EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES OF THE JINGWU ASSOCIATION

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兵操　文事　游藝
JINGWU ARMY DRILL, LITERARY STUDIES, RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
[Parts Four–Six of 精武本紀 The Annals Of Jingwu, published Dec, 1919]

[translation by Paul Brennan, Dec, 2019]

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兵操
[PART FOUR] ARMY DRILL

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☉精武兵式操紀略　鄭灼辰
A BRIEF RECORD OF THE JINGWU ARMY DRILL UNIT by Zheng Zhuochen

精武向有兵操一門。初由前任會長今會董袁恆之先生主任。袁先生精技擊。兼擅軍事學。且熱心教練。故成績頗有可觀。然當時經費非常困難。各會員多為子弟資格。無家政權。故服裝尤簡。無所謂軍服。旣而灼辰忝任教練。乃提議以演拳之制服充數。團員有於冬時。以套袴為禦寒之具者。羣謔之為套袴兵。然形式簡略。而精神則非常振奮。野戰一門。雖無快槍巨礟。而能於嚴寒之際。在操場中。分隊互為攻守。實習戰鬭。其大礟則截巨竹以鐵索管之。中實巨大之邊礟。其聲隆隆。當時士卒寶而愛之。且擬為口徑四十生的之加農也。灼辰充任團正。計至於今。濫竽者已數年。團員日夥。服裝日就完備。此皆團員熱心之所致也。精武兵操團。例以兩週年為術科畢業期限。而學科不厭詳求。蓋歐戰以後。戰術戰略一日千里。尤非急起直追不可。卽如向例凡我步隊先頭。與敵距離五百米達者。吾礟隊卽須停放。自靑島一役。觀日德之戰鬭。則日軍之步隊。已與敵距離最近。而日礟仍未停放。蓋由日軍實地試驗。不停放之損失較小也。蔣百里巡視歐西戰場紀。有曰。德軍礟火之威力。決非深濠堅壁所能抗。而法軍獨能利用其攻擊精神於要塞功用之中。（中略）故控其力。取攻勢於敵人旣得陣地以後。（下略）云。卽此片鱗隻爪。可見一斑。噫歐風亞雨。直逼頹垣。灼辰普告團員曰。吾輩當以精武式百折不回之毅力。在此頹垣內。用步兵工作速成法。加工建築一重鐵壁。以抵抗此狂風驟雨也。
The idea for the Jingwu Association to have a course in army drill came from Yuan Hengzhi, formerly the Association president and currently one of its directors. Yuan is an expert in martial arts and is also skilled in military science. As an enthusiastic instructor, he has had impressive success. However, it was very difficult to obtain funding in the beginning, and the members were usually too young to be able to draw any extra finances from their own households. For this reason, the uniforms were extremely simplified, not what would really be called military uniforms, until instructor Zheng Zhuochen later suggested using the boxing arts uniforms for the time being.
　　During winter, the members of the drill team wore breeches to fend off the cold, and so people teasingly called them the “breeches army”. However, their formations were kept very simple, morale was very high, and although the classes for training field operations were not equipped with machine guns or large cannons, they were at least able to train during times of bitter cold, dividing into teams to practice attacking and defending against each other. For their combat training with artillery, they attached iron pipes to a large piece of bamboo. Since this alternate “cannon” made a reasonable booming sound, the troops at that time were very fond of it and found it to be an adequate representation of an actual 40mm-caliber cannon.
　　I have been in charge of the unit to this day, and after several years of poorly equipping the troops just to keep them equipped, membership has been increasing to become more substantial [having now grown to the size of a full platoon] and the uniforms have finally been perfected, both of these things boosting morale.
　　The Jingwu army drill unit is a technical course that requires the fulfillment of two years in order to graduate, as well as an attitude of tireless learning and of seeking to understand every detail. Particularly since the European War [World War I, which ended just a year before], military tactics and strategy have advanced with giant strides, and so one will not succeed unless one does one’s very best to examine all principles.
　　For example, there is a rule that once my infantry has reached to within five hundred meters of the enemy, I am supposed to park my cannons. However, in the Siege of Qingdao, a battle between the Germans and the Japanese [Oct 31–Nov 7, 1914, the only WWI battle that took place in Asia, with victory going to the Japanese], the Japanese infantry was already too close to the enemy anyway and so they continued to advance with their cannons. Based on their experiment in the field, there seems to actually be a reduced risk of overall casualties by not stopping at a certain distance.
　　Jiang Baili [who a few years before had been a military advisor to President Yuan Shikai and then turned against him when Yuan declared himself a new emperor] made a record of what he had learned from studying European battlefields [having studied military science in Germany several years before WWI]: “The fearsome artillery of the German army cannot be withstood unless the enemy is deeply entrenched or hidden behind thick fortifications. So far only the French army has been able to take advantage of the German mentality of attack to use fortifications to their own advantage… Therefore control the enemy’s strength by manipulating his offensive position, and then take the battlefield afterward…”
　　This is but a glimpse of theory, a case of “scaling a fish with your fingernails” [a method which usually would pry away just a few of the scales]. Alas, Western cultural influence has already crowded in and brought down our walls. I have often said to the troops: “We represent the Jingwu attitude of uncompromising willpower. Within these ruined walls [i.e. the nation], we will use our infantry to quickly move in and refortify, building an impregnable defense to keep out the wind and rain [i.e. foreign dominance].”

（一）昔日之套袴兵
Photo 1 – The “breeches army” of previous years:

（二）套袴兵之野戰
Photo 2 – The breeches army training for field operations [part 1]:

（三）套袴兵之野戰
Photo 3 – The breeches army training for field operations [part 2]:

（四）五年雙十節之升旗典禮
Photo 4 – Flag-raising ceremony for “Double Tenth” [China’s Independence Day] (Oct 10, 1916):

（五）六年之兵操團
Photo 5 – The army drill unit in 1917
丁巳年精武兵撡部撮影
(Portrait of the Jingwu army drill unit, 1917):

（六）現在之兵操團　教練者鄭灼辰
Photo 6 – The current army drill unit, with drill instructor Zheng Zhuochen:

（七）軍隊組織
Photo 7 – Troops making a formation [which spells 武 “martial”]:

（八）軍隊組織
Photo 8 – Troops making a formation [by lying on the ground to spell out 精武 Jingwu]:

（九）軍樂隊
Photo 9 – The military band:

（十）兵操畢業證書
Photo 10 – An example of the diploma from the Army Drill Unit:

中國精武體育會兵操團　二年滿約證書
Two-year certificate of the Jingwu Athletic Association Army Drill Unit:
本團　團員金光曜　二年滿約給授　此書為證
This document verifies that team member Jin Guangyao has completed two years of instruction.
中華民國六年十一月卄五日　團長鄭灼辰　會長王閣臣
[Signed and stamped by] Unit Commander Zheng Zhuochen & Association President Wang Gechen, Nov 25, 1917
〔中國精武體育會印〕
(stamp of the China Jingwu Athletic Association)

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☉技擊術軍用實施法　陳鐵生
MARTIAL ARTS TECHNIQUES FOR ARMY USE by Chen Tiesheng

軍隊衝鋒。利用刺刀與軍刀。苟能使用吾技擊術中之槍法大刀法單刀法。可稱無敵。此兩圖。卽以技擊術實施於軍隊者也。惟關國內暫時祕密。語焉弗詳。國人有注意及此者。願商榷焉。
The army charges in, using bayonets and sabers. If they were also to employ techniques from our nation’s martial arts, specifically methods for the spear, large saber, and single saber, then they would be invincible. The two photos below demonstrate martial arts techniques for use by army troops. The workings of the military have often been a state secret and not spoken of in much detail. But I hope my countrymen who give attention to such training will come together and more openly discuss these things.

（一）技擊術軍用實施法　鄭灼辰　金光曜
Martial arts techniques for army use (photo 1) performed by Zheng Zhuochen [left] & Jin Guangyao [right]:

（二）技擊術軍用實施法　霍東閣　鄭灼辰
Martial arts techniques for army use (photo 2) performed by Huo Dongge [left] & Zheng Zhuochen [right]:

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[The shadow formed by the figure below produces the character 工, which is also seen on the pin on his jacket. 工 means: to labor, to work, to make stuff. This drawing is by 楊左匋 Yang Zuotao, who signed his named as S. Y. Young.]

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文事
[PART FIVE] LITERARY STUDIES

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☉臨池會紀　陳鐵生
THE CALLIGRAPHY CLASS by Chen Tiesheng

滿淸竊據而後。懼吾族之以武力攘其獨夫座也。故拳術武器。懸為厲禁。二百六十年中。文人旣不能武。武夫更鮮通文。求如傅安期所謂上馬擊賊。下馬作露布者。眞覺稀如星鳳。良可慨也。民國五年。會員王漢禮氏。發起臨池會。相約於武課之餘。研求八法。預會者五十餘衆。皆能寒暑不輟。力爭上游。殆亦精武主義入人者深也。循是以往。吾輩赳赳。庶洗不文之誚乎。抑尤有進者。凡武術深造之會員。其書法必佳一若刀之與筆。有連帶關係焉。鐵生忝任臨池。亦越三載。屢試不爽。追維其故。罔能索解。然事實具在。無可詰難。世界通人。其亦有以教我乎。
After the Manchus took over China [in 1644], they feared that our people might take up arms to bring down the new rulers. Therefore boxing arts and use of weapons were strictly forbidden. During the next two hundred sixty years, literate men could not be martial, and martial men had even less hope of becoming literate. What was needed was someone like Fu Anqi [Xiuqi] [Book of Wei, chapter 70 – bio of Fu Yong (Fu Xiuqi)]: “He can mount his horse to kill traitors, then dismount and write the declaration of victory.” Alas, such a person is as rare as a phoenix.
　　In 1916, Jingwu Association member Wang Hanli started a calligraphy class that would take place during the leftover time after martial arts lessons, in which students would focus on the basic eight strokes [丶 dotting stroke, ˊ lifting stroke, 乛 twisting stroke, 一 horizontal stroke, 丨 vertical stroke, 亅 hooking stroke, 丿 left-curving stroke, 乀 right-curving stroke]. There are now more than fifty people in the class, who all find a way to be there regardless of extremes of heat or cold, and who all strive for a high standard, deeply embodying the “Jingwu doctrine”. So that we do not follow the old pattern of being valiant but shamefully illiterate warriors, all members who pursue advanced martial studies ought to also be studying calligraphy. They should be holding their writing brush with the same elegance as wielding a sword. The two arts are interrelated.
　　I have been the unworthy director of the calligraphy class for more than three years now without any problems. How can this be? I have no idea. But it seems to be working, there has been no cause for complaint, and these worldly scholars have taught me a lot as well.

臨池會（一）
Calligraphy practice (photo 1):

臨池會（二）
Calligraphy practice (photo 2):

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（三）六年本會會員臨池成績攝影
Photo 3 – the best examples from the members of the 1917 calligraphy class:

第一字至第六字姚蟾伯書
These characters were drawn by Yao Chanbo: 碧、之、道、祠、為、脩
第七字陳士超女士書
by Ms. Chen Shichao: 心
第八字黃畹香女士書
by Ms. Huang Wanxiang: 南
第九第十字鄭灼辰書
by Zheng Zhuochen: 成、道
十一至十三字陳公哲書
by Chen Gongzhe: 槀、成、真
第十四字黃善祥書
by Huang Shanxiang: 之
十五至卄五字盧煒昌書
by Lu Weichang: 事、猶、子、如、字、育、時、設、未、主、也
民國六年　精武臨池會
– Jingwu calligraphy class – 1917

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（四）臨池擇粹　八年甲班
Photo 4 – best examples from the 1919 calligraphy class in Class A:

一至八盧煒昌書
These characters were drawn by Lu Weichang: 設、備、相、闾、者、也、正、皆
九至十二鄭灼辰書
by Zheng Zhuochen: 与、之、南、去
十三至十七姚蟾伯書
by Yao Chanbo: 至、南、鳥、氏、焉
十八十九周錫三書
by Zhou Xisan: 傲、和
二十梁少田書
by Liang Shaotian: 中
廿一至廿四陳公哲書
by Chen Gongzhe: 沉、風、丑、也

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（五）臨池擇粹　八年乙丙兩班
Photo 5 – best examples from the 1919 calligraphy class in Class B & Class C:

一至三黃畹香書
These characters were drawn by Ms. Huang Wanxiang: 去、日、寺
四霍東閣書
by Huo Dongge: 相
五王漢禮書
by Wang Hanli: 力
六陳士超書
by Chen Shichao: 內
七至十簡偉卿書
by Jian Weiqing: 忠、瑞、為、試
十一十二馮蘭皋書
by Feng Lan’gao: 師、益
十三十四李志羲書
by Li Zhixi: 乃、化
十五黃漢佳書
by Huang Hanjia: 君
十六唐琼相書
by Tang Qiongxiang: 曰
十七章錫彭書
by Zhang Xipeng: 卿
十八李國荃書
by Li Guoquan: 邦
十九金光曜書
by Jin Guangyao: 人
二十廿一黎永錦書
by Li Yongjin: 𦍒、十
以上乙班
(The [twenty-three] characters above were drawn by those in Class B.)
廿二陳盧雪英書
by Lu Xueying (wife of Chen Gongzhe): 忘
廿三趙連和書
by Zhao Lianhe: 多
廿四黃善祥書
by Huang Shanxiang: 雖
以上丙班
(The [three] characters above were drawn by those in Class C.)

