The Daoist priest "White Eyebrow" (Bai Mei Dao Ren) could very well be one of the most famous Daoists in Chinese history, largely because of his association with the legend of burning down the infamous martial arts institution - Shaolin Temple.
Little is truly known about Bai Mei aside from stories told by the various martial arts schools. Historians focused on the happenings of the Imperial Court, a lot of records were lost in the burning of Shaolin, and other figures associated with Bai Mei came from peasant backgrounds that lack the education to properly document the truth. Even the little truths that were documented could of been heavily influenced by the author's perspective and thereby biased. Some claim that Bai Mei was a traitor of the Shaolin Temple, some claim he belonged to the Daoist Wu Dang school, some claimed he belonged to the Daoist Emei school, some claimed he worked for the Manchu-ruled government, some called him a Daoist Monk versus a Daoist Priest, the stories go on and on... Despite the numerous variations of the "history" of Bai Mei, almost all versions focus on three points:
Belonging to the "Three-form Eagle Claw School" (San Shi Ying Zhao Men) which traces our lineage directly to Bai Mei, I will not attempt to argue which story about Bai Mei is true but rather, I would like to pass on the version of the legend passed onto me by my mentor (Shi Fu) - Ou Tian Feng.
Prejudiced Childhood, Aggressive Nature
Bai Mei was an orphan born during the Qing Dynasty around 1710 A.D. He had an ailment that from a very early age, his eyebrows permanently changed to white color. This was considered inauspicious and Bai Mei was sent off by superstitious people in his hometown to be raised at the nearby Buddhist monastery to "repent for evils from his previous life". Bai Mei was known to have a furious temper and was constantly bullied by the townspeople because of his "unlucky" features. He started training in the martial arts with his fellow monks at the monastery and astonishingly his skills excelled at an alarming rate! Bai Mei had found his "meaning in life" and desired more of himself and the development of his martial abilities. At the age of sixteen, he journeyed to the Shaolin Temple which was famous for their martial arts in hopes of furthering his martial skill.
Bai Mei spent many years at Shaolin, absorbing all the knowledge that the temple had to offer. His natural talent towards martial arts was reflected by him becoming one of the few monks to master the extremely difficult "Golden Bell Armor" style which rendered the human body almost invincible...
Bai Mei was a perfectionist, even when he accomplished mastery of such a difficult art, he was not satisfied and concentrated his efforts to overcome it! Although "Golden Bell Armor" kung-fu was invulnerable to attacks, it usually had a vulnerable point, a 'weak spot' about the size of a coin that if directly struck would literally break the armor and kill the practitioner. Bai Mei understood this weakness but he also understood that finding and striking the weak spot is not an easy task on a moving target. Bai Mei developed the "Phoenix-Eye Fist" style which was a close-quarter, rapid punching technique with an extended knuckle, a perfect style to counteract the Golden Bell Armor. Because of his accomplishments, Bai Mei worked up the ranks of Shaolin and was appointed the "Guardian of the Sutras Hall" in charge of maintaining the temple archives. Bai Mei was quite pleased with this appointment because he could have free access to all the valuable kung fu manuscripts and was highly respected.
Leaving Shaolin Temple
The Manchu race governing the Qing Dynasty was of a foreign origin and the Han Chinese was constantly revolting the harsh rule of the Manchurian government. After many failed attempts of rebellion, Han rebels sought refuge with the various Buddhist temples. The Shaolin Temple was very popular amongst the rebels, the rebels hold high hopes that they could learn the famous martial arts from the temple to further their cause. With such a large increase of people seeking refuge at the temple, a meeting was held by all the high ranking monks to determine a course of action...
Bai Mei also participated in the temple meeting, he expressed that the temple should not allow these rebels to stay otherwise this would involve the temple into political affairs with the state and other "worldly issues" which goes against the principles of being a monk. The other high ranking monks disagreed claiming that Buddhists cannot refuse the requests of people in need. This resulted in a heated debate, the temple finally accepted the rebels. Bai Mei was infuriated and renounced his Buddhist faith and left the temple.
