The Cantonese Opera, The Luen Yu Tong and the “108 Points Red Boat Dummy Form”

It played a very important role in the local communities and is the source of many of the stories and beliefs still around today can be traced back to the old opera plays and performances.
When it comes to southern Chinese martial arts, some styles trace themselves back to or at least “through” the “Red Boats” of the Cantonese Opera. The most prominent and well-known of these styles is Wing Chun Kuen. There are a number of origin stories passed on within the various schools and sub-styles of this martial art, many of which mention the Cantonese opera, for example, it is often claimed that the great Wing Chun master Leung Jan, learnt the art from two “People of the Pear Garden” (opera performers).
Another story relates that a Siulam abbott taught the art to the opera troupe he was working for as a cook. According to legend he was incognito, hiding his identity and martial arts skills. However, in order to deal with a criminal who levied tolls on them to dock at a certain location he revealed his martial prowess and was requested by the opera performers to teach them his skills.
In 1854/55 there was a local uprising called the “Red Turban Rebellion” when a coalition of different secret society groups uncharacteristically united under common leadership to wrest control of the Gwongdong province by taking a number of important cities, among them the provincial capital of Gwongjaau.
One of the leaders of this uprising was opera performer Lei Manmo (“Li Wenmao”) and he instigated a number of Cantonese opera performers to take an active part in the uprising, joining his forces.
As we can see from the years mentioned above, the rebellion was short-lived and failed rather miserably, the main leaders, Lei Manmo and secret society supreme commander Chan Hoi were forced to flee with their remaining forces and kept fighting for a number of years in the neigbouring province of Gwongsai.
The punishment exacted on uprising participants was extremely severe, and supposedly more than 1.ooo.ooo people were executed. Many fled and found their ways to far away places such as Vietnam, Malaysia and what is now Singapore.
According to Cantonese opera oral tradition – which has been adopted by Gung Fu lore – the “King Fa Wui Goon”, the guild hall of the Cantonese opera was razed to the ground and Cantonese opera forbidden as a punishment for opera people having been involved in the uprising.
Eventually, the ban was lifted and a new guild hall was erected at Wong Saa in in Gwongjaau, called the “Baat Wo” (“Eight Harmonies”), in 1889. Although the location changed over the years, this guild still exists today. It consists of eight “departments”, eight “halls”, one of which is responsible for the martial arts of the Cantonese Opera performers – the “Dragon and Tiger Gung Fu stuntmen and martial arts masters”. The name of this hall is “Luen Yu Tong”. People still meet there today to practice opera skills and martial arts.
85-year old Leung Si Yuen Sifu still passes on his martial arts knowledge and skills to a group of dedicated enthusiasts at the Luen Yu Tong and nearby Saamien Island. One of the skills he teaches is the so-called “108 Red Boat Wooden Dummy Set” and inside the Luen Yu Tong visitors can see the dummy used to train this form on.
Although there are a few common techniques, the form is quite different from the wooden dummy sets as practiced by Wing Chun-lineages such as the Yip Man or Yuen Kei Saan styles, consisting of typical “Southern Siulam” Gung Fu techniques found in styles tracing themselves to that source. It is technically quite diverse and an interesting feature is that it contains a number of pushing and pulling as well as throwing techniques.
In the future we shall write more about this particular wooden dummy set and also about the martial arts of the Cantonese opera.