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夕陽鴉陣圖　高鳳翰寫
“Flock of Crows at Sunset” painted by Gao Fenghan:

高西園為近代第一枝畫筆此幀為先君子顯巨府君所弆題首者丹徒李御八法亦超絕今以移贈南海楊梅賓君
陳鐵生敬誌
Gao Xiyuan [Fenghan] [1683–1749] was made a “Premier Painter of our Times” [during the reign of the Qing Dynasty emperor Qianlong (1736-1795)]. This painting belonged to my late father, who was a great collector. At the top it is adorned by the equally lovely calligraphic strokes of Gao’s top student Li Yu. I have recently given it as a present to Yang Meibin of Nanhai [district of Foshan, Guangdong].
　　- written sincerely by Chen Tiesheng

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☉圖畫成績　陳公哲
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PAINTING CLASS by Chen Gongzhe

圖畫一事。中國古代競尚寫意。泰西專求象物。取徑不同。故投嗜各異。然澹遠吻合。理無二致。本會有圖畫一科。沈伯誠君為主任教員。年來會員於透視之學。略知門徑。此卽會員所畫之成績也。
The act of painting in ancient China strongly emphasized spontaneous expression, whereas painting in the West focuses on drawing objects exactly as they are. These are different paths and therefore suit different temperaments, but they are equal in terms of sheer artistry and no different in terms of their principles. The Jingwu Association has a painting class, of which Shen Bocheng is head instructor. The students in recent years have been studying perspective and are indeed making progress. Below is a sample of some of their achievements:

圖畫成績
Some achievements of the painting class [the example in the upper right signed “漢佳 (Huang Hanjia), 1919”]:

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☉攝學部成績　陳盧雪英
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT by Lu Xueying (wife of Chen Gongzhe)

攝學新法。日有發明。窮年莫究。屢世莫殫。誠耐人尋味。會員多嗜此者。經主任之考驗及格。輒給以證書。此特摭其佳影。附刋於此。以見一斑。
Photography is something modern, with new things being invented for it every day. During our previous impoverished years, no one studied it, but nowadays it has become compelling and thought-provoking. Jingwu Association members are quite addicted to it. After passing the tests required by the department directors, they are given a certificate. Being a pretty sight in itself, an example of one has been included in this book.

本會攝學部旅行之攝影
Photo of the Jingwu Association photography department on an excursion:

攝學部之旅行
Photography department on an excursion:

攝學成績（姚蟾伯攝）
One of our photographic successes (photograph by Yao Chanbo):

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攝學證書
Photographic studies certificate:

精武體育會攝學部　證書
Certificate of the Jingwu Athletic Association Photography Department:
茲據陳夀芝君遵用本會㪽訂攝學測灮法攝就景物經攝學部評定成績優美認為合格合給證書一紙此證
This verifies that Chen Shouzhi has learned and applied our methods of measuring light and photographing scenery. By the assessment of this photography department, his work has achieved a level of beauty. As we feel that he qualifies to a high standard, he is hereby presented with this document as proof of these credentials.
攝學部主任　葉向榮　陳公哲
[Signed and stamped by] the directors of the photography department: Ye Xiangrong & Chen Gongzhe
中國民國七年十一月四日
Nov 4, 1918
〔中國精武體育會印〕
(stamp of the China Jingwu Athletic Association)

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插畫三幅
Three pictures [two photos, one painting]:

民國六年秋三潭夕照　陳公哲攝
[1] “Three Pools at Sunset” – photograph [developed on tinted glass plate] by Chen Gongzhe, autumn, 1917:

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三潭夕照題詞　汪精衞
Inscription for “Three Pools at Sunset” by Wang Jingwei:

陳君公哲精攝影術嘗遊西湖選佳勝處欲留影駕小舟於湖上凡四日前後十餘次始得此幅洵所謂微妙入神者漢口某君以重值購之去夫攝影之術今已為世人所知然深究其奧而得其精微者於吾國猶未數見也陳君獨留意於此而進乎美妙之感能不為之流連歎賞歟汪兆銘精衛题
Chen Gongzhe is a skilled photographer. He once traveled to West Lake and selected a beautiful spot to take a photo as a memento. Over the course of four days, he took a small boat onto the lake a dozen times to get this shot. Truly it can be described as exquisite, even transcendent. A certain gentleman from Hankou strongly wanted to buy it from him. Everyone in the world is familiar with the art of photography nowadays, but it is rare in our country to find someone who has studied it so deeply and become so highly skilled at it. Chen is unique for how much careful attention he puts into it and his work evokes a great sense of beauty. How can one look at this and not sigh with admiration?
　　- inscribed by Wang Zhaoming, called Jingwei

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蘇臺煙景　陳士超攝
[2] “Mist Over Sutai [in Suzhou]” – photograph [developed on tinted glass plate] by Chen Shichao:

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揮戈逐日圖　（楊左匋寫）
[3] “Galloping Fast to Lead Troops into Battle” painted [with primary colors onto copper surface] by Yang Zuotao:

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精武影戲紀　郭唯一
ON MAKING A MOTION PICTURE OF THE JINGWU ASSOCIATION by Guo Weiyi

近代新發明之留聲機。與活動影戲。一則留聲。一則留影。得此利器。千百年後。不至有前不見古人之憾事矣。影戲近已盛行於我國。皆自歐美稗販而來。國人自製者猶鮮。吾會陳公喆。於攝學得大解脫。秋間嘗語我曰。外國有一技術。咸攝入影戲。故傳布最捷。吾將以本會之拳術。攝入影戲中。亦提倡體育者。所當有事也。不三月。而影戲告成。計長五千英尺。凡吾會中之歷史人物。拳術武器。及拳術之空前大會操。軍隊之技擊實施法。曁各種運動。文事兵操游藝等類。罔弗具備。吾國人之能以拳術自製影片者。此其嚆矢矣。將來技擊術之發達。一日千里。此片與有力焉。
The modern era has seen the new inventions of the phonograph and cinematograph, one recording sound, the other recording images. Due to these devices, people centuries in the future will be spared the regret of not being able to see what their ancient progenitors were up to. Motion pictures are now fashionable in our nation, with copies of film reels everywhere being peddled from Europeans and Americans, hardly any of our countrymen making their own. The Jingwu Association’s Chen Gongzhe, who is addicted to the study of photography, said to me during the autumn: “Foreigners have a technique for making their photos move, and therefore their images spread around very quickly. If we present the Jingwu Association’s boxing sets in moving pictures, it would be a great way to promote physical education.”
　　After not even three months, I had completed a motion picture, using five thousand feet of film [i.e. five reels, a thousand feet per reel, the standard at the time being 35mm film and probably recording at only 16 frames per second, 35mm at 16fps meaning about fifteen minutes for each reel, therefore amounting to a typical feature-length film of close to an hour and a quarter of material], depicting the Jingwu Association’s history and people, boxing sets and weapon sets, boxing arts performances at gatherings of unprecedented size, group demonstrations of martial arts, as well as various other kinds of exercise, literary studies, army drill, recreational activities, all of it.
　　This will be the harbinger to our countrymen’s ability to produce films about our boxing arts. [The extent of just how influential his film was is not clear, but it is conceivable that it did indeed provide the seed for all of Kung Fu cinema.] The future development of martial arts will make giant strides, for this medium will prove to be powerful indeed. [Alas, this film recording the Jingwu Association’s activities seems to have been lost (perhaps simply mislaid, or lost potentially due to 35mm film being both flammable and perishable, and so if the film had not accidentally burned, it may have faded to blankness after a few decades anyway, especially if improperly stored), but at least we can know what we are missing since the Annals contains the list of the sixty-five scenes that were on its five reels, the caption cards for this silent movie, within the Appendices.]

郭唯一
Guo Weiyi:

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☉返光鏡裝置近鏡之新發明　程子培
INVENTION OF A NEW ZOOM-LENS DEVICE by Cheng Zipei

攝學主任陳公哲。新發明以返光鏡裝置最近鏡。已向美洲註册。取得專利權。此亦精武攝學部之成績也。計此鏡箱之特點及功用。
Photographic studies director Chen Gongzhe has recently invented a zoom-lens device, for which he sent a registration to America and obtained a patent. This is one of the achievements of the Jingwu photographic studies department. The device has the features and fulfills the functions of a mirror case.
（一）旅行時有要景。為平常鏡箱。或近鏡所不能攝者。此獨能之。
1. When traveling, one will encounter scenery which cannot be photographed using an ordinary mirror case or zoom-lens, and can only be done with this device.
（二）合遠鏡平常鏡近鏡之三者而為一。以一鏡箱而備三用。省費良多。
2. It combines the ordinary lenses of a telescope with a zoom-lens, three lenses in one, and so is worth three mirror cases, and thus saves a lot of money.
有此兩優點。且免多攜鏡箱之贅累也。
With these two advantages, you can avoid the extra trouble of having to lug around a mirror case.

返光鏡裝置近鏡之新發明　陳公哲發明
The zoom-lens device invented by Chen Gongzhe:

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☉旅行用之攝影暗箱　程子培
A MOBILE DARK ROOM by Cheng Zipei

此種暗箱。專備旅行之用。亦軍用品之要物也。歐美雖有此製。而頗覺未能完備。此具為陳公哲所造。形似手提之革鞄。製以木。而輕便。內臟攝學器具。應有盡有。若平常家用之大暗房。猶或遜之。用時將黑幔張掛。自能應用。且空氣流通。不至悶塞。幷裝置進出兩水管。電燈。寒暑表秒數表。大盤一事。能放四寸硬片三十餘張。其餘一切冲晒器具藥品。共四十二件。而製造之價格尤廉。會中人多喜攝影者。有此。卽多一良器也。
This kind of dark room is specially made for travelers and is also intended to be an important piece of military equipment. Although such things are made by Europeans and Americans, it is not likely that you will find one so complete. Designed entirely by Chen Gongzhe, it looks similar to a portable leather case. It is made of wood, is light in weight, and contains all the photographic equipment that one should have. It seems rather modest compared to a large dark room in an ordinary house, but this one instead has a dark curtain that is drawn over it, which is just as useful and provides good ventilation rather than the stuffy air in a usual dark room. It is fitted with two pipes for developing fluid to be put in and drained out, an electric lamp, a thermometer, a timer, and a sizable developing tray which can handle more than thirty four-inch developing plates at a time. The rest of the tools for developing prints and the containers for fluids amount to forty-two items altogether. The price of manufacture is very moderate. In the Jingwu Association, many of us who delight in photography have one, and we always find it to be an excellent instrument.

（一）旅行用之攝影暗箱　關合
Photo 1 – Mobile dark room when closed:

（二）旅行用之攝影暗箱　張幔
Photo 2 – Mobile dark room with curtain drawn:

（三）旅行用之攝影暗箱　內部
Photo 3 – Mobile dark room interior:

暗箱表
Specifications for the mobile dark room:

重量　箱重三十四磅　器械藥品十五磅　共重四十九磅
– Weight: case 34 lbs, equipment and developing fluids 15 lbs, total 49 lbs.

