The mystery of the cause of death of Huo Yuanjia
Huo Yuanjia was a famous martial arts master in the late Qing Dynasty and enjoyed a high reputation at home and abroad. He once asked the Russian strongman Peroni to admit his mistake in the newspaper and canceled the title of "the world's strongest man" in frustration. He also made British strongman Opie fear his reputation and flee without a fight. He also led his disciples to defeat more than a dozen Japanese samurai and judo masters. To this day, his deeds are widely read in Tianjin. Bruce Lee starred in the movie "Fist of Fury" and the TV series "Fearless Fearless", setting off a Fearless craze at home and abroad. However, such a world-famous martial arts wizard suddenly died young at the age of 42. It is speculated that Huo Yuanjia was poisoned to death by a Japanese doctor who lent him the opportunity to see a doctor. Some people also believe that the real cause of Huo Yuanjia's death was lung disease. What the hell is going on?
Huo Dali
Huo Yuanjia was born in Xiaonanhe Village, Jinghai County, Tianjin in 1868. He had ten brothers. His father, Huo, was highly skilled in martial arts and often traveled to and from Guandong. He was a bodyguard for businessmen and was quite famous in the world. Huo Yuanjia was very thin when he was a child. He was often bullied by the urchins in the village and teased by his ten brothers. Huo Ding'en was also disappointed with Huo Yuanjia's thin body. He was afraid of ruining the family tradition, so he banned Huo Yuanjia from practicing martial arts and sent him to study. This greatly hurt Huo Yuanjia's self-esteem, so he secretly practiced martial arts and secretly competed with his brothers.
There is a jujube forest to the west of Xiaohe Village, which is a cemetery and is usually difficult to reach. Every time Huo Yuanjia secretly learned three moves and five moves from his father and brother, he would practice them deep in the jujube forest, thinking while practicing. Sweat in the summer, wind and frost in the winter, progress is rapid. Later, his father learned about his martial arts training and reprimanded him, but Huo Yuanjia decided to persist. Before he was allowed to practice martial arts with his father and brother, he promised his father not to compete with anyone and not to embarrass the family.
In the autumn of 1890, a martial arts hero came to the Huo family and said that he had long heard that the Huo family was called "Tantric Boxing", but he actually came to provoke a fight. In his words, he insulted the Huo family and his son. Huo Yuanjia's third brother Yuan Qing competed with him, but he was defeated in three rounds. Huo had no choice but to go into battle in person, and all he heard was "Look at me!" Huo Yuanjia jumped out like a whirlwind. When Huo saw it was him, he was extremely angry. He was afraid that he would be ignorant and embarrass the Huo family, and he was also afraid of being hurt by his opponent. But now it's too late to stop them, the two have already begun to cooperate. Seeing that Huo Yuanjia's attacks were as fast as lightning and as steady as Mount Tai. After a few rounds, Fearless bent down and swept his opponent's legs, and the opponent immediately fell to the ground. Fearless grabbed his opponent step by step, threw him out, and broke his opponent's legs.
This unexpected scene surprised and delighted everyone, and Huo Yuanjia's reputation for "excellent martial arts" spread from then on. Seeing Yuan Jia's talent, perseverance, and superb skills, which made him stand out among his brothers, Huo De'an changed his old ideas and carefully taught him his skills. Later, Huo Yuanjia made good friends with martial arts, combined the strengths of various schools, and developed the ancestral "Secret Boxing" into "Fan's Boxing", bringing the ancestral boxing to a new peak.
A few years later, Huo Yuanjia was married and had children, but his life was a bit awkward. In the twelfth lunar month of 1895, Huo Yuanjia brought a cart of firewood to Tianjin Wei to sell. His woods are different. A special elm pole is long and thick. It weighed three to four hundred kilograms, but he carried it easily, causing passers-by to comment and marvel.
Huo Yuanjia came to Xitouwan outside the west gate. Before the opening, a local gangster came to ask for protection fees, "tolls" and "land fees". The two went from quarreling to holding hands. Ruffians are no match for Fearless. He misread the momentum and ran. After a while, a group of local ruffians came to retaliate with knives, guns and sticks. Seeing this scene, Huo Yuanjia took out his pole and waited. When the group of people surrounded him, he suddenly shouted, waved a pole, and stabbed it to the left and right. He only heard the whistling of the wind, and the weapons in the hands of the ruffians fell to the ground. Then, he came to a sweeping room where "all the old trees had been taken care of" and pointed the pole at the little bully Allen's circle. The bullies ran away crying with their heads in hand.
