Eighteen kinds of martial arts

Eighteen kinds of martial arts

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A traditional term of Chinese martial arts, also known as "eighteen kinds of weapons" and "eighteen kinds of weapons", commonly used in ancient Chinese operas and novels, refers to the use of various martial arts instruments and skills. The contents and forms of the 18 kinds of martial arts are very rich, which largely reflects the development of martial arts in that era. Modern people's understanding of "eighteen kinds of martial arts" generally refers to a variety of weapons or skills.

On May 23, 2011, eighteen kinds of martial arts were listed in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage list with the approval of the State Council. In November 2019, eighteen kinds of martial arts were listed in the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative project protection units.

evolution

As a military term, it appears in the book of war, "eighteen kinds of martial arts" first appeared in the record of Cuiwei's Northern Expedition written by Huayue in the Southern Song Dynasty. The seven chapters in the book "ten martial arts have eight, and bow is the first", but the specific content of "Eighteen martial arts" is not given. In the second chapter of Shi Naian's outlaws of the marsh in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty, Shi Jin asked Wang Jiaotou to teach him 18 kinds of martial arts from the beginning. What about the 18 kinds of martial arts? Spears, hammers, crossbows, spears, maces, sword chains, axes and halberds, batons and forks. " During the Wanli period in the late Ming Dynasty, the specific content of "eighteen kinds of martial arts" had a new expression: "one bow, two crossbows, three guns, four knives, five swords, six spears, seven shields, eight axes, nine axes, ten halberds, eleven whips, twelve maces, thirteen pickaxes, fourteen spears, fifteen forks, sixteen palladium heads, seventeen cotton rope Lasso, eighteen Baida". "Baida" is unarmed combat. Boxing has always been valued by people in martial arts practice. Qi Jiguang of Ming Dynasty once pointed out in Jixiao new book - Chapter of boxing Classics: "boxing seems to be unprepared at the time of war, but it's the door for beginners to learn to enter the art to move hands and feet and get used to limbs." Since then, although the contents of the eighteen martial arts have changed, they are basically the same. since the Qing Dynasty, there have been four versions of the eighteen martial arts: 1. It refers to "Dao, gun, sword, halberd, 鎲, stick, fork, rake, whip, mace, hammer, axe, hook, sickle, grill, crutch, bow and arrow, rattan". It is the same as the arrangement, but the last three become: Dai, Qi and GONGYA. 3. Refers to "nine long and nine short". The nine lengths are gun, halberd, staff, Tomahawk, fork, Cuan, hook, Shuo and ring; the nine lengths are knife, sword, crutch, axe, whip, mace, hammer, stick and pestle. In this way, the bows and arrows of long-range weapons and the cards or rattan cards of defensive weapons disappeared, which is also a reflection of the fact that modern Wushu practitioners are not good at learning bows and arrows and only teach routines. 4. It refers to 18 kinds of weapons, such as sword, spear, sword, halberd, axe, Tomahawk, hook, fork, whip, mace, hammer, grab, boring, cudgel, Shuo, cudgel, Guai and meteor hammer. This is also an arrangement accepted by most people today.

significance

It can be seen that the so-called "Eighteen generals" are not only limited to 18 kinds of weapons, but also a general description of various ancient martial arts. In fact, many weapons were produced in the age of cold weapons, the number of which far exceeded the "eighteen kinds". In the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, "eighteen kinds of weapons" became the necessary display of various martial arts schools, and became one of the symbols of Chinese martial arts and martial arts schools.