Liuhebafa Five Character Secrets: Chinese Classics, Translations, Commentary

by Paul Dillon

The origins of Liuhebafa (also called Water Boxing) can be traced back to the Daoist sage Chen Tuan (c. 871-989 A.D.). Chen is a mystical figure whose advice and perspective was sought by ancient Chinese Emperors. Liuhebafa was the last of the internal methods to be taught outside China. Even inside China, Liuhebafa had an almost mythic quality. Among the groups of inner circle students, Liuhebafa was graduate study in the internal arts. Liuhebafa's Five Character Secrets (of Li Dong Feng) are the original precepts of this rare internal martial art known as Huayue Xinyi Liuhebafaquan. Li Dong Feng discovered aged manuscripts of Chen Tuan, during an expedition to Chen's ancient mountain home. Realizing the importance of what he had found, Li remained on Mount Hua until he mastered the material in the manuscripts. Li returned to his home and then recorded all he had learned on Mount Hua in one hundred and thirty-four verses now known as The Five Character Secrets of Li Dong Feng. This is the only existing treatise on the original principles of Liuhebafa. This book contains the original Chinese treatise of Li Dong Feng, Pinyin Romanization of the Chinese characters, word for word translation, literal translation, interpretive translation and the author's commentary on the meaning of each verse. There is more here than meets the eye. It is wise to approach the Secrets with a beginner's mind. Imagine being beckoned to sit by the fire. Lean a little closer to better hear the master as he recites the lines that will open the doors of your mind and heart.

168 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2003

Reviews

[Raymond Goss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slowly and purposefully, I read this book a few pages at a time, re-reading a few previous pages with each sitting. I will re-read this book again. This book consists of a short background on Liuhebafa and its connection to other internal martial arts then the 134 sentences. Each sentence or in some cases sentence pair is spelled out in Chinese, pinyin (no tone markings), the verbatim translation of each character, a short translation of combination of the characters, a brief interpretation, and then a few paragraphs of commentary.

This book is excellent, but has some minor flaws. In a couple cases the translation is missing a character. In a few cases I think it is misinterpreted, but the gist of the topic is conveyed. The commentary sometimes is off topic or very different than what I read into the sentence. The author still does an excellent job and the commentaries are useful even when they don't follow the text.

I'm a westerner, who has studied Chinese and spend time training in Taiji and martial arts in China. My active taiji (and other internal and external martial arts) experience spans 30 years in multiple styles and I have recently learned the Liuhebafa form. This book is not limited to those who study Liuhebafa, but is applicable to all internal stylists. It is not a "how to" but provides a deep philosophy on fighting, breathing, qi generation, and living. The terminology is not what you often read in taiji philosophy books. I don't think I would have appreciated this book 20 years ago, but can now enjoy the details.