After a while, more than 40 people gathered around Huo Yuanjia. Huo Yuanjia's eyes were also red.
He broke the pole in half and held it in one hand, ready to fight. At this arrogant moment, I suddenly heard someone shouting: "Stop!" It turned out that the local bully leader, Shopkeeper Feng, had arrived. He invited Huo Yuanjia to his home and held a banquet, hoping that he would take over and safeguard the territory. Huo Yuanjia agreed to go back and discuss it with his family.
In the spring of the next year, forced by life, Huo Yuanjia went to Tianjin Wei to find shopkeeper Feng. After he took over, he canceled one after another "exorbitant taxes" that extorted farmers and businessmen, causing dissatisfaction among local ruffians. After that, he quit his job as a valet and went to work as a porter at Huaiqing Pharmacy in Zhugan Lane outside Beimen.
Drum Tower
One day, a batch of raw soil, weighing 500 kilograms each, was put into the medicine stack. There was a big man who was very strong and wanted to compete with Fearless, so he picked up a 500kg bag and carried it three times in a row. Then he said in front of everyone: "Master Huo, people say you have great martial arts skills. Why don't you show off your skills in front of your friends today and open our eyes?" Huo Yuanjia had long heard that he wanted to show off his strength in the medicine pile. I wanted to take this opportunity to lose my prestige, so I laughed at him.
I found the thickest and heaviest wooden sticks, picked up two bundles of raw land, and walked into the warehouse calmly. Everyone applauded when they saw his strength and composure. The big man blushed with embarrassment and stopped working the next day.
After a while, it happened again. One morning, when people from Huaiqing Pharmacy went to fetch water, they saw two large bluestones sitting at the mouth of the well. A slight bump in the situation and the wheel will fall into the well. The man had no choice but to go back and ask Huo Yuanjia. At this time, there were many bystanders surrounding the rig. When Huo Yuanjia saw this, he smiled and said, "This man is really capable. I admire him. This is obviously for me, Huo Yuanjia." After saying that, he came to the platform beside the well. The cat bent down and held the wheels with both hands. He heard a "hi" sound and the two wheels were pushed out at the same time. Onlookers cheered in unison. From then on, Huo Yuanjia became famous, and people nicknamed him "Hercules Huo".
The foreigners were defeated.
In the early spring of 1900, Nong Sunjin, the owner of Huaiqing Pharmacy, took advantage of his busy work schedule and invited Huo Yuanjia to go out with him. They came to the beach and found a teahouse, drinking tea and chatting. Nong Sunjin studied in Japan and was knowledgeable. He often told Huo Yuanjia about things at home and abroad in ancient and modern times, which broadened Huo Yuanjia's horizons, made him understand many truths, and inspired Huo Yuanjia's patriotic enthusiasm to serve his country.
When the conversation was in full swing, they suddenly heard a sound by the river. It turns out that ships transporting imperial grain need to anchor here. Li Gang, the bodyguard carrying the food, jumped ashore and turned around. He couldn't find a place to stack it. He was so anxious that he kicked through the tent poles. The owner of the pergola is a deserter from Shandong who makes a living by frying fruits. The pergola collapsed and he ran out to beg Li Gang. Li Gang couldn't help it anymore, so he tore down the shed, put the wooden piles pointed downward, hit him on the arm with a hammer, and started driving the piles. I saw the wooden piles being driven into the ground inch by inch, and many people were stunned. The fruit shop owner begged Li Gang to give him some compensation, but Li Gang kicked him away impatiently, tied the rope to a wooden stake, and walked away.
At this moment, Huo Yuanjia was heard shouting to Li Gang: "That black boy, come back!"
Li Gang thought he was a guard of the royal grain ship and did not pay attention to Huo Yuanjia. Yuan Jia. He turned to Huo Yuanjia and said, "You are tired of living, how dare you break your head and bleed!" When he learned that it was Huo Yuanjia across from him, he couldn't help but gasp. But on the surface, he was not to be outdone and said: "If your surname is Huo, don't be ignorant. You'd better leave it alone." They had different opinions and finally began to cooperate. Seeing Li Gang's extraordinary skills, Huo Yuanjia used the "flash stop grenade" formula in the family's "mystery" to jump behind Li Gang. An "iron sand palm" hit him hard on the back, and Li Gang staggered forward a few steps. He spat out a mouthful of blood with a "wow" sound, and then fell upside down.
