Ng Mui: Encyclopedia II - Ng Mui - Ng Mui in the traditions of Wǔ Méi Pài

Ng Mui - Ng Mui in the traditions of Wǔ Méi Pài

As the daughter of a general in the Ming imperial court, Ng Mui enjoyed not only the education that a young lady of her social standing could expect, but the finest martial art training available. The personal style she developed was geared toward combat rather than performance, as befits the daughter of a soldier. Ng Mui was traveling in the countryside when her parents were killed in the Manchu capture of the Ming capital. She took refuge in the White Crane Temple, which this legend locates in Kwangsi Province, where she became a leader in the anti-Qing rebellion. She led raids on Manchu palaces and, on one occasion, even assassinated the Manchu prince. To keep it away from the prying eyes of Manchu spies, she taught her style only within the confines of the White Crane Temple. Her method was fully developed in the Ming Imperial palace before she entered the Monastery. She is noted to have invented the Plum Flower Posts, 3 inch wooden posts driven into the ground at various heights to train balance and leg strength. While in the White Crane Shaolin Temple, Wu Mei (Ng Mui) in Cantonese dialect, learned Bodhidharma's Form of Longevity, and Bodhidharma's Sinew Change Classic, adding Chi Gung [Qi Gong] (Pin Yin), to her method. This internal training advanced her form of martial art to "Internal" status, allowing her to produce the "Five Treasures": "Tung Tiu Yiu" Flexible Reed Spine, "Bak Fu Bui" White Tiger Back, "Mo Yin Kuen" Formless Movements,"Tiet Tsien Lien Wan" Iron Wire continuous Return, "Ji Dong Lik" Automatic Force, and the "Five Breath Transformations": "Hung Hei" Atmosphere, "Hei" Breath, "Hei Gung" [Qi Gong] (Pin Yin) Breath Work, "Dien Gung" Electrical Effort, "Shen Gung" Force of Spirit. Wu Mei used no animal forms but understood the Ten Small Creatures: Beetle, Spider, Butterfly, Dragonfly, Mantis, Gnat, Sparrow, Swallow, Rooster, Rat, and the Ten Great Creatures: Mythical Dragon, Mythical Horned Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Elephant, Snake, Monkey, Eagle, Crane, Horse. Self development follows the metaphysical Five Stage Cosmic Involution: "Mo Ying" Formlessness, "Tai Chi" Ultimate Void, "Leurng Yi" Ying Yang Duality, "Sei Fong" Four Great Directions (Form), "Ba Gua" the Eight Trigrams (of the I Ching) [Formula]. Fighting Strategy is based on the interaction of the Five Elements (Ng Han) and the directions of the Eight Trigrams "Ba Gua".

Sifu Ken Lo, Seventh Generation World Wide Head of Wu Mei Pai

Ng Mui - Comments

Note that in this account Ng Mui does not flee from a temple, but flees to one.

This account dates Ng Mui to the years surrounding 1644, the year of the Manchurian capture of Beijing.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ng Mui in the traditions of Wǔ Méi Pài", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki