Aqing (simplified: 阿青, traditional: 阿青, pinyin: Ā Qīng, jyutping: aa3 cing1), known as the Yue Maiden (越女 – Yuènǚ), was a shepherdess whose extraordinary swordplay helped the State of Yue1 defeat the State of Wu2 during the Spring and Autumn Period.3 She was the origin of the Yue Maiden Swordplay that would later influence Chinese martial arts for generations.
Aqing’s legendary abilities and her involvement in various historical conflicts made her a symbol of martial excellence and feminine strength. Her story represents the intersection of martial arts mastery and the complex political landscape of the Spring and Autumn period, where individual warriors could play significant roles in broader historical events.
Biography
Early life and training
Aqing lived as a simple shepherdess in the mountains surrounding the State of Yue, tending her flock of sheep in peaceful ignorance of the greater conflicts raging between the states. Her life changed dramatically when she was thirteen years old and encountered a mysterious figure she called Grandpa Bai.
This “Grandpa Bai” was actually a white ape who possessed supernatural intelligence and martial abilities. When the ape attempted to ride one of her sheep, Aqing drove him away with a bamboo stick. The white ape responded by taking up his own bamboo stick, and what began as a conflict evolved into daily sparring sessions that Aqing perceived as playful combat.
Initially, the white ape consistently struck Aqing whilst she could never touch him. However, through countless daily encounters, she gradually developed extraordinary reflexes, timing, and technique. Eventually, she began landing strikes on the ape whilst he could no longer touch her, though she remained completely unaware that she was learning one of the most formidable martial arts in existence.4
Meeting Fan Li
Aqing’s martial abilities first came to public attention when she encountered a group of Wu swordsmen who had humiliated the Yue forces in a demonstration of martial superiority. These eight highly skilled Wu warriors had effortlessly defeated Yue’s finest swordsmen, leaving King Goujian5 and his court in despair about their chances of revenge against their conquerors.
When one of the Wu swordsmen killed one of her sheep for sport, Aqing responded with what appeared to be casual movements of her bamboo stick. Within moments, she had wounded all eight warriors, striking each precisely in the eye with techniques so swift and natural that witnesses could barely follow her movements.4 Fan Li6, the brilliant advisor to King Goujian, witnessed this display and immediately recognised both her extraordinary abilities and their potential military value.
Fan Li invited Aqing to his residence, treating her with great courtesy and providing excellent food and accommodation for both her and her sheep. During their conversations, he learnt that she had no formal training and regarded her abilities as mere play. Her innocent description of daily “games” with Grandpa Bai revealed the truth about her supernatural instructor.7
Training the Yue army
Recognising that Aqing’s abilities could transform Yue’s military fortunes, Fan Li requested that she demonstrate her techniques to the court’s finest warriors. King Goujian assembled eighty of his most skilled swordsmen to learn from this remarkable young woman.
However, Aqing’s complete lack of teaching experience created an unprecedented challenge. Having learnt through instinctive play rather than formal instruction, she possessed no systematic method for transmitting her knowledge. The training sessions became exhibitions where the swordsmen could only observe her movements and attempt to discern the underlying principles.
Despite these limitations, even the fragments of technique they managed to grasp revolutionised their abilities. The eighty swordsmen who trained under Aqing became dramatically more skilled, and they passed on what little they had learnt to others throughout the Yue army. Though none possessed more than a shadow of her true abilities, this diluted knowledge proved sufficient to give Yue’s forces decisive advantages over their Wu opponents.8
The fall of Wu
With his newly enhanced army, King Goujian finally achieved his long-awaited revenge against the State of Wu. The superior swordplay inspired by Aqing’s techniques contributed significantly to Wu’s military defeat, fulfilling the king’s dreams of restoration and vengeance.
As the victorious Yue forces celebrated, Fan Li finally reunited with Xi Shi9, the legendary beauty who had been sent as tribute to distract King Fuchai of Wu from his governmental duties. Their reunion represented the successful culmination of years of careful planning and sacrifice.
Final confrontation
Aqing had developed deep romantic feelings for Fan Li during their time together, but he remained devoted to Xi Shi. Consumed by jealousy and heartbreak, she decided to kill her rival, believing this would clear the path for her own happiness.
Demonstrating the full extent of her supernatural abilities, Aqing fought her way through two thousand imperial guards, striking down their weapons without killing the men themselves. The sound of falling swords and spears created a continuous metallic cascade as she moved through their ranks like an unstoppable force.
