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The Royal Swordsmen
''The Royal Swordsmen'' () is a Chinese ''wuxia'' television series directed by Deng Yancheng and Wei Liyuan, starring Roger Kwok, Li Yapeng, Wallace Huo, Michelle Ye, Damian Lau, Tammy Chen, Gao Yuanyuan and Eva Huang. It was first shown on Shenzhen Media Group's Drama Channel on 30 January 2005. Plot The series is set in China during the Ming dynasty. Zhu Wushi, the Emperor's uncle, had received an order from the previous emperor to establish a secret service to protect the monarchy. One of the most formidable martial artists in the ''jianghu'' himself, Zhu Wushi has recruited four elite agents who are known by their code names: Heaven Number One, Mysterious Number One, Earth Number One, and Yellow Number One. Heaven Number One is the calm and cool-headed Duan Tianya, who was raised as Zhu Wushi's godson and sent to Japan to learn ninjutsu from the Iga School. While in Japan, he had a romantic relationship with Yukihime, the elder daughter of Yagyū Tajima-no-Kami, the patriar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wuxia
( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted for such diverse art forms as Chinese opera, manhua, television dramas, films, and video games. It forms part of popular culture in many Chinese-speaking communities around the world. The word "" is a compound composed of the elements (, literally "martial", "military", or "armed") and (, literally "chivalrous", "vigilante" or "hero"). A martial artist who follows the code of is often referred to as a (, literally "follower of ") or (, literally "wandering "). In some translations, the martial artist is referred to as a "swordsman" or "swordswoman" even though they may not necessarily wield a sword. The heroes in wuxia fiction typically do not serve a lord, wield military power, or belong to the aristocratic class. They often originat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tammy Chen
Tammy may refer to: *Tam o' Shanter (cap), a Scottish hat * ''Tammy'' (film series), a series of four films **''Tammy and the Bachelor'', the first film in the series ** "Tammy" (song), a popular song from ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' ** ''Tammy'' (TV series), a 1965 U.S. television comedy based on the series * ''Tammy'' (film), a 2014 film (unrelated to the aforementioned series) * ''Tammy'' (comics), a British comic that ran from 1971 to 1984 *Tammy (given name) **Tamara (given name) * ''Tammy'' (doll), a fashion doll created by the Ideal Toy Company in response to Mattel's Barbie doll *Tammy (cloth), a woven fabric *''Tammy'', a British girls' fashion store chain, purchased by and incorporated into Bhs stores after 2005 See also *Tammi (other) *Tami (other) *Tamis A tamis (pronounced "tammy", also known as a drum sieve, or chalni in Indian cooking) is a kitchen utensil, shaped somewhat like a snare drum, that acts as a strainer, grater, or food mill. A t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Depot
Eastern Depot or Eastern Bureau () was a Ming dynasty spy and secret police agency run by eunuchs. It was created by the Yongle Emperor. History After the Yongle Emperor usurped the throne in 1402 from his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, he attempted to retain the officials who served in Jianwen's court, but some of them opposed him. In 1420, in order to suppress political opposition, Yongle decided to create the Eastern Depot (named as such because it was located east of the imperial palace), a spy and secret police agency run by eunuchs. They were responsible for spying on officials of any rank, including military officers, scholars, rebels and the general populace. The Eastern Depot would investigate and arrest suspects, and then hand them over to the Jinyiwei for interrogation. In the late Ming dynasty, the Eastern Depot had its own tactical forces and prisons, and became so powerful that even officials were ordered to kowtow to the Depot's leaders. The Eastern Depot lasted to 16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neigong
Neigong, also spelled ''nei kung'', ''neigung'', or ''nae gong'', refers to any of a set of Chinese breathing, meditation, somatics practices, and spiritual practice disciplines associated with Daoism and especially the Chinese martial arts. Neigong practice is normally associated with the so-called "soft style", "internal" or neijia Chinese martial arts, as opposed to the category known as waigong or "external skill" which is historically associated with shaolinquan or the so-called "hard style", "external" or wàijiā Chinese martial arts. Both have many different schools, disciplines and practices and historically there has been mutual influence between the two and distinguishing precisely between them differs from school to school. There is both martial and non-martial neigong. Well-known examples of martial neigong are the various breathing and focus trainings taught in some traditional Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Xingyiquan and Liuhebafa schools. An example of non-martial ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dao (Chinese Sword)
''Dao'' (pronunciation: , English approximation: , Chinese: 刀; pinyin: ''dāo'') are single-edged Chinese swords, primarily used for slashing and chopping. The most common form is also known as the Chinese sabre, although those with wider blades are sometimes referred to as Chinese broadswords. In China, the dao is considered one of the four traditional weapons, along with the ''gun'' (stick or staff), '' qiang'' (spear), and the ''jian'' (double-edged sword), called in this group "The General of Weapons". Name In Chinese, the word can be applied to ''any'' weapon with a single-edged blade and usually refers to knives. Because of this, the term is sometimes translated as knife or Nonetheless, within Chinese martial arts and in military contexts, the larger "sword" versions of the ''dao'' are usually intended. General characteristics While dao have varied greatly over the centuries, most single-handed dao of the Ming period and later and the modern swords based on them s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi
was one of the most famous and romanticized of the samurai in Japan's feudal era. Life Very little is known about the actual life of Yagyū Mitsuyoshi as the official records of his life are very sparse. Yagyū Jūbē Mitsuyoshi (born "Shichirō") grew up in his family's ancestral lands, Yagyū no Sato, now in Nara. He was the son of Yagyū Tajima no Kami Munenori, master swordsman of the Tokugawa ''shōguns'', especially Ieyasu and Tokugawa Iemitsu, who prized Munenori as one of his top Counselors . Munenori fought for the first Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, at the Battle of Sekigahara, expanding the shōgun's territory. For his efforts, Munenori was made the shōgun's sword instructor and a minor ''daimyō'' (provincial ruler), by extending his family hereditary domain up to 10,000 koku. Despite not being the heir of his father as the headmaster of the Yagyū style (and thus far from being an unrivaled swordsman under the Heaven), he received the post for its importance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenjutsu
is an umbrella term for all ('' ko-budō'') schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of kenjutsu in their curriculum. Kenjutsu, which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan, means "methods, techniques, and the art of the Japanese sword". This is opposed to kendo, which means "the way of the sword" and uses a bamboo sword (shinai) and protective armour (bōgu). The exact activities and conventions undertaken when practicing ''kenjutsu'' vary from school to school, where the word school here refers to the practice, methods, ethics, and metaphysics of a given tradition, yet commonly include practice of battlefield techniques without an opponent and techniques whereby two practitioners perform '' kata'' (featuring full contact strikes to the body in some styles and no body contact strikes permitted in others). Altho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nemuri Kyōshirō
is a series of jidaigeki novels written by Renzaburō Shibata. The stories were originally serialized beginning in May 1956 in the ''Shūkan Shinchō''. The stories take place during the Edo period under the Tokugawa shogunate and the rules of Tokugawa Ienari and his successor Tokugawa Ieyoshi. They center on the title character, a sleepy-eyed ''rōnin'', or outlaw swordsman, who is the son of a Japanese mother (the daughter of a , who commits (see "Female Ritual Suicide" in ''Seppuku'') some time after Kyoshiro's birth) and a foreign father, and who was conceived during a Black Mass (resulting in his fierce hatred for what he considers the hypocrisy of Christianity).AnimEigo , Series Introduction (December 28, 2007). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yagyū Clan
The were a family of ''daimyōs'' (feudal lords) with lands just outside Nara, who became the heads of one of Japan's greatest schools of swordsmanship, Yagyū Shinkage-ryū. The Yagyū were also Kenjutsu teachers to the Tokugawa shōguns and descendant of the famous Taira clan, hailing from prestigious Imperial Lineage with the Kabane rank of ''Ason''. Yagyū Muneyoshi (1527-1606), the first famous Yagyū swordsman, fought for a number of different lords before meeting Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shōgun. In 1563, he was defeated by the great swordsman Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, praised as one of the very few ''Kensei'' throughout Japan. Humbled by his defeat, Muneyoshi became Nobutsuna's disciple, and was later named his successor, founding the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū school of swordsmanship. In 1594, Muneyoshi was invited to Tokugawa Ieyasu's mansion in Kyoto, where he provided such an incredible display of sword skills that the warlord asked that the Yagyū become sword inst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yagyū Munenori
was a Japanese daimyo, swordsman, and martial arts writer, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, which he learned from his father Yagyū "Sekishūsai" Muneyoshi. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the Tokugawa shogunate (the other one being ''Ittō-ryū''). Munenori began his career in the Tokugawa administration as a hatamoto, a direct retainer of the Tokugawa house, and later had his income raised to 10,000 ''koku'', making him a minor ''fudai daimyō'' (vassal lord serving the Tokugawa), with landholdings around his ancestral village of Yagyū-zato. He also received the title of (). Career Munenori entered the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu at a young age, and later was an instructor of swordsmanship to Ieyasu's son Hidetada. Still later, he became one of the primary advisors of the third shōgun Iemitsu. Shortly before his death in 1606, Sekishusai passed the leadership of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū to his grandson Toshiyoshi.Wilson, William Scott ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iga-ryū
is an umbrella term for ninjutsu traditions that come from the Iga region, according to Japanese legend. It became one of the two most well-known ninja traditions in Japan. The ''Iga-ryū'' traditions originated in the Iga Province in the area around the towns of Iga, Ueno, and Nabari (modern Iga City and Nabari City in Mie Prefecture). ''Iga-mono'' is a synonym for Iga ninja. History Since the Nara period, the Iga district had supplied lumber to jisha (寺社, temple-shrines). But in the Kamakura period, jisha declined in influence while shugo (governors) and jitō (manor administrators) grew dominant. The power of these functionaries then waned in Iga while that of bushi (warriors) rose instead. Iga was divided into local jizamurai regions locked in guerrilla war for which Iga warriors developed specialized skills and tactics. During the early Muromachi period, the people of Iga became independent of their feudal overlords and established a kind of republic—''Iga Sokoku ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninjutsu
, sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some traditional Japanese schools, which integrated study of more conventional martial arts (''taijutsu'') along with ''shurikenjutsu'', ''kenjutsu'', ''sōjutsu'', '' bōjutsu'' and others. While there is an international martial arts organization representing several modern styles of ''ninjutsu'', the historical lineage of these styles is disputed. Some schools claim to be the only legitimate heir of the art, but ''ninjutsu'' is not centralized like modernized martial arts such as judo or karate. Togakure-ryū claims to be the oldest recorded form of ninjutsu, and claims to have survived past the 16th century. History Spying in Japan dates as far back as Prince Shōtoku (572–622). According to Shōninki, the first open usage of ''ninjutsu'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
