Wang Lang (王朗) was a military folk hero/warlord in the Eastern Han dynasty (25CE - 220CE). Born in Tancheng County in the south of Shandong near the border of Jiangsu province. Wang Lang’s deeds are recorded and as with other famous figures in Chinese history, Wang was later memorialized and embellished upon in a famous novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. 

Wang’s bio according to Chine.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art

Wang Lang 王朗 (died 228 CE) courtesy name Jingxing 景興, was a high minister and Confucian scholar of the early years of the Wei period. He came from Tan 郯 in the commandery of Donghai 東海 (today's Tancheng 郯城, Shandong) and was, as proficient in the Confucian Classics, appointed gentleman of the interior (langzhong 郎中), then magistrate of Ziqiu 菑丘. In the turmoils of the Yellow Turban rebellion 黃巾起義 he became a follower of the warlord Tao Qian 陶謙, who promoted his appointment as governor (taishou 太守) of the commandery of Guiji 會稽. This region was contested, and Wang Lang had to ward off the warlord Sun Ce 孫策. The warlord Cao Cao 曹操 therefore decided to offer him the post of Grand Master of Remonstrance (jianyi dafu 諫議大夫), and made him concurrently military administrator of the Ministry of Works (can sikong junshi 參司空軍事). When Cao Cao, as factual regent of the empire, was made king of Wei 魏, Wang Lang was made governor of Weijun 魏郡 and "military libationer" (? jun jijiu 軍祭酒), later promoted to Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues (shaofu 少府), Chamberlain for Ceremonials (fengchang 奉常) and Chamberlain for Law Enforcement (dali 大理). When Cao Pi 曹丕 (Emperor Wen of Wei 魏文帝, r. 220-226) assumed the title of emperor, Wang Lang was appointed Censor-in-chief (yushi dafu 御史大夫) and given the title of neighbourhood marquis of Anling 安陵亭侯. Somewhat later he was made Minister of Works (sikong 司空) and promoted to Marquis of Leping Village 樂平鄉侯. Emperor Ming 魏明帝 (r. 226－239 CE) conferred upon him the title of Marquis of Lanling 蘭陵侯 and appointed him Minister of Education (situ 司徒). His posthumous title was Marquis Cheng 蘭陵成侯. Wang Lang wrote commentaries to the Classics Chunqiu 春秋, Xiaojing 孝經 and Zhouguan 周官 (Zhouli 周禮), and wrote numerous memorials to the throne. Most of his writings are lost.

Sources: Zhang Shunhui 張舜徽 (ed. 1992), Sanguozhi cidian 三國志辭典 (Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe), p. 36. Ulrich Theobald Copyright 2016

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms Wang Lang

In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wang Lang died at the age of 76 in 228. Despite his age, he led a group of soldiers and set up camp to do battle with Zhuge Liang. In the novel, Cao Zhen was defeated by Zhuge Liang. Cao Zhen called for his subordinates to help, and Wang Lang decided to try and persuade him to surrender (even though Guo Huai was sceptical that it would succeed) and engaged Zhuge Liang in a debate, but was soundly defeated. Zhuge Liang among other things scolded him as a dog and a traitor, from the shock of which he fell off his horse and died on the spot. There is no record of this in history, and instead, it is said that he merely sent a letter to Zhuge Liang recommending that he surrender. The letter was ignored.

Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi)

The Apotheosis of Wang Lang (王朗)

The birth of mantis boxing has been well debated. Some claim it was a product of the Song dynasty (960–1279), while others place it in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The evidence however points to the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) as the likely period of birth, and Wang Lang is a contributing factor to the evidence.

How did Wang Lang become entwined with the history of Praying Mantis Boxing (Tángláng Quán - 螳螂拳) almost 2 millennia later? Is this the same Wang Lang, or was there someone else who founded this boxing style who went by the same name? I believe these are one and the same.

Wang, as with many famous generals in Chinese history, was deified. He became a god especially to those villagers and communities in the region near his birth. There is even a statue of Wang Lang located in Shandong province. There is however no mention in historical records of Wang Lang practicing or teaching something known as - praying mantis boxing. Wang existed long before mantis boxing appeared in the second half of the Qing dynasty. So how did Wang become the progenitor of this style in the 18th or more likely, the 19th century? Who incorporated Wang Lang into the mantis lineage, and why?

