John talks with Chris Bates about one of Taiwan’s greatest ever martial artists, Hong Yixiang 洪懿祥 (1925–1993). He was Taiwan’s foremost master of the Chinese internal martial arts (which consist of baguazhang 八卦掌, xingyiquan 形意拳 and taijiquan 太極拳.) The Hong family learnt these fighting forms from exiled Mainlanders who fled the communists in the late 1940s. These skills were put to good use in dealing with local gangsters in the turbulent post-WWII years in Taipei.

Chris, who trained with Hong and his sons, translated his biography “Blurred Boundaries,” written by son Hong Ze-han, into English. Like the book, this Bookish Asia episode is not just a conversation about kung fu, but a rich cultural dive down little-known alleys.

(Note: This is a slightly longer version – with added mentions of the translation and publisher – of an edition which ran on the Formosa Files podcast on June 13/2024. Chris also previously spoke with John about his own martial arts odyssey in Taiwan: “Bonus Episode: Way of the Warrior - Martial Arts Master Chris Bates,” May 25, 2023.)

More books at Plum Rain Press

Taiwan history podcast: Formosa Files