Sources & References of the GEMAC Martial Arts Archive

Every page lists its own references, and each reference is classified by kind. The classification matters: a reader weighing a claim should know whether it rests on a lineage record, an archived capture, or a modern encyclopedia entry.

Primary sources

The documents themselves: lineage records, original manuscripts and manuals, classical texts, and dated correspondence. Primary sources come first in any reference list, and where the archive publishes a translation, the primary text accompanies it.

Historical sources

Period evidence that is not itself the document under study: photographs, artifacts, school records, and archival web captures. The restoration of the archive's three legacy pages — theNine Dragon Trident,Li Shuwen, andYang Chengfu pages — rests on captures taken by the Internet Archive between 1998 and 2013, each cited with its capture date.

Secondary scholarship

Encyclopedia entries, academic publications, and standard reference works. Secondary sources are named as secondary wherever they appear, and the archive records where they disagree with primary evidence rather than averaging the difference away.

Teaching materials

The accumulated instructional records of the Golden Eagle schools: curricula, rank requirements, class notes, and translations prepared for students. These materials document how the traditions were actually taught in North America, which published sources alone cannot show.

Citation standard

References on entity pages are numbered in order of first citation and classified as primary, historical, or secondary. Quotations name the source and the date shown on the source. Corrections to any reference are made through the contact page and dated on publication, following theeditorial method.