Li Jinglin

Li Jinglin, with a style name (also known as courtesy name) Fang Chen or Fang Ling and the pseudonym Guang Guchuan, was born in the tenth year of Guangxu Emperor in Qing Dynasty (1885) in Zao Qing, Hebei. At an early age, he studied martial art skills from his father. Later in the area north of the Great Wall, he learnt Wudang sword from a legendary man Chen Shijun (1821-1932, born in Northern Anhui Province) and thus became the fourteenth successor to Wudang sword.

After graduating from Baoding Military School, he joined the Heilongjiang patrol team. In 1912, the Republic of China was founded, and Li Jinglin successively held the posts of the Chief of General Staff of Heilongjiang 1st Division and the Brigade Commander of 3rd/7th Mixed Brigade of Fengtian Army. During the First Zhili—Fengtian War, he was appointed as the Commander for the 3rd Echelon of the eastern front, while during the Second Zhili—Fengtian War, he and Zhang Zongchang formed the 2nd Army and fought in the Henan front. The Fengtian clique gradually occupied Zhili (modern Hebei, Beijing, and Tianjin), Shandong, and Anhui, and the Beijing Municipal Government appointed Li Jinglin as the Chief of the Zhili Military Affairs as well as Commander of 1st Army. In November 1925, Guo Songling decided to rebel against the Fengtian army. Li Jinglin, Guo Songling, and Feng Yuxiang secretly formed an ally, announced to separate from the Fengtian army, and supported Duan Qirui instead. They even tried to persuade Zhang Zuolin to resign his post through telegraph. In 1926, the troops of Li Jinglin were driven out of Tianjin by Feng Yuxiang's National Army and retreated to Shandong. In 1927, Li Jinglin and Zhang Zongchang joined forces and renamed as Zhi-Lu Ally to fight against Feng Yuxiang, with Zhang Jinglin as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief. Later he was dismissed of all posts by Zhang Zuolin. Under such a circumstance, he retired from the army and moved to Tianjin and Shanghai.

During 1927, Li Jinglin lived in Shanghai. Under the invitation of Ye Dami, Chen Weiming and Chen Zhijin studied Wudang sword from Li Jingling.

In 1928, the Nangking Central Kuoshu Institute was established. Despite the past discrepancies, the General Director Zhang Zhijiang invited Li Jinglin to join hands with him again and again. Li Jinglin then undertook the post of Deputy Director as well as member of Kuomintang Military Council. In 1929, after organizing the Zhejiang Kuoshu Performance Gathering, he taught in the Zhejiang Guoshu Institute, and Huang Yuanxiu, Gao Zhendong, Zhu Guiting, Qian Xiqiao, Su Jingtian, Shen Erqiao, and Sun Cunzhou are among his students.

In 1930, Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang fought with Chiang Kai-shek and thus the central plains of China were in chaos. Under the command of the National Government, Li Jinglin organized attacks in Jinan and then created the Shandong Guoshu Institute. In 1931, he served as the General Director of Shandong Guoshu Institute. Among his students then, Wan Laisheng and Li Yulin are of great fame. Li Jinglin died in Jinan in 1932 at the age of 47.

Engaging most of his life in military affairs on horse back and practicing Chinese martial art continuously, Li Jinglin set a model for us. His style of Wudang sword, featuring in effective defense and attack as well as practicability and combining 13 moves of flicking, pulling, parrying, striking, stabbing, pointing, busting, stirring, chipping, pressing, and chopping, has become a wonder in the martial art history. When studying the sword, one fist should learn the five ways, and then add steps and use the 13 moves to practice randomly in pairs. The key during this step is to forget the sword in hand. The last step is to perform swordplay as naturally and delicately as cloud flowing. Just as Li Jinglin put it, "Playing sword with the sound of instrument not only adds classic feelings but also stands you out, incomparable by any other sword style".

In memory of Li Jinglin, Zou Shengyuan once wrote a poem: With three-foot Long Quan sword ghosts startle; Eye-shining cold light from the sword reflect; No comparable to the skills of thy; Passing down to descendants for glorify.