Study On Cangzhou Wushu From The Perspective Of State- Society

Cangzhou has been considered as the famous hometown of Wushu from earliest times to the present day. Cangzhou Wushu is an integral part of Chinese Wushu culture, which is featured by diversity in unity. Compared with other regional Wushu,Cangzhou Wushu is unique in two aspects, one is the regional ecology, such as the ocean culture, the canal culture, the nomad and the agriculture culture, the other is the humanistic ecology, such as the dock culture, the immigration culture and the cold weather culture, etc. The ecological environment endows Cangzhou with warrior-based and combating-centered cultural genes and the disposition of pursuing new things and change. Based on the background of regional ecology, through the diachronic deconstruction of the original culture(the boxing genres), the main culture(people and events), and the extensive culture(daily Wushu folk customs), this paper aimed to explore what the unique region did to shape Cangzhou Wushu and how did the transformation happened in the unique region, so as to touch the great history implied in small society. Adopting the analytical framework of state-society, based on the interdisciplinary theories and methods of long-time history from the view of annals schools, cultural changes and identity from the view of sociology, text theory from the view of folklore study, this paper chose Cangzhou Wushu as the research objects, investigated Baji, Yanqing, and Pigua, and explicated the shaping process of Cangzhou Wushu as the local knowledge from the following aspects, the warrior-based disposition of the region, the production of boxing genres, and cultural identity, etc. It inspected the Wushu people’s social identity and their transformation of attitudes from the collective action of social immigrants, refugees and Cangzhou Wushu people. It also analyzed the daily folk customs of Cangzhou Wushu from Wushu drama, Guagun in village space, fiction, drama, film and television in arts space, and festivals, education and worship in cultivating space. To sum up, taking the canal culture as the main body, the ocean culture, and the immigration culture as the two wings, Cangzhou Wushu is a culture of pursuing new things and change in the process of the interaction between state and society. Four researches and the main results as follows:1 The unique region endows traditional Cangzhou Wushu that featured by warrior-based and combating-centered characters with the disposition of pursuing new things and change. The disposition has gone through three times of transformation, from plain and tough, to chivalrous and loyal, then to compassionate and courteous. The details are as follows. First of all, from the earlier Qing to Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties, the ocean culture was marked by the spirit of adventure and pioneering, the disdain to civilization, and people’s favor to some other skills rather than field work(The Book of the Han Dynasty). Secondly, from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Tang and Song dynasties, the nomad and agriculture culture was dominated, “People were good at combating because the place was plain and near to the frontier.” “People were accustomed to see sword as wars were common”(The History of the Song Dynasty). The Han nationality and other nationalities influenced each other.(Chen Yinke, 1997). Thirdly, from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China, the political center was moved to the north and the canal was prosperous at that time, which accelerated the communication between different regional cultures. As the core of the canal, Cangzhou people were open, compassionate and courteous. In short, although regional attribute weights differ in various periods, but the cultural sign of “pursuing new things and change” has been created by Cangzhou people.2 Due to the warrior-based tradition, Cangzhou people created plain, simple, but combating-centered Cangzhou Wushu. The details are as follows. First of all, located in the joint point of the Kingdom of Yan, Zhao and Qi, Cangzhou was named an evil place or small “Liang mountain”. What’s more, it was a place of refuge for marginalized people to make a living with the alternating function of the ocean culture, the nomad and the agriculture culture, and the canal culture. Especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Cangzhou people with warrior-based tradition met the marginalized people with specific skills in Wushu by chance. Secondly, the dock culture constructed the society for the strongmen. Through the process of “learning the master’s kills, practicing on different specialties, and forming their own characteristics”(Dai Guobin, 2008), the external Wushu had been acculturated by Cangzhou people and turned into Cangzhou Wushu with new boxing theories, and technical system, which laid the foundation of the cultural consciousness of Cangzhou Wushu. Thirdly, after the affirmation from the village, the Wulin, and the nation, Cangzhou Wushu was able to realize their social development. Cangzhou eventually became a place to gather, transform and validate Chinese Wushu. In short, the gathering of the external boxing types and the local production of “combating-centered, inheritance at the same time” are realized through the interaction between the state and the society under the unique regional environment.3 In face of the immigration, the disorder of the society and the dumbness of the country, Cangzhou people changed both in their identities and attitudes. The details are as follows. First, the political center of the country was moved to the north, so that Cangzhou’s political and economical position became more important and the immigrants gathered in either from the army or from common people who were impelled by the government’s policy. The immigrants mixed the cultures of their own and the local people, and became distinguished families that could participate in local governance. As a result, the Imperial Examination of Wushu was popular. Secondly, in the mid and late Qing dynasty, the Imperial Examination of Wushu was abolished, the practice of Wushu were prohibited, when the whole nation were in a state of disorder and the vagrants appeared, Cangzhou Wushu people began to act as armed escorts, thus set up the rule of “Don’t shout dart in Cangzhou”. Thirdly, In the republic of China, in order to save the country from subjugation, some Cangzhou Wushu people joined in the army, and some constructed organizations. From the original idea to protect themselves and their family, to the idea to protect others and the society, and then to protect the country; from the home village to the society and then to their country, Cangzhou people’s national consciousness has been awakened. In short, Cangzhou people’s collective action is synchronic with local and social structure.4 According to Cangzhou people’s disposition of pursuing new things and change, when the regional ecology weakened and the social needs changed, Cangzhou Wushu shifted its focus to folk customs and public people. The details are as follows. Firstly, by the end of the Qing dynasty and the beginning of the republic of China, the canal and the impact of Beijing and Tianjin culture brought about the prosperity of the service industry and entertainment industry in Cangzhou, so Cangzhou Wushu were transformed into various folk customs based on boxing types and featured by “30% performance, and 70% action”. Secondly, since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, with the rising prosperity of national literature and arts, traditional Wushu had become an enlightenment tool by the nation with various arts forms, such as fiction, Beijing opera, film and television and so on. Thirdly, after the reform and opening up, affected by the market economy and the cultural Renaissance, the operation of Cangzhou Wushu were transformed from private communities to national organizations, from self-entertainment festivals to international Wushu festivals, from sole sacred festivals between boxing schools to the government’s involvement in sacred festivals. In short, social fashion is the foundation for the transformation, and the operation is controlled by the participation of the nation or its agent.Anyhow, under the influence of environmental structure, social structure and economic structure and so on, Cangzhou Wushu were endowed with the characteristics by ecology as “pursuing new things and change”. By the interaction of state-society, through the emergence(from the earlier Qing to Song and Yuan dynasties),the gathering(from the Ming and Qing dynasties), and the formation(in the mid and the late Qing dynasty) periods, the boxing types gradually become the established styles today. During the production of Cangzhou Wushu, there are not only factors of cultural blend between peoples, but also the factors of immigrant culture; There is not only acculturation to the external Wushu, but also artistic disposition to their own culture.; There is not only the inheritance of local tradition, but also the adjustment to the nation. With the canal culture as the main body, the ocean culture, and the immigration culture as the two wings, Cangzhou Wushu is a culture of pursuing new things and change in the process of the interaction between state and society. The paper points out: small place contains a big topic, and local knowledge is bearing the weight of the large history of the nation and society. The study of Cangzhou Wushu, provides a useful reference for the present boxing genres research, regional study of Wushu, political history research of Wushu.