Bai Mei ventured throughout China in search of an even "higher level" to his understanding of the martial arts. He finally arrived in Sichuan and was captivated by the scenic landscape. He journeyed up to Emei Mountain finding many famous Buddhist monasteries but he decided to become a Daoist priest within one of the smaller Daoist temples on the mountain. Bai Mei was inspired to find that the Daoists of Emei were trained martial artists and that their styles though lesser known than that of Shaolin or the more famous Daoist Wudang school, had many distinctive attributes. This discovery lead Bai Mei to remain at the temple and bestow upon his fellow Daoists his knowledge. Shortly after, an old acquaintance visited him from the Wudang School... A Daoist Monk named Feng Dao-de. Bai Mei and Feng Dao-de were classmates at Shaolin but Feng also left due to different interests. It was during this interaction with Feng Dao-de that Bai Mei integrated some Daoist concepts from both the Emei and Wudang schools along with his background of the Shaolin martial arts that he developed the Emei technique - Shi Hu Zhao (Ten Tiger Claw). The Ten Tiger Claw technique is a very simple and direct style utilizing the ten applications of force with the five finger claw - push, pull, support, sink, twist, rip, slap, rise, encircle, and grip. This technique focused on the inner energy - Qi, and functioned as a form of channeling of Qi. Bai Mei used this technique coinciding with his Golden Bell Armor Kung Fu to develop a means of even moving his weak point to not be fixed in a certain area, traditionally this was unheard of! Feng Dao-de decided to remain at Emei Mountain and developed his own variation of the technique - Bai Hu Zhao (White Tiger Claw).
Bai Mei finally felt that he's reached a new peak in his martial skills and decided to officially have disciples. Bai Mei still had a fiery temper and was very critical as of who he wanted to be his disciples, finally he selected two young men from very different backgrounds - Gao Jun Zong and Cheng Ming Dao. Gao Jun Zong, the senior disciple came from a wealthy family, intelligent, and talented. Cheng Ming Dao was an orphan that was raised at the temple. Bai Mei had similar a background as Cheng Ming Dao so he was very patient and tolerating with Cheng although he lacked the talent of his senior. Gao was an ambitious man, he trained diligently in hopes of using his skills to gain fame and fortune. Cheng was more focused on serving and respecting his master, treating Bai Mei almost as a father.
Gao Jun Zong was successful in proving his skills and obtained an official position with the Manchurian government. At this time, the government was plotting to eliminate the rebels hiding in the Shaolin Temple and sent Gao Jun Zong into the temple as a rebel seeking refuge to gather evidence. After five years, sufficient evidence had been recorded and the government was prepared to attack the temple and the rebels but they were afraid of the skilled martial artists within the temple... Especially the head abbot, Master Zhi Chan. Gao understood that this was a golden opportunity and eagerly proposed his master Bai Mei to help. Bai Mei was a senior classmate of Zhi Chan and Gao knew Bai Mei was still bothered by how Shaolin treated him while he was there, Gao being Bai Mei's favorite disciple finally persuaded Bai Mei to help him.
A well-planned assault of Shaolin took place, Gao had provided the Manchus with detailed maps of the temple and the locations that the rebels were hiding. A fierce battle went on between Bai Mei and Zhi Chan. Zhi Chan had mastered the Shaolin "Iron Cloth" Armor style which was a lesser form of Bai Mei's "Golden Bell" Armor and Zhi Chan was also skilled in the incredible "Iron Head" technique which conditioned the head and neck to function as a battering ram. Despite Zhi Chan's efforts, he was no match for Bai Mei... Zhi Chan's Iron Head couldn't get pass Bai Mei's armor. Although Zhi Chan originally knew of the location of Bai Mei's weak point, he found it a great surprise when he realized Bai Mei managed to shift it elsewhere. Bai Mei finally located Zhi Chan's weak spot using his Phoenix-Eye fist style and shattered his armor and broke Zhi Chan's neck with his Ten Tiger Claw. Though the rebels were completely surrounded, they resisted to the very end thus the Manchus decided to pull back and simply burn the temple.
