The Origins of the Tang Sect in Wuxia Fiction

Webnovel readers are perhaps more familiar with the Tang Sect through the fantasy series Douluo Dalu《斗罗大陆》(aka Soul Land) by Tang Jia San Shao (唐家三少), but it has its origins in wuxia fiction dating back to the Republican period (1912-1949) and since has become a common sect used by many wuxia authors, such as Liang Yusheng 梁羽生, Gu Long 古龍, and Wen Rui’an 溫瑞安.

Yet although the Tang Sect is common in wuxia fiction, it is actually ostensibly based on a real person. The original source is a martial arts manual anthology written by Wan Laisheng 萬籟聲 in 1926 called《武術匯宗》Collected Schools of Martial Arts, in which Wan Laisheng compiled information about many different martial arts techniques he had learned. In this book he mentions "Elder Sister Tang" of Sichuan:

有操五毒神砂者，乃鐵砂以五毒煉過，三年可成。打於人身，即中其毒；遍體麻木，不能動彈；掛破體膚，終生膿血不止，無藥可醫。如四川唐大嫂即是！
There are those who use Miraculous Five Poisons Sand, which is iron sand refined with five poisons and takes three years to make. When it makes contact with a person's body, that person is poisoned. Their whole body goes numb and they can't move. If it breaks the skin, pus and blood will ooze nonstop. There is no antidote. Elder Sister Tang of Sichuan is one such user [of this poison sand]¹

So apparently, there was someone in Sichuan practicing such an art, or at least the martial arts community believed there was. By Wan Laisheng's brief description, it appears to be just a single person who practices it. Whether there was a larger group or school or body of students who practiced the Miraculous Five Poisons Sand is unclear.

The first mention of person by the surname of Tang associated with similar poisoned hidden weapons, is in Bai Yu’s 白羽 1938 novel Twelve Coin Darts《十二金錢鏢》. In Chapter 17 it states:

只曉得這毒蒺藜是四川唐大嫂的獨門秘傳，而賊人又是四川口音，揣想仇人必是四川綠林道上的人物了。
He only knew that the poison caltrop was the signature esoteric skill of Elder Sister Tang of Sichuan, and the villain had a Sichuanese accent, so he guessed that his enemy must be an outlaw from Sichuan.

Bai Yu used Wan Laisheng's book as a resource for his fiction, so we have to presume that Bai Yu took inspiration from there. Here we have the same Tang person, in Sichuan, using poisoned hidden weapons. But it's still not the “Tang Sect” yet. Gradually in wuxia fiction we begin to see this nascent Tang hidden weapons group fleshed out.

Liang Yusheng was one of the next ones to flesh it out. In Chapter 6 of his 1956 novel, Seven Swords Come Down from Mount Heaven《七劍下天山》we have mention of a “Tang family”:

劉郁芳這時已看清少年發的暗器，形如一隻蝴蝶，迎風有聲，郝繼明的第一枚飛錐給暗器一撞，反激回去，恰恰和第二枚飛錐碰個正著。劉郁芳認得這是四川唐家獨創的暗器蝴蝶鏢，暗暗驚奇，這少年年紀輕輕，竟然會用這樣奇形暗器。
Liu Yufang now got a good look at the hidden weapon the young man had sent out. It was shaped like a butterfly and whistled in the wind. Hao Jiming's first throwing bodkin collided with the hidden weapon and it rebounded back and just happened to hit the second throwing bodkin. Liu Yufang recognized it as a butterly dart, an original hidden weapon from the Tang family of Sichuan, and was shocked. This young man was so young, yet was able to use such an odd-shaped hidden weapon.