面積
– Surface area:
合　二十五英寸又六 X 二十一英寸又三 X 七英寸又六
(when closed) 25.6in x 21.3in x 7.6in
開　二十五英寸又六 X 二十五英寸又半 X 二十六英寸又半
(when open) 25.6in x 25.5in x 26.5in

比例
– Cubic proportions:
合　二英尺三寸六立方尺一倍
(closed) 2 ft, 3.6 in
開　九英尺九寸七立方尺四倍二
(open) 9 ft, 9.7 in (therefore 4.2 times larger)

水流
– Use of fluid:
進　每十兩十五秒
(put in) 15 seconds per 10 ounces
出　每十兩四秒
(drain out) 4 seconds per 10 ounces

器械藥品　共四十二件　値洋五十圓
– Quantity of tools and fluids: altogether forty-two items, at a value of 50 silver yuan

箱價値　洋四十圓
– Value of case: 40 silver yuan

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☉測光表　黃怡生
CHEN GONGZHE’S CALCULATIONS FOR EXPOSURE by Huang Yisheng

公哲曾著測光捷徑一書。吾輩頗便之。邇則外間已不脛而走。近更發明一種懷中册子。長幅不及三英寸。而測光法門。開卷卽得。不俟心算。眞利器也。科學上之新發明品。豈獨彼碧眼紫髯者能之耶。
Chen Gongzhe once wrote a book called Shortcuts for Calculating Exposure, which we have all found to be very convenient and which has also gained great popularity outside of the Jingwu Association. He has recently produced another volume, a tiny booklet that will fit in a shirt pocket, barely three inches in length, containing the methods for calculating exposure already worked out. Open the book and there they are, saving you the trouble of doing the math, a very efficient tool indeed. After all, why should only Westerners be able to come up with new scientific products?

測光表
The Factorial Exposure Calculator and Record by Kung-Che Chen [Chen Gongzhe]:

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☉論攝學　陳公哲
A DISCUSSION OF PHOTOGRAPHY by Chen Gongzhe

歐西攝學。歲有發明。器械之改進。應用之推演。其見於雜誌及專家著述者。縷指不可計。而吾國獨沒沒沉寂若此。中西人不相及。何遂至於是耶。攝學二字。於歐文為Photo，light；graph，write。譯言日光寫眞。蓋其為術。本光學實驗之一端。而其應用獨神。風景名勝。得攝學而千里者一室。故舊相知得攝學而室遠者人邇。凡此猶普通之習見者。其他若醫學者藉之而剏為X光。則不必曾飲上池。而癥結可以洞見。探險者藉之而制為飛器。則不必深入其地。而鳥瞰自見眞切。星辰之高遠。測算者不能示諸掌焉。攝之於影。而歷歷可摘。則攝學之應用於天算者也。動植物之嬗遞。研習者不能駐而察焉。攝之於影。而飛潛黴菌不能逃其形。礦物之探測。圖案之複寫。無不以攝學為利賴。則攝學之應用於科學者也。軍事司法。其他人事之需求於攝學者。尚未可覼縷述焉。活動影片。非近世所謂文化之導鑰。而最膾炙人口者乎。留瞬息於弈世。極變化之能事。斯亦宇宙之大觀也。夷考其術。則攝學之支流緒餘焉耳。近更以科學之孟晉。而自然界之色相。可以畢現於一攝之頃。不必以煊染為能事。則攝學之有造於人間世者。固已駸駸奪造化之工。而令人咋為神奇者矣。攝學之發明於世。逮今纔一世紀。而進步若此。如奔濤。如怒馬。如方蕾之花。則亙數年後。安知不益神奇。為今之所夢想不及者乎。竊嘗謂天下科學之最神妙。而習之引人不倦。趣味盎然者。當以攝學為最。然一科學之精進。必與他科學為聯貫。所謂共同進步者焉。否則左右不能逢源。陳陳相因。蓋亦限於能力而莫可如何者。吾是以言攝學而不能不以覃研科學為之基也。夫器械之構造。工藝者之所有事。若理與法。則好學深思。不難盡人而得之。然凡事必先有思想而後有實際。有機關而後可集益。此精武會所以特立專科。欲以美術與科學為研究之始基。而亟亟謀為之統系者也。風雨如晦。雞鳴不已。邦人君子。有殫精於攝學者。竊願繼今以共討論焉。
Western photography has had years of inventions, improvements in equipment, and developments in practical application. This can be seen in their magazines and specialized books, giving details about the science that are beyond counting. Our nation alone has vanished into silence on the subject of photography. Chinese people have fallen far behind Westerners in this regard. There is no excuse for this.
　　The word “photograph” is a European term [an English word with Greek roots] that breaks down into “light” (photo) and “draw” (graph), and this translates as “drawing with sunlight” [which is also reminiscent of the word for photography in its infancy: “heliography”]. It is an art that is based in scientific experiments with optics, but its applications are downright supernatural.
　　Famous landscapes can be photographed and then looked at while in a room thousands of miles away, or old friends can take photographs of each other when they meet and still look at each other when far apart. These kinds of miracles have become commonplace. For other uses, doctors can take X-ray images to see right through a patient instead of needing to perform exploratory surgery, and explorers can get a clear bird’s-eye view of a terrain without having to trudge their way through it on land.
　　It is impossible to properly count the stars above just by looking up at them, but a photograph can isolate a section of the night sky. Thus photography is useful for astronomy. The transformations of flora or fauna cannot really be adequately observed by researchers once such processes are underway, but by taking a photograph of microscopic organisms, they will be frozen in that moment. The same is true for the study of mineralogical processes. These things all profit from photography, and thus it is useful for science in general. As for its usefulness for the military or for other human affairs, there is simply too much to say in any detail.
　　Motion pictures have become considered a crucial part of modern culture and are universally appreciated. We can now keep the most ephemeral of events, preserving them as grand spectacle for all to enjoy. When considering the art of photography as a whole, it has an endless surplus of peripheral benefits. Due to modern scientific advances, the true appearance of the natural world can now be revealed by a simple photograph. It is no longer necessary to skillfully apply pigments to a canvas in order to create an image from scratch, thus photography builds connections between societies, building so efficiently that people are amazed by the magic of it. Photography was invented nearly a century ago, and has since progressed like pounding waves, like galloping horses, like budding flowers.
　　After persevering at it for many years, I did not know the magic of it would only increase, for my dreams nowadays are never as good as my photographs. I once described it as the most ingenious science in the world, and I have become ever more tireless in my practice of it, finding it to be the single most interesting of all things. But any scientific enterprise has to be connected with other scientific fields, and then they will all advance together. Otherwise they would go off in different directions and become complacent in their own dogmas, unable to get all the way to the underlying truth. I therefore say that photography requires a deep foundation in scientific study.
　　The construction of the equipment may be a time-consuming craft, but the principles and methods will not be too difficult for someone who loves learning and enjoys solving problems. All things start out as ideas and then become realities. Working from a plan, you will then reap the benefits. This is why the Jingwu Association offers a specialized course involving using art and science as the foundation of study and then diving into systematic training. Although the current state of affairs for this field is dire and the alarm is constantly being sounded, there are some among my fellow countrymen who have worked hard to become skillful photographers, and I hope that from this point on we will all give it more attention.

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☉醫學紀　簡玉鵬　偉卿
ON MEDICINE by Jian Yupeng, called Weiqing

醫學為最要之學科。本會中西醫學兼備。主任中醫者羅君伯夔。主任西醫者醫學博士林君錦華。兩先生道德學問。皆為社會所欽仰者也。
Medical science is the most important branch of learning. The Jingwu Association has courses in both Chinese and Western medicine. The director of the Chinese medicine class is Luo Bokui. The director of the Western medicine class is Lin Jinhua, M.D. Both of these gentlemen are esteemed by society for their ethics and knowledge.

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☉精武醫學部宣言　羅伯夔
THE MANIFESTO OF THE JINGWU MEDICAL DEPARTMENT by Luo Bokui

莽莽大陸。塵塵支那。自愧菲材。生逢離亂。旣無救時之略以醫國。又無道德。為社會之藥石鍼砭。徒抱此昂然七尺軀。寄身世界中。忽忽數十年。如贅疣。又如泡影。日暮途遠。余生有涯。慄慄危懼。為天演所淘汰。與草木同朽。眞可笑復可憐者。當民國初年。光復漢宇。肇造數千年來未有之共和局。實中國圖強之一大樞紐。故鄙人居粵。雖就醫院之聘。伏櫪之馬。猶有雄心。亦曾竭其駑頓。有所規畫。以冀補助國事之進行。輾轉數年。慨夫政治之頹敗。社會之蕪穢。上下相蒙。各私其私。夥頤沉沉。不可究詰。遂不得不持消極主義。詘心塞耳。舍醫之外。不願聞世事。近以鄕關多故。息影滬濱。辱承精武寵召。講述醫學。不揣固陋。敢貢其一得之愚。與諸君子商碻之。原夫醫始靈素。詞古義精。和緩越人。幷衍其術。逮夫漢季。張氏仲景著傷寒論。金匱玉函經。方法大備。繼往開來。沾漑後學。故醫門之有仲景。譬儒門之有宣尼。言醫者若百川赴海。罔不奉為依歸。自時厥後。代有作者。然氣化隨時會而變遷。體質因土地而判別。故其論治。多各樹一義。互有異同。卽卓卓諸大家。如劉河間則謂六氣皆從火化。其治病多主涼瀉。李東垣則謂土為萬物之母。專重脾胃。張子和則以汗吐下立法。善於用攻。朱丹溪則謂人陽常有餘。陰常不足。主於滋陰。至張景岳則又謂人之生氣。以陽為本。復主扶陽。承學之士。各守師說。聚訟紛紜。又如儒門中漢學宋學之爭門戶。然皆持之有故。具有至理。語其究竟。無不同條共貫。習醫者。能好學深思。因時因地。參酌變通。審夫病機。求之徵驗。固恢恢乎游刃有餘。若墨守一家之言。得其筌蹄。是丹非素。仍是一孔之見。未可與進於大道也。鄙人說醫宗旨。於第一期內。在舉普通習見之病。於脈因證治。發明其大義。間參以西歐醫說。不偏駁。不泥古。不務艱深。但求純正簡易。適於實用。以增進醫學常識。使得循序學步。以收速成之效果。區區之志。幸教正焉。抑本體育會。取義精武。固將以養成尚武之精神。肩任宇宙事業也。則主要在衞生。欲明衞生之學。更在知醫。醫為專門學科。理雖精邃。然能各具常識。則於未病之調攝。已病之治療。得其大槪。其於體育衞生之進行。豈小補哉。諸君子其亦有取於斯歟。
Ah this luxuriant land… with this dirty China on it. I am ashamed our skills are not better, considering our lives amidst such trying chaos. There seems to be no way to rescue this generation in order to cure the nation, nor any morals left to be the acupuncture for society. People are fond of the idea of standing tall and fearless, but they have been living in the world in such a temporary way, the decades rushing by like nothing of significance is happening, a mere bubble popping, and now we in our desperate state. We are living at a horizon, trembling with fear for what might be beyond it while natural selection is busy getting rid of the dead wood. This is both comical and tragic. In 1912, we did after all take back our Chinese realm, which had never before been a republic since its beginning thousands of years ago.
　　This dramatically put China on the map. I was living in Guangdong, where I worked in a hospital like a horse in a stable, and yet I still had ambition. This worn-out horse defiantly stamped its hooves and made plans, hoping to help the nation forward. The nation then meandered its way sideways for several years, leaving me fed up that the government was so corrupt with decadence and that society was so overgrown with weeds. Our people both above and below had become ignorant and selfish. So many had drooping cheeks, sad without even knowing why. They persistently clung to their pessimism, which only clogged their minds. Thus I gave up my medical position, unwilling to have anything more to do with the cancerous misery that had so recently spread through my own hometown, and I retired to Shanghai, whereupon I was graciously invited by the Jingwu Association to give lectures about medicine. Ignoring my own areas of ignorance, I have dared to contribute my opinions and have formed a solid partnership with its members.
　　Medicine begins with the “Su Wen” and “Ling Shu” [the two parts of the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine], describing refined ancient principles for easing troubled people. These skills were further developed by Zhang Zhongjing of the Han Dynasty, who wrote Treatise on Injurious Diseases and Treasure Chest of Essential Prescriptions, fully equipping us with a methodology to be carried forward into the future and benefit new generations of students. Zhang is to medicine what Confucius is to Confucianism. We can describe all physicians since as “many rivers returning to the sea”. There are none who do not receive and rely on his teachings. Other authors have come after him of course, to address the changing circumstances of the times and the differing physiques of other territories. Thus although their ways of determining treatment all grew from the same root, they each branched off into a variety of approaches. Here are some noteworthy examples:
　　Liu Hejian [1120–1200]: “Of the six kinds of air [wind, cold, heat, humidity, dryness, and fire], it is fire that transforms our condition.” Thus he performed treatments that usually involved making sweat flow.
　　Li Dongyuan [1180–1251]: “The earth is the mother of all things.” Thus he focused heavily on digestion.
　　Zhang Zihe [1151–1231]: “Sweating and vomiting are the way to go.” Thus he was good at attacking illness [i.e. prescribing purges].
　　Zhu Danxi [1281–1358] was of this opinion: “A person’s active energy is usually excessive and the passive energy is usually insufficient.” Thus he focused on nourishing the passive energy.
　　Zhang Jingyue [1563–1640] was of the opposite opinion: “A person’s energy is fundamentally active.” Thus he focused on supporting the active energy.
　　Students then received explanations from their particular teacher and they ended up holding views that are different from the students of other teachers, resulting in the same kind of disputes within Confucianism between the Han school of thought and the Song school of thought. However, they all have grounds for their views, as well as sets of principles that nevertheless use a shared terminology.
　　Medical practitioners are able to ardently study and ponder the material, and then adapt it according to the time and place. To diagnose a person’s illness and then seek an effective remedy, they have more than enough knowledge to draw from in order to handle the task. If they were to stubbornly stick to only one school of thought for a means of dealing with a problem, they would be operating from an unnecessary bias [“choosing a glamorous red color over a simple white color” – from the preface to Jiang Yan’s Miscellaneous Poems], which would cause them to have a more limited view. Behaving in this way, there can be no progress toward a greater truth.
　　I say that the purpose of the medical tradition is first of all to verify the treatments of common illnesses and codify the theoretical principles. This will involve consulting Western medicine. Let us not push it away only to get stuck in our ancient traditions and devote ourselves to obscure theories, but instead strive purely and simply for the most suitable and practical methods. Let us enhance general medical knowledge and formulate it into a systematic study so that we can achieve faster results. This is also my personal ambition and I hope for correction in my own studies.
　　This athletic association is called “Jingwu” because here they cultivate a martial [“wu”] spirit [“jing”]. They are so enterprising that they are willing to take the whole world upon their shoulders. Since their main emphasis is health, they desire a clearer understanding of health and thus a knowledge of medicine. Medicine is a specialized science. Although the theory is meticulous and profound, every aspect of it is imbued with common sense. The general idea is that those who are ill should be cured and those who are not yet ill should be made stronger to prevent them from becoming ill in the first place. It will in no small way be of benefit to the progress of physical education as well as the study of health. Everyone in the Jingwu Association has shown great interest in it.

