Bak Mei 1

Bak Mei
For information on the fictional Pai Mei from Kill Bill, see Pai Mei (Kill Bill).

Bak Mei
Also known as Bai Mei, Pai Mei, Pak Mei

Focus Striking

Country of origin China

Creator Bak Mei

Olympic sport No

Part of the series on

Chinese martial arts

List of Chinese martial arts

Terms

• Kung fu (功夫)
• Wushu (武術)
• Qigong (氣功)
Historical places

• Shaolin Monastery (少林寺)

• Wudang Mountains (武當山)
• Mount Emei (峨嵋山)
• Kunlun Mountains (崑崙山)
Historical people

• Five Elders (五祖)

• Yim Wing-chun / Yan Yongchun (嚴詠春)
• Hung Hei-gun / Hong Xiguan (洪熙官)
• Fong Sai-yuk (方世玉)
• Dong Haichuan (董海川)
• Yang Luchan (楊露禪)
• Wu Quanyou (吳全佑)
• Wu Zhong / Hong Sheng (弘声)
• Ten Tigers of Canton (廣東十虎)
• Chen Fake (陈发科)
• Chan Heung / Chen Xiang (陳享)
• Wong Fei-hung / Huang Feihong (黃飛鴻)
• Sun Lu-t'ang (孫祿堂)
• Huo Yuanjia (霍元甲)
• Yip Man / Ye Wen (葉問)
• Bruce Lee / Li Xiaolong (李小龍)
Bak Mei 2

• Jackie Chan (成龙)

Legendary figures

• Bodhidharma / Putidamo / Damo (菩提達摩)

• Zhang Sanfeng (張三丰)
• Eight immortals (八仙)
Related

• Hong Kong action cinema

• Wushu (sport)
• Wuxia (武俠)

Bak Mei (Chinese: 白眉; Mandarin: Bai Mei, literally White Eyebrows) is said to have been one of the legendary
Five Elders — survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Qing Dynasty imperial regime (1644–1912)
— who, according to some accounts, betrayed Shaolin to the imperial government. He shares his name with the
Southern Chinese martial art attributed to him.
Bak Mei has been fictionalized in Hong Kong films such as Executioners from Shaolin (1977), Abbot of Shaolin
(1979), and Clan of the White Lotus (1980). In these movies, Bak Mei was played by Lo Lieh, who also directed the
1980 film. Recently, Bak Mei is better known in the West as "Pai Mei" (the Wade-Giles romanization of his name in
Mandarin), played by Gordon Liu in the Hollywood film Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004).

Historical Bak Mei

Bak Mei

Chinese: 白眉道人

Pinyin: Bái Méi Dào Rén

Wade-Giles: Pai Mei Tao Jên

Yale Cantonese: Baak6 Mei4 Dou6 Yan4

Literally "White Eyebrow, Taoist"

Accounts of the Five Elders are many and varied. Some versions identify the traitor not as Bak Mei, but as Ma
Ning-Yee..E9.A6.AC.E5.AF.A7.E5.85.92 In other versions, Bak Mei and Ma Ning-Yee both betray Shaolin, sometimes
joined by Fung Do-Duk..E9.A6.AE.E9.81.93.E5.BE.B7 Still other versions say that "Bak Mei" is a nickname for either Ma
Ning-Yee or Fung Do-Duk. The stories of the Five Elders may have no basis in historical fact at all, and may come
solely from wuxia novels like Wan Nian Qing and the mythology of anti-Qing organizations such as the Heaven and
Earth Society, which were spreading wildly through China in the early 19th century.
Whether justified or not, Bak Mei's traitorous reputation has led to real life animosity between practitioners of his
namesake martial art and practitioners of arts identified with those whom he is accused of betraying. In the accounts
of some Bak Mei practitioners, their founder did not so much betray the Shaolin as decline to join their rebellion
against the Qing. Other tales portray Bak Mei as having been banished from the Shaolin Temple because he killed
several of his fellow monks when he first tried out his new style. Some Bak Mei practitioners embrace their
founder's reputation as a murderer of Shaolin disciples as proof of the superiority of their style. Some famous Bak
Mei forms that may suggest Bak Mei had many vicious and deadly altercations with Shaolin Monks are Sap-Baat
Ding Jeung (18 Crazy Monks) and Sap-Baat Moi Kiu (18 Ghost Bridges).
Bak Mei 3

