Martial Art Essays from Beijing, 1760 : Via Media Publishing Company : 9781893765986 : 1893765989 : 27 Sep 2021 : The themes in this book-drawn from Chinese history, culture, and martial arts experience-are entwined in a fictional narrative to animate events envisaged to have occurred during the mid-eighteenth century. From the outset, a thin veil separates fact from fiction. Our story starts with a discovery. While conducting research at the Vatican Library on the Jesuit missions in China, two scholars find a folder of papers written in Chinese among documents belonging to Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), a painter at the royal court in Beijing. The papers turn out to be written by a fellow court painter, Yang Mingbin (c. 1664-1765). Yang's handwritten essays provide revelations vital for understanding the ingenuity of Chinese martial arts. Yang's text is organized under sixty-four subheadings. The author elucidates theory and practice methods in a fashion unlike any other writings