傷科教練　主任者林錦華醫學博士
Instruction in traumatology (led by director Lin Jinhua, M.D.):

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☉雄辯團紀　梁少田
THE DEBATING TEAM by Liang Shaotian

夫欲傳達吾人之意思。討論事理之當否。其所恃為利器者。厥為文字與語言。世人多以文字為高。而於言語則罔或措意。顧有執筆為文。洋洋灑灑。斐然可觀。而當機發言。輒訥訥如不能出諸其口。卽或靦腆陳說。亦復凌雜無章。決不若一紙書成之足以感人。則未嘗學問之故耳。昔日孔門四科。言語文學本不偏廢。燭之武退秦師。呂相絕秦。今所稱為絕妙文章者。在當日亦只口頭詞令。而千載下猶弈弈有生氣焉。蘇秦說秦王。十上書不得當。乃以立談取卿相。言語妙天下。其收效也若此。故吾謂賁獲之勇。孫吳之略。遷固之文。儀秦之辯。皆可喜也。本會旣有國語門。祛方言之障礙。合吳越於一堂。今若利用練習之機會。設為雄辯之一科。固亦時勢與事機之所必要者矣。且吾會中畢業歐美得博士學位者。猶不乏人。（本團評判者羅君泮輝號芹三為留美畢業法學博士）固不患師資之難獲。異日者。練習有得。於傳布技擊。解釋武術。猶有莫大之效果。願同人咸自勉焉。
If we want to transmit the ideas of our people and to discuss whether the reasoning of those ideas is true or false, we need these sharp tools: the written word and the spoken word. People tend to consider the written word to be superior and thus do not use the spoken word with as much care. They may write compositions that are flowing and dignified, but when the time comes to speak, they stammer, unable to articulate their ideas, or are too timid to explain, or their thoughts are too unstructured. Incapable of moving people the way they can through writing, they only end up appearing ignorant.
　　In ancient times, the disciples of Confucius fell into four categories of study. [Lun Yu, 11.3: “For (1) virtuous conduct, there is Yan Hui, Zi Qian, Bo Niu, and Zhong Gong; (2) eloquent speech: Zai Wo and Zi Gong; (3) practical governing: Ran You and Zi Lu; (4) literary studies: Zi You and Zi Xia.”] Neither spoken language nor written language was to be favored to the neglect of the other. Writings such as “Zhu Zhiwu Gets the Qin Army to Retreat” [Master Lü’s Commentary to the Spring & Autumn Annals, Duke of Xi, 30th year] and “Lü Xuanzi Severs Relations with Qin” [Lü’s Commentary, Duke of Cheng, 13th year] are now considered to be peerless. In their own time, they were merely seen as effectively worded speeches, but thousands of years later they seem to hum with life.
　　When Su Qin had audience with the King of Qin, a pile of books made no impression on him, and so he conversed with the ministers instead, dazzling them with brilliant wit, and by this means obtained results. I feel that the heroic tales of Meng Ben and Wu Huo, the strategies of Sunzi and Wuzi, the writings of Sima Qian and Ban Gu, and the debates of Zhang Yi and Su Qin are all equally as inspiring.
　　The Jingwu Association has a Mandarin class for breaking down the barrier of dialects, at last bringing the citizens of Wu and Yue together in the same room [Wu and Yue being warring states in the 5th century BC, here referring to the modern inhabitants of southern Jiangsu / northeastern Zhejiang, somewhat divided in the early 20th century by differences of regional dialect]. Taking advantage of this opportunity, we have also established a debating class, a skill that is truly indispensable in our current national situation.
　　Furthermore, there is no lack here of PhD graduates from European and American universities. (The judge of the debating team is Luo Panhui, called Qinsan, who studied law in the United States, graduating [from the University of Chicago Law School] with a Juris Doctor degree [and was in fact the very first Chinese person to receive this degree from an American university].) There is therefore no difficulty at all in obtaining qualified teachers. In days to come, putting into practice what is learned here will lead to the spreading of boxing arts and the explaining of martial skills with the greatest of effectiveness. I hope my colleagues will all exert themselves.

雄辯團
The debating team:

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☉論國語　雲作丞
OUR NATIONAL LANGUAGE by Yun Zuocheng

我國方言。數十百種。畛域之念。由此而生。春秋叔向有言曰。子產有辭。諸侯賴之。若之何其釋辭。今天下五洲互市。試觀歐洲各國。從古研究語言。類有專家。又特注意於語法。設專科於學校。全國一致。按之我國。數千年來方言複雜。大略類分十種。黃河以北為一種。黃河以南為一種。泰山之東為一種。泰山之西為一種。陝西自成一種。長江以上為一種。其中為一種。長江以下為一種。閩粵為一種。雲貴為一種。再推而考之。則一種內又分數十種。其複雜之處。不勝枚舉。不知言語不通。則事理不析。事理不析。則畛域之念生。畛域之念生。而國家政治社會交際影響。實非淺鮮。統一國語。詎可緩哉。
Our nation has thousands of dialects. The reason for these divisions was expressed by Yangshe Xi of the Spring & Autumn era, who said [from Master Lü’s Commentary to the Spring & Autumn Annals, Duke Xiang, year 31]: “Gongsun Qiao [prime minister of the state of Zheng] made rules. The feudal lords came to depend on those rules. How then are such rules to be abandoned?” [i.e. Once someone has set a standard and other people are following it, it is too late to prevent it from becoming the norm.] Currently throughout the world, there is attention given to the ways that European countries have studied their languages since ancient times. In this field, we too now have experts, who give particular attention to grammatical variations, and who have established specialized courses in educational institutions throughout the nation.
　　Our nation’s several thousand years’ worth of dialectal divergence is generally grouped into ten types: [1] the area north of the Yellow River, [2] south of the Yellow River, [3] east of Mt. Tai, [4] west of Mt. Tai, [5] within Shaanxi, [6] source of the Yangzte River, [7] middle length of the Yangzte River, [8] Yangzte River basin, [9] Fujian / Guangdong, and [10] Yunnan / Guizhou. Examining further, a dialect divides into dozens of subdialects, the complex differences of which are too numerous to count.
　　Failing to understand what other people are saying, their ideas go unexamined. Without cross-communication of ideas, dividing lines between dialects settle into place. Once such divisions emerge, the influence upon the nation’s political affairs and the society’s ability to communicate with itself is by no means insignificant. Unifying under a national language is therefore something we must do without delay. [As the easiest version of spoken Chinese, Mandarin (i.e. guo yu, meaning “national speak”) became established as the lingua franca that unifies all of the regions of China.]

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[The drawing below depicting the “sick men of Asia” is unsigned, but could possibly also have been made by Yang Zuotao.]

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游藝
[PART SIX] RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES

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☉說棋　曾啟文
DISCUSSING CHESS by Zeng Qiwen

外人常誚我曰。華人聚首。無不作牧豬奴戲者。惡是何言也。雖然。證以十里軟紅塵中。今日之眞狀。此言殆不盡誣。竹林十三。撲克五紙。國人事業。葬喪於其中者泰半矣。吾會與賭為仇。有犯者立與除名。賭之一字。殆為精武字典所不載。雖然課餘之暇。仍許為不傷雅道之奕談焉。攷博物志謂圍棋造於唐堯。象棋則相傳始於姬發。圍棋久已式微。舍二三專門名家外。幾如廣陵散。然說者謂今日新發明之妙着。有為前人所未曾得之者。證以舊譜。非讏言也。象棋義亦精微。如明代崇禎時。朱晉禎之橘中祕。淸康熙時王蹇安之梅花譜。近年謝宣先國恥紀念象棋新局諸書。其布陣攻守。靡不千變萬化。神奇莫測。惟當兩軍對疊之餘。勢均力敵。苟非步步為營。敵卽乘虛而入。據我要塞。握我咽喉。雄兵猛將。亦無用武之地矣。若無定見。無定識。挫人一卒一馬。輒沾沾自喜。根據地忽為人所暗襲。我之車馬。首尾不能相應。我之士相。左右不及掩護。敵則長驅直進。如摧枯朽矣。善戰者。先審大局。謀定始動。若者攻。若者守。不以小勝自矜。不以小挫自餒。子力弱握險守要。以便言和。子力均。靜待時機。攻其不備。子力強。惟我所欲。直搗黃龍。嚴厲以臨之。謹愼以出之。目的達矣。奕雖小數。殆有道焉。
Foreigners often ridicule us by saying: “When Chinese people get together, it’s always for gambling.” Slander! Well, it is true nowadays that if you stroll around in any decadent urban area, you will see it everywhere, and so maybe the accusation is not entirely false. Games such as “thirteen cards” [Chinese poker] and five-card draw poker obsess our countrymen to such an extent that more than half of the people attending a funeral are playing instead of mourning. We in the Jingwu Association hate gambling. Anyone found gambling will be expelled. The word “gamble” itself is simply not part of the Jingwu vocabulary. However, during spare time after classes, it is permitted to play harmless and elegant chess.
　　According to the Records of a Great Variety of Things [by Zhang Hua], encirclement chess [commonly known as “go”] was created by the ancient rulers Tang and Yao, and representation chess [or Chinese chess, similar to Western chess in that it has representative pieces: general, advisor, elephant, horse, chariot, soldier, and cannon] was passed down from Ji and Fa.
　　Encirclement chess has long been in decline. Apart from two or three famous players, playing this game is rather like playing the Guangling Melody [a notoriously difficult zither tune from the end of the Eastern Han era that apparently no one has been able to do proper justice to ever since]. However, it is said that new moves are still being invented, clever stratagems that earlier players never tried, proving that old manuals for the game were not exaggerating [about its complexity].
　　Representation chess is just as ingenious, presented in books such as Zhu Jinzhen’s Secret Within the Tangerine, published during the reign the Ming Dynasty emperor Chongzhen [1627-1644], and Wang Jian’an’s Plum Blossom Manual, published during the reign of the Qing Dynasty emperor Kangxi [1662-1722], as well as Xie Xiaxun’s [co-authored with Pan Dingsi] New Chess Manual in Memoriam of our National Humiliation, published recently [Aug, 1916]. These books describe formations of attack and defense that are all constantly changing into unpredictable patterns.
　　The game involves two armies of equal strength facing each other on a battlefield. If I do not properly manage my forces every step of the way, the enemy will take advantage of a gap and attack. He will act according to my position to apply a stranglehold, and then no matter how powerful my forces or how bold my general [equivalent to an orthogonally moving king in Western chess], I will be unable to maneuver on the field. If I do not see clearly and recognize what is going on, he will wipe out my soldiers [pawn] and horses [knight] one after another and then invade as he pleases. If he makes a surprise attack upon my position at the right moment, my chariots [rook] and horses will not be able to coordinate with each other, my advisors [diagonally moving king] and elephants [bishop] will not be able to cover my flanks, and the enemy will drive straight through as if cutting down dead trees.
　　One who is good at warfare will first examine the overall situation, solidify a strategy, and then act. If attacking or defending, he will not become boastful after a small victory or discouraged after a small defeat. If he is in a weaker position, he will build defenses against potential threats and use diplomacy to seek peace. If he and his enemy have equally powerful positions, he will wait for opportunity and attack where the enemy does not expect. If he is in the stronger position, he will just drive on through to capture the enemy king. He observes the field with severity, but moves onto it cautiously, for there is some distance to cover to get to the target. Such games may be very small in scale, but they bring you closer to the means of handling the larger scale.