When she finally confronted Xi Shi with her bamboo stick pointed at the beauty’s heart, Aqing prepared to strike the fatal blow. However, upon seeing Xi Shi’s face, she was overwhelmed by the woman’s extraordinary beauty and goodness. Understanding for the first time why Fan Li loved Xi Shi so deeply, Aqing abandoned her murderous intent.10
With a clear, piercing whistle that gradually faded into the distance, Aqing departed forever, leaving Fan Li and Xi Shi to their happiness. Her final departure marked the end of her involvement in human affairs and the beginning of her transformation into legend.
Personality and traits
Physical appearance
Based on the original accounts, Aqing had an oval face with long eyelashes, large eyes, and fair skin that marked her as particularly attractive. Her slender, graceful figure belied the tremendous power and speed she could generate through her martial techniques.
She wore a light green robe during her encounters with the Wu swordsmen and Fan Li. Despite her rural background as a shepherdess, her appearance and bearing impressed sophisticated court officials.
Personality and traits
Aqing displayed remarkable innocence and naivety throughout most of her story. Having grown up in rural isolation, she possessed little knowledge of worldly affairs or complex social dynamics. This innocence was both her strength and her weakness in dealing with the adult world.
Her genuine kindness extended to her animals, as demonstrated by her grief over the Wu swordsman’s casual slaughter of her sheep. When Fan Li offered to provide rice and cloth for her mother and allow her sheep to graze freely, she was overjoyed and embraced him, calling him a good person.
However, her innocence made her vulnerable to powerful emotions she had never experienced. Her unrequited love for Fan Li eventually awakened jealousy that nearly led her to violence against Xi Shi. Wu swordsman’s casual slaughter of her sheep and her concern for the welfare of her flock. She formed deep emotional attachments and remained loyal to those who showed her kindness, particularly Fan Li who treated her with respect and courtesy.
However, her innocence made her vulnerable to powerful emotions she could not fully understand or control. Her unrequited love for Fan Li awakened jealousy and possessiveness that nearly led her to commit murder, demonstrating how even the purest hearts could be corrupted by intense passion.
Values and principles
Despite her lack of formal education, Aqing possessed an instinctive sense of justice and fairness. She responded to cruelty and bullying with decisive action, as shown in her immediate retaliation against the Wu swordsmen who killed her sheep for sport.
Values and principles
Despite her lack of formal education, Aqing possessed an instinctive sense of justice. She responded to the Wu swordsmen’s unprovoked cruelty to her sheep with immediate defensive action, demonstrating her natural protective instincts.
Her ultimate decision to spare Xi Shi revealed the fundamental goodness of her character. When confronted with Xi Shi’s extraordinary beauty, Aqing’s jealousy transformed into admiration and understanding. She recognised Xi Shi’s superior beauty and virtue, acknowledging “Heaven has such a beautiful woman! Fan Li, she is more beautiful than you said!”
Her final departure demonstrated her ability to make difficult but correct moral choices. Rather than remaining to create ongoing conflict, she chose to remove herself from the situation, allowing Fan Li and Xi Shi their happiness whilst preserving her own dignity through her whistling departure.
Martial arts abilities
Yue Maiden Swordplay
Aqing’s martial arts represented something entirely unique in martial history. Rather than learning through traditional instruction, she developed her abilities through daily play-fighting with a white ape whose skills transcended normal understanding.
The Sword of the Yue Maiden technique (越女剑法 – Yuènǚ Jiànfǎ) she unconsciously developed became legendary for its combination of incredible speed and precision. Her movements appeared deceptively simple and playful, yet they generated devastating effectiveness against skilled opponents.
According to the records, “eighty Yue swordsmen learnt nothing of Aqing’s techniques, but they had all witnessed the shadow of divine swordplay. Each person knew that such miraculous swordplay existed in the world.” Even these mere glimpses of her abilities were sufficient to make the Yue forces “invincible under heaven” against the Wu.
Bamboo stick mastery
Though she never trained with traditional swords, Aqing’s mastery of the bamboo stick11 demonstrated that true martial genius transcends specific weapons. Her techniques with this simple implement proved more deadly than the finest swords wielded by master swordsmen.
Her strikes possessed supernatural accuracy, capable of hitting precise targets like human eyes from considerable distances. The speed of her attacks made them virtually impossible to evade or counter, whilst her defensive capabilities allowed her to deflect or neutralise multiple opponents simultaneously.
