The Emei Sect is a fictional martial arts sect mentioned in several works of ''

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 ...

'' fiction. It is commonly featured as one of the leading orthodox sects in the '' wulin'' (martial artists' community). It is named after the place where it is based,

Mount Emei Mount Emei (; ), alternately Mount Omei, is a mountain in Sichuan Province, China, and is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China. Mount Emei sits at the western rim of the Sichuan Basin. The mountains west of it are kn ...

History

Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), pronounced "Gum Yoong" in Cantonese, was a Chinese wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry") novelist and essayist who co-founded the Hong Kong da ...

's '' The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber'', the Emei Sect is founded in the early

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...

by Guo Xiang around the same time as the Wudang Sect. Cha, Louis. ''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''. ''Ming Pao'', 1961. Guo Xiang is the sole descendant of the Guo family from '' The Return of the Condor Heroes'' after the

Battle of Xiangyang The Battle of Xiangyang () was a protracted series of battles between the Yuan dynasty and the Southern Song dynasty from 1267 to 1273. The battle was a significant victory for the Yuan dynasty and ended a 30-year defensive campaign waged by th ...

. She escapes from Xiangyang with the Heaven Reliant Sword (), becomes a powerful martial artist and roams the ''jianghu'' as a '' youxia''. At the age of 40, she becomes a nun and founds the Emei Sect. Abbess Fengling becomes her successor, who in turn, is succeeded by Abbess Miejue. In Jin Yong's works, the sect's members are predominantly women and its leaders are Buddhist/Taoist nuns. In ''wuxia'' works by other writers, the Emei Sect has members of both sexes, who play equally important roles in the sect. In '' Sword Stained with Royal Blood'', set in the late

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, Emei is briefly mentioned as one of the "Four Great Sword Sects" and has male members as well. Cha, Louis. ''Sword Stained with Royal Blood''. ''Ming Pao'', 1956. In

Gu Long Xiong Yaohua (7 June 1938 – 21 September 1985), better known by his pen name Gu Long, was a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director. A graduate of Cheng Kung Senior High School and Tamkang University, Xio ...

's ''The Kingdom of the Golden Bird'' of the ''

Lu Xiaofeng Lu Xiaofeng is the fictional protagonist of the ''wuxia'' novel series ''Lu Xiaofeng Series'' by Gu Long. Character description Lu Xiaofeng is described as a charming, good-looking man sporting a moustache that resembles his eyebrows, ...

Series'', Emei is led by Dugu Yihe, who is slain by Ximen Chuixue. Gu Long. ''The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng''.

Skills and martial arts

In Jin Yong's novels, Emei's martial arts are the best among those suited for women. The origins of Emei's martial arts come from its founder, Guo Xiang. Guo's martial arts were mostly inherited from her family, including some of

Huang Yaoshi Huang Yaoshi is a fictional character in the wuxia novel ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' and its sequel, ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'', by Jin Yong. He is one of the Five Greats of the '' wulin'' (martial artists' community) during the ...

(her maternal grandfather)'s skills. Cha, Louis. ''The Return of the Condor Heroes''. ''Ming Pao'', 1959. She also learnt part of the ''Nine Yang Manual'' from Jueyuan in her younger days. However, it does have some elements of unorthodox skills, as exhibited by Zhou Zhiruo when she uses the "Nine Yin White Bone Claw" () after finding the ''Nine Yin Manual'' (). Emei's martial arts range from powerful inner energy cultivation techniques to the use of weapons and unarmed combat. They encompass the Twelve Movements () and the Six Specially Mastered Skills (). Emei's members primarily use the

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

. They also use needles and hairpins, called the "Prick of Emei" () or "Jade Maiden Hairpin" (), as projectile weapons to be thrown at enemies. The most powerful of Emei's skills are the 'Emei Swordplay' and the 36 styles of '' dianxue'' (). Like Wudang, Emei's skills have two sides to them, encompassing elements of "softness" and "roughness" and "long range" and "short range" attacks, all in the same style of fighting. They rotate between deceptive and direct attacks and can be used effectively by women to overcome opponents who are physically stronger than them. Some movements in Emei's swordplays are feminine in nature and are named after beauties in Chinese history and

Chinese idiom ''Chengyu'' () are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expression, most of which consist of four characters. ''Chengyu'' were widely used in Classical Chinese and are still common in vernacular Chinese writing and in the spoken language ...

s used to describe feminine beauty.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emei Sect Organizations in Wuxia fiction

History

Skills and martial arts

See also

Notes