圍棋　陳士超　簡偉卿
Encirclement chess, being played by Chen Shichao [left] & Jian Weiqing [right]:

象棋　吳見眞　黃怡生
Representation chess, being played by Wu Jianzhen [left] & Huang Yisheng [right]:

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☉粵樂拉雜談　陳卓枚
SOME RAMBLINGS ABOUT CANTONESE OPERA by Chen Zhuomei [Tiesheng]

粵東音樂。與京班截然兩途。然能者溝而通之。則亦大同小異耳。粵調之西皮。卽京班之四平調。粵調之反二簧。亦與京班相似。試執京班之烏盆計。與粵調之祭塔。兩相比較。其腔口亦十有五六相似者。粵調之所謂梆子。似京調之西皮。粵調京調之二簧。亦多相類者。故吾謂粵調。亦從京調變化而出。蓋吾粵人多來自閩贛間也。粵調之大別。為二簧。梆子。大調。小調。排子。崑腔。六種。二簧。有首板、慢板、二流、滾花、嘆板、左撇、西皮、亂彈、三脚櫈及反線。梆子。有首板、慢板、中板、滾花、嘆板、及梆子反線。大調在吾幼時曾聞之嚴老烈（卽嚴興堂）云。有十六調。卽連環扣、柳搖金。浪淘沙、雙飛蝴蝶、（內包柳靑娘）草鞋板、串珠簾、一錠金、到春來、小桃紅、蔭華山、哭皇天、大開門、小開門、三級浪、（內包三調、卽担梯望月、早天雷、倒垂簾、）漁家樂、彈琴曲。嚴為粵調大師。當時粵之大腹賈。潘盧伍葉四家。紈袴子弟。組織六爺班。（老爺、小爺、師爺、大老爺、姑爺、孫少爺）嚴為總教。粵樂有頑家。（此頑字作頑要解卽如上海之票友）老橫。（卽八音班）班本。（卽戲班）三者。以頑家為上乘。鑼鼓絃索。合之其接頭處須按三丁一板。不許或訛。有訛者謂之食包。老橫今已背時。因其過板及補句。（卽絃索之序）太長。只有今日粵城之瞽姬。猶沿用之。因瞽姬以一人而兼唱數喉。生旦淨丑。無所不唱。（眞可謂獨脚戲）常以一人連唱五六小時。故不能不延長其過板與補句。而稍歇歌喉也。戲班則因有做手之關係。故鑼鼓與絃索常常不能吻合。且過板必須短而又短。以求合於做手。故知音者每以為憾。惟頑家則修短合度。一絲不紊。且多游手好閑之多金子。其研究之細密。非戲班所能望其項背也。嚴氏之徒。善二絃與提琴者有呂蔭村。善三絃者有劉鳳山。善月琴者陳子明。余幼時猶及見嚴氏。今則嚴與其徒。皆下世矣。嚴之絃索唱工。皆為魁首。年七十。猶能唱花旦。鄰居不知為鬚髮皆白之老翁也。排子二黃梆子。人多知之。惟崑腔。則只戲班演封相時用之。或曰今日之思凡一齣。乃崑腔之緒餘。嚴氏云亡。是否已不可辨。亂彈為今日趨時之腔調。前二十年。名小生喊口鎭。演羅什呑針一齣。全用亂彈。今則無復人間矣。梆子反線。問之今日粵樂家。大底知之者無幾。蓋將二絃假作提琴。用伬五線。便得之。粵伶之工唱者。據頑家言從前有兩個半名家。武生新華。花旦仙花法。為兩個全人。小生鎭半個。計此時名角如林。知音者猶為是言。則今日之所謂名伶。眞覺自檜以下矣。凡唱工不但須好喉嚨。且須聽官靈敏。所唱之聲音。不能低於絃索。亦不可高於絃索。太高則為蓋線。而不精妙。蓋低音之弊人所易知。太高之弊。人所易忽也。新華仙花法之佳。全在體會及此。至其做工之熨貼。則非筆墨所能形容。從前尚有河調。據嚴氏云。此調已失傳。今日之所謂河調。如曹福登仙。周瑜歸天。困南陽等。皆非古之河調云。凡用弓力之絃索。如二絃提琴等。其手音之工拙。出於天然。不能勉強。惟三絃月琴。尚可以後天之人工補救一二耳。弓力須悠揚而筋靱。不可前趨。亦不可後扯。且須食氣。（此云食氣猶言四件絃索、一氣貫串也、）此事自關火候也。三絃須講挑撥。月琴講輪指。（執撥之手、要離開月琴面）磨盤手。方為上乘。頑家之月琴。較伬六線。若今日之用仩六線者。只是戲班八音。非頑家也。今之少年。好用高音。一較線便是三個字。純是野狐禪。不知絃索須悠揚方能入耳。過高則入魔道。大約以兩個字為適中。吹簫（卽橫竹）須令字眼個個圓正。不帶扁音。方佳。唱工有所謂單線者。淸越非常。惜乎聽得出。說不出來耳。或問今日粵伶界何如。則答之曰。全是面孔問題。不知做手唱工為何物。最謬者女班。觀者只是一副四馬路眼光。演者亦純是一副四馬路手段。噫演劇云乎哉。藝員云乎哉。世界末日。殆不遠矣。粵調曲文多佳者。如季札掛劍、蘇武牧羊、李龜年傳唱、燕子樓、李陵答蘇武書、十二度金牌詔岳飛、陳情表、（多為馮壁堂所撰、）李白草嚇蠻書、小靑吊影等。皆詞章家所撰著也。民國初元。有所謂志士班者。全用廣東土音演唱。亦能自成一家。娓娓動聽。且言詞鋒利。（曲文以黃魯逸撰者為最佳、）尤為可愛。然唱法須歸一律。用舊調則須全用舊調。用土音則須全土音。不能渾合。否則不免貽笑大方。
Cantonese opera and Beijing opera are two completely different paths, but if we are able to follow those paths, they would seem to be mostly the same thing. Cantonese opera’s “xipi” style [“western leather” – also called 湖廣 huguang, a style spread over Hunan/Hubei and Guangdong/Guangxi (i.e. Cantonese opera)] shows up in Beijing opera’s “four-level melodies”, while Cantonese opera’s “counter-erhuang style” [erhuang meaning “double reeds” (i.e. Beijing opera)] is also very similar to Beijing opera itself. [A term for Chinese opera in general is 皮黃 “pihuang”, which is an abbreviation of 西皮 xipi and 二黃 erhuang, meaning “Cantonese opera and Beijing opera”, and so a connection and similarity can reasonably be assumed from the start.] Beijing opera’s Black Basin Strategy is similar to Cantonese opera’s Sacrificial Tower, the tone of which is more than halfway the same. What in Cantonese opera is called the “bangzi” style [“wooden clappers” (i.e. Shaanxi opera)] is similar to the xipi of Beijing opera, and the erhuang style in both Cantonese and Beijing opera is pretty much the same. Therefore I say that Cantonese songs are simply a variation of Beijing songs, and this is because we Cantonese people originally came mostly from the area of Fujian and Jiangxi.
　　There are six kinds of general classifications of Cantonese opera: erhuang, bangzi, greater songs, lesser songs, paizi [“arrangement” songs, for announcing the beginning of a drama or punctuating events throughout it], and Kunqiang melodies [melodies from Kunshan, between Shanghai and Suzhou]. The erhuang style contains: main woodblock, adagio, double flow, rolling flowers, sighing woodblock, leftward flinging, xipi, luantan [“random strumming”], three-legged stool, and reverse stringing. The bangzi style contains: main woodblock, adagio, medium woodblock, rolling flowers, sighing woodblock, and bangzi reverse stringing.
　　As for the “greater songs”, in my youth I once heard Yan Laolie (i.e. Yan Xingtang) say that there are sixteen: “Continuous Covering”, “Willow-Shaking Gold”, “Waves Washing the Sand”, “Butterflies Flying Together” (containing “Willow Green Woman” within it), “Straw Sandals Woodblocks”, “Beaded Curtain”, “Golden Spindle”, “Arrival of Spring”, “Small Ripe Peaches”, “Cloud-Covered Mt. Hua”, “Weeping Heavens”, “Greater Open Door”, “Lesser Open Door”, “Three Waves in Succession” (comprised of three songs: “Gazing at the Moon While Carrying a Ladder”, “Thunder at Dawn”, “Holding Back the Curtain”), “Fisherfolk Music”, and “Plucking Strings Melody”. Yan is a master of Cantonese opera. At that time, he was the general music tutor to the profligate sons of the four wealthiest Cantonese families of Pan, Lu, Wu, and Ye, for which he arranged the six types of “master” classes: old master, young master, teacher, venerable master, master-in-law, and grandson master).
　　Cantonese opera is performed in three ways: the “headstrongs” (a term used in Shanghai for amateurs), the “old cross-section” (involving the eight traditional orchestral instruments), and the “regulars” (i.e. theatrical troupes). The best of these three is the headstrongs. Gongs, drums, and stringed instruments are brought together, combined with three strikes on one woodblock to prevent any of them from slipping off-beat. Playing off-beat is called “eating the bag” [perhaps as opposed to eating the food within a bag].
　　The old cross-section is now outdated because it goes beyond the beats on the woodblock to add additional phrasing (initiated by the stringed instruments) that goes on too long. In Cantonese cities today, it is used only by “blind concubines”, because they accompany it with “throat singing”. Indeed all of the roles in opera – male roles, female roles, painted-face roles, and clown roles – will have a moment to sing (what is technically called “monologuing”), often a moment in which one person may sing for up five or six hours, and so there has to be longer use of the woodblock and interspersings of additional phrasing to create gaps to rest the singer’s voice.
　　Theatrical troupes are more concerned with the use of the hands, and thus use of gongs and drums frequently do not match up with the stringed instruments, for the woodblock beat has to shorten and then shorten again in order to conform to the hand gestures of the actors, a mistiming that constantly makes opera lovers cringe. However, the headstrongs produce music that flows without confusion and expresses the leisure of the wealthy. Due to their meticulous study of their craft, no theatrical troupe can catch up to their level.
　　Of Yan’s students, Lü Yincun was the best at the erxian [“two strings” – a bowed instrument] and tiqin [“lifted stringed instrument” (four-stringed – bowed)], Liu Fengshan was the best at the sanxian [“three strings” – a plucked instrument], and Chen Ziming was the best at the yueqin [“moon-shaped stringed instrument” (four-stringed round bodied guitar – plucked)]. I saw Yan during my youth, but now he and even all of his students have passed away. Yan’s playing of stringed instruments and his singing were both at the highest level. Even at the age of seventy, he could still sing the vivacious female role. His neighbors never know that it was the voice of an old man with white hair and a white beard.
　　Everyone knows of paizi, erhuang, and bangzi, but the Kunqiang style is only performed any longer by theatrical troupes. Someone said then whenever we think of dramatic pieces nowadays, they are just the remnants of the Kunqiang style. Yan responded that this was not so, or at least that it cannot be asserted for sure, considering that luantan [meaning non-Kunqiang] is now the trend of the times. Twenty years ago, there was someone in the part of the young male character who cried out so superbly, performing Master Luo Swallows a Needle entirely using the luantan style, that no one has gone back ever since.
　　For bangzi style reverse stringing, ask today’s Cantonese opera masters and very few know how. This is because the erxian is being replaced by the violin, or they use the foot-long five-string, which is easy to obtain. As for the singing of Cantonese actors, the headstrongs say that previously there were only two and a half famous roles to perform, the two major roles being the warrior role or “new glory” and the vivacious female role or “immortal flower”, and the young male character of “tranquil” being only half a role. But famous actors are now as common as trees. When one is expert enough in opera to discuss it, he is nowadays deemed a “famous actor” even though he might actually consider himself to be inadequate.
　　The art of singing requires not only a good throat, but also a keen sense of hearing, for the singer’s voice must be neither quieter nor louder than the sound of the stringed instruments. [Too quiet and the voice will be buried under the sound of the strings], too loud and the sound of the strings will be buried under the voice. This does not make for exquisite music. However, although people will easily notice when the voice is too quiet, they will just as easily fail to notice when the voice is too loud. Perfecting the roles of “new glory” and “immortal flower” is entirely a matter of experience, because the work involved in getting them right cannot really be described in words.
　　In the past there were the “Yellow River songs”. According to Yan, these songs had already been lost. What we nowadays call Yellow River songs, such as “Cao Fu Becomes an Immortal”, “Zhou Yu Returns to Heaven”, “Surrounding Nanyang”, and so on, are not really the ancient Yellow River songs. They all involve bowed stringed instruments, such as the erxian and violin. The quality of the sound produced by the hand comes naturally and cannot be forced, whereas in the case of the sanxian and yueqin [which are plucked stringed instruments], there are a few ways to make it sound good without really being good at it. Bowing has to be melodious and for that the sinews have to have stamina. The bow cannot go back and forth with rushing and jerking, instead there has to be a quality of “eating flow” (meaning its movements over the strings have to done as a single flow throughout). This action is a matter of finding just the right level.
　　The sanxian involves “pushing along” [sliding along a fretless neck], but the yueqin involves “rolling the fingers” [over to the next fret] (the fretting hand never coming all the way down to the neck surface), for which the “millstone hand” is the best method [with the fingers the coming down on the frets in succession from forefinger to little finger or coming away in succession from little finger to forefinger]. The yueqin of the headstrong tunes re at the sixth fret [of the upper string], unlike do at the sixth fret, which is used today only by theatrical troupes who are using the eight kinds of traditional orchestral instruments. The youth of today prefer to use the higher tuning. The phrase “one more fret” has become the general rule, for they do not understand that it is the melody that makes it pleasing to the ear [rather than precise tuning, one of the major differences between Chinese and Western music]. Tuning too high makes a maddening sound. The goal for the most part is to get it to be a “moderate” sound.
　　When playing the flute (the “horizontal bamboo”), the sound should be as “round as an eyeball”, not a flat sound, and then it will be beautiful. When it comes to the art of singing, it is a “one way path” [i.e. out the mouth, as opposed to a bow moving back and forth, a strumming hand moving up and down, a fretting hand moving inward or outward, the fingering of a flute rolling the fingers onto the holes and off of the holes], projecting clear and far. Unfortunately, although we know it when we hear it, we cannot then explain it with speech.
　　Someone asked what Cantonese actors are like nowadays. The laughing response was that they were entirely concerned with how their faces look, and did not know how to play instruments or sing, especially the all-female theatrical troupes. The audience is made up of only the undiscerning eyes of the commoner, and the performers employ only the most common tricks to appeal to them. Are these actors? Are these artists? The world is indeed coming to an end.
　　The Cantonese dramas are literate and beautiful, such as Ji Zha Hangs Up his Sword, Su Wu Tends the Sheep, Li Guinian’s Song, Mansion of the Swallows, Li Ling Responds to Su Wu’s Letter, Twelve Gold Tablets Sent to Summon Yue Fei, List of the Heart’s Outpourings, most of these having been composed by Feng Bitang, as well as Li Bai Drunkenly Drafts a Threatening Letter, Maiden Aches with Loneliness, and so on, all written by poets and scholars.
　　In 1912, the members of the Men-of-Integrity Troupe started performing dramas entirely in the local Guangdong accent. Having established their own style, they have become endlessly fascinating to listeners. The words are also poignant (the dramas written by Huang Luyi being the best) and incredibly likable. But the singing method has to be uniform. Old songs have to be sung entirely in the old style. Songs sung in the local accent have to be sung entirely in the local accent. Neither can be mixed with the other, otherwise it would only invite the ridicule of experts.