Sima Ling 司馬翎 also mentioned a “Tang family” briefly in Chapter 3 of his 1958 debut novel, Record of Turbulent Times in the Guan-Luo Region《關洛風雲錄》:

一個是四川唐家的名手唐森，四川唐家以毒藥暗器馳名天下，他是個中翹楚。
One was the famed hand of the Tang family of Sichuan, Tang Sen. The Tang family of Sichuan was world-famous for its use of poisoned hidden weapons, and he was the most outstanding one among them.
……
原來唐森出自四川唐家，擅制各種毒藥暗器…
Turns out Tang Sen was from the Tang family of Sichuan, proficient in all kinds of poisoned hidden weapons…

But it was Gu Long who really made the Tang Sect famous. It appears in his Chapter 2 of his 1967 novel The Sword and Exquisiteness《名劍風流》:

歐陽龍怒道：「你想怎樣，別人怕你蜀中唐門暗器歹毒，我卻不怕。」
Ouyang Long fumed, “So what's it gonna be? Others fear your Tang Sect of Shu's vicious hidden weapons, but I don't.”

Two things here. One, we now have a Tang sect not just a family. Though it is still a family art as we will see shortly. Second is is based in Shu, which is another term for the area of Sichuan. “Tang Sect of Shu” became the common way to refer to the sect. Wen Rui’an later referred to it this way in his wuxia fiction.

In Chapter 13, Gu Long tells us more about the Tang Sect:

而在這所有武林世家中，最深人人心，膾炙人口的，自然還得算以毒藥暗器獨步天下的蜀中唐門了。
Of all the hereditary houses in the martial world, the most popular, the most celebrated, was one that used poisoned hidden weapons to be unparalleled in the world, the Tang Sect of Shu.

……
據說唐門的毒藥暗器，別人之所以仿製不出，就因為此地溫泉水質特異，但究竟是不是還有別的原因，江湖中人言人殊，誰也弄不清。
It was said that the Tang Sect’s poisoned hidden weapons could not be reproduced by others because water from the hot spring here was special, but whether or not there were still other reasons, accounts in the jianghu varied, but no one knew for sure.

……
「蜀中唐門」名震天下，威名垂三百年不墜的暗器，就是他們手裏的這些鐵絲鐵片拼造出來的。
The “Tang Sect of Shu” was famed throughout the world, and their hidden weapons, renowned for 300 years, were those made from iron wire and sheets of iron.

We get more detail in Chapter 31:

要知唐門無外姓，家規更重於門規，掌門人便是家長，所以唐家的規矩之大，委實遠在少林、武當等門派之上。
There were no outsiders in the Tang Sect, their family rules even stricter than their sect rules, and the sectmaster was also the patriarch, so the Tang family’s rules were great, much more so than schools like Shaolin and Wudang.

……
他手上把著個很精巧的暗器，正是唐門獨創，威震天下的毒蒺藜，也可說是世上歷史最悠久的毒藥暗器。
In his hand was an exquisite hidden weapon, an original creation of the Tang Sect, the world-awing poisoned caltrop, which was also the poisoned hidden weapon with the longest history in the world.

……
而唐門暗器毒發時，正是全身紫黑，如染赤墨。
And when a Tang Sect hidden weapon’s poison activated, one’s whole body turned purplish-black, as if dyed in red ink.

And again in Chapter 32:

這「毒砂」正是唐門暗器中最霸道的一種，力量雖不能及遠，但在一丈六七之內，只要毒砂撒出，就很少有人能逃得出它威力籠罩之下，無論誰只要挨上一粒，若無華陀刮骨療毒的手段，一個對時傷口就要潰爛，三天之內就必死無疑。
This “poison sand” was one of the most potent Tang Sect hidden weapons. Although it didn’t have much distance, but within one stave, six to seven spans, it was rare for someone to be able to avoid its mighty shroud once the poison sand was released. If just one grain hit you, then unless you had Hua Tuo’s bone-scraping treatment to remove the poison, then the site of the wound would fester in a day, and within three days you would die for sure.

The deadliest hidden weapons that can't be reproduced by outsiders, and they have strict rules. Gu Long made the Tang Sect very secretive and mysterious.

