (otherwise known as Shaolin practitioners who weren't ordained monks). So, it seems that either he must be a monk, or he did not come to Japan under the request of the Emperor. Perhaps there is an alternative explanation for this that I am missing?

I suppose it is possible that he was actually a practitioner of Northern Shaolin, which in turn was combined by Kanga Sakugawa with the teachings from the Southern Shaolin line that was currently in Japan (Wong Chung-Yoh -> Chatan Yara -> Peichin Takahara -> Kanga Sakugawa) to form Shuri-te.

Is anyone able to shed any historical light on this?

[Toptomcat]

Hmmmm. You're making the assumption that anyone who'd been trained in a Shaolin-derived art was automatically a monk, and I'm not sure that was necessarily the case even in the 1700s.

[AlienRage]

Hmmmm. You're making the assumption that anyone who'd been trained in a Shaolin-derived art was automatically a monk, and I'm not sure that was necessarily the case even in the 1700s.

That assumption is based on the reported fact that he was sent by the Emperor as a respected martial artist to Japan. That same Emperor was the one who, a mere 20 years earlier, raided the Northern Shaolin Temple to flush out all of the martial arts who were learning the art, but who weren't ordained. So, if he did study any kind of Shaolin martial art, he would have to have been a monk in order for the Emperor to recognize him as a proper and respected martial artist. That Emperor would not have sent a non-ordained student, even if they were well-trained in Shaolin Ch'uan Fa, due to his obvious distaste for non-monastic Ch'uan Fa practitioners.

That is the aspect that is perplexing and makes it hard to determine if one of these "facts" is incorrect. The other question would be if there were any other Shaolin-based martial arts around during that time that were well-respected in China. I don't know enough about Chinese martial arts to answer that question, however. The stumbling block is that he was sent as a martial arts envoy by the Emperor...so he would have had to have practiced an art that was recognized as a skillful one by the Emperor for him to send Kusanku over to Japan...and an art that apparently was identical to (or shared many aspects with) Fujian White Crane, which was supposedly developed in the Southern Shaolin temple circa 1700.

[Toptomcat]

The particulars of the martial-arts history for this period are indeed frustratingly, headache-inducingly vague. As I understand it even the existence of the southern Shaolin temple rests on fairly thin historical evidence, let alone the particulars of its political relationship to the Emperor. What are your sources?

At any rate, the Emperor driving out non-monastic students of martial arts from the northern Shaolin temple does not necessarily indicate a personal distaste for them. He may, for example, have used it as a measure to restrict the spread of martial-arts instruction to criminal or rebel elements in the area.

[AlienRage]

The particulars of the martial-arts history for this period are indeed frustratingly, headache-inducingly vague. As I understand it even the existence of the southern Shaolin temple rests on fairly thin historical evidence, let alone the particulars of its political relationship to the Emperor. What are your sources?

At any rate, the Emperor driving out non-monastic students of martial arts from the northern Shaolin temple does not necessarily indicate a personal distaste for them. He may, for example, have used it as a measure to restrict the spread of martial-arts instruction to criminal or rebel elements in the area.

The account of the Fujian temple being razed is found in the text "Qing bai lei chao" by Ju Ke, written in 1917. But you're also correct in that the existence of the Southern Shaolin Temple is still under question. Ju Ke's book is one of the few that gets specific about it, apparently, identifying facts and locations of the supposed temple.

I do suppose that his actions may have been more political than personal. One thought that crossed my mind is that there are reports that the Qing Emperor has infiltrated the Southern Shaolin Temple to learn Shaolin Ch'uan Fa (source: "The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu" by Wong Kiew Kit). So, while being politically against it, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to think that Kusanku may have been a close personal teacher to the emperor, aiding him in learning Shaolin Ch'uan Fa, making it possible for him to not be a monk but still be favored by the Emperor. This sounds plausible, I think?

[Toptomcat]

Ha! I think I may have found a piece we're missing. Kūsankū is noted in a few sources I've found as a military envoy. This would have provided an alternative source for his martial training while providing a clear reason for why he would've been sent in official capacity.

As for any personal association with the Emperor- well, it would be speculation at best, but not unreasonable speculation. We don't even know if it was a sign of favor or disfavor- sending someone far away from their homeland in a diplomatic posting can be a way of awarding prestige, but it can also be a way of gently getting rid of troublesome elements.

[AlienRage]

Ah, good catch! So, Kūsankū may have been in the military, explaining his personal favor (or at least company) with the Emperor.

Chinese military experts did start training in the Northern Shaolin Temple around the mid-16th century, but it still leaves a little bit of confusion as to how Kūsankū knew Southern Shaolin. I suppose it's possible that he could have learned it then defected from the Southern Shaolin to join the military and support the Emperor. Like I said earlier, there are also reports of Yong Zheng Emperor infiltrating the Southern Shaolin temple to learn from them, so it could be possible that Kūsankū did something similar, as well.

Being in the military would clear up the reason why he was recognized by the Emperor, at least (for good or bad).

Also odd is that, due to the Satsuma occupation of Okinawa, from 1609 - 1879, martial arts training was banned by the government. So, it almost seems like that it wasn't a diplomatic mission by the Chinese Emperor, but rather it may have had some other motive. (Unless, of course, he was there to train their military in Ch'uan Fa, and ended up training others too.)

What might make this whole story a lot more sensible is that it was Chatan Yara who infused the Fujian White Crane influence into the modern style. He verifiably learned this style from Wong Chung-Yoh first, then studied with Kūsankū later. His style was passed to Peichin Takahara, then to Kanga Sakugawa, then to Matsumura Sōkon.

I might have to try to find some more information about Chatan Yara to see if this was possible...