|
History |
| News About Us Ving Tsun Wushu Photos Lineage Links | |
| _____________________________________________________________________________________________ | |
by The Late Grandmaster Yip Man 1/4
The founder of the Ving Tsun Kung Fu System, Miss Yim Ving Tsun was a native of Canton
[Kwangtung Province] in China. She was an intelligent and athletic young girl, upstanding and
forthright. Her mother died soon after her betrothal to Leung Bok Chau, a salt merchant of
Fukien. Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime and, rather than risk jail, they
slipped away and finally settled down at the foot of Tai Leung Mountain near the border
between Yunan and Szechuan provinces. There they earned a living by running a shop that sold
bean curd.
During the reign of Emperor K'anghsi of the Ching Dynasty
(1662-1722) Kung Fu became
very strong in the Siu Lam [Shaolin] Monastery of Mt. Sung, in Honan Province. This aroused
the fear of the Manchu government [a non-Chinese people from Manchuria in the North, who
ruled China at that time], which sent troops to attack the Monastery. Although they were
unsuccessful, a man named Chan Man Wai, a recently appointed civil servant seeking favor
with the government, suggested a plan.