---
title: Pure-Yang Sword (純陽劍) — Eight Step Mantis
---

**純陽劍 (Chúnyáng Jiàn, "Pure-Yang Sword")** is a straight-sword (劍) form in the **weapons curriculum of **[**Eight Step Praying Mantis**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-mantis) as taught by [**Wei Xiaotang (衛笑堂)**](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/wei-xiaotang) (named in 左顯富's record of Wei's weapon arsenal). Its name invokes **純陽真人 Lü Dongbin (呂洞賓)**, the wine-loving Daoist immortal who is the patron of Chinese swordsmanship. **55 postures** — a classical Daoist sword form unusually rich in named image-postures: 仙人指路 ("the immortal points the way"), 魁星點斗 ("Kuixing points at the Dipper"), 燕子抄水 ("the swallow skims the water"), 二郎擔山 ("Erlang carries the mountains").

## What it trains

- **Point precision** — the straight sword lives by the tip (平刺, 點水, 點斗) rather than the edge
- **Light, agile footwork** — the 劍 is carried, not muscled; the form floats between its named postures
- **The off-hand sword-fingers and the tassel** (手捋劍穗) — the classical two-hand coordination of jian work
- **The named-posture vocabulary** of Daoist swordplay — image after image, each a precise cut or guard

## Full posture script — 55 postures

The posture-name list from the **松傳古藝武術學苑** 兵器譜 (the 林松賢 / 左顯富 line, direct Wei Xiaotang disciples), reproduced under fair-use citation; the English are the wiki's own working glosses.

| # | 中文 | Working gloss |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 提手上勢 | Raising the hands, upper posture |
| 2 | 仙人指路 | The immortal points the way |
| 3 | 懷中抱月 | Embrace the moon to the chest |
| 4 | 手捋劍穗 | Hand strokes the sword-tassel |
| 5 | 仙人指路 | The immortal points the way |
| 6 | 右踢袍 | Right kick the robe |
| 7 | 懷中抱月 | Embrace the moon to the chest |
| 8 | 手捋劍穗 | Hand strokes the sword-tassel |
| 9 | 左踢袍 | Left kick the robe |
| 10 | 仙人指路 | The immortal points the way |
| 11 | 仙人拱手接劍 | The immortal cups hands and receives the sword |
| 12 | 平刺劍 | Level thrusting sword |
| 13 | 提劍小魁星 | Raise the sword, little Kuixing |
| 14 | 白鶴亮翅 | White crane flashes its wings |
| 15 | 轉身懷抱如意 | Turn the body, embrace the ruyi sceptre |
| 16 | 順風擺柳 | Willow swaying in the wind |
| 17 | 坐盤式撩劍 | Sitting-coil posture, upward-flick sword |
| 18 | 撥草尋蛇 | Part the grass to seek the snake |
| 19 | 魁星點斗 | Kuixing points at the Dipper |
| 20 | 白蛇尋洞 | The white snake seeks its cave |
| 21 | 退步移山倒海 | Retreat, moving mountains and overturning seas |
| 22 | 高祖提劍 | Gaozu raises the sword |
| 23 | 立斬白蛇 | Standing, behead the white snake |
| 24 | 魁星點斗 | Kuixing points at the Dipper |
| 25 | 夜叉探海 | The yaksha probes the sea |
| 26 | 大鵬翻身 | The great roc turns its body |
| 27 | 青蜒點水 | The dragonfly touches the water |
| 28 | 燕子抄水 | The swallow skims the water |
| 29 | 推窗望月 | Push the window to gaze at the moon |
| 30 | 撥草尋蛇 | Part the grass to seek the snake |
| 31 | 魁星點斗 | Kuixing points at the Dipper |
| 32 | 鳳凰三點頭 | The phoenix nods three times |
| 33 | 翻身力劈華山 | Turn the body, forcefully split Mt. Hua |
| 34 | 撥劍行步 | Parry the sword, walking step |
| 35 | 白馬飲泉 | The white horse drinks at the spring |
| 36 | 野馬竄澗 | The wild horse darts the ravine |
| 37 | 翻江攪海 | Overturn rivers, churn the seas |
| 38 | 二郎擔山 | Erlang carries the mountains |
| 39 | 白蛇吐信 | The white snake spits its tongue |
| 40 | 獅子張嘴 | The lion opens its mouth |
| 41 | 白蛇尋洞 | The white snake seeks its cave |
| 42 | 坐盤式撩劍 | Sitting-coil posture, upward-flick sword |
| 43 | 撥草尋蛇 | Part the grass to seek the snake |
| 44 | 魁星點斗 | Kuixing points at the Dipper |
| 45 | 海底撈月 | Scoop the moon from the sea-bottom |
| 46 | 撥草尋蛇 | Part the grass to seek the snake |
| 47 | 順風掃葉 | Sweep the leaves with the wind |
| 48 | 青龍擺尾 | Green dragon swings its tail |
| 49 | 朝天一柱香 | A single stick of incense toward heaven |
| 50 | 回頭望月 | Turn the head to gaze at the moon |
| 51 | 白蛇尋洞 | The white snake seeks its cave |
| 52 | 提劍小魁星 | Raise the sword, little Kuixing |
| 53 | 白鶴亮翅 | White crane flashes its wings |
| 54 | 白蛇尋洞 | The white snake seeks its cave |
| 55 | 收劍封手歸原 | Sheathe the sword, sealing hand, return to origin |

## A note on the form

A **classical Daoist sword form** carried in the Eight Step school rather than a mantis-original weapon; its imagery is shared across many northern 劍 traditions, here drilled in the Eight Step body method.

## Videos

Weapon demonstrations from the Wei lineage appear on the **八步功夫學苑 / 鄭榮貴**, **knhsieh**, and **Alex Tsuo / 王聖穎** channels — see the channel index on the [Eight Step Mantis](https://wulin.openmindspace.org/eight-step-mantis) page. A single lineage-authoritative demonstration of this exact form was not separately confirmed at publication.

## See also

<PageRef space="notes" slug="eight-step-mantis" text="八步螳螂 Eight Step Mantis — the branch and full curriculum" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="wei-xiaotang" text="Wei Xiaotang (衛笑堂) — the Eight Step disseminator" />

<PageRef space="notes" slug="mantis-forms" text="Mantis Forms — the script-and-video map of every form" />

## Sources

**[1]** 衛笑堂 Wei Xiaotang, *實用螳螂拳* series (Yiwen 逸文 reprints) — the in-copyright primary source for the Eight Step curriculum; cited, not reproduced. The attribution of 三清刀 / 四門槍 / 純陽劍 as Wei's weapon set follows 左顯富 (Zuo Xianfu), Wei's senior Taiwan disciple.

**[2]** **松傳古藝武術學苑** (suntrans88.blogspot.com) — the 兵器譜 posted by the 林松賢 / 左顯富 line, reproduced under fair-use citation with the wiki's own glosses. Source post: [http://suntrans88.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post\_70.html](http://suntrans88.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post_70.html).