Wulin duels - public invited?

[Ken Cheng]

Some wulin duels are clearly intended to be private: uninvited observers were not welcome at the Mt. Hua Sword Tournaments and I think any intruders would have been dispatched by the Greats. Other wulin duels are accessible to an elite group of invited spectators, such as the individuals who were privileged enough to witness the Sai Mun Chui Sheut/Yip Goo Sing duel on the roof of the imperial palace.

Were there many other duels, however, wherein the general public was not only welcome, but actively encouraged to attend? Perhaps it's part of some general demonstration, or even a sort of early commercial entertainment where a fee would be charged for admission.

[Ren Ying Ying]

i dunno, but the restaurants around will either make big bucks or they'd wish they had never opened.

[Ken Cheng]

i dunno, but the restaurants around will either make big bucks or they'd wish they had never opened.

Potentially, they'd be set up like major sporting events today. Individual fighters or sects might even have fans, just as Tiger Woods or the L.A. Lakers have today.

[PJ]

Were there many other duels, however, wherein the general public was not only welcome, but actively encouraged to attend?

The Beggar's Union invited everyone in the martial world to attend its Chief Selection Tournament, near the end of ROCH.

[sarakoth]

Potentially, they'd be set up like major sporting events today. Individual fighters or sects might even have fans, just as Tiger Woods or the L.A. Lakers have today.

That statement made me think of something.

What exactly were the sects of wulin?

Did they operate as mercenaries like Naruto's hidden villages?

Are they like monasteries, separated from society and a place for anyone to train?

I've thought the latter as they seem to have little interactions with commoners besides ordering food.

However, they fight in wars fairly often but without pay, only out of patriotism.

I know that some of the largest sects (Shaolin, Quanzhen) had land that was farmed but how did most of the sects obtain their income.

Wulin members seem to me to be fairly affluent in the way they spend their money and the vast amounts of money they carried (most carry silver in taels and a tael has the spending power of about 300 RMB)

[jhudsui]

That statement made me think of something.

What exactly were the sects of wulin?

Did they operate as mercenaries like Naruto's hidden villages?

Are they like monasteries, separated from society and a place for anyone to train?

I've thought the latter as they seem to have little interactions with commoners besides ordering food.

However, they fight in wars fairly often but without pay, only out of patriotism.

I know that some of the largest sects (Shaolin, Quanzhen) had land that was farmed but how did most of the sects obtain their income.

Wulin members seem to me to be fairly affluent in the way they spend their money and the vast amounts of money they carried (most carry silver in taels and a tael has the spending power of about 300 RMB)

Well, basically the way I understood it is that they were some combination of the following three deals:

a. monastic orders supported by donation and largesse

b. noble/wealthy households whose capital was sufficient support high ranking families of people who spent all of that leisure time studying kung fu

c. basically protection rackets - the deal with wuxia fiction is there is this implicit assumption that the authorities turn a blind eye to all kinds of violent crime - in a world like that, the "protection" offered by the oversight of an organized sect is probably actually a valuable commodity well worth paying for

[PJ]

Apparently, the Juxian Manor gathering sought to attract such a public attendance. The event was conceived on-the-fly. There was only one day between the time when the idea was conceived, to the time of the event! The flyers did not bear any invitee's name, in order to encourage everybody to attend.

[Ken Cheng]

Apparently, the Juxian Manor gathering sought to attract such a public attendance. The event was conceived on-the-fly. There was only one day between the time when the idea was conceived, to the time of the event! The flyers did not bear any invitee's name, in order to encourage everybody to attend.

One day's notice?! Heck, you couldn't get something like that today with only a day's notice even with international air travel and cars. I guess the event must have been local wulin members only.

But there were Shaolin and Beggar's Union representatives on hand, even a cameo by a Great Evil.

[PJ]

Juxian Manor was located near Shaolin temple. The attendees were mostly locals living within close proximity of Shaolin.