About Ancient Weapons

A traditional term for the Chinese martial arts, it refers to a wide range of martial arts, the content of which varies from period to period.　The name of the eighteen martial arts was first mentioned in the Yuan Opera. For example, there is a line "He has learned all the eighteen martial arts, and he is familiar with the book of the Six Towers" in "Jingde's Disobedience to Old Age", which is included in "Ancient and Modern Miscellaneous Operas". At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, early Ming