Was it Wang Rong Sheng (王榮生, 1854-1926) founder of the ‘seven star’ branch of praying mantis boxing? Even though Rongsheng had a different teacher (Li San Jian, also not a mantis boxer) than the other mantis boxers under Liang Xuexiang? Wang Rongsheng’s shared surname with the famous deity is likely a mere coincidence. Perhaps Wang Rongsheng’s family lineage tree did trace all the way back to the Han dynasty warlord. This is all conjecture. It is unknown who tied Wang Lang to Tanglangquan's history, but the time period can be narrowed down by other cultural factors which existed in Shandong province in the late 19th century, and from these a reasonable explanation of how this connection was made can be discerned.

Shen Quan

During the 1800’s boxers were highly prevalent in Shandong. Some were tied to religious sects, and mini uprisings, others to banditry. Most just trying to survive. Some were even recruited at times to fight the religious groups such as The White Lotus, and other sects. Foreign imports, and factories took many of the jobs in the cotton weaving industry Shandong was known for. A large portion of the population became unemployed, and economically depressed. Treaty ports such as Yantai (where mantis boxing was born), were affected even more by this foreign incursion of industry and lifestyle. This by proxy, caused a rise in banditry.

A mid-Qing (1700’s) emergence of Shen Quan (Spirit Boxing) in Shandong, whereby the practitioners recited incantations, danced wildly, and believed they had been possessed by a spirit/god that gave them courage, and even invulnerability, reappeared in the late 1800’s as the Boxer Uprising was beginning in full. The original founder of Shen Quan believed he had been possessed by a famous Tang dynasty general he knew from an opera. This same spirit-boxing was repopularized in Shandong during the late Qing when the region was collapsing economically and had been pummeled by droughts, famines, drug addiction, banditry, wars, and rebellions. A perhaps misguided means of ‘self’ control by villagers and peasants to pray for rain, or turn their deities ire toward their Manchu rulers, and later the western invaders.

At this time opera and folklore was highly popularized in local villages, towns. Famous stories were acted out such as Water Margin, Journey to the West, The Enfeoffment of the Gods, and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Wang Lang’s exploits were part of these tales, and Wang was a hero that would have had personal meaning to the locals of Shandong as he hailed from their homeland.

Joseph W. Esherick explains: 

“most north China villages had a small temple to the local God (Tu-di shen), or perhaps to Guan Gong.”

Additionally, Esherick writes:

“There was one paramount occasion when these temples became a focus for community activity: the temple fair, held annually at temples in larger villages or market towns. The name for these - “inviting the gods to a performance” (ying-shen sai hui). The center of attention was an opera, for the benefits of the gods.”

It important to capture this in the entirety of what Esherick writes next:

“Above all, these occasions were welcomed for the relief they provided from the dull monotony of peasant toil. Relatives would gather from surrounding villages. Booths would be set up to sell food and drink, and provide for gambling. The crowds and opera created an air of excitement welcome to all. But the statement of community identity provided by opera and temple was also extremely important. It is important, too, that the gods were not only part of the audience: many of the most popular dramatic characters---borrowed from novels which blended history and fantasy---had also found places in the popular religious pantheon. Since few villages had resident priests, and few peasants received religious instruction at larger urban temples, it was principally these operas that provided substantive images for a Chinese peasant’s religious universe. This is why sectarian borrowing from popular theatre is so important. To the extent that sectarian groups incorporated gods of the theatre, they brought themselves into the religious community of the village---rather than setting themselves apart as a separate congregation of the elect.

The importance of village opera for an understanding of the Boxer origins can hardly be overstated. As we shall see below, the gods by which the Boxers were possessed were all borrowed from these operas. That many of the possessing gods were military figures is hardly accidental. From what little we know of the operas of west Shandong, it is clear that those with martial themes, for example those based on novels Water Margin, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and The Efeoffment of the Gods were particularly popular. This is to be expected given the popularity of the martial arts in the area, but it no doubt helped that Jiang Zi-ya (Jiang Taigong), the hero-general sent down from heaven to assist the founder of the Zhou dynasty in The Efeoffment of the Gods, was himself supposedly enfeoffed in the north Shandong state of Qi, and the heroes of Water Margin made their base in the western part of the province.