粵樂之絃索。各有名稱。執月琴者稱為上手。因月琴有品。（限制聲音之格子也）各皆取準於月琴也。至幾分音符。則以橫竹（卽橫簫）為準。執月琴者。兼為大笛（吹排子用）海淸橫笛（卽橫竹卽橫簫）之主任。執三絃者稱二手。因其任三絃及任大笛之副也。主司兩器。故稱二手。（如用雙橫竹則二手亦兼任）執二絃者稱三手。因其任二絃、大鈸、加官鈸、三器也。論絃索以二絃為頭架。（卽主幹）執提琴者稱八手。因任此者須於二絃、三絃、月琴、提琴、大鈸、大鑼、大鼓、打鼓掌、（卽打梆鼓者）八者皆能兼任。而為各人之替工也。八音皆聽打鼓掌之指揮。如唱者非自行掌鼓。則以手指為暗示。其豎一大指者。首板也。其以食指上下搖動而作敲擊狀者。滾花也。平出食指中指者。中板也。平出食指者。慢板也。出大指與食指而分離作八字形者。八板頭也。（凡唱小調先用八板頭）合五指如筍。或揚掌將五指全出者。收科也。或道白也。
In Cantonese opera, the players of the stringed instruments each have special names. The yueqin player is called “top hand” because his role (restricted to the singer’s pattern) is to set the standard for the other instruments. The musical notation is based on the sound of the “horizontal bamboo” (i.e. bamboo flute), but the yueqin player directs what the flutes play. The sanxian player is called “two hands” because he is in charge of two instruments: sanxian, flute (including double flute). The erxian player is called “three hands” because he is in charge of three instruments: erxian, cymbal, double cymbals. The erxian is considered the “lord” of the stringed instruments. The tiqin player is called “eight hands” because he is tasked with being able to play eight instruments: erxian, sanxian, yueqin, tiqin, cymbal, gong, bass drum, and “drumbeat hands” (i.e. wooden clappers), so that he can substitute for any of the players.
　　The instruments all listen for the commands from the clapper. If the singer is not carrying a clapper himself, he uses finger gestures to cue the clapper player: thumbs-up position – allegro; shaking the forefinger up and down as though making a continuous percussive beat – “rolling flowers”; pointing with both the forefinger and middle finger – moderato; pointing with only the forefinger – adagio; sticking out both thumb and forefinger to make a ninety-degree angle – eight-beat start (the singer always starting a song with an eight-beat count); sticking out all five fingers like a bamboo shoot or raising the palm with all five fingers sticking out – finish, or a transition from singing to speaking.

粵調之絲竹會
Playing Cantonese instruments together [showing (left to right) cymbal (on which is written 真对 “truly answering”), erxian, a second erxian, double cymbals, woodblocks, yueqin, sanxian, and gong]:

粵樂之符號。（`）為丁。（Ⅹ）為板。（Ⅸ）為底板。（米）為中底板。（𠃊）為連讀。大調卽過場。原日皆有曲詞。今已不可盡得矣。
Musical notation for Cantonese opera: ` means stop, Ⅹ means allegro, Ⅸ means adagio, 米 means moderato, 𠃊 means continuous. This is a formal part of the major songs. In the old days, they were always used, but nowadays cannot really be found in use anywhere.

西皮板面。頑家原用二黃長板面充之。（卽世俗所稱之雙慢板面）戲班則另有一枝。卽士合士上、上士合士上合士合、上合士上尺合尺、士尺上工合、今日之洋場頑家。知之者鮮矣。最近出板之曲。本於梆子慢板面之中底板。且未之知也。
For the xipi style, the headstrongs originally used the longer woodblocks of the erhuang style (commonly called “double-woodblock adagio”). Theatrical troupes have another method that goes la–so–la–do, do–la–so–la–do–so–la–so, do–so–la–do–re–so–re, la–re–do–mi–so, which the headstrong rarely know about. They are also unaware of the recent melodies based on bangzi moderato.

梆子有相思。二黃亦有相思。如辨才釋妖。（但不知何日裏功德才完）之下等類。倘用鑼鼓。則絃索與鑼鼓合奏。絃奏之引。（合合合合乙士上尺、合合合合乙士上尺、合工工上尺、工尺合士上尺、工尺工尺、煞尾一句是二流之首）合合合之句。可用三四次。以襯住走圓臺。因此等調法。多用之於脚色走圓台時也。不特合字韻尾調。可用二黃相思。裝在二流之頭。別韻亦可。譬如上句尾韻係尺字。則可改為尺尺尺尺乙士上尺則合拍矣。惟淸唱無鑼鼓者。不能裝二黃相思於二流板面之前。曾見有曲本。將此節混淆。竟以相思列入淸唱中。故特正之。
The bangzi style has “yearning between lovers”, and so does the erhuang style. For instance, in songs such as “Pian Cai Exorcises the Demons”, if percussion is used, it will be accompanied by strings (using the phrasing so–so–so–so–ti–la–do–re, so–so–so–so–ti–la–do–re, so–mi–mi–do–re, mi–re–so–la–do–re, mi–re–mi–re to finish, the main component of “double flow”). The so–so–so phrasing can be used three or four times as the actor walks around on the stage, as is common in these kinds of songs.
Not only can the so rhythm be used for the yearning in the erhuang style, fitting the double flow, there are also other rhythms, such as a re rhythm, changing the so–so–so–so–ti–la–do–re rhythm above to re–re–re–re–ti–la–do–re in order to better harmonize with the moment. However, for one who wants to sing these rhythms without percussion accompaniment, the erhuang style yearning cannot be played prior to the double-flow woodblock. I once found a music book present this in the wrong order, and even went so far as to include the performing of yearning between lovers among the arias to be performed without face paint, truly a book in need of correction.

技擊家多與音樂結不解緣。如上所云之六爺班。有霍英者。粵東音樂界之泰斗也。其拳術亦最有名於珠海。此殆激烈之與和平。相因為用歟。
Martial arts masters often form a strong bond with music, like with the six types of “master” classes mentioned above. There is a Huo the Hero, who is both an eminent figure in Cantonese opera circles and famous in Zhuhai [which neighbors Macao] for his boxing arts skill. Music may seem to be an almost excessively peaceful art in comparison, but nevertheless music and martial arts are very useful for each other.

吾黨有能兼唱京調者。謂京調須用丹田氣。似難唱。然粵曲腔調最多。就比較上言之。粵調實難於京調云。六種之外。尚有粵謳解心。傀儡戲之唱大棚腔。（業此者多順德縣人）今則傀儡戲皆唱班本。（伶人所唱俗號班本）而大棚式微矣。盲詞、揚州調、南音、皆用粵語。惟盲詞則以箏。（粵謂之箏、實則似瑟、）和之。（盲詞曲本如上海之彈詞然）惟以一句中之數字。引而伸之。分為數段。以箏音間之。如補句。南音俗稱龍舟歌。每句雜以小鑼鼓。八音（卽老橫）有所謂板眼。（此字讀若顏音）恍似彈詞而微異。和之以綽板。此調用為壓場。戲班則有蘇鼓尾。亦只有綽板而無絃索。恍如今日上海白話戲之趣劇矣。
My fellows are equally capable at singing Beijing opera. It is said that Beijing songs require energy from the elixir field, being so difficult to sing. However, Cantonese opera is performed with more of an exaggerated accent, and so Cantonese songs are actually more difficult than Beijing songs. Beyond the six kinds of Cantonese opera, there is also the soulfulness of Cantonese folk songs and the puppet-theater style of singing in puppet shows (most in this profession being from Shunde County [now Shunde District, in Foshan]).
　　Puppet shows nowadays tend to simply use “basic singing” (as actors call it) and the puppet-theater style is in decline. The storytelling of the blind bards, the Yangzhou songs, and the southern ballads are all performed in Cantonese language. The blind-bard stories are accompanied by the Cantonese zither (similar to storytelling in Shanghai being accompanied by stringed instruments). Several words within a phrase are stretched out for a few beats, gaps which are filled by the zither. In the southern ballad of the “Dragon Boat Song”, every phrase is mixed with percussion. The eight traditional instruments are played in good order to allow the subtlety of the storytelling to shine through. With striking woodblocks to maintain the pace, these songs compel an audience. Theatrical troupes use “Suzhou drumming”, comprised of playing only woodblocks and no stringed instruments, rather like in the modern colloquial-speech farces that are common in Shanghai.