Bak Mei according to the lineage of Nam Anh

Ming China, which had been weakened by corruption and internal rebellion, was overtaken by the Manchu in 1644.
Hong Mei ("Red Eyebrows"), abbot of the southern Shaolin Temple, passed away during this time and his position
was passed onto onto Chi Thien Su, also known as Jee Sin. Another such master named Chu Long Tuyen did not
accept this. He believed the Ming had become corrupt and would rather serve the Qing rulers. In 1647 the Manchu
attacked the southern Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian province. Only five masters managed to escape, and since
then became known as the Five Elders.
Chi Thien Su, one of the Five Elders, founded another temple at Nine Lotus Mountain in Fujian where the survivors
sought shelter. Chu Long Tuyen refused to provide his real name for fear of retribution against his family and
students, in case they survived. The abbot then christened him Bak Mei—White Eyebrow. According to some stories,
Bak Mei betrayed the Ming by taking information about their plot against the invaders to the Manchu Shunzhi
Emperor, then returned with information about the Manchu attack plan to the Shaolin. After the temple was
destroyed, Bak Mei and Fong Toh Tak (creator of the Bak Fu Pai) left the temple on separate paths in order to study
Daoism.
Bak Mei trained an anti-imperial attack force but, following capture of the force by the imperials, was forced to teach
and lead 50,000 imperial troops in the second destruction of the Shaolin Temple to prevent those captured with him
from being tortured and killed. There, Bak Mei slew the "invincible" Shaolin leader Chi Thien Su in single combat
by breaking his neck. He claimed he did this to prevent the massacre of the monks in the temple by the troops who
followed him.
Bak Mei was eventually killed but accounts disagree on whether he was poisoned or slain. While he is often
portrayed as a traitor, Bak Mei's actions were undertaken, including the destruction of the temple, with the intention
of preventing harm to those who had chosen to follow him. It is possible that if Bak Mei had not aided the imperial
forces, his followers would have been tortured to death.

Bak Mei according to the lineage of Jie Kon Siew

During the reign of the Qing emperor Kangxi (1662–1722), the warriors of the Xilufan rebellion were so feared that
the two ministers whom Kangxi ordered to quell the revolt fled China rather than face either the mercilessness of the
Xilu warriors, which often involved beheading. In 1673, over a period of three months, the 128 monks of the
southern Shaolin Temple defeated the Xilu army without suffering a single casualty. However, by doing so they had
made enemies of some Qing officers who were embarrassed by how easily the Shaolin monks had succeeded where
they had failed.
Rumors soon began to spread about the threat posed by a power so great that it defeated the entire Xilu army with a
force of only 128 monks. This campaign of innuendo was wasted on Kangxi, who remained grateful to the monks,
but the rumors had their intended effect on his successor, the emperor Yongzheng (1722–1735). He began his reign
by plotting the temple's destruction and was said to have secretly recruited a band of renegade warrior monks from
Tibet to carry out his plan.
In 1723, on the 6th day of the first new moon of the lunar calendar, a former Shaolin disciple named Ma Ning-Yee
aided Qing forces to launch a sneak attack on the southern Shaolin Temple. They began the assault by bombarding
the largely wooden monastery with a relentless deluge of burning arrows. Between the surprise attack, the fire, and
the overwhelming number of Qing soldiers, 110 out of the 128 monks were killed that day. The Great Shaolin Purge
took 70 days as Qing forces hunted down the 18 survivors. The surviving monks of Shaolin inflicted massive
casualties on their Qing pursuers but, in the end, their numbers were too great.
Soon only five remained. Their identities vary but they are generally accepted as the following:
• The Chan Jee Sin
• The nun Ng Mui Si Tai
Bak Mei 4

