Stopping in the Jianghu

     In the eyes of the general public, the "jianghu" (江湖, a term referring to the martial arts world or the world of chivalry and adventure) is the swordplay and intrigue depicted in the works of Liang Yusheng, Jin Yong, and Gu Long (perhaps my understanding is somewhat narrow), not the jianghu of Fan Zhongyan's "Yueyang Tower Inscription" (岳阳楼记), where the line "When far from the court, one worries about one's ruler; when in high office, one worries about the people..." is more relevant. However, I lean more towards Fan's jianghu, because for the living, everyone is a wanderer in this jianghu. Whether we are renowned heroes or unknown, ordinary guards, I don't think that matters. What matters is that we are enacting our own stories in our own jianghu, whether they end in comedy or tragedy. The jianghu is like water; it carries everything from the present to the future, and pushes the future towards the present. Perhaps it is more like time or history.

    There is a movie called "Naked Weapon," which, in my opinion, depicts a kind of jianghu flavor. An international assassin group steals beautiful girls suitable for martial arts from various places and trains them in a secluded place similar to West Point. They were only seven or eight years old at the time. After living under such training for about ten years, they would undoubtedly become top-notch assassins. But one day, their master gave each of these dozens of assassin girls a knife, stating that only one could survive—the ultimate victor. Upon receiving this order, these sisters, who had lived together for about ten years, instantly became mortal enemies. Seeing this, I felt a profound shock. When only one could survive, former friends became strangers and repulsive enemies. Some girls attacked their unsuspecting sisters, some targeted the weaker ones, and some even ganged up on one person. Once that person fell, they began killing each other. Two of them had always worked together without resorting to underhanded tactics, while the third survived thanks to his superior martial arts skills. Just as the three were about to settle their differences, the boss clapped his hands and shouted, "Stop! I've changed my mind. All three of you stay. You've completed your apprenticeship." Their completion was built on the support of many of their sisters over the years, at the cost of the lives of so many girls who had no control over their own destinies—a heavy price indeed. The three ruthless assassins had thus completed their apprenticeship. The boss then treated them to dinner and drinks, drugging their drinks and having three of his strong, adult men rape them. For a young woman, chastity is paramount; for a stunningly beautiful female assassin, chastity might be her only weakness, whether she completes her apprenticeship or fails. Now, without this concern, a highly efficient assassin was born. Yes, an assassin, a female assassin, a ruthless female assassin, a ruthless female assassin with exceptional execution skills, a stunningly beautiful female assassin with exceptional execution skills—this is perhaps the ultimate goal of years of training by an evil organization. Because afterwards, they all brilliantly carried out the assassination orders given by their boss, even though they were located all over the world, even though it required seduction…

    I think this is perhaps the "jianghu" (martial arts world) we see. It not only has swords and shadows, but also the helplessness of being unable to control one's own destiny, the rules of the strong and the weak, the ruthless schemes to achieve one's goals, and the manipulation that gradually turns people into weapons. It may be the "jianghu" we see, only presented by the director through this heart-wrenching artistic style. In reality, each of us is in our own "jianghu." We don't see the swords and shadows, nor do we see the smoke of war, but the "jianghu" of "life" provides opportunities for us to survive on the edge of adversity. In such circumstances, we often only have two choices, like the group of women in the movie "Naked Weapon" who had to choose their survival among many sisters. Picking up a knife meant a 100% chance of survival, while not picking up a knife meant certain death. To live, they forgot their friends and picked up the knife, simply for survival. Of course, I think that for the general public, people may be selfish, but they are not that heartless. If they were, it would only be in specific environments that people like the bullfighters of ancient Rome or the traitors of wartime would emerge, simply wanting to survive in two different specific environments.

    In the movie "Fearless" starring Jet Li, he practiced martial arts from a young age and was considered a prodigy among the younger generation in Tianjin. However, with his flamboyant personality and competitive nature, he spent his days in the ring demonstrating his dream of becoming the best martial artist, and of course, he also practiced his dream in the ring. So his men were a bunch of charlatans, like Ding Chunqiu's followers in Jin Yong's *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*, who were only good at empty talk. The group that followed Huo Yuanjia after his victory was nothing more than a bunch of fair-weather friends and flatterers. Later, one of them harassed Master Jin (a martial arts master of equal skill to Huo Yuanjia) and had his bones broken by Master Jin. Huo Yuanjia, wanting to challenge him, killed Master Jin on his birthday, but was also seriously injured himself. His mother and daughter were killed by his men after Master Jin's death. This should have been a turning point in Huo Yuanjia's life. He could have lost his temper, seeking revenge on his enemies and their families, and then continued to fight as before; or he could have killed only his enemies without harming their families, and then retired from the martial world to the countryside.

    Fortunately, he chose the latter path, recovering his strength in the countryside, experiencing the true meaning of life, being moved by truth, goodness, and beauty, bidding farewell to his past competitiveness, and repenting for the souls he had brutally killed, as well as for his murdered relatives. Perhaps that period of stagnation in the martial world showed him his future direction. Because on the final stage, facing death after being poisoned, the image of the girl from the countryside flashed through his mind. I think if he hadn't fought that final arena match for his country, his soul would have found its resting place in that rural village.

    Returning to that rural area, on Qingming Festival, he needed to go back to pay respects to his parents, to whom he felt so guilty, and to the innocent children who had suffered. So he left. He didn't return, not because he wanted to go back to the superficial life of fame and fortune, but because his stagnation in the martial world made him understand the meaning of life and what kind of person he should be in times of national crisis. So he went to the home of Master Jin, whom he had killed years before, to pay his respects and repent. At that moment, he was a peaceful man; all hatred had passed, leaving only the living to reflect on the past and the hope for rebirth.

    When he saw foreigners running rampant and bullying his fellow countrymen, when he saw newspapers reporting that foreign warriors could "push a train by hand and kill Chinese warriors like crushing an ant," he returned to the martial world for his countrymen, to fight in the arena for them. Although he was admired by fellow martial artists, who were arrogant and disdainful of others, and although he outmatched them all, he ultimately met his end with poison. I think he died with honor, I think he died with satisfaction, I think he died with peace, because foreign warriors respected him, his countrymen remembered him, country girls admired him, Master Jin's wife and daughters supported him, and he could comfort his family and those he had wronged in the afterlife. Most importantly, he ignited a spark of hope for a nation that needed self-reliance and had suffered humiliation.

    Now let's look at his life again. First, he was a competitive and unruly young tyrant. Later, his family was killed, he was injured, and he wandered the countryside. This should be the turning point in his life. His later return to the martial arts world can be described as a mature life. I think the reason he is remembered by later generations is because his mature life released a colorful tapestry. It is in this mature life that he understood that practicing martial arts was not for competition, but for physical fitness, for cultivating character, and even more so for the responsibility on the shoulders of every citizen. This kind of life transformation exists not only in ancient times, but also in the present. This kind of life transformation exists not only in martial artists, but also in scholars. Perhaps after being frustrated by the Confucian ideal of active engagement in the world, he found a tasteless but effective remedy for his soul offered by Taoism. This remedy can be viewed as either "temporary seclusion" or "stopping one's journey in the world." Because in nature, one purifies the soul and contemplates life.

    When we have traversed our own ordinary life's journey, regardless of the outcome, we may be able to cope with the setbacks along the way, or we may not, or we may be utterly overwhelmed. Then we must heal our weary souls in "stopping our journey," shedding our weariness, reflecting on our life's goals, and gaining a sudden understanding of the meaning of life. Perhaps only after experiencing the ups and downs of "venturing" and the setbacks of "seclusion" will life blossom fragrantly at its turning point!