As there is not much information, (at least in my searches here on the Internet, so far), about the direct influence the Sino-Japanese War on T’ai Chi Ch’uan, I will instead simply give a brief synopsis of the wars affect on the Martial Arts in China in general. If anyone wishes to know more about a specific T’ai Chi Ch’uan Master and the wars effect on them personally, they can simply leave a message for Master Phil and either he or I can do more research for you. As the Sino-Japanese War lasted from 1931 through 1945, one would think there would be more information on what happened during this time yet sadly with the deaths of so many Chinese during the “occupation”, only the basics are known to us today. This is NOT to say there are no more facts about the direct influence of the occupation on T’ai Chi Ch’uan and other Chinese martial arts but rather, finding such information could take years to dig up.
So, let us just look at what happened in China, and to the Chinese population during this dreadful period.
Chiang Kai-Shek, in 1927, had formed the Kuomintang, or KMT, which gave China a basic Dictatorship. At the same time, Mao Tse Tung had formed a Communist force, the CCP, Hell bent on eliminating Chiang and the KMT. (There were still plenty of Warlords who had their own armies, however, these “armies” consisted mainly of peasant farmers who lived within the Warlords territories and at the top of these armies were those who knew Martial Arts. Both Chiang and Mao were building armies based on Modern Weapons while the Warlords relied on human numbers and hand to hand combat) So, as Japan had always wanted to get their hands on China’s vast natural resources, the time was ripe as Japan was building up it’s Military Forces and needed the abundant resources to make up for it’s own very, very limited supply. Japanese forces invaded Manchuria in 1931 and began its occupation.
To let you know where Manchuria is, and where it is located in the Chinese Territory, I will attach a map of the area during the Japanese Occupation at the end of this post.
The area of Manchuria the Japanese controlled was renamed “Manchukuo” and the sitting Emperor basically became a puppet of the Japanese Forces. China, at the time under the rule of Chiang Kai-Shek and his KMT, appealed to the League of Nations about the Japanese encroachment of its territorial lands but sadly the only thing that came out of this appeal was that the League of Nations published a report condemning Japan for it’s actions. As a result of this report the Japanese left the League of Nations, of which it was a sitting member, and simply began further expansion into the rest of China. This time, however, with much more brutality and force of which the Chinese populace would suffer greatly.
With Japan moving even further into the heart of China, the KMT and the CCP were forced to join together in their fight against the Imperial Japanese and with this alliance, a True, Modern Chinese fighting force began to emerge. This was basically the beginning of the end for the role of Chinese Martial arts, including T’ai Chi Ch’uan, being used as a means of forming local armies and fighting forces with which city leaders and Warlords could deal with one another as well with outsiders. Even though those who practiced and taught the Martial Arts in China were much revered, modern warfare and its weapons had, in a way, made such practitioners obsolete. As a result of the KMT and CCP joining forces against Japan, the Japanese became even more brutal in their attacks and slaughter of Chinese citizens. For example, in the city of Nanking, (spelled “Nanjing” on the attached map), Japanese forces killed an estimated 300,000 civilians and they raped an additional estimated 70 to 80 thousand women. Those who suffered the most in such attacks were the Chinese peasants, of which you should know by now, held the majority of those who practiced T’ai Chi Ch’uan and other Martial Arts.
One can only guess the numbers lost during this terrible period, while at the same time, one can only imagine how helpless the Masters and students of T’ai Chi Ch’uan must have felt.
One can only imagine.,
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