Most of the ancient literati in China were martial arts: Confucius and Li Bai were both martial arts masters.

Dating back to the pre-Qin period, in fact, the requirement for "scholars" was both civil and military, and taxis were indeed capable of writing and martial arts at that time. Even later, the scribes and warriors gradually began to have a division of labor, and the scribes often served as warriors. It is not unusual for scholars in Han, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties to practice martial arts. China's literati gradually formed a weak and helpless image, which actually began in the Song Dynasty.

In a Hong Kong TV series, Li Bai was played as a martial arts expert. I saw some serious people criticize him: "Hong Kong TV plays are ridiculous. It turned Li Bai into a martial arts master and turned a story of Li Bai into a martial arts film. "

Although there are many jokes in Hong Kong TV dramas, it is not far from historical facts to play Li Bai as a martial arts expert. The real Li Bai in history should be quite good at martial arts. He studied swordsmanship at the age of 15, studied under the masters at that time, and experienced a long life as a ranger. According to the hints in his poems, he seems to be an assassin, so it is impossible to think that his martial arts are low. He traveled all over the world without a plane or even a bicycle, and he was not afraid of meeting robbers. Obviously, he must be very strong. If we describe Li Bai as a neurotic poet, weak and helpless, then we are really joking with Li Bai.

The bigger misunderstanding is that Confucius, the Confucius in most people's minds, should be similar to the old teacher in our movies, thin and slightly hunched, and has nothing to do with the image of a martial arts master.

We don't know what Confucius' martial arts really are. All his life, he calmly dealt with all kinds of difficulties with superhuman wisdom, and never encountered the situation that he had to fight and compete alone. More importantly, Lutz is among the students. Lutz will definitely become a martial arts expert by then, and there is no need for his teacher to do it. However, at least I have a good guess that Confucius is by no means thin, and his martial arts should be good. First of all, from the genetic point of view, Shu, the father of Confucius, was one of the best martial arts experts in Lu at that time. He could lift the door of a thousand pounds. Confucius has this inheritance, and it won't be too bad to think about it. Of course, just looking at heredity is not enough as sufficient evidence. For example, Fang Zuming, the son of Kung Fu movie star Jackie Chan, can't make martial arts films. Maybe Confucius is more like his mother? Confucius, on the other hand, was unusually tall and was a famous "long man" in Lu, so he was probably more like his father. In addition, among the six arts taught by Confucius, besides poetry, calligraphy, ceremony and music, there are also shooting and imperial, which was definitely martial arts at that time. Shooting is archery, and imperial is chariot, which is equivalent to what we now call shooting technology and racing technology. Moreover, Confucius also clearly expressed his high confidence in his shooting and defensive skills. If he is not a martial arts master, with his modest personality, how can he boast that he is a master in front of all students, including Lutz?

In fact, in ancient China, especially in ancient China before the Song Dynasty, it is not unusual for literati to have martial arts. Therefore, some literati with high martial arts are not different. Ban Chao can join the army because of his good health. When Zu Ti heard the chicken dance, he didn't get up to dance ballroom dancing, but danced sword and practiced martial arts.

Dating back to the pre-Qin period, in fact, the requirement for "scholars" was both civil and military, and taxis were indeed capable of writing and martial arts at that time. Even later, the scribes and warriors gradually began to have a division of labor, and the scribes often served as warriors. It is not unusual for scholars in Han, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties to practice martial arts. China's literati gradually formed a weak and helpless image, which actually began in the Song Dynasty.

Song Taizu and Zhao Kuangyin are military commanders themselves, but after becoming a country, they are wary of military personnel. He believes that soldiers are often the chief culprit in wars, and if the world is peaceful, they cannot be allowed to have too high status and power. Therefore, high-profile emphasis on literature over martial arts, literati can wear red clothes to brag in the market, but the status of military commanders is far lower than that of civilian officials, even close to criminals. Even a generation of famous Di Qing will still be despised by civil servants. There were also martial arts masters among the literati in the Song Dynasty, such as Xin Qiji, who was able to lead hundreds of people into the camp of more than 200,000 people and assassinate traitors in the camp. However, his fate was also cut to the relieving. After that, the tendency of literati to be "literate" rather than "martial" gradually strengthened, and finally formed the literati image of our modern China people ―― as cowardly, sissy and timid as the junior of Peking Opera. When they encounter something, they have no opinion or courage, but they often need beauty to save them. Their only strength is that they are "good at reading" and can be admitted to the top.

Do scholars influence the national character of China? In my opinion, this is not only there, but also not small. Let's imagine, if Li Bai doesn't practice swordsmanship and is weak, can we imagine that he will have the majestic spirit of Dapeng? Although psychological courage does not depend entirely on physical strength, physical weakness often weakens a person's mental boldness and weakens a person's courage and psychological strength, which is a certain tendency. A gentle person like a Peking Opera student may be cautious, but he is generally poor in determination. Reading itself may not need a strong body, but a person can't do without a relatively strong body if he wants to engage in practice. Therefore, the weakness of the scribes will inevitably lead to more and more cowardice in decision-making, resulting in weaker ability in practice, or weaker mobility of the scribes. The weakness of the Chinese nation is related to this.

Fortunately, there was a Wang Yangming in the Ming Dynasty who advocated the unity of knowledge and action, which saved the national character to a certain extent and made it not weaker. Wang Yangming himself is good at archery. When competing with soldiers, he surprised the soldiers to find that all three arrows hit the hearts. Although he looks thin, he is actually strong. Wang Yangming's legacy influenced Zeng Guofan and many later scholars, and became an important cultural resource for China people.

The mind is not limited by the body, so the weak can be brave, just as the growth of precious plants depends not only on the land, but also on the seeds. But after all, the body is the home of the soul, and fertile soil must be suitable for cultivating excellent varieties, so a strong body must have an auxiliary effect on a strong spirit. In today's world, talented people should strive to get rid of the decadent style of literati after the Song Dynasty and restore the brave spirit of many ancient literati from Confucius to Li Bai. A strong scholar's body is spiritual, and a strong scholar's spirit is my family. The dream of strengthening the country must begin with strengthening the people.