• The Daoist Bak Mei

• The Daoist Fung Do-Duk who later created the white tiger style
• The "unshaved" (lay) disciple Miu Hin
After two years of running and hiding from the Qing army, these fugitives of the cloth regrouped at Mount Emei in
Sichuan Province. As one of the sacred mountains of China, Mount Emei was home to about 70 monasteries and
temples where the five clerics could blend in easily.
It was decided that Bak Mei would infiltrate the Qing court as a spy while the others travelled throughout China to
establish an alliance of anti-Qing rebels. The more Bak Mei learned, the more he realized that his allies' efforts
would never be enough to overthrow the Qing. He decided to give up on the rebellion, which was seen as a betrayal.
Over the years, the rebels sought to punish Bak Mei for his withdrawal. Almost all who made an attempt on his life
ended up dead at Bak Mei's hands. This included Jee Sin and Miu Hin's son2 Fong Sai Yuk (Miu Hin's grandson
according to other sources) whom Bak Mei had known since Sai Yuk was a small boy.

Bak Mei Pai

The Bak Mei Pai traces its origins to Mount Emei, where Bak Mei is said to have transmitted the art to the Chan
(Zen) master Gwong Wai,.E5.BB.A3.E6.85.A7.E7.A6.AA.E5.B8.AB who then passed it on to Juk Faat
Wan.E7.AB.BA.E6.B3.95.E9.9B.B2.E7.A6.AA.E5.B8.AB.
Bak Mei's fighting style makes use of the four principles of "floating" (fou), "sinking" (chum), "swallowing" (tun)
and "spitting" (tou) common in the southern Chinese martial arts. It is characterized by its emphasis on powerful
close range hand strikes, specifically with the extended knuckle attack known as the "phoenix-eye fist". Bak Mei
strikes are usually executed in conjunction with intercepting and jamming the opponent's strike. Unique to Bak Mei
is its classification of the following 6 nei jin (powers): biu (thrusting), chum (sinking), tan (springing), fa
(neutralizing), tung, and chuk. Bak Mei emphasizes the movements of the tiger and its strikes are executed with
explosive power via Fa jin. Additionally, it contains numerous kum la (joint manipulation) techniques as well as
ground-fighting methods in the Dei Saat Kun form.

Fushan branch
According to the Fatsan family tree, Pak Mei passed the art to Kwong Wei, Chuk Yun, Fong fo Dao Yan, Lao
Xiu-Luang (刘少良) who established the Fatsan lineage of pak Mei. Source Barbary Jonathan

Jeung Lai Chuen branch

Cheung Lai-Chuen

Chinese: 張禮泉

Pinyin: Zhāng Lǐquán

Wade-Giles: Chang Li Ch'üan

Yale Cantonese: Jeung1 Lai5 Chyun4

Hakka pinjim Zhong1 Li1 Can2

Jeung Lai Chuen began his study of the martial arts at the age of 7 with the Classical Chinese Medicine practitioner
Sek Lam.E7.9F.B3.E6.9E.97, who taught him the vagrant style..E6.B5.81.E6.B0.91.E6.B4.BE Jeung would later learn Li Style
from Li Mung,.E6.9D.8E.E6.9C.A6(founded by Li Yi李義) who taught Jeung his family style. While he was studying
martial arts with the Lam family, he became close friends with their son Lam Yiu Gwai, with whom he had much in
common, and eventually studied under Yiu Gwai's uncle. Lam would later become known for disseminating Dragon
Kung Fu much as Jeung would later become known for disseminating Bak Mei. Both were born in Huìyáng County
Bak Mei 5

