Huo Yuanjia (1868-1910)

A famous patriotic martial artist in the late Qing Dynasty. His courtesy name is Junqing. His ancestral home is Anletun, Dongguang, Hebei Province (belonging to the Cangzhou area). He has lived in Xiaonanhe Village, Jinghai, Tianjin (now part of Tianjin City). He is the founder of the Jingwu Sports Association. He had outstanding martial arts skills and a strong sense of justice. He inherited the unique skill of "Mizong Quan" inherited from his family, and became a powerful figure in the Western world in Tianjin and Shanghai. He was a well-known hero. Although his life was short, it was vigorous and full of legends. color.

Life

Huo Yuanjia was born into a family of Mizong Quan (also known as Yan Qing Quan, which is said to have been created by Liangshan heroes Lu Junyi and Yan Qing). His father, Horndy, works as a bodyguard. Huo En had three sons: Huo Yuanqing, Huo Yuanjia, and Huo Yuandong, with Yuanjia ranking second. It is said that Huo Yuanjia was frail when he was young, and his father Huo Endi did not allow him to practice martial arts. However, Huo Yuanjia practiced in secret and defeated a foreign master at the age of 24. This legend was made into a TV series.

When he became an adult, Huo Yuanjia ran a medicine shop in Tianjin, and later went to Shanghai to organize the "Jingwu Sports Association" (Jingwu Sect), making great contributions to the promotion of Chinese martial arts. In Shanghai, he once defeated the Russian strongman in the ring (according to data, the Russian strongman was not defeated by Fearless himself, but when Fearless agreed to compete, the Russian boxer gave up the competition.) Once, a Japanese boxer The strongman group came to China to ask for a competition. Due to illness, Huo Yuanjia sent his disciple Liu Zhensheng to compete, and he defeated the Japanese strongman. "Jingwu Sports Association" is a martial arts gym founded in Shanghai in 1910 by Huo Yuanjia. Huo Yuanjia died within a few months of founding the Jingwu Sports Association. Yuan Jia was poisoned by the Chamber of Commerce and died.

Huo Yuanjia was weak and sickly when he was young. His father, Horndy, was a famous secret boxer. He was worried that Yuan Jia's martial arts practice would damage the Huo family's reputation in the future, so he refused to teach him the skills. But Yuan Jia has high aspirations, he pays attention every day, inspects everything, and steals the opportunity of passing down skills from his father to his brothers. He practiced hard in the secluded jujube forest outside his house. Later, he was informed by his father and was blamed. Yuan Jia promised not to compete with others in martial arts and not to disgrace the Huo family's reputation, so Fang Zhun's father and brother practiced martial arts together. Yuan Jia is talented and has amazing perseverance. His eldest brother is highly skilled in martial arts and is outstanding among his brothers. Seeing this, his father changed his old mind and passed on his skills to him with all his heart. Hou Yuanjia used martial arts to make friends, integrated the strengths of each family, and developed the ancestral "Secret Boxing" into the "Mizong Boxing", bringing the ancestral boxing skills to a new peak.

In the 22nd year of Guangxu (1896), Shandong hero Liu Zhensheng came to Tianjin to worship Yuan Jia. Huo was impressed by his integrity and accepted him as his disciple. This has broken the precedent of Huojiaquan "passing it on internally but not externally". Yuan Jia is brave and brave. In the 24th year of Guangxu's reign (1898), Tan Sitong was killed in the political reform, and Da Dao Wang Wu (Wang Zibin) took refuge in Jinmen. He fell in love with Yuan Jia at first sight and became close friends. Later, Wang Zibin was killed in Beijing and his head was displayed in public by the Eight-Power Allied Forces. Yuan Jia and Liu Zhensheng sneaked into the capital and stole the head back. With the help of Liu E, the author of "Lao Can's Travels", they buried the martyr's body together, fulfilling the duty of a friend.

In the 27th year of Guangxu (1901), a Russian came to Tianjin to perform in the theater. He placed an advertisement in the newspaper, claiming to be the world's strongest man, capable of defeating all Chinese invincibles. Huo Yuanjia saw the advertisement and heard that the Russians were talking nonsense on the spot and insulting the Chinese people's incompetence. He was extremely angry and immediately invited the owner of the Huaiqing Hall Nong Jinsun and his apprentice Liu Zhensheng to the theater and saw the Russian strongman bragging about himself on the stage. He is the "World's Strongest Man", and those who are capable in the "Sick Man's Country" can compete on the stage. Huo Yuanjia could not sit still in the audience. Regardless of everyone's dissuasion, Huo Yuanjia jumped onto the stage with great strides and said straight to the point: "I am the 'Sick Man of East Asia' Huo Yuanjia, and I am willing to compete with you on this stage." At this time, the translator informed the Russians of Huo Yuanjia's life story.

The Russian heard about Huo Yuanjia's reputation and did not dare to neglect him. He quickly asked Huo Yuanjia to go backstage. , we must get rid of the statement that the Russians are "number one in the world"; the second is to require the Russians to publicly admit their mistakes in insulting China and apologize in public; otherwise, it is the third condition: I, Huo, will fight with them and He was ordered to make a decision immediately. How dare the fierce-looking Russian warriors dare to compete in the competition, so they had to agree to the first two conditions, willing to publish corrections in the newspaper and publicly admit their mistakes of contempt for the Chinese, and thus left Tianjin in despair.

