Deadlands - Chinese Fighting Arts.pdf - Deadlands wersja angielska - sagitax

Sam,

Here's the report you asked for on Chinese kung fu. You had

better make sure it stays eyes only. If word gets out that I'm

working for a round-eyes, the length of my continued existence

here in Shan Fan can be measured in heartbeats.

I've included some general background on our culture. I know

you're too busy whining about all the reports you have to write

for Denver to actually pick up a book, so I took it upon myself to

educate you.

I have to say, I'm pretty dubious about this idea you have to

get some Pinkertons trained in the martial arts. First, you have to

find a kung fu master who is willing to train Westerners (they're

about as common as a nun in a whorehouse). Second, you have

to find recruits who are up to the challenge. Nothing against

your regular agents, but I doubt most of them have what it takes.

You might get lucky with some military veterans, but even they

probably won't be able to handle the totally unquestioning

discipline required to master the fighting arts.

Anyway, I've included information on the basic martial arts and

some descriptions of more advanced techniques-you know, the

"magical" ones. I also threw in some sketches of people, places,

and fighting stances I encountered while putting this report

together.

Your humble

servant,

Huang Li

- Page 1 -

When are you going to

pay me my hazard bonus

for that report on the

triads?

The Chinese inhabitants of the Maze brought secrets with

them from their homeland. The most famous of these are those

of their ancient fighting arts. For centuries, practitioners of kung

fu and other Chinese martial disciplines have made extraordinary

claims about their fighting traditions.

According to legend, the most accomplished martial artists can

perform acts of superhuman power. Since the Reckoning, those

claims have been proven. Legendary powers are now within reach

of ordinary folk. Good students progress much faster in these

disciplines than they ever did before.

Anyone raised in 19th-century Chinese culture has been

ingrained with the assumption that this culture is clearly and

obviously superior to that of the arrogant Westerners. Chinese

civilization goes back for over 2,000 years. The Chinese Emperor

is like a god, and when things are right with the Emperor,

perfection abounds. Many of the inventions you take for granted

were discovered in China—paper and gunpowder, for example.

China is the center of perfection in the world, so why would it

be interesting to expand past the borders of an enormous country

just to bring their culture to the

ound on China's shores ar

thought by its elite to be gnats that will

either go away or adopt Chinese ways.

Of course, many Westerners view the

Chinese as a corrupt and decadent people.

They're th

ought o

degenerates who plan to come over and

out-populate the white man. (Never

mind the fact that it was the Europeans

who brought opium addiction to China.)

Herein lies the main source of friction

between the two cultures.

f as opium-smoking

- Page 2 -

rbarian hordes outside? When the

barbarians have invaded China,

they've proven this point by

adopting Chinese culture and values

as their own. The current rulers of

China, the Manchus, are barbarian

horsemen trying to out-Chinese the

Chinese. The Europeans whose

gunboats p

just like with the Indians, it turns out the people Westerners

lump together as Chinese see themselves as belonging to a whole

lot of different groups. Although there are a large number of these

racial groups, almost all Chinese in the Maze are of the Han

persuasion.

Just to confuse matters further, a single racial group might speak a

number of mutually incomprehensible languages or dialects.

Cantonese is the dialect of the vast majority of Chinese Mazers, who

hail from the southern province called Canton. If you think you have

all that figured out, consider that the more than 30 different

Chinese dialects all use the same form of writing: the ideograms

called hanzi.

Chinese culture. People believe the spirits of their ancestors are

keeping an eye on them and they must pay proper homage to their

ancestors. To do so, one must be near the graves of one's ancestors to

clean the graves of dead kinfolk every year. Those who come to the

Maze are turning their backs on this sacred obligation. Some feel

guilty about this, and some fear retribution from the spirits.

Others, though, have come here precisely to deal with the issue

of suffering ancestor spirits. Immediately after the Great Quake,

large numbers of Chinese people started having weird dreams about

the Maze. In these dreams, they saw their ancestors trapped in the

Maze, an ocean away from where they ought to be. The ancestors

cried out that they were prevented from reincarnating, as they

ought to do, by some terrible supernatural happening.

Most people discounted the dreams, but others took them

seriously. They came to rescue their ancestors from eternal doom

and are here to see what's what.

Third, the oppressive Manchu government takes a dim view of

emigration. If people who leave China come back, they're subject to

beheading. The bureaucrats behind the government are obsessively

concerned with face, you see, and take it as an insult that anyone

would try to leave their perfect land. ("Face" means the appearance of

respect, and it keeps Chinese in line the way guilt keeps Christians

contained. To be the recipient of private disrespect may be bad, but

the shame of public disrespect is devastating.)

- Page 3 -

The Chinese immigrants in the Maze are not typical of their

countrymen because they took the unusual step of leaving China.

Most Chinese are reluctant to leave China at this time. First, the

average Chinese person sees the rest of the world as full of uncouth

barbarians.

Second, there is the importance of ancestor worship to

On the other hand, there are good reasons for Chinese to

migrate.

First of all, the government is oppressive. It's run by the

Manchu Dynasty, a pack of former Mongol bandits from the

north who took over the Emperor's throne several centuries back.

Like any nouveau riche, the Manchus are trying to be more

Chinese than the Chinese.

The Manchus are considered no-good, outsider invaders by the

Han Chinese, and lately they've been living up to that billing by

turning decadent and cruel. China has been wracked by a series

of terrible revolts, with millions killed and just as many others

displaced. One of these incidents, called the Taiping Rebellion,

killed more people than any other war in human history. It

makes the War Between the States look like a Texas chili cook-off.

The countryside is lawless, and in the cities you can get your head

chopped off for wearing your hair the wrong way.

When they heard of the first gold strike back in '48, a number

of Chinese immigrants came over here to make their fortunes.

The Chinese were treated badly, almost worse than the Indians.

In the wake of the second wave of Chinese immigration, there

are maybe 30,000 Chinese people in the Maze, all told. As the

number of Chinese grow, discrimination against them seems to

be waning. This could be due to Westerners becoming more

familiar with Chinese culture, but it's most likely due to strength

in numbers. It may also have to do with the martial prowess of

the Chinese. People have become less brave about mistreating

Chinese folks—they never know who might be packing a spin

kick with their name on it.

Chinese culture has certain core values which most Chinese

have drummed into their heads from the time they can pick up a

pair of chopsticks.

One of the major schools of thought in Chinese life is

Confucianism, a philosophy with religious undertones. It teaches

respect for tradition and for one's elders and social superiors.

In many ways, this tradition of respect is totally at odds with

the "every man for himself" spirit of the frontier in general and

the Maze in particular.

- Page 4 -

Deadlands - Chinese Fighting Arts.pdf

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