Chen Fa-ke

The setting is Beijing. The year is 1948. It is Spring with lilacs in the air, but also dust from the Gobi in their noses.

It is an unsettled time as the government is in the midst of turmoil. The Nationalists will soon be overthrown by the Communists. Locals are restive.

The two men are both Gong Fu Masters with skill approaching the level of wonder. Both are in the Chen lineage that Chen Fa-ke brought with him from Chen Village.

The street they are on is cobblestone and is shaded by elm, poplar and Pagoda trees. The scents of their buds means Spring is in the air. The two men, Hong Junsheng and Chen Fa-ke are friends and their families have lived together for years. Chen is like a father to Hong and their children are like brothers and sisters all.

They talk of chess, which they both enjoy, opera, with one more eager than the other. It is light talk and not the usual martial talk they habitually enjoy. On the street ahead of them there is a dog running from side to side, biting everyone it can reach. Rabid they conclude.

As it approaches they know it will try to bite them, and at the time the cure for rabies doesn't exist. It was developed in the 1880s but is not available in Beijing. A bite is a death sentence, a slow horrible death.

As the dog approaches, Chen Fa-ke raises his hand overhead, and the dog leaps for it. With one kick to the throat Chen Fa-ke kills the dog and the locals swarm over him in gratitude. He takes it calmly, but as the two resume their stroll, Chen Fa-ke relates a story from several years ago.

At that time The Red Spear Gang was terrorizing a small village close to Chen Village. The gang members were robbing and killing villagers in order that they could live. They would steal grain, rice, sorghum and corn, and if anyone got in their way it was sure death.

The village elders came to Chen Village to hire Chen Fa-ke to get rid of the gang. The elders assumed he would need several helpers and had planned for it, but Fa-ke said, "It will only take me." After he arrived he made himself at home and continued his daily routine of practise, quietly, without drawing attention.

A few weeks passed before the gang appeared again. The village was surrounded by a moat and there was only one bridge. When the gang was sighted, Chen Fa-ke took up his spear and stood on the bridge waiting. The gang gathered on the other side and said to Chen Fa-ke: "You must move or we will kill you, as we have killed many from this village already."

Chen replied, "Come ahead as you wish." The gang sent their strongest man, not their leader who was the brains, but their best fighter. Once he was on the bridge and approaching Chen Fa-ke the gang member suddenly pushed his spear straight forward, intending to pierce Fa-ke's heart.

With what seemed to be one motion, Fa-ke circled the incoming spear away, and killed the villain. The gang shouted and grumbled and then agreed they must send their leader in. He met the same fate, and the gang disbanded. As they prepared to leave Chen Fa-ke shouted out to them, "If you return you can expect more of you to die. Mend your ways and you can live."

When he told this story to Hong he added that he was currently under investigation for those killings and he added, "The rabid dogs of society must be dealt with harshly. I felt no love or hate for the dog, but if allowed to live it would have killed many of our neighbours. It was the same with the gang, if they had been allowed to continue they would have killed many more villagers. There is only one way to deal with that sort of person."

Hong told me later that Chen Fa-ke was eventually exonerated.

Chen received challenges often, and usually met them without harming the challenger, although he could have. One day, at his school, a well known Chinese wrestler came in and told everyone that he was there, not for a fight, but for a friendly challenge. He wanted to know if Taijiquan could stand up to his wrestling.

Chen Fa-ke agreed and said, "I do not know wrestling but perhaps there is something I can do." The two took hold of each other, as wrestlers do, and then appeared to just stand there, doing nothing. After a few minutes they released each other and laughed and bowed to each other.

The students had expected an all out violent fight and were surprised by what they saw. The next day the wrestler came to the school again, bearing gifts this time. Chen Fa-ke was not there so the wrestler said he would leave the gifts and hoped the students would tell Chen Fa-ke that he was an upstanding man.

He said, "When your Master won our match he did so in a way that did not unnecessarily embarrass me. He is a man of virtue." This surprised the students as they had seen nothing happen. "What do you mean, he beat you, we just saw the two of you standing there, doing nothing."

This time it was the wrestler who was surprised. "You mean he didn't tell you? Then he is certainly a man of high moral standards. You must all pay attention to how your Master behaves. We did not do 'nothing'. I tried everything I could think of to gain an advantage over him. Every small thing I started to do, he neutralized. I could not even get started."

With this the wrestler took his leave, and left the students more thankful than ever that they studied with Chen Fa-ke.

When Chen Fa-ke was a young man and getting stronger, he was introduced to Baijiu — White Lightning. It was often made of sorghum, but sometimes a premium offering contained other higher quality grains as well.

It was a mark of passage to be able to hold your liquor, and the way to accomplish that was to become very familiar with drinking and drinking games. Liquor was so deeply embedded in Chinese culture it was almost an insult to refuse a glass. Friendship through drinking. Business deals, contracts, new friends — all situations that call for emptying the glass.

One day Chen Fa-ke and a cousin drank so much that they passed out. A not uncommon incident.

For two days Chen Fa-ke did not wake up. His cousin never woke up.

After that incident Chen Fa-ke promised his mother that he would no longer drink. Of course he could not escape necessary drinking, such as at banquets. But no drinking at home, no drinking to get drunk. For the rest of his life Chen Fa-ke only drank on special occasions.

Gānbēi — 干杯