Xu Tong’s college students look like this. When the grain officer on the ship saw that the guard was knocked down, he shouted to Huo Yuanjia. Soon, the Qing soldiers tied up Huo Yuanjia. Sun Jin was worried. When he saw Xu Tong, a college student from the ruling period, who happened to get off the boat and change cars here, he burst into tears. Xu Tong asked him why, lamented that Huo Yuanjia was a hero, and learned that Huo Yuanjia was a fellow countryman, so he let Huo Yuanjia go.
In the summer of 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces occupied Beijing and Tianjin.
Wang Wu, the great sword of Yuan Shunwei in Beijing, died in the fight against foreign devils and was exhibited by the Eight-Power Allied Forces. Huo Yuanjia and his disciple Liu Zhensheng sneaked into Beijing and stole the head of "King Wu". With the help of Liu E, the author of "Lao Can's Travels", they buried the head together, thereby completing the friendship between friends. Huo Yuanjia witnessed and heard many bloody crimes committed by foreign devils, which made him resent the invaders and the Qing government. In order to serve his motherland, he returned to his hometown to recruit people to practice martial arts.
In 1901, Huo Yuanjia was 33 years old. One day, his apprentice Liu Zhen distributed several leaflets, which contained the story of the Russian strongman Bai Luoni performing arts in the theater, claiming to "fight all over China to let the sick men of East Asia see and open their eyes." After Huo Yuanjia finished reading He jumped up and said, "Liar!" He immediately showed it to Jin Wei.
They first found Nong Sunjin, who knew foreign languages, and then went to the theater to explain their purpose. The theater manager knew that Huo Yuanjia was very powerful and did not dare to neglect him. He arranged for them to sit in first class and then notified the Russian Hercules.
Russian strongman appears on stage. He was as tall and strong as an ox. First hit the muscles of the whole body, then lie on your back, holding a 100-pound dumbbell in each hand, and another dumbbell between your legs. Place a wooden board on three dumbbells, a square table and four chairs on the wooden board. Then four big men came forward and sat on chairs to play cards, but the board did not move. Then, he performed his unique skill of "flat rolling iron plate". First, he picked up a thick iron plate and struck it three times with a sledgehammer. The iron plate remained unchanged, and then he rolled it into a cylinder with all his strength. Finally, break the link. He stepped on a thick chain with his foot and walked for weeks, the other end coming back over his shoulder and grabbing it with both hands. He only heard a loud shout, and the chain fell on the stage with a loud bang. These performances surprised the audience. After the performance, he boasted that he was the world's strongest man and threatened to perform for three days to welcome the challenger of the "Sick Man of East Asia" to the stage.
Where else can Fearless sit? He jumped on the stage and said loudly: "I am Huo Yuanjia, the sick man of East Asia. Are you willing to compete with you in public? A gentleman or a villain? Take your pick!"
The Russian strongman knew about Huo Yuanjia in advance He was afraid of making a fool of himself in public, so he asked a translator to explain to Huo Yuanjia that what he just said was exaggerated publicity for the sake of making money. Please don't take it seriously. Fearless challenged again and again, but he refused to compete. Finally, he agreed to admit his mistake in the newspaper and left Tianjin in despair.
In 1903, the bodyguard of Inner Mongolia master Li came to Huo Yuanjia and invited him to participate in the competition. Huo Yuanjia was invited to the appointment. The game has begun. It starts with easy work, with everyone walking around the empty winnowing ring three times. Huo Yuanjia did nothing about it. After only two and a half laps, he kicked over the dustpan, which aroused the ridicule of Li Weishi and his disciples. The second is for everyone to clap the other three palms. Li Weibing was the first to reach out, but Huo Yuanjia seemed to have nothing except the shattered green bricks under his feet. With the second palm, Huo Yuanjia did not move, and the green bricks under his feet were broken into small pieces. Lee's bodyguard gasped. He tried his best to hit the third palm, but Huo Yuanjia's feet were sunk into the green brick floor more than three inches deep, but his body was as stable as a mountain. Huo Yuanjia stretched his legs and said with a smile: "Old Master, please!" Li's guards did not know about his "iron sand palm". With only one hand, he couldn't stand it. He shook his head and fell to the ground.
