Leung Jan book

[S.Teebas]

Hi,
Has anyone heard about this book? I recall hearing somthing about a book that Leung Jan wrote with pressure points or somthing in it (??)

Does anyone know:

1) Whats in the book?
2) Any chance of getting a copy?
3) Is a translation avaliable in english?

[reneritchie]

Hi,

I've seen versions of this book from 3 or 4 different students of Yip sifu. For an example of how it "looks", I'd say its similar in appearence to the Shaolin Bronze Man book or even some pages from the White Crane writings (available more widely in their Okinawan form as the Bubishi). There doesn't seem to be anything specificially or evidently on WCK in the book(s) or anything that ties them specifically to Leung Jan.

I think the only way to get a copy is to be a close student or friend of someone who has one, and while I've heard of a few thoughts on translating them, there are none ongoing that I know of. You can probably find the medical info, and perhaps other bits and pieces, translated in more modern works, or works from other systems (no idea how well that type of stuff holds up in a practical context in the face of modern TCM).

RR

[Tom Kagan]

There are actually three books, not one. However, only one seems to be on our pugilistic art. The other two are on the healing arts.

While you are correct in that there is no direct evidence that ties them specifically to Dr. Leung Jan, there appears to be no one else with the specific knowledge contained within those books who could have written them during that reasonably well documented era. The only other possibility would be General Fong Siu Ching, but he was not a doctor. For him to have written the accompaning books on the healing arts to the level of detail contained within those passages would be surprising, to say the least.

Frankly, to call those documents "books" is actually quite a charitable characterization. The are better viewed as someone's personal and private notes from a diary - disorganized, sloppy grammar, mistakes, doodling, off subject tangents - warts and all. Their nature of their existence seems to be solely to trigger thoughts within the author's mind of a more complete idea - almost like a cue card. It's hardly at all particularly interesting or insightful reading to another person, in my opinion.

A grandstudent of Moy Yat is actually a scholar on ancient Chinese ideograms. He's worked on translating those and other texts for quite a few years now. I've no idea what he plans to do with translations of Dr Leung Jan's so called "books." Beyond their historical curiousity value, those translations by themselves would make for lousy reading, anyway. :)

[reneritchie]

Hi Tom,

There was nothing pugilistic in what I saw either, just TCM and some Dim Sut material. I saw one copy bound up together as one "book" (agreed on the better descriptor of private notes), and another collected in two sets (I think one with all the medical and the other with the Dim Sut). I haven't seen three, I don't think. How were they broken up?

There are some stories that the books came to Yip sifu from Chu Chong-Man (whom the same story holds was in some way a relative), and another from the father of a student. In any case, I make the point simply because IMHO its impossible to say whether these represent part of a specific WCK legacy (books handed down through the WCK lineage, specific too the WCK lineage) or whether they came to Leung Jan from his medical lineage and were passed down to some along with WCK, or whether they came from another source.

(FWIW - I haven't heard of Fung sifu leaving any major medical works behind either ;)

Agreed on the rest as well 8)

RR

[Wong Lung]

You are correct there are 3 books ,1 on herbal medicine 1 on dim mak, 1on wing chun nei gung.One is written in old chinese.Roger Smart sifu has all three.They where givin to him by Gwok Fu in Foshan.