n my experience, most people are unable to achieve proficiency in either ’Iron Ox’ or ‘Sweating Ox’ methodology – lacking the will-power or insight to penetrate the more advanced levels of awareness and being. This is why Master Zhao Ming Wang guards this teaching very carefully and does not expose the wrong type of student to its machinations. This is an important facet of Daoist training, as a student must be matched with the appropriate techniques suitable to their character and level of awareness. Within Hakka Chinese gongfu, ‘Iron Ox’ and Sweating Ox’ generate an almost unstoppable strength whilst engaged in combat – but this is not the purpose of the Qianfeng School (despite many of its masters being quite excellent and outstanding martial artists). Within Chinese history the notion of a ‘sweating ox’ dates from the latter 8th century of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and was used to allude to the effort required to truly study the sacred books and become a sage - particularly in relation to the ‘Spring and Autumn Annals’ (春秋 - Chun Qiu) of Confucius. The term ‘Sweating Ox’ (汗牛 - Han Niu) is first mentioned in the ‘Complete Collection of Tang Texts’ (全唐文 - Quan Tang Wen) - specifically Volume 588 - which relates the story of the scholar-official named ‘Liu Zongyuan’ [柳宗元] (773-819), who attended the grave of a ‘Mr Lu Wentong’ (陆文通) with the Crown Prince (around 793). In a statement read-out (I think) by the Crown Prince it was observed that the learned often possessed so many books that were often stacked up to the ceiling of their houses. If these books were moved from one place to another - and transported on a cart pulled by an ox – the weight would be so great that even the oxen would pour with sweat due to the effort needed to move them!
This is how the principle of ‘sweating ox’ came to be associated with transformative spiritual training. I am not sure if this idea existed within Daoism prior to this time, but much of these schools tended to overlap in the times before the development of factions and official preference and persecution, etc. Generally speaking, Daoism and Confucianism had a much more entangled early history than later scholars would like to admit. Master Zhao Ming Wang has stated that within his Qianfeng School, the ‘Sweating Ox’ technique possesses ‘seven steps’. One of the transmission poems associated with this practice is:
汗牛耕地要真气, 三入丹田足下行
用巽督脉腰用力, 三上三牵到泥丸。
下行任脉振慢行, 松散逍遥在其中。
Which translates as:
The ox sweats as it ploughs the land to develop ‘true vital force’ (真气 - Zhen Qi) - which is stored ib the lower energy centre (丹田 - Dan Tian) and then cultivated through a strict discipline that progresses step by step.
Use the 5th trigram ‘巽’ (Xun) [‘wind’] - force is transmitted up the Governing Vessal (督脉 - Du Mai) - upward times three and the ‘ni wan’ (泥丸) - Mud Pill – is developed (at the centre of the brain).
Circulation down the ‘Conception Vessel’ (任脉 - Ren Mai) is slow, vibrant and controlled – energy is centred, all is calm and happiness pervades the mind and body.
This is slightly different to another Qianfeng lineage poem I was told, but the meaning is the same. The ox must work very hard to develop its inner strength, and whilst breathing very deeply and fully (like a strong wind) the cultivated forces (once the lower Dan Tian is full) are circulated up the Governing Vessel (along the spine) and down the Conception Vessel (along the centre-line of the front of the body). The breath is like a ‘wind’ or a ‘hurricane’ (hence the ‘5th trigram Xun’). This how qi energy (vital force) and ‘Jing’ (essential nature) travels through the three (Dan Tian) energy centres as they circulate the torso. Obviously, there is an element of hard-work associated with ‘Sweating Ox’ self-cultivation, at least in the early stages. The more advanced stages are rarefied and distinct as the practitioner enters an entirely new and profound way of perceiving the inner and outer world. There is no mystery, but some knowledge is closely guarded and has to be ‘earned’ before it is imparted.
Chinese Language References:
https://baike.baidu.com/item/汗牛
https://xw.qq.com/cmsid/20180612A14L7Q/20180612A14L7Q00
http://www.wuwo.org/qfgf/2768.html
http://www.360doc.com/content/16/0402/19/32013898_547369221.shtml
http://www.baike.com/wiki/汗牛冲动