Combat achievements
Aqing’s most remarkable martial feat was her breakthrough of the Wu palace defences during her final confrontation. The original account describes: “Outside the palace gates arose a commotion, followed by the continuous sound of weapons falling to the ground. This sound travelled from outside the palace gates straight inward, like an extremely long snake swiftly approaching. One thousand armoured soldiers and one thousand swordsmen could not stop Aqing.”
Her casual defeat of eight skilled Wu swordsmen established her reputation and changed the course of the war between the two states. She struck each swordsman precisely in the eye with her bamboo stick, demonstrating accuracy that seemed impossible to contemporary observers.
Relationships
White Ape
The white ape that Aqing called Grandpa Bai served as her unwitting shifu12, though neither participant understood their relationship in formal terms. This supernatural creature possessed martial abilities that far exceeded human limitations and, through daily play-fighting, transmitted knowledge that would influence Chinese martial arts for generations.
Their relationship was characterised by mutual enjoyment rather than formal instruction. The white ape seemed to appreciate Aqing’s progress and good nature, continuing their daily encounters even as she gradually became capable of striking him whilst avoiding his attacks.
Fan Li
Fan Li represented Aqing’s first encounter with the sophisticated world beyond her mountain home. His courtesy, intelligence, and genuine appreciation for her abilities awakened feelings she had never experienced, transforming her from an innocent girl into a young woman aware of love and longing.
Fan Li treated her with consistent respect and kindness, providing comfortable accommodation and ensuring her needs were met whilst recognising the military potential of her abilities. However, his heart remained devoted to Xi Shi, making Aqing’s romantic feelings tragically one-sided.
Their relationship demonstrated the profound impact that kindness and respect could have on a pure heart, whilst also illustrating how unrequited love could transform even the gentlest souls into potential threats.
Xi Shi
Xi Shi existed as both rival and revelation for Aqing. Initially, she represented an obstacle to be eliminated, the woman who stood between Aqing and her desired happiness with Fan Li.
However, their final confrontation became a moment of profound transformation. Xi Shi’s extraordinary beauty and evident virtue forced Aqing to confront the selfishness of her intended actions and ultimately choose nobility over jealousy.
Behind the scenes
Historical significance
Aqing’s role in the jianghu serves to illustrate the broader cultural and political landscape of the Spring and Autumn period. Her presence helps to establish the various ways in which martial artists could contribute to broader historical events, providing a backdrop against which the complex nature of martial arts involvement in politics during this period can be understood.
Her character also represents the various ways in which martial excellence and strategic thinking could combine to create effective participation in broader historical conflicts, showing how individual warriors could influence larger events.
Portrayals
Aqing has been portrayed by various actresses in adaptations of Jin Yong’s works:
Sword of the Yue Maiden
- 1986 television series – Li Saifeng (Hong Kong ATV)
External links
- Aqing on Wikipedia
- Aqing (Chinese) on Chinese Wikipedia
- Yue Maiden on Chinese Wikipedia
Footnotes
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越 – Yuè. Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring State Period of the Zhou Dynasty, existing up to 333 BCE, modern day Zhejiang, China. See Wikipedia. ↩
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吴 – Wú. Kingdom during the Western Zhou Dynasty and Spring and Autumn Period, existing from 12th century to 473 BCE, modern day Jiangsu, China. See Wikipedia. ↩
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春秋时代 – Chūnqiū shídài. When local lords ruled over the states of ancient China from 770 BCE to 476 BCE. See Wikipedia. ↩
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勾践 – Gōujiàn. King of Yue (r. 496-465 BCE) who was captured and humiliated by the Wu but later plotted his revenge. His story became the source of the idiom 卧薪尝胆 (wòxīn chángdǎn), meaning to endure hardships to accomplish one’s goals. ↩
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范蠡 – Fàn Lǐ. A Chinese politician, military general, and businessman who helped King Goujian of Yue defeat the Wu. He was also famous for his romance with Xi Shi. ↩
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西施 – Xī Shī. One of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was Fan Li’s lover who was sent to the Wu court as part of Yue’s strategy to weaken their enemies. ↩
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竹棒 – zhúbàng. The bamboo stick that Aqing used in her training with the white ape and later in combat. Despite its humble nature, in her hands it became more formidable than any sword. ↩
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师父 – shīfù. Teacher responsible for technical instruction and moral guidance. Shī means teacher. Fù means father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