Li's bodyguard laughed with him, admitted failure, and invited Huo Yuanjia to stay and compete with him. Who would have thought that he had ulterior motives and locked Huo Yuanjia in the attic? After dark, Huo Yuanjia used his supernatural power to push the entire prison out. Before he could leave, the wall collapsed.
In 1909, a British strongman named Opin came to Shanghai, held a parade in the garden, and placed advertisements in newspapers, boasting and insulting the Chinese people as the "sick man of East Asia." There were no enemies in Shanghai at that time, so he sent a letter inviting Huo Yuanjia.
Shanghai Bird
As soon as Fearless arrived in Shanghai, he held a parade in Bird and wrote in the advertisement: "The whole world regards China as a sick country , I am a patient in a sick country. "I am willing to try it with healthy people in the world. "We only accept strong men from all over the world," he said. Although we have bronze skin and iron bones, there is nothing to worry about. "This immediately caused a sensation in the community.
Aoping felt something was wrong, so he placed a bet of 10,000 taels of silver to blackmail Huo Yuanjia, but Huo Yuanjia agreed with confidence. Oppei had to sign a match. However, on the day of the game, Opien never disappeared, and even the notary and operator ran away. It turns out that Opion has slipped away to Nanyang.
On June 1, 1910, in Bird, Huo Yuanjia, with the help of Nong Sunjin and other martial arts colleagues, founded the Chinese Wu Jing Gymnastics Association in Shanghai, which won Huo Yuanjia the "Wu Jing Hero" ” the reputation.
In September this year, the Japanese Judo Association learned that Huo Yuanjia had defeated the British and Russian strongmen and was not convinced, so it selected a dozen judo masters and Japanese samurai to come to Huo Yuanjia to try their best. .
Huo Yuanjia asked his apprentice Liu Zhensheng to play first, but Liu Zhensheng did not move according to the teacher's instructions at first. When the Japanese warrior saw it, he swooped down, grabbed Liu Zhensheng's clothes, and tried to throw him down. I have no idea. Liu Zhensheng stood on the pile of things, motionless. The Japanese samurai used various tricks, but to no avail, and many people were lost one after another.
The Japanese captain was very angry and fought with Fearless himself. He thinks he is good at something, but when he meets Fearless, he knows what he can do. He tried to hurt someone with his black hands, but Fearless caught him. He made a fool of himself and elbowed himself in the arm. The leader that day broke his bones. Japan admitted defeat.
After the game, the Japanese held a banquet for Fearless. During the dinner, the Japanese knew that Huo Yuanjia was still suffering from "fever", that is, lung disease, so they introduced a doctor named Akino to see him. I know that after taking the medicine, my condition is getting worse and worse. Just a few months later, a generation of martial arts masters left this world with hatred. Huo Yuanjia died on September 14, 1910, at the age of 42. The Chinese people were deeply saddened to hear this bad news.
After Huo Yuanjia passed away, the Wu Jing Gymnastics Club he founded held a grand funeral for him. The cemetery is located in the northern suburbs of Shanghai, and the monument is engraved with "The Tomb of Hercules Huo Yuanjia."
In 1910, based on the Wu Jing Gymnastics School founded by Huo Yuanjia, the Wu Jing Sports Association was established. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the association, Mr. Sun Yat-sen praised Huo Yuanjia's belief that "in order to make the country strong, everyone must practice martial arts" and Huo Jiaquan's noble moral ethics, which made him famous all over the world. He wrote the four words "Martial Arts Spirit" in his own handwriting and submitted it to the Wu Jing Sports Association, where he served as the honorary chairman of the association. Later, Huo Yuanjia's younger brother Huo and his second son Huo Dongge taught Shanghai Hui. Ten years later, Wu Jing has 43 branches at home and abroad with more than 400,000 members.
To this day, there is still a portrait of Huo Yuanjia in the restored former residence of Huo Yuanjia in Xiaonanhe Village. On both sides of the portrait are condolence couplets written by his son Huo Dongge after Huo Yuanjia was killed, expressing the great achievements of this patriotic martial arts master in his life.