In the first year of Xuantong (1909), the British strongman Oppin published an advertisement in Shanghai, insulting me as the "sick man of East Asia". Huo was invited by a friend to go to Shanghai for an appointment to compete. Frightened by the power of Huo Yuanjia's fist, the other party threatened him with 10,000 gold as a deposit. With the support of his friends, Yuanjia agreed to put up 10,000 gold as a deposit. The other party kept delaying, so Yuan Jia published an advertisement in the newspaper, saying: "The world ridicules our country as a country of sick men. I am a sick man in the country of sick men. I am willing to give it a try with the healthy people in the world." "He also stated that he specializes in recruiting foreign strongmen. Although they have bronze muscles and iron bones, they have nothing to worry about!" Huo Gong's prestige made Opiyin flee without daring to fight. Even the notary and the organizer also fled.

On June 1, 1910, Huo Yuanjia, with the assistance of Nong Jinsun and other colleagues in the martial arts world, founded the "China Jingwu Gymnastics Association" (later renamed the Jingwu Sports Association) in Shanghai. Mr. Sun Yat-sen praised Huo Yuanjia's belief that "in order to make the country strong, everyone must practice martial arts" and his high moral integrity in making Huo Jia Quan public to the world. He wrote the four characters "Martial Spirit" in his own handwriting and donated it to the Jingwu Sports Association. . In September 1910, the president of the Japan Judo Association led more than ten martial arts masters to compete with Huo and were defeated by Huo. The Japanese held a banquet and saw Huo coughing during the banquet. They recommended a Japanese doctor for treatment. Huo Gong lived an upright life, but he was unexpectedly poisoned and died on September 14. Aged 42.

After Huo Yuanjia's death, the disciples of the Jingwu Association and patriots in the Shanghai martial arts community held a grand funeral for Huo Yuanjia, dedicated an elegiac couplet of "Being benevolent and seeking righteousness", and was buried in the northern suburbs of Shanghai. The following year, his disciple Liu Zhensheng carried the coffin back home and moved it to the south of Xiaonanhe Village. The Shanghai Jingwu Association is taught by Yuan Jia's younger brother Yuan Qing and his second son Dong Ge. Branches were established in various places one after another. A dozen years later, there were 43 Jingwu branches at home and abroad, with more than 400,000 members.

It is said that after Huo Yuanjia was poisoned and killed by the Japanese, his beloved disciple Chen Zhen avenged him. This legend was first brought to the screen by Bruce Lee in the late 1960s and early 1970s (in the movie "Fist of Fury", Bruce Lee played Chen Zhen). But in fact, there is no such person as "Chen Zhen" in history.

Huo Yuanjia’s Former Residence Memorial Hall

It is located in Xiaonanhe Village, Xiqing District, Tianjin. In 1986, the Xiqing District People’s Government of Tianjin renovated the former residence of Huo Yuanjia and built the Huo Yuanjia Cemetery. , to commemorate this famous patriotic martial artist at home and abroad. In 1997, the Former Residence of Huo Yuanjia was renovated again, and the Cemetery of Huo Yuanjia was expanded and turned into the "Memorial Hall of the Former Residence of Huo Yuanjia". The Memorial Hall of the Former Residence of Huo Yuanjia consists of two parts: the Former Residence of Huo Yuanjia and the Cemetery of Huo Yuanjia. The former residence was built in the early years of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty. In 1997, it was rebuilt into a three-heyuan courtyard with blue bricks and tiles on its original site. Stepping into the gatehouse of the small courtyard, there is a screen wall inlaid with the word "福". Behind the screen wall are five main rooms, one light and four dark. There are one wing room on the left and right of the small courtyard. The portrait of Huo Yuanjia hangs in the main room in the middle. On both sides are the condolences written by Huo Dongge after Huo Yuanjia was killed. "A lifetime of chivalry and an unparalleled hero." On the wall of Huo Yuanjia's study in the West Room hangs Sun Yat-sen's inscription for the Jingwu Sports Association: "Martial Spirit." The former residence displays some weapons used by Huo Yuanjia when he practiced martial arts and cultural relics such as the flag of the Jingwu Association, as well as relics used by Huo Yuanjia during his lifetime. Huo Yuanjia Cemetery is located in the south of Xiaonanhe Village, covering an area of ??nearly one hectare. The overall building adopts an axis-symmetric layout. It is composed of Shinto, stone lions, Xiangdian, stone archway and dormitory garden. The cemetery also has an exhibition hall of Huo Yuanjia's life and deeds. The exhibition consists of four parts:

1. The first appearance of Youyan;

2. Working hard with wisdom and courage to avenge the country's humiliation;

Three, create Jingwu, strengthen the country and strengthen its species;

Four, carry forward the patriotic spirit.

Huo Yuanjia's coffin was moved and buried here on April 29, 1989.

Since the day of its completion, tens of thousands of patriots have come to visit the Memorial Hall of Fearless Yuanjia’s Former Residence and relive the legendary deeds and touching spirit of this patriotic hero. Today, the memorial hall has been listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Tianjin and a patriotism education base for Tianjin youth.