(惠陽) in the Huizhou prefecture of Guangdong and a marriage between their families would eventually make them
cousins. They both left Huizhou to build their futures in Guangzhou and did so by opening several schools together.
After moving to Guangzhou, Jeung was defeated by the monk Lin Sang.E8.93.AE.E7.94.9F after which the monk
referred Jeung to his own teacher master Juk Faat Wan, who taught Jeung the art of Bak Mei over the next two or
three years. Jeung had a background in Hakka Kuen, the martial arts of the Hakka people, from his study of Li
Mung's family style and the vagrant style. Because of this, Jeung's style of Bak Mei is associated with Hakka kuen,
but more strongly still with the dragon style of Lam Yiu Gwai who is also said to have had a background in Hakka
Kuen—due to the many years Jeung and Lam spent training together.
In 1972, Master Tang Cho Tak moved to London and began, with the approval of Jeung Bing Faat (Jeung Lai
Chuen's son who succeeded him as grandmaster), to teach non-Chinese students for the first time. He continues to
promote the art in Europe.

Notes
Chinese Pinyin Yale Cantonese Hakka pinjim

 Ma Ling-Yee 馬寧兒 Mǎ Níngér Ma5 Ning4 Yi4

 Fung To-Tak 馮道德 Féng Dàodé Fung4 Dou6 Dak1

 Kwong Wai 廣慧禪師 Guǎng Huì Chán Shī Gwong2 Wai6 Sim3 Si1

 Chuk Fat Wan 竺法雲禪師 Zhú Fǎ Yún Chán Shī Juk1 Faat3 Wan4 Sim3 Si1

 Fung Fo 風火道人 Fēng Huǒ Dào Rén Fung1 Fo2 Dou6 Yan4

 Lau Siu-Leung 刘少良 Liú Shǎoliáng Lau4 Siu2 Leung4

 Shek Lam 石林 Shí Lín Sek6 Lam4 Shak8 Lam2

 Vagrant Style 流民派 Liúmín Pài Lau4 man4 Paai1 Liu2 min2 Pai5

 Lee Mung 李朦 Lǐ Méng Lei5 Mung4 Li3 Mung2

 Lin Sang 蓮生 Lián Shēng Lin4 Sang1 Len2 Sang1

External links
• Pak Mei Pai Antwerp Belgium (http://www.pakmei.be) Jie Kon Sieuw's Pak Mei Kung Fu
• Pak Mei Pai Holland (http://www.pakmei.nl) Jie Kon Sieuw Students Association
• Pak Mei Kung Fu Amsterdam (http://www.pakmeikungfu.nl) Pak Mei Kung Fu Amsterdam
• Wilkie Wu (http://www.bakmei.ca/main.html)
• Pak Mei Wu Chi Yun (http://www.mafangfa.org.uk)
• (http://www.peimeikungfu.com/)
• Pak Mei (White Eyebrow) Kung Fu (http://pakmei.de)
Article Sources and Contributors 6

Article Sources and Contributors

Bak Mei  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=420154640  Contributors: Darolls, Davedim, Dpr, Dwanyewest, Emurphy42, Enix150, Fred Bradstadt, HManat23, Hooperbloob,
HopeChrist, Hyju, Ian Pitchford, JFD, JJL, Jclemens, Khackenbeck, Kimera757, Kwamikagami, Kylu, Leolaursen, Mangfu18, Miyamoto Hachimaro, Mmartin1973, Morgan martin, Morinae,
Mukkakukaku, NJMauthor, Nguyen Thanh Quang, Ottawakungfu, PRehse, Pomte, Puddles26, Rjwilmsi, Rossen3, Rossen4, Rror, Shawnc, Simonxag, SoulOfKungFu, Syphous, Tashivana,
Tigon001, Valentinian, Wikiuser3877, Woohookitty, 113 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

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User:Denelson83, User:SKopp, User:Shizhao, User:Zscout370
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