Original Text
There was a man of the Hui Muslim clan named Sha, who had mastered the art of the Iron Shirt and Great Strength technique. Pressing his two fingers together and striking with force, he could sever a bull's neck; thrusting sideways, he could pierce through the beast's belly. Once, at the residence of the young master Qiu Peng, he gave a demonstration: a great beam of wood was suspended in the air, and two robust servants were ordered to shove it with all their might, sending it swinging back with violent momentum. Sha, baring his abdomen, received the blow—with a loud crash, the beam rebounded far away. He then placed his private parts upon a stone and struck them fiercely with a wooden mallet, yet they remained utterly unharmed. His only weakness was the fear of blades.
Commentary
Iron Cloth Shirt is a form of Chinese hard qigong. When Pu Songling introduces it, he does not employ abstract conceptual explanations but instead uses plain, concise, concrete, and vivid examples to describe how the Iron Cloth Shirt practiced by Sha Huizi worked. In less than a hundred words, he presents four instances: the first two illustrate the immense offensive power of Iron Cloth Shirt, while the latter two demonstrate its formidable defensive resilience. Though highly legendary, because the examples involve objects familiar in daily life, and he finally mentions the weakness of the learned Iron Cloth Shirt, the account becomes both accessible and credible.