The History of Wing Chun can be traced back to the Ching
dynasty, over 275 years ago. The Manchus, who made up about 10%
of the population, ruled the Hans and created many restrictions
to keep them dependent on the small ruling class. Through the
years, however, the Manchus gradually began to accept the Han
culture and to respect the Sil Lum (Shaolin) Temple as a place
of worship and sanctuary. Even so, to repress the Hans, the
Manchus banned all weapons and martial arts training. Secretly
the Hans began organizing rebel groups within the Sil Lum
Temple. Because the classical animal styles of kung fu took 15
to 20 years to master, it was necessary to develop a new style
that would enable students to become proficient fighters in a
much shorter time span. As the Manchu soldiers were often
trained in classical kung fu styles, it was important that this
new style be designed to be effective in neutralizing the
existing techniques. Five kung fu masters pooled the knowledge
of their own respective styles in order