Letterpress printing books on Taijiquan found in Wudang
By Le Qin ( chinadaily.com.cn )
Updated: 2013-08-05
Two letterpress printing books on Taijiquan were found in Wudang Mountain Tourism and Economy Special Region recently, according to the heritage sector of Wudang Mountains, and they are expected to be the oldest letterpress printing books on Taijiquan that have ever been discovered.
Letterpress printing is a traditional printing method, which is also referred to as relief printing or typographic printing.
The two books, which were published during the first half of the 20th century, contain both pictures and plain vernacular.
The rare books will be used for research concerning Wudang Kungfu, and one of them relates how Taoists in Wudang Mountains created the earliest form of Wudang Kungfu to defend themselves against wild animals.
Wudang Boxing Secrets is the title of one of the books, and it was published in 1928 and written by Jin Yiming. It contains 17 articles and 17 pictures of acupuncture meridians, and traces the origins of Wudang and of Taijiquan.
The second book, titled Wudang True Mass of Taijiquan, was published in 1934 and written by Yu Huahang. It includes 392 pictures concerning Taijiquan movements, and it also tells the story of Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of Wudang Kungfu.
Edited by Niva Whyman
