Who Made Huo Yuanjia a National Hero?

By Xue Er

Who Made Huo Yuanjia a National Hero?

By Xue Er

In the spring of 1909, Yuanjiamania swept over Shanghai.

The story began with an Irish boxer, Hercules O’Brien. This strongman gave weight-lifting and body-building performances for extra income at the Apollo Theatre on North Sichuan Road. Strictly speaking, he was just an expat performer who knew little about martial arts.

Of course, this performer also needed to advertise himself so as to attract a wider audience. However, O’Brien took it too far. He openly announced that he was going to challenge a Chinese martial artist, which was touted by reporters as a provocation and an insult to the“sick men of East Asia.” His blatant challenge deeply hurt the Chinese people living during the Qing Dynasty who at that point were already quite sensitive and fragile. As a result, “all the people of Shanghai burst into an uproar.” They were eagerly waiting for a local hero who could rise to the challenge and vie their motherland for the honor. At that moment, Huo Yuanjia came into the limelight.

In fact, the mastermind behind Huo Yuanjia was his close friend Nong Jinsun who came from a rich family and did business in Tianjin. He oftenhelped Huo Yuanjia financially and it’s believed that he also gave political and career support to Huo Yuanjia.

Under his guidance and support, Huo Yuanjia was transformed from an ordinary martial artist into a national hero.

Nong Jinsun was a member of a political society, the Tongmenghui (Chinese United League) and behind him stood a more powerful figure: Chen Qimei, who was Sun Yatsen’s assistant and also a sworn brother of Chiang Kai-shek before his rise to prominence. As a key member of the Green Gang and a senior leader of the Tongmenghui, Chen Qimei was engaged in coordinating the rebel movements of the two organizations in Shanghai. Originally, the Tongmenghui depended on reactionary gangs in carrying out their revolutionary activities. After repeated failures, they finally realized that they should build their own armed forces.

At that time, the Qing government was implementing its sweeping political reform, creating an environment of tolerance that was unprecedented in the Chinese history.

During the regional autonomy movements, some private paramilitary forces appeared one after another under the banner of body building. The Tongmenghui didn’t hesitate to seize this opportunity. Chen Qimei said: “We hope to train tens of millions of young people who have both strong bodies and military skills in the next decade, so as to meet the requirement of large-scale revolutionary movements and military improvement.” As a well-known martial artist and a close friend of Nong Jinsun, Huo Yuanjia became the first choice of the Tongmenghui.

They persuaded Huo Yuanjia to accept the challenge of O’Brien who had become widely known in Shanghai. It turned out to be a successful“marketing campaign based on borrowed power.” The press reported the news at great length. This battle between Huo Yuanjia and O’Brien had been seen as a moment when the dignity of the Chinese nation and the courage of the “yellow race” would be made fully manifest.

The plotters built a big ring for this martial arts contest of skill and strength at the famous Zhang Garden in Shanghai. The ring was “about one meter tall and seven meters wide.” Huo Yuanjia published an advertisement in the newspaper to appeal to patriotism,“China is ridiculed as a country of sick men. I’m a sick man of China. I would very much like to accept the challenge.”He also noted, “I like challengingstrong foreigners and never fear their iron-like muscles.”

Huo Yuanjia played by Jet Li in the filmFearless▼

Ultimately, this much-anticipated battle between Huo Yuanjia and O’Brien never took place. According to the widely accepted view, O’Brien was so terrified of Huo Yuanjia and his Chinese kung fu that he just sneaked away. Indeed, according to Sun Tzu, “Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” This result greatly enhanced the spirit of the Chinese people and destroyed the morale of the imperialists.

In fact, O’Brien was just a street performer. Though he liked showing off, he was not stupid. He knew clearly that it was not wise to defend the honor of the British Empire at the risk of his own life.

All in all, Huo Yuanjia won this high-profile martial contest without a single fight. To meet the audience’s enthusiastic demand, the host invited some viewers to challenge Huo Yuanjia on the stage. “Both sides shall not hurt each other and the one whose back touches the ground loses.” In this way, a great battle related to national honor turned into a gala celebration. As expected, Huo Yuanjia and his apprentices won easily. Since then, Huo Yuanjia has risen to fame in Shanghai.

The Tongmenghui made persistent efforts in building the Huo Yuanjia image in Shanghai. They made preparations for the setting up of the Chin Woo Physical Training Center (later renamed the Chin Woo Athlete Federation) at Wangjiazhai in Zhabei District in the same year. Undoubtedly, they claimed that the center was founded by Huo Yuanjia. Huo was responsible for the training of martial arts and military skills and Nong Jinsun served as the president. The center advocated the martial arts spirit and enrolled healthy men between the ages of 12 to 35. Its membership fee was two Mexican silver dollars.

The next year, the Qing gover nment approved the establishment of the Chin Woo Physical Training Center. Its first batch of 73 members later became the backbone in overthrowing the rule of the Qing Dynasty. Shortly afterwards, Huo Yuanjia died of unknown causes though it was believed that he was poisoned by the Japanese.

During the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republican Era, a lot of martial arts organizations like the Chin Woo Physical Training Center sprang up all over the country. They served the simple dream of the Chinese people to strengthen their bodies and revitalize the country. Behind the scenes, they were supported by various political forces that scrambled for influence and hoped to seize state power through armed revolutions.

(FromChina Business Journal.Translation: Trans)

Note:

Huo Yuanjia (1868–1910) was a Chinese martial artist and a co-founder of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, a martial arts school in Shanghai. A practitioner of the martial art mizongyi, Huo is considered a hero in China for defeating foreign fighters in highly publicized matches at a time when Chinese sovereignty was being eroded by foreign imperialism, concessions and spheres of inf l uence.