Liang Yusheng used the Tang family again in his 1972-1975 novel Shooting Star of Muye《牧野流星》. He mentions that the art is kept in the family. From Chapter 37:

原來他看出這種毒針似乎乃是四川唐家秘製的獨門暗器。唐家暗器乃是號稱天下無雙的
He could tell that the poisoned needle was very much like the secret signature hidden weapon from the Tang family of Sichuan. The Tang family’s hidden weapons were calimed to be without equal.
…
鍾展疑心大起：「唐家暗器，素來不傳外姓。
Zhong Zhan began to have his doubts. “Tang family hidden weapons are usually not taught to outsiders.

He goes into detail about the poison in Chapters 40 and 50:

「鍾長老所料果然不差，這妖人姓唐，自必是川西唐家的人了。」唐家號稱天下暗器第一家，餵毒的暗器更是見血封喉，厲害無比。— ch.40
“Elder Zhong's guess was indeed correct. This sorcerer’s surname is Tang, surely one of the members of the Tang family of Sichuan.” The Tang family was claimed to be the best in the world at hidden weapons. Its poison-dipped hidden weapons were highly poisonous and and incredibly deadly.
不過唐家的毒針是暗紅色的，這妖婦的毒針則是紫黑色的。唐家的毒針，中了之後，十二個時辰之內，全身的膚色都變得通紅，那時縱有多好的內功，多好的靈丹妙藥也是無法醫治，必定身亡，但這妖婦的毒針更加厲害，六個時辰之內，就會全身瘀黑而亡的。 — ch.50
However the Tang family's poisoned needles were dark red, and this evil woman's poisoned needle was purplish-black. When hit by a Tang family poisoned needle, within twelve double-hours one's whole body would turn red. At that point, even if you had incredible internal skill or an incredible miracle elixir or wonder drug, it would be no use and you would die for sure. But this evil woman's poisoned needle was even more deadly. Within six double-hours your whole body would turn black and you would die.

The Tang Sect is perhaps most well-known from Gu Long's 1976 novel The Jade Tiger《白玉老虎》. Although The Sword and Exquisiteness actually mentions the Tang Sect more often, the family sect plays a more prominent role in this later novel. In the chapter “Poisons and Hidden Weapons”〈毒藥與暗器〉, he lays it all out:

「蜀中唐門」並不是一個武功的門派，也不是一個秘密幫會，而是一個家族。
The “Tang Sect of Shu” was not a martial arts school, nor a secret society, but a clan.
可是這個家族卻已經雄踞川中兩百多年，從沒有任何一個門派，任何一個幫會的子弟門人，敢妄入他們的地盤一步。因為他們的毒藥暗器實在太可怕。
But this clan had been prominently located in Sichuan for over 200 years, and never had a disciple from any school or sect, or any secret society or gang dared to trespass even one step into their territory, because their poisoned hidden weapons were too frightening.
他們的暗器據說有七種，江湖常見的卻只有毒針、毒蒺藜，和斷魂砂三種。
They were said to have seven kinds of hidden weapons, but only their poisoned needles, poisoned caltrops, and Soul-Severing sand were commonly seen in the jianghu.
雖然只有三種，卻已令江湖中人聞風而喪膽，因為無論任何人中了他們的任何一種暗器，都只有等死，等著傷口潰爛，慢慢的死，死得絕對此其他任何一種死法都痛苦。
Even just mentioning these three were enough to terrify people in the jianghu because anyone who was hit by one of these hidden weapons, no matter who they were, could only wait for death, wait for the wound to fester, then a slow death, a death absolutely much more painful than any other kind of death.
他們的暗器並不是沒有解藥，只是唐家的解藥，也和唐家的毒藥暗器一樣，永遠是江湖中最大的秘密之一，除了唐家的嫡系子孫外，絕對沒有人知道它的秘密，就連唐家的嫡系子弟中，能有這種獨門解藥的，也絕對不會超過三個人。如果你受了傷，你只有去找這三個人才能求到解藥。
It wasn't that their hidden weapons had no antidote, it was just that the Tang family's antidote was like their hidden weapons, ever the most tightly-kept secret in the jianghu. Aside from those with a direct line of descent in the Tang family, there was absolutely no one else who knew its secrets, and even among Tang family descendents, there were no more than three people who could have this signature antidote. If you were wounded you had to go find one of those three people in order to request the antidote.