八卦掌祖师董海川“中年自阉”考析

A study of Baguazhang founder DONG Hai-chuan's “self castration at middle age”

传说八卦掌创立者董海川中年自阉入宫,这是武术史上绝无仅有的事。但他为什么要中年自阉入宫,却始终是个未解之谜。研究认为董并非中年自阉入宫,可能自幼即被阉割;而他自阉是受洪秀全之托试图进宫刺杀清帝之说,则是八卦掌后人美意编造;董自阉是为练成绝世武功的传说,以及金庸小说里为练"葵花宝典"而自阉的故事,则是受中国传统医学与道教养生学"宝精原则"影响的结果。董或本为阉人或自阉习武,亦足证八卦掌和道教的密切关系。

It was said that DONG hai-chuan got into the imperial palace by castrating himself at middle age, which was an unprecedented incident in the history of Wushu. But why he did that remained an unsolved mystery all the time. The authors believed that DONG did not get into the imperial palace by castrating himself at middle age, probably he was already castrated when he was a child; the story saying that his self castration was an attempt to get into the imperial palace to assassinate the emperor of the Qing dynasty as trusted by HONG Xiu-quan was made up by Baguazhang descendants in a well-meaning way; the legend saying that DONG’s self castration was for achieving peerless martial arts,and the story about his self castration for practicing “Sunflower Treasures” as told in a novel written by JIN Yong, were the results influenced by “the principle of sperm preciousness” in traditional Chinese medicine and Taoist health keeping philosophy. Either DONG was originally a castrated man, or he castrated himself for practicing martial arts,whichever is enough to show the close relationship between Baguazhang and Taoism.