From spirits to memory
The reception of Chinese religious elements in a kung-fu practice context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/1677-1222.2024vol24i3a5Keywords:
Chinese martial arts, Chinese religions, Popular religiosity, Transplantation, Fragmentary religiosityAbstract
Martial arts training halls originating from East Asia are often seen as “iconographic repositories” that reflect the arts, culture, and spiritual traditions of their countries of origin. These spaces also serve as sites for rituals, which, when transplanted, can be reinterpreted, “dialogued” with, and transformed. In this article, the authors aim to explore an iconographic collection and a ritual associated with the training halls of the Sistema Sino-Brasileiro de Kung-Fu (Sino-Brazilian Kung-Fu System), one of the most significant frameworks for the dissemination of Chinese martial arts in Brazil. To achieve this, they conduct both theoretical and field research involving 13 instructors from Brazil, Argentina, and the United States. The investigation focuses on the significance—whether religious or otherwise—of these elements, examining what they are and how they are perceived within a cultural context (specifically, that of Chinese martial arts in transplanted environments) where religion plays a secondary role.
References
APOLLONI, R., “Shaolin à Brasileira – Estudo sobre a presença e a transformação de elementos religiosos no Kung-Fu praticado no Brasil”, dissertação de mestrado apresentada ao Programa de Estudos Pós-Graduados em Ciência da Religião da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP), 221 p., 2004, disp. em <https://www.academia.edu/20512194/_Shaolin_%C3%A0_Brasileira_Estudo_sobre_a_presen%C3%A7a_e_a_transforma%C3%A7%C3%A3o_de_elementos_religiosos_orientais_no_Kung_Fu_praticado_no_Brasil> (c. 19.07.24).
APOLLONI, Rodrigo Wolff, e AGUIAR, José Otávio, “Punhos, Espadas e Livros ‐
artes marciais no contexto da Primeira República Chinesa (1912‐1949)”, Campina
Grande, 1ª edição: Editora da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (EDUFCG),
, 98 p.
APOLLONI, R., AGUIAR, J., “Os Espíritos e as Regras de uma placa votiva do Kung-Fu Brasileiro – Iconografia, História e Religiosidade”, 1ª edição: Curitiba, Editora do Centro Ásia, 2023, 164 p.
BAPTISTA, R., “Grand Master Gu Ruzhang”, artigo publicado in Kung-Fu Connection, disp. em <https://kungfuconnection.net/about/grand-master-gu-ruzhang/> (c. 19.07.24).
BAPTISTA, R., “Grand Master Yan Shang Wu”, artigo publicado in Kung-Fu Connection, disp. em < https://kungfuconnection.net/about/grand-master-yan-shang-wu/> (c. 19.07.24).
BUSWELL, Robert, e LOPEZ, Donald, “The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism”, 1ª
edição, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014, 1265 p.
CHEN, M., “Photographing the Invisible: Immortal Spirit Photography and China’s En(light)enment”, Trans Asia Photography –TAP (2022) 12 (1), Duke University Press, disp. em <https://read.dukeupress.edu/trans-asia-photography/article/doi/10.1215/21582025-9710562/313448/Photographing-the-Invisible-Immortal-Spirit> (c. 19.07.24).
CHENG, Anne, “História do Pensamento Chinês”, 1ª edição, Petrópolis: Vozes,
, 816 p.
GIVE US A SMILE, in Broadcaster’s Eye, NHK, reportagem em vídeo disponível em <https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=902063057893770> (c. 19.07.24).
GU Ruzhang (顧汝章, Gù Rǔzhāng), “太極拳” (Tàijí quán), “Tai‐Chi‐Chuan”,
manual publicado em 1936 e traduzido por Paul BRENNAN, in Brennan Translation,
disp. in <https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/the‐taiji‐
manual‐of‐gu‐ruzhang/> (c. 20.08.23).
HABKIRK, Scott, e CHANG, Hsun, “Scents, Community, and Incense in Traditional Chinese Religion”, in The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief (“Material Religion”), pp. 156‐174, Volume 13, 2017 ‐ Issue 2, publicação eletrônica em 21 de abril de 2017.