京調粵調。皆取三丁一板。惟粵謳則七丁一板。崑腔（非粵東之崑曲）四丁一板為例外。
Both Beijing songs and Cantonese songs use three strikes with one woodblock. Exceptions are seven strikes with one woodblock for Cantonese folk songs and four strikes with one woodblock for Kunqiang songs (which is not the same thing as Kunqu opera).

七絃琴為樂器之最古者。二十一省。調門指法。罔弗從同。此眞統一之國樂也。
The qixianqin [“seven strings”] is the most ancient of the instruments. Throughout the twenty-one provinces [which was the amount in 1919], there is no difference in the way it is tuned or the fingering method that is used to play it. Therefore this instrument is truly a unifier within traditional Chinese opera.

伸紙信筆亂書。錯雜無章。聊以補白。然而三十年往事。如在目前矣。
This article is the result of simply taking some sheets of paper and writing freely and randomly, making a jumble of ideas rather than structuring an essay. I am merely supplying some information based on things I have learned over the last thirty years as they have come to mind.

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☉余之京戲談　陳卓枚
MY CASUAL OPINIONS ON BEIJING OPERA by Chen Zhuomei [Tiesheng]

予門外漢也。烏能談京調。然二黃西皮。固耳而熟之。雖未能詳。或亦十得一二。孫菊仙。黃鐘大呂之音。為生平所愛聽者。譚叫天抑揚控縱。無不如志。（十年前吾友王鐵樓曾作名伶小傳、以數十年來耳聞目見者、列為差等、甲等只王九齡程長庚等六人、鐵樓品評、全就唱工做手立論、歷歷如數家珍、與今日之洋場拆白小鬼頭、專言面孔者、眞有霄壤之別、然今日北京之帝制名士、齷齪頑固老頭兒、孰非同病、北京名士洋場小鬼、一而二二而一者也、）但譚調摹倣者最多。孫調傳人。幾如碩果晨星。孫譚之比較。得毋以此為判斷乎。近人有提倡廢唱者。此不通之論也。吾謂戲劇當有唱工白話之兩種。如車之兩輪焉。不可偏廢。我國如是。列國亦莫不如是。况今日吾國。簡直無白話戲之資格。實則一羣男女拆白小鬼之禽獸舞耳。以此為白話戲。寃哉。廢此冒名白話戲之特別拆白黨可也。（聞前時之春柳社、頗自愛、又當別論、）若廢唱。則雖至世界末日。尤或未能。而強欲於此時代行之。吾恐無此專做蝕本生意之舞台老板也。無此專看拆白小鬼舞手動足之寃桶顧客也。多見其不知量耳。年來崑曲。似有中興之象。崑曲詞藻最佳。惜似有靡靡之音。然歟否歟。抑吾輩之不文也。靑衣則吾身及見者。頗以陳德霖馮子和為入耳。德霖固佳。卽子和之歌喉淸脆。無塵俗氣。梅蘭芳猶或遜之。不得以梅今日獨享盛名。而阿好之也。邇者本戲盛行。惟多用四句搖板塞責。此直舊班之假白話戲耳。祇血淚碑尚有情節。如新茶花、宏碧緣、濟顚活佛、簡直是胡鬧。戲云乎哉。梆子戲未嘗習聞。故不贊一詞。
As a layman, I cannot properly discuss Beijing opera, but I have heard a great deal of it and am very familiar with both the erhuang style and xipi style. Although I cannot speak about it in great detail, I have obtained a slight understanding. There was the sound of Sun Juxian’s notes [“huangzhong and dalü” – the first two notes of the Chinese chromatic scale, and by extension all the notes], who was adored by listeners throughout his life. And there was the way Tan Xinpei’s sounds rose and fell, controlling and releasing them however he pleased. (Ten years ago, my colleague Wang Tielou once made bios of famous actors based on the several decades of what he had seen and heard for himself, in which he rated them from worst to best. Only for Wang Jiuling, Cheng Changgeng [trained by Tan Xinpei], and half a dozen others did he make commentary, judging them entirely for their artistry in singing, about which he knows a great deal. The swindling foreign devils living in Shanghai are instead obsessed only with how the actors paint their faces. These two aspects are truly as different as clouds and soil. However, modern Beijing’s celebrities leftover from imperial days are themselves narrow-minded stubborn old men, and so they end up equally in error, Beijing’s celebrities and Shanghai’s foreign devils, different and yet the same.) Tan Xinpei is imitated most, Sun Juxian rarely, but comparing between Sun and Tan should not be determined in that way.
　　There are people nowadays who recommend that we should just abandon the singing art altogether, and such comments are really no help at all. I say that the dramatic arts should have both varieties, singing and speaking, which are like the two wheels of a cart. We must not take care of just one and ignore the other. This is true in our nation and indeed in all nations. Furthermore, in our nation nowadays, plays performed in colloquial speech are not really of a very high quality, aimed at appealing to the masses and thus attracting the beastliest of men, women, and those swindling foreign devils.
　　To treat spoken drama in this way is simply unjust. It would be better to instead abandon this bastardization of spoken drama to keep it away from that gang of swindlers. (The former Spring Willow Society [an organization devoted to researching literature and the arts, which that lasted from 1906 to 1915] had great appreciation for drama, as well as other arts.) Therefore if singing drama is abandoned, not only would it be the end of the world anyway, but spoken drama is not yet good enough to replace it. I worry that if this issue is not given attention, the owners of unprofitable theaters will cave in to the shenanigans of swindling foreign devils with their attitude of “a sucker is born every minute”, relying on the capacity of the lowest common denominator to not know what to look for.
　　In recent years, Kunqu opera seems to be having a bit of resurgence. The poetry of Kunqu is the most beautiful, but alas it seems to be becoming a more decadent style of opera, though most of us are not literate enough to notice whether or not this is true. For playing the roles of the virtuous woman, Chen Delin and Feng Zihe are very pleasing to listen to. Chen is certainly the better of the two, but Feng’s voice is wonderfully crisp and clear, never in poor taste. Mei Langfang seems somewhat inferior and I do not understand why he has such a great reputation, but I guess we all have our favorites.
　　The most popular drama performances recently have usually involved performing four lines at a time in a slow and casual manner, which is the way the old theatrical troupes would fake spoken drama. So far, only Tears-of-Blood Tablet has a proper plot, while others such as New Tea-Flowers, Magnificent Emerald Fringe, and Revealing the Living Buddha are just a lot of running around and can hardly even be called drama.
　　As for Shaanxi opera, I have not heard enough it to be qualified to make a comment about it.

（一）舊時之京樂團
Photo 1 – Our earlier Beijing orchestra:

（二）現在之京樂團
Photo 2 – Our current Beijing orchestra:

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☉泰西絃樂紀　陳盧雪英
WESTERN STRINGED INSTRUMENTS by Lu Xueying (wife of Chen Gongzhe)

上海多銅樂隊。絃樂則不數數覯。吾會之粹於西文者。多嗜此道。特倩音樂家司徒夢岩君為義務教授。久鍥不舍。中西幷進。異日或能爭世界音樂之一席也。
There are many orchestras of brass instruments in Shanghai, but not as many for strings. Those of us in the Jingwu Association who strongly appreciate Western literature tend to also become obsessed with Western music, and so we specially invited the musician Situ Mengyan to give us instruction. After persevering for a long time, we have made progress in both Chinese and Western music. Perhaps someday we will be worthy of a place among the musicians of the world.

泰西絃樂班
Western stringed instruments class:

鋼琴
At the piano:

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☉記梵玲Violin　陳公哲
ON THE VIOLIN by Chen Gongzhe

樂有中外乎。則雍容抑揚。食於耳而會於心者。無或異也。樂無中外乎。則器械異其製。音律異其節。凡奏於房而陳於庭者。音節制度。無或同也。余性好樂。而宂於事絀於學。不得壹志於是。繇是亙數年間。瞢焉乃無所得。然跛不忘履。盲不忘視。每當洋洋盈耳之會。未嘗不心嚮往之。以為舉天下事物之足以感發性情。滌蕩塵俗者。當無過於樂。比得西洋四弦提琴。所謂「梵玲」者。尤心竊愛之。初習之。祗與常樂等耳。久之而後若有會於心。則取吾國之所謂雅樂者。幷習之。以比較其得失。絜論其短長。覺吾向所稱羨於國樂之雅音者。梵玲殆無不備之。異其曲者同其工。正不必孰軒之而孰輊之也。余因之有所感矣。吾國之所謂雅樂者。自太古以於至今。知尊之而不知所以發揚光大之。故三代之琴瑟至於今。一也而無所損益。若梵玲則不然。始製之時。不過一絃樂已耳。與今之所謂胡琴者殆相似之。然自剏製至今。代有損益。至史氏。Stradivarius而其製益精備。苟取今之所謂梵玲者。與剏製之器。比而觀之。蓋有不相侔者。夫豈獨不相侔。其和於音而美於形者。猶有與日俱進之勢。則因革之功為不可沒也。吾國之善言樂者。必曰琴瑟不和。則改絃而更張之。而獨於雅樂。則抱殘守缺。更千百年不敢一議其制度。西樂之所以日行於世。而古調不彈。琴瑟鐘鼓。乃日就湮沒而不振者。未必不原於此也。余之執是說也。初非欲世之言樂者。必變夏而專取泰西也。夫亦曰不登其堂。不嗜其胾。則雖美備醲郁者日陳於前。猶不足一動其心。况音樂之精微者。而欲以淺嘗得之。不綦難乎。抑尤有進者。主奴之見太深。則憚於變易。而墨守備繩。將無改進之可言。吾是以欲取古今中外之樂。聯貫研習。合其所長。交互損益之。俾成一統系之學。傳諸無窮。梵玲云乎哉。余雖譾陋。世有提倡音樂。而有所組織者。雖為執鞭。所忻願焉。
Chinese and foreign music are the same in that they both are played with dignity, being food for the ear, fuel for the mind. And they are different in that they both have unique instruments and rhythms, tend to be performed in different venues, one more often in a theater, the other more often in a courtyard, and have their own systems of tuning.
　　I love music, but I lack ability and have not studied enough. This is because I have not had the single-minded determination to put in many continuous years of work, and so I have achieved little more than a glimpse of what makes it tick. However, just as the lame never forget what it was like to walk and the blind never forget what it was like to see, whenever impressive music fills my ears, it always fills me with a yearning, turning all things into inspirations. It is a means of transcending the world without leaving itself behind.
　　Let us take for example the four stringed instruments of Western music [violin, viola, cello, bass], of which the violin is considered the most soulful. In the early stages of learning to play the instrument, it merely entertains the ear, but after a long time, it also develops the mind. Those in our nation who consider it to be a very high-brow form of music practice it in order to examine its pros and cons, to discuss its strengths and its drawbacks. In response to those who admire traditional Chinese music as being the most refined, my opinion is that the violin is almost always superior. It produces a different kind of song and yet requires the same kind of craftsmanship. Though really there is no need to judge which is better or worse. Suffice it to say, I am moved by it.
　　Those in our nation who consider our music to be refined, from ancient times to today, know that it is supposed to be respected and yet have no sense of why it has been carried forward in the first place. Therefore the stringed instruments of the era of the Three Dynasties [the ancient dynasties of Xia, Shang, and Zhou] have remained as they were all the way up to the present day, without either degrading or improving. This is not the case for the violin.
　　The first violins that were made had fewer strings, similar to the two-stringed Chinese instruments that we still have today, but are different from the way they were originally made because they went through many generations of improvement until finally perfected by Antontio Stradivari [two hundred years before this book was made]. Violins made nowadays simply do not compare to his. His violins have no equal for their harmonious sound and beautiful shape, and he seems to have been constantly improving them. Because the instrument evolved, it has not gone extinct.
　　Those in our nation who are experts at discussing music always complain that Chinese stringed instruments are not harmonious, that the strings should be replaced with a different material and properly tuned. But as they were the only source of refined music in their time, they have thus remained in use even though they are outdated. Over the centuries and millennia, no one dared to criticize the way they are made, whereas the reason why Western music continues to spread around the world is because the old-fashioned instruments cease to get played, the older versions of stringed instruments, bells, and drums gradually fading from use, no longer interesting. Though this might not be an entirely accurate view, I find it to be a reasonable explanation.
　　Early on I tired of hearing the common dogma about our music and had to switch my focus from Chinese music to Western music. It is said that there was a man who did not care for high society or well-prepared meats. Although beautiful things and rich food were brought before him each day, they could not stir his soul. Then it turned out that a taste of musical delicacies did the trick without much difficulty. Noticing how deeply the music affected him, his servants then feared to change the selection of songs and conservatively fell into a safe pattern of mediocrity, meaning that the music was denied the potential to improve.
　　I therefore would instead like to take music both ancient and modern, both Chinese and foreign, studying them all together, and combine the best of them to make a system of study which will ensure that all music will get passed down without end. And especially the violin! My own understanding is still shallow, but everyone already celebrates music anyway and there are many organizations for doing so, and thus it is simply my humble hope to give people more music to enjoy.