The Mystery of Death
The work "The Death of Fearless" by the martial arts novelist Hirajiang Buxiaosheng held this view and had the greatest influence at the time. In 1912, the famous martial arts novelist Bu published "Pingjiang Fist" and "Modern Knights". In these two works, Bu Xiao's life vividly describes how Huo Yuanjia was killed by the Japanese doctor Akino. Pingbo Xiaosheng described the situation as follows:
After scaring away Opion and establishing the Wu Jing Sports Association, Huo Yuanjia's chest pain became even worse, so he had to go to Akino Hospital again. Akino said: "Teacher Huo did not listen to my advice. The disease is very serious and difficult to treat." He asked Huo Yuanjia to be hospitalized and said, "It will take more than two months to be completely cured." Akino was very careful in diagnosis and treatment. Often accompanied by Huo Yuanjia.
The effect is very good after one week, and it is expected to be discharged from the hospital in a few weeks. But when the Japanese Judo Hall invited Fearless, Akino accompanied Fearless. After greeting everyone at Kodokan, the Japanese judo master competed with Liu Zhensheng, but they both lost to North Korea. One of them is Tokiwazo, showing his horrifying shirtlessness. He did not shake hands with Liu Zhensheng, but went straight to Huo Yuanjia. Huo Yuanjia didn't want to fight or escape, so he had to hold his arms tightly with both hands and remain motionless. He talked to Akino and asked Akino to persuade him. Unexpectedly, Tokiwa was pinched to the bone and struggled to free himself.
The Japanese sold the medicine to Fearless, saying it could cure hemoptysis and lung diseases. Huo Yuanjia believed it. After buying and eating it, his condition became serious. When Chen Gongzhe said this, there was no right or wrong. Although he confirmed the fact that the Japanese medicine purchased by Huo Yuanjia had gone bad, he did not say that it was poisoned by the Japanese, but speculated that Huo Yuanjia had used it improperly. Later in Chen Gongzhe's article, he directly pointed out the reason for Huo Yuanjia's illness. When Huo Yuanjia was practicing qigong as a boy, he coughed up blood and turned sallow. Therefore, those who advocate death by disease theory do not agree with the poisoning theory and tend to believe that Huo Yuanjia died of diseases caused by practicing Qigong.
Compared to the external cause of poisoning, the theory that Huo Yuanjia died of his own disease can also be called an internal cause. This statement involves whether Huo Yuanjia has practiced Qigong and whether he got sick as a result of practicing Qigong. It is reminiscent of the concept of Qigong often mentioned in martial arts novels.
Finally, the proponent of the theory of illness and death concluded, “He was one of the initiators of inviting Fearless to come to Shanghai, and was also the translator who discussed the game with Opin until Fearless died of illness. ." He interacted frequently with Huo Yuanjia and had a deep friendship. Therefore, Chen Gongzhe
Whether it is the external cause of poisoning or the internal cause of death, it is a fact that Huo Yuanjia is sick, because if he is not sick, he does not need to take medicine, and if he does not take medicine, he will not be poisoned. In the theory of external causation, the Japanese doctor Akino wanted to poison Huo Yuanjia, and he also used Huo Yuanjia's illness to get the medicine.
On August 6, 2000, Xinhuanet’s Tianjin special cable refuted the theory that Fearless Huo Yuanjia died of illness. This magazine specifically pointed out: "Huo Yuanjia's grandson, Huo Yuanjia, has further confirmed that the culprit who killed Huo Yuanjia is a Japanese after in-depth investigation and careful interviews with relevant comrades of the Cultural Bureau of Xiqing District, Tianjin." In recent years, some people have suggested that "the Japanese He was a good friend of Huo Yuanjia and made great efforts for Huo Yuanjia. "Huo Yuanjia died of illness. The Huo family has always known that their ancestor Huo Yuanjia died at the hands of the Japanese. In the 1980s, when Huo Yuanjia was transferred to the cemetery, the remains were examined and it was found that all the remains were black, proving that he died of poisoning. So it is difficult for them to forgive the Japanese from family and national feelings. Since last year, Huo Yuanjia’s grandson Huo, who currently lives in Xiaonanhe Village, Xiqing District, Tianjin, and comrades from the Xiqing District Cultural Bureau have visited Huo Yuanjia’s martial arts guild halls in Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other provinces and cities many times and reviewed a large amount of materials. , proving that the so-called Japanese friend of Huo Yuanjia was the culprit who killed Huo Yuanjia. In the name of helping Huo Yuanjia cure his illness, the Japanese bought joints and put chronic lung rot medicine into Chinese medicine, causing Huo Yuanjia, who could have been cured, to die. '