Exploration of the Wushu culture of the Chuese in the pre-Qin period
In the pre-Qin period,the Chuese had forged fencing swords by learning metallurgical technologies and sword forging techniques from the states of Wu and Yue. The state of Chu not only had excellent archers with ex-quisite archery,but also developed a relatively complete archery theory. "The shrinkage of long weapons,the extension of short weapons" showed the intelligence and innovative spirit of the Chuese,also made the contents and methods of martial arts more diversified and completed. The unique hostile geographical environments and specific historical conditions such as wars and turmoil in the Jing and Chu regions were the fundamental reasons for the Chuese to worship martial arts. In the early state warring period,the guided fit keeping technique prevailing among upper nobles in the state of Chu was deeply influenced by the fit keeping ideology of Taoists; the combination of body exercising and fit keeping was the characteristic of Wushu in the states of Jing and Chu. The brave character of the Chuese,as described in "a Chuese killed a flood dragon and cut off its head" ,shined out the martial art wor-shiping spirit of the Chuese. Such national characters of the Chuese as worshipping martial arts,willing to fight and not afraid of death,contained profound cultural connotations and enriched national sports styles of the states of Jing and Chu. As described in the Historical Records:"The Chuese are nimble,so we should not fight with them".