Chapter Eleven Morning and Evening Lessons

  Chapter Eleven Morning and Evening Lessons

  Since some of the jīng power is already insufficient, and the head is dizzy, this is a precursor to the loss of jīng yuan. Of course, one must immediately stop practicing and withdraw from meditation. Otherwise, once the jīng yuan is severely depleted, it will either cause the reversal of one's powers or destroy the foundation, making it extremely difficult to make progress in the future, unless there are special circumstances.

  So Song Qing walked down from the bed and started practicing Wudang Mian Zhang in the room.

  The Wudang Cotton Palm Kung Fu is not only used at the beginning of practice to familiarize oneself with the body, but also helps people quickly find the Qi sensation and cultivate true Qi. It has a unique effect on recovering and strengthening the body's original Jing.

  The first layer of gongfa in this "Wudang Internal Elixir" is not something that you practice and then stop, it must accompany the entire set of gongfa. In terms of importance, it is no less than the later Tuiyun Zong, Juehu Tiger Claw Hand and other gongfa.

  The so-called 'Heaven's way, subtracting the surplus and supplementing the deficiency, human way, supplementing the deficiency and honoring the surplus'. Although the yuan jing in the human body can be continuously replenished and recovered, and can continue to become the source of refining true qi, with the growth of age, the physical function is also constantly declining, gradually aging and decaying, and the yuan jing in the body is also constantly decreasing.

  The yuan jing in the human body is not fixed and unchanging, it is weakest in childhood, then grows continuously with age, strongest in adulthood and middle age, and after 40 years old, it declines gradually. The yuan jing in each person's body is also different, people with good physique are stronger, while those with poor physique are weaker. If one contracts certain serious illnesses or suffers severe injuries, it can also cause significant damage to the yuan jing.

  However, this is the case for ordinary people. Practitioners of martial arts have strong and robust bodies, and their internal energy (yuan jing) is stronger than that of ordinary people. Moreover, those with high levels of skill may not experience a decline in their internal energy until they are fifty or even sixty years old.

  But in any case, they can only slow down this process and cannot terminate it. In the end, they will inevitably suffer from physical decline and death. No matter how high or profound a master's skills are, as long as he cannot terminate this process, he will not be able to escape being buried under the yellow earth in the end.

  It is said that 'there is no bad martial art, only bad practitioners', and the Wudang Mian Zhang can be considered as the foundation of all Wudang martial arts.

  The Taoist uses water to "explain the theory of virtue", believing that water is in a lower position and does not contend, it follows the square and becomes round, soft and quiet. However, water can also accumulate energy and store momentum, piercing rocks and splitting ridges, entering every hole and destroying everything hard.

  Zhang Sanfeng, when he first established Wudang on Mount Wudang, observed the vast white clouds and realized the principle of 'the best virtue is like water, benefiting all things without contention'. He thus created Wudang Mian Zhang (Cotton Palm), which can be described as subtle and exquisite. The word "mian" means soft; Taoists believe that extreme softness leads to firmness. Wudang Mian Zhang combines hardness and softness, with yin and yang following each other, neither stiff nor stagnant. It appears weak and boneless but actually has iron hidden within the cotton. As the saying goes, 'hardness is easily broken, while softness can lead to long-term victory', embodying the Taoist truth of using softness to overcome hardness.

  So Wudang Mian Zhang is to Wudang what Luohan Quan is to Shaolin Temple, it's the foundation of all martial arts. Without practicing Wudang Mian Zhang, even if you're a natural-born talent, you can't expect to master Wudang Kung Fu and reach the ultimate level of returning to simplicity and truth.

  Wudang Mian Zhang Gong is a superior internal martial art that combines soft and hard, shapeless strikes, and power that penetrates the internal organs. To practice Wudang Mian Zhang, one must first practice Hun Yuan Zhuang.

  Feet shoulder-width apart, standing naturally, left foot outward 45°, left palm with five fingers naturally stretched out, arm straight, flat and level with shoulders, forming a side-standing palm. Right hand in a protective stance, eyes looking forward. Head leads upwards, feet lead downwards, left hand pulls, right hand pushes, front of the body collects and withdraws, back is full and solid, entire body from top to bottom, front and back, left and right, inside and out, forces support each other, forming an integrated whole, soft yet containing hardness, unified as one Qi (regarding the entire body as a large Dan Tian).

  Relax your whole body, breathe naturally, count your breaths, a total of 99 times. Then switch to the right arm stretching forward and practice in the same way.

  Song Qing Shu followed the requirements and practiced Wudang Mian Zhang several times, feeling much better afterwards. The jīng energy inside his body was circulating smoothly, and he no longer felt weak. Before he knew it, time had passed, and Song Qing Shu still needed to continue practicing, when suddenly the sound of a bell rang out.

  Song Qing Shu opened his eyes to find that outside the window, the sky was already slightly bright. It turned out that he had been so absorbed in his cultivation last night that he hadn't noticed the whole night passing by, and it was already time for morning lessons again. The bell rang once, then rang again. The deep and sonorous bell sound spread throughout the entire Zi Xuan Palace.

  Zi Xuan Palace has bell ringing every morning and evening, with 36 beats of Tian Gang in the morning and 72 beats of Di Sha in the evening, totaling 108 beats, corresponding to the number of Small Zhou Tian. After the bell stops ringing, it is time for morning and evening classes.

  The so-called morning and evening classes, also called morning and evening altars, are the daily tasks of Taoist self-cultivation and music. As Taoism is a native Chinese religion, Taoist music has traditional characteristics and a strong national style, divided into vocal and instrumental parts. The melody is elegant and ancient, with rich content, including festive music for auspicious wishes and quiet melodies for refining and cultivating the mind. Listening to celestial music and understanding the Taoist way can give one a taste of the pleasure of being in a fairyland. The Wudang Mountains Taoist music combines palace music and folk music into one body. The forms can be divided into two categories: "yin" and "pai". According to the performance occasion, object, and purpose, "yin" can be further divided into "yang" and "yin", while "pai" can be divided into "zheng", "shua", and "faqi pai". Common instrumental pieces include "Shanpo Yang", "Wutong Yue", and "Yingxian Ke", while vocal pieces include "Pushou Yang", "Dou Lao Zan", and "Wangmu Zan". According to the content of the activities, they can be roughly divided into three categories: music for cultivating Taoist rituals, music for fasting and purification rituals, and music for commemorative rituals.

  Although he hadn't slept all night, Song Qing felt very refreshed and not the slightest bit tired. He got up immediately, washed his face, tidied up his clothes and hat in front of the mirror, and then went out to prepare for his early morning class.

  At this time, in the Zi Xiao Palace, several of the Wudang Seven Heroes had arrived, but Zhang Sanfeng was not among them. Firstly, he basically didn't need to be there, and secondly, someone needed to take care of Zhang Wuji as well.

  Song Qing walked up to the front, bowed to everyone, and sat down on his own cushion. After a while, dozens of fellow disciples arrived. It's unknown whether it was because Zhang Sanfeng had said something last time that took effect, or what, but Song Qing found that Song Yuanqiao's gaze towards him today was much softer than before.

  After the early class was over, Song Yuanqiao kept Song Qingchu behind and asked him about the parts he didn't understand. With such a good opportunity, Song Qingchu wouldn't let it go, and hurriedly asked all the questions he had previously not understood.

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