HARREL, Stevan, “The Concept of Soul in Chinese Folk Religion”, in Journal of Asian Studies (1979) 38 (3): 519–528, p. 519.
HENNING, Stanley, “El general chino Yue Fei: hechos, relatos y misterios de las
artes marciales”, in Revista de Artes Marciales Asiáticas (Universidade de León,
Espanha), Volume 2, Número 1, 2007, p. 50‐55, p. 52, artigo disponível em
revpubli.unileon.es/ojs/index.php/artesmarciales/article/view/284/241> (c. 27.08.23).
LU, Zhouxiang, “A History of Shaolin ‐ Buddhism, Kung Fu and Identity”, 1ª edição,
Londres/Nova Iorque: Routledge, 2019, 293 p.
MATTEN, Marc Andre, “The Worship of General Yue Fei and His Problematic
Creation as a National Hero in Twentieth Century China”, in Frontiers of History in
China, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2011, p. 74‐94.
SHAHAR, M., “O Mosteiro de Shaolin ‐ história, religião e as artes marciais
chinesas”, 1ª edição: São Paulo, Perspectiva, 2011, 349 p. STEVENS, Keith, “Chinese Gods – The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons”, 1ª
edição, Londres: Collins & Brown, 1997, 192 p.
STUART, J., “The Face in Life and Death: Mimesis and Chinese Ancestor Portraits.” In Body and Face in Chinese Visual Culture, Wu Hung and Katherine R. Tsiang (Eds.), 1ª ed., vol. 239, Harvard University Asia Center, 2005, pp. 197–228. JSTOR, <https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1tfj9v6.12> (c. 19.07.24).
TER HAAR, B., “Guan Yu: The Religious Afterlife of a Failed Hero”, Oxford, 1ª edição: Oxford University Press, 2017, 320 p.
THE STRAITS TIMES (apud YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK), “Take a funeral portrait, scatter fake ashes: death tourism rising draw for Japan’s elderly”, reportagem publicada em 20.01.16 e disp. em <https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/take-a-funeral-portrait-scatter-fake-ashes-death-tourism-rising-draw-for-japans> (c. 19.07.24).
THE MONA LISA EFFECT: Eyespots deter predators that approach from different directions, artigo publicado em MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT em 18.10.22 e disp. em <https://www.mpg.de/19378715/1018-choe-der-mona-lisa-effekt-155371-x> (c. 19.07.24).
TUAN, YI-FU. Topofilia: um estudo da percepção, atitudes e valores do meio ambiente. Tradução de Lívia de Oliveira. São Paulo: Ed. DIFEL, 1980.
TUAN, YI-FU. Espaço e Lugar: a perspectiva da experiência. Tradução de Lívia de Oliveira. São Paulo: Ed. DIFEL, 1983.
TUAN, YI-FU. Geografia Humanística. In. CHRISTOFOLETTI, A (Org.), Perspectivas da Geografia, 2ª ed., São Paulo: DIFEL, 1985.
XINHUA Português [agência noticiosa oficial da República Popular da China],
“Foco em Xi: Yue Fei, herói de infância de Xi Jinping”, artigo publicado em 10.01.2021 e disp. em <http://portuguese.news.cn/2021‐10/01/c_1310221696.htm> (c. 25.08.23).
YADAV, Virendra, et al, “Incense and incense sticks: types, components, origin and
their religious beliefs and importance among different religions”, in J. Bio. Innov 9(6),
pp: 1420‐1439, 2020.
YE ZHANHANG, “With Funeral Portraits, a Photographer Gives Dignity to Rural Elderly”, reportagem publicada in Sixth Tone em 31.10.23 e disp. em <https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1013987> (c. 19.07.24).
供奉, entrada em “重編國語辭典修訂本” (“Edição Revisada do Dicionário de Mandarim”), Taipei, 6ª edição: Rede Acadêmica de Taiwan ‐ Ministério da Educação da República da China, disp. in <https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=75841&la=0&powerMode=0> (c.
09.23).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree with the following terms:- Authors retain copyright, but grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons BY-NC License.
- Authors are authorized to assume additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the work published in this journal (e.g., publishing in an institutional repository or as a book chapter), as long as with acknowledgment of authorship and first publication in this journal.
