About "swordsmen", it first appeared in the memorial of Ye Boying, the governor of Shaanxi Province:
"In the fifth year of Xianfeng, Shaanxi Province made a charter. After that, the swordsmen were captured, and their criminals were all killed in the army. It is equivalent to deserving an additional level of punishment for this crime."
It can be seen that the rise of Shaanxi swordsmen should be at least five years ago in Xianfeng, or even earlier.
In Shaanxi at that time, there was a poem like this:
There were no swordsmen in Tongzhou in the past,
Recently, groups of people went to the market to play.
Thieves are committed at night and seen in the daytime.
The gang is running rampant and the officials don’t know it.
In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued one after another, and the people were desperate. Some bankrupt and unemployed farmers and urban small industrialists, as well as people who were oppressed and framed by landlords and bullies and had no choice but to escape pursuit, rebelled angrily and took desperate measures. , As a result, the "Swordsmen", an armed force that wandered among the people and acted chivalrously, appeared in the Guanzhong area of ??Shaanxi Province.
The Swordsmen are a popular local chivalrous organization. They are famous for their members carrying a "Guanshan knife" produced in Guanshan Town, Lintong. This kind of knife is about 3 feet long and less than 2 inches wide. The shape is special and extremely sharp.
So the common people call them "swordsmen".
The "Guanzhong Swordsmen" have inherited the Guanzhong tradition since the Qin and Han Dynasties of advocating freedom, hating evil as much as hatred, and being chivalrous and righteous. They must be true to their words and resolute in their deeds, stick to their commitments, and are not moved by money. At the expense of his own life, he fought against the injustice and drew his sword to help the weak people who were bullied by the local tyrants in the countryside.
For example, the name change of Pucheng Swordsman King is a typical example.
Wang changed his name (1830-1865). He practiced martial arts hard since he was a child, and he has extraordinary courage and outstanding martial arts. When he was 20 years old, he killed a local bully who killed his father and took away his mother with his own hands, and he became a "swordsman" from then on.
The king changed his name and often hoeed the strong and helped the weak, robbed the rich and helped the poor, and was highly praised by the local people. The weapon he often carries is called the "Gouwa Cannon", which is very powerful and famous.
Because Wang changed his name and was highly skilled in martial arts, good at fighting injustices, and dealing with justice, he was promoted as a leader by his peers. His influence in Pucheng County became more and more important, and more and more people defected to him.
He gathered a crowd to garrison at Nanjingjiabao in Lubotan, at the junction of Pu, Fu, Lin and Wei counties. It had strong walls, deep trenches and firearms to prevent attacks by officers and soldiers. The local people refused to pay grain taxes and all came under his leadership.
Wang changed his name and seemed to occupy half of Pucheng, competing with the government. The Pucheng County government mobilized troops to pursue him, but Wang changed his name and was defeated, so he fled to Sichuan.
Later, Zhu Dayuan, the magistrate of Pucheng County, arrested his mother and forced Wang to change his name. When he learned where he was hiding, he asked an official to disguise himself as a jade dealer to approach him and take the opportunity to stab him.
During the fight, Zhu Dayuan arrived with his convoys and battalion troops. Wang Changming was exhausted and was captured, so he killed him generously.
The rename of the Swordsman King has the typical characteristics of "Guanzhong Swordsman".
First of all, he was born in poverty, had grievances, was highly skilled in martial arts, had a sense of justice, was fair in dealing with things, and liked to fight against injustice.
Secondly, he is a leader recognized by heavy swordsmen in Pucheng County. He dares to confront the government, dominates the place, and resolves cases fairly, which is highly praised by the people.
The third is that its influence is limited, limited to Pucheng, and lacks contact with swordsmen in other counties. It is weak and unable to withstand the suppression of the government and cannot last long.
Most of the swordsmen in Guanzhong are like this.
Swordsmen played an important role in the process of social changes, especially in the Revolution of 1911.
Yan Xiaoquan, the Chaoyi swordsman who dominated the Yellow River beach area, together with Weinan swordsmen Li Zhaoxiang, Cao Yusheng, etc., formed three swordsman battalions. As the vanguard, they crossed the river from Daqing Pass and quickly recovered the counties in southern Shanxi. The seizure of a large number of weapons, ammunition, materials and equipment enabled the Shaanxi army to get rid of its economic difficulties.
Weinan swordsman Yan Jipeng led more than a thousand Weinan swordsmen to participate in the second eastern expedition to Tongguan and made the first contribution.
Fuping swordsmen were greatly influenced by Jing Wumu and Hu Jingyi. Most swordsmen joined the "Weibei Restoration Army" founded by Hu Jingyi and played a huge role in defending Weibei, Xi'an Weizhen.
Guanzhong swordsmen gradually disappeared after the Revolution of 1911, but the swordsman’s image, swordsman spirit, and swordsman complex have become the edges and corners of Guanzhong’s social character. The swordsman culture still continues to flow among the people of Guanzhong. In the heart.