A 1918 Account of Traditional Martial Arts in the Chinese Labor Corps

THE CHINESE LABOUR CORPS ON THE WESTERN FRONT, 1914-1916 (Q 8514) A sword display in a Chinese labour camp in Crecy Forest, 27 January 1918. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205244368

Introduction

Co-authorship of today’s post is shared with Joseph Svinth, the editor of the EJMAS and multiple other important works on martial arts studies.   He brought the following account and historic photographs to my attention, and we both agreed that they were worth sharing here.

It seemed as though the events of WWI had largely receded from the public consciousness over the last few decades.  Yet the Great War has been making a comeback in popular culture.  It served as the setting for the hit 2017 film “Wonder Woman,” as well as several other projects appearing on the small screen.  It is often forgotten that China was officially a combatant in WWI (having declared war on…