Indeed, on July 23rd, 1953, Master Du Xinwu passed away peacefully whilst sat-up in meditation (aged 84 years old). This was reported without question all over ‘New’ China. This is a similar story to that of the earlier example of Grand Master Zhao Bichen who passed away sat upright in 1942 (aged 82 years old). Both Zhao Bichen and Du Xinwu were traditionally trained martial artists who believed that China needed to radically modernize if her ancient traditions had any chance of surviving in the contemporary world. Five times Master Du Xinwu travelled to Japan to accept ‘challenges’ from the top Sumo Wrestlers of the era – and five times he defeated each of these opponents. As he caught the eye of Revolutionary leader Sun Yat-Sen (孙中山), Du Xinwu was hired as his personal bodyguard (with rumours that both Sun and Du were men of Hakka Chinese ethnicity). As Du Xinwu was born in Cili County, western Hunan province, this might well have been a possibility. As ‘Xiangxi’ (湘西) bandits infested this area, the local mountain people trained communally in various forms of armed (including swords) and unarmed Chinese martial arts as a means of self-defense. This is the milieu that Du Xinwu was brought-up within – a culture rich in martial arts practice and real fighting that ended in death or maiming (for both sides). It is remarkable that by the time the highly experienced Du Xinwu fought the elderly Grand Master Zhao Bichen – Zhao Bichen was able to neutralize every technique used by Du Xinwu. I have been told that Zhao Bichen used ‘Eagle Claw’ (鹰爪 - Ying Zhao) to prevent Du Xinwu from gaining the upper hand. This happening was enough for Du Xinwu to recognize Zhao Bichen as a true master and subordinate himself to him.
Even if you practice martial arts to gather qi and circulate jing – the traditional view in China is that a superior state of mind should enable a Daoist martial artist to dominate in any violent encounter. This is not the encouragement of violence – but rather the exact opposite. Through the possession of superior insight and physical ability, any violent threat can be over-come and peace restored as soon as possible. This is the correct Daoist attitude – violence is prevented and neutralized through superior positioning, movement and stillness. Certainly, Master Zhao Ming Wang (b. 1966) does not emphasize fighting ability - as many who come to him are very ill, weak or otherwise unsuited to this ability – but every Qianfeng ‘Master’ or ‘Senior Disciple’ is expected to be able to defuse violent situations through the martial applications of ‘peace’. If you find this confusing – good.
CW - 釋大道 (16.9.2019) UK Qianfeng Sub-Branch of the 千峰先天派 (Qian Feng Xian Tian Pai) - Thousand Peaks Prenatal School (Beijing)
Chinese Language References:
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/杜心五
http://www.twoeggz.com/news/3631689.html
English Language Reference:
http://qianfengdaoismuk.weebly.com/venerable-zhao-bichen-fights-master-du-xinwu.html