In many ways it was the social drama of the theatre which tied together elements of popular culture most relevant to the rise of the Boxers. Here was the affirmation of the community which the Boxers sought to protect. Here were the martial heroes who expressed and embodied the values of the young martial artists of this region. Here were the gods by which the Boxers were possessed---gods now shared by sectarians and non-sectarians alike. When the young boxers were possessed by these gods, they acted out their battles for righteousness and honor just as surely as did the performers on the stage.”

Was Wang Rong Sheng spirit boxing with the deity Wang Lang? Was it one of his friends, Jiang, Song, or Hao, the founders of the other branches of mantis boxing (plum blossom praying mantis boxing, supreme ultimate praying mantis boxing, supreme ultimate plum blossom praying mantis boxing) that emerged around this time? All of them acting together perhaps? Or was this something their teacher Liang Xuexiang being wiser, older, educated, and well traveled used to inspire the younger boxers under his charge?

Esherick continues”

“The martial artists that we have seen in the mid-Qing (Li Bingxiao for example) were men whose social world was outside the village community. Many led wandering lives as salt smugglers, peddlers, or professional escorts; others were primarily associated with the gambling and petty crime of market towns.”

Later in the Qing, Escherick points out, this changed as banditry became more prevalent. At this time young men were more often studying martial arts for self-defense, and protecting their communities and families. There was a movement toward community defensive efforts, and in more agrarian areas, crop defense.

Whatever the reasons for Wang Lang being assigned attributions as the creator of praying mantis boxing we can most likely determine from the popularity of spirit boxing and the trend in the late 1800’s that this period in time during the late Qing, when shen-quan was revitalized, was the period when Wang was incorporated into the lineage. We can view this same occurrence in Eagle Claw Boxing around the same time period to the northwest in Hebei province. Yue Fei, another famous general in Chinese history is credited with founding that style. Yue Fei also had no definitive connection to eagle claw boxing prior to this time period in the Qing.

In the second generation of the lineage charts in both mantis boxing and eagle claw, are similarly obscured. In both styles there is no definitive link between the founder and the next verified carrier of the torch. The two have very similar discrepancies within their histories after these deities supposedly invented them. The oral records claim the styles after being invented, then went into the Shaolin temple almost 900km (560 miles) to the west, and three to four weeks walking distance away from Yantai where mantis existed centuries later. There is no known record of mantis, or eagle claw styles being part of the Shaolin boxing system. Are we to believe these styles, if they did exist at Shaolin for a time, were suddenly spit back out hundreds of years later back in Shandong or Hebei?

It is much more plausible that these military legends, Yue Fei, and Wang Lang, were brought about into these styles in the late Qing as spirit boxing rose to prominence once more amongst the martial artists of the time. As we’ll see in the time period of Li Bingxiao (李炳霄 1731-1813 estimated), during the ‘High Qing’, martial artists did not stay with one teacher. They rather learned from a multitude of sources similar to a modern day university student, thus making it extremely difficult for the concept of ‘styles’ to gain root during this time unlike a few decades later.

This can explain the lack of history in between the founders, and the verifiable practitioners of these arts in the late Qing. Why they suddenly ‘disappear’ into temples in their lineage charts. Only to then reappear centuries later with traceable roots. It explains an oral history in mantis boxing that this style was an amalgamation of 18 different ‘styles’. This is far more believable and easier to comprehend in the realm of martial arts if each of these 18 ‘styles’ was a technique or two from each independent source the practitioner learned from. Finally, it can further explain why prior to the 18th and 19th century, there is no definable lineage for these arts.

Bibliography

• Esherick, Joseph W. The Origins of the Boxer Uprising. University of California Press, 1987

• ChinaKnowledge.de An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art, edited by Ulrich Theobald - Sanguozhi 三國志(www.chinaknowledge.de), Wang Lang 王朗(www.chinaknowledge.de)

• Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi)

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