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☉俄國音樂大家　吳見眞
A RUSSIAN MUSIC MASTER by Wu Jianzhen

本會以音樂能陶淑性情。故於游藝部。特設音樂一門。今夏俄國音樂大家。來蒞茲土。特延之至會。共聆雅奏。雍容揚抑。曲盡其妙。聞韶忘味。得意者固當作如是觀也。
The Jingwu Association uses music to cultivate a refined temperament, and that is why the recreation department has established a music class. This summer, a Russian music master visited and gave us a special performance. As everyone listened to such refined music, so dignified and balanced, it subtly drew forth this effect [paraphrasing from Historical Records, chapter 47]: “When one hears beautiful music, one even forgets about food.” This idea truly expresses the experience.

俄國音樂大家演技
Performance of a Russian music master:

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☉紀網球　姚蟾伯
TENNIS by Yao Chanbo

網球為一種溫文之游戲。最合夏季中之運動。盛行於歐美諸國。雖婦孺亦皆樂此。近年亞東亦頗風行。然尚在幼稚時代。每當公餘之暇。夕陽將下。逐逐於綠茵之上。能使血液中一切不潔物。不覺逐汚汗排洩而出。固大有益於衞生者也。
Tennis is a gentleman’s game and an activity that is perfect for summer. It is fashionable in Europe and America, played by women and children as well, and has now also become very popular throughout East Asia. However, it is young people that it most attracts, who once they have free time at the end of their day will one after another file onto the courts. It can cause toxins lingering in the blood to get unobtrusively expelled through perspiration. Truly it has great benefits for one’s health.

網球
Tennis:

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☉記籃球　周錫三　陸象賢
BASKETBALL: by Zhou Xisan & Lu Xiangxian

籃球為冬令戶內之運動。春時氣候溫和。亦於戶外為之。有公證人。其罰最嚴。四次卽令出局。習此者先練手法。次陣法。乃及實行對壘。本會籃球隊。創於民國六年。同人酷嗜之。研練再深。或得其中三昧也。
Basketball is an indoor sport in winter and then becomes an outdoor sport once spring has warmed things up. It involves a referee who strictly maintains the rules. After four fouls, a player is told to leave the court. Players first practice on their own, then in formations, and then play in teams. Ever since basketball became a part of the Jingwu Association in 1917, the players have become addicted to it, practicing it obsessively, and some of them have developed a real knack for it.

籃球（一）
Basketball (photo 1):

籃球（二）
Basketball (photo 2):

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☉足球　盧煒昌
SOCCER by Lu Weichang

足球為劇烈運動之一。近年吾國學校。幾無一不習此者。良以斯藝能增進堅強之體魄。而啟發勇敢之精神。盡其縱橫捭闔之技能。幷可發揮聯羣之德性。歐戰以還。擅斯技者最著功績。其平日訓練之價値可想。吾國南部六大學。連年提倡斯術之意旨。其在斯乎。吾精武會。自丙辰年新遷以降。特闢球場廿餘畝。以資斯術之迴旋。嗜此者非但大獲身心之益。且足以神技擊之妙用。蓋習技擊者步武先求穩健。而跳躍每欠矯捷之精神。有足球運動之。更番馳驟。則筋絡不致過於緊張。而動作乃無剛柔偏重之弊。嚴冬暇日。無怪會員之樂此不疲也。第有不能已於言者。吾國人士舉動。每病偏激。於足球比賽時。常有蓄意掽撞之表示。雖甘受判罰。亦有所不恤。（足球定有律例、為世界所公認、）轉為合羣德性之障礙。而大悖斯術聯絡之主旨。竊嘗默察著名足球團體之比賽。彼此偶一掽撞。則互相道歉不惶。不禁棖觸於胸。附誌於此。以冀體育同志之覺悟。
This is a more strenuous form of exercise. In recent years, there are almost no schools in our nation that do not practice it. This game is good for enhancing the strength of the body and for rousing boldness of spirit. It is also excellent for building skillfulness at zigzagging around obstacles and can develop the virtue of teamwork. The best players have made the greatest achievements in the game since the European War, setting an example of the value of daily practice. Six of our nation’s southern universities have for several years been encouraging participation in this sport. This is why when the Jingwu Association changed to its new location in 1916, we specially set aside more than twenty acres for a ball field in order to have plenty of room to maneuver in this game.
　　Members who have become addicted to this sport are not only greatly benefiting their bodies and minds, it is also having a marvelous effect on their martial training. This is because practicing martial arts first requires learning to step with stability and then moving on to spirited leaping strides. As this game involves regular bursts of sprinting, it helps them learn to prevent strains and sprains, and the movement does not have the flaw of making one overly emphasize either hardness or softness. It is no wonder that members never get bored with the game, playing it even on the severest of winter days, and cannot stop talking about it.
　　However, our nation’s athletes have a tendency to go to extremes. During a match, it is common to see players deliberately crashing into players on the opposing team. Players usually gracefully accept the consequent penalty, but sometimes they simply disregard it (even though soccer has fixed rules that are recognized throughout the world), thereby hindering the values of teamwork and good sportsmanship, greatly perverting the whole point of getting involved in the game in the first place. I once quietly watched a match between famous teams. They occasionally crashed into each other, but then the players apologized to each other without embarrassment. I could not help but be moved by this and I mention it here in the hope that my sports comrades will be so enlightened.

（一）二年之足球隊
Photo 1 – the soccer team in 1913:

（二）八年之足球隊
Photo 2 – the soccer team in 1919:

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☉溜冰　唐瓊相
SKATING by Tang Qiongxiang

溜冰為運動之一。倡於十九世紀。其作用有二。一為冬令之消遣。二為嚴寒之地。河海皆凍。可利遄行。歐俗冬令有比賽會。以荷蘭那威等國為盛。蓋海岸多結冰也。溜冰比賽之法亦二。有競捷者。有賽美者。種種姿勢。進退盤旋。花樣翻新。至實用於冰面之鞋。非若吾輩所用之底有四輪者。只一平板耳。蓋冰面較滑。自易溜動也。
Skating is a form of exercise that began in the nineteenth century. It has two functions: a winter pastime and a rapid means of traversing icy ground or a frozen body of water. In Europe, it is a common winter sport, especially in countries such as Holland and Norway, where even the seacoast often freezes over. There are two forms of ice skating competition: racing [speed skating] and artistry [figure skating], which involves all sorts of poses, spins, and elaborately changing patterns. Instead of ice skates, it is more practical for us [being in Shanghai, where there are only a few days of snowfall in winter and thus lacking lingering patches of ice] to simply use four-wheeled roller skates on a flat surface, though since ice is slipperier, it would of course be much easier to glide over.

溜冰
Skating:

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☉拔河　陳啓英
TUG-OF-WAR by Chen Qiying

拔河一事。吾國自古有之。不始於歐美。此為合羣角力之游戲。亦尚武者所不廢也。
Tug-of-war has been an activity in our nation since ancient times and did not begin in Europe or America. It is a game, a test of strength between two groups, and its worth is not lost on those who value the martial spirit.

拔河
Tug-of-war:

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☉凌空術　李國荃
ZIP-LINING by Li Guoquan

凌空術。所以練膽也。法以鐵索亘於空中。兩端固定於木柱。或壁間。一端須略高。使其勢斜傾而下。有凌空環。環上有雙輪。懸於鐵索之上。兩手持其下方。全體懸空。順勢而下。惟須備長竿。因雙輪微側。或鐵索略軟。卽停滯於半途。須以其他之一人。持竿豎於持環者之足下。使其雙足抱竿。而執竿人則牽引持環者使之藉勢而下至目的處也。凡習此者。臨深履薄。懸崖削壁。無所於畏。不可不知。
Zip-lining is something that trains bravery. An iron cable is extended through the air, the two ends secured to wooden posts or from one wall to another. One end has to be slightly higher to create a downward momentum. There is a ring hung from two wheels on top of the wire. Your hands grip the bottom of the ring and you let your whole body hang in the air and follow gravity downward. Someone has to be ready with a long pole in case the wheels slip off or the cable slackens and you end up stuck halfway. That person then holds the pole up under your feet so you can grab around it with your legs and he pulls you along the rest of the way toward your intended finishing spot. For those who practice this, it is important to be extremely careful [“as if standing at a cliff edge or walking on thin ice” (from Book of Poetry, poem 195)], but it also has to be understood that being afraid will only make it more dangerous.

凌空
Zip-lining:

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☉畋獵　黎永錦
GAME HUNTING by Li Yongjin

野操百回。不如與熊搏一次。畋獵蓋足以增益膽氣也。實習技術。久為軍事家所共認。此幀為本會會員畋獵時之攝影。
Although going out into the wilderness and back a hundred times does not compare to wrestling a bear once, hunting is nevertheless an excellent means for increasing bravery. Practicing this skill has long been considered valuable by people in the military. Below is a photograph of Jingwu Association members on a hunt.

畋獵
Game hunting:

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☉遠足（一）　邱亮
HIKING – Part 1 by Qiu Liang

本會每年。例有遠足旅行之舉。此影卽旅行崑山時所攝。延攪風景。考察形勢。至足樂也。崑之山雖不甚高。而振衣其上不啻吳山第一峯也。
Every year, the Jingwu Association has a hiking excursion. This photo shows a hiking trip in Kunshan [in Suzhou], where there is wonderful scenery and views of the terrain, a delightful place to hike. Although the mountains [“shan”] of Kunshan are not very high, they are surely no shorter than the tallest peak of Mt. Wu [in Hangzhou].

五年之遠足隊旅行（一）
1916 Hiking group’s excursion (photo 1):

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☉遠足（二）　沈季修
HIKING – Part 2 by Shen Jixiu

江灣為上海門戶重鎭。會員旅行至此。就攝此影以留鴻爪。影中房舍為陳氏別墅。
Jiangwan Town is a key gateway to Shanghai. When we arrived there, we had the photograph below taken as a memento. The house in the photo is the Chen Villa.

五年之遠足隊旅行（二）
1916 Hiking group’s excursion (photo 2):

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[Other activities in photographs only:]

檯球
Billiards:

自由車旅行姑蘇（一）　陳公喆　黃漢佳　盧煒昌　姚蟾伯
Cycling excursion to Gusu District [in Suzhou, about fifty miles west of central Shanghai] (photo 1 – showing [left to right] Chen Gongzhe, Huang Hanjia, Lu Weichang, Yao Chanbo):

自由車旅行姑蘇（二）
Cycling excursion to Gusu (photo 2):

自由車旅行姑蘇（三）
Cycling excursion to Gusu (photo 3) [here passing 南翔 Nanxiang in the Jiading District, now about ten miles west of the Jingwu Association]:

自由車旅行姑蘇（四）
Cycling excursion to Gusu (photo 4):

任重致遠　黃惠龍
Full lift of a heavy weight, performed by Huang Huilong:

乒乓
Ping-Pong:

平臺
Balancing platform:

木馬
Vaulting horse:

槓子
Horizontal bar [with the photo showing a dramatic dismount]:

秋千
Rings & rope swings:

擲鐵球
Shot put:

擲鐵餅
Discus:

鑣槍
Javelin:

跳高
High jump:

跳遠
Long jump:

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[Below is another drawing by Yang Zuotao, showing a general carrying a command banner and watching the battle progress.]

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[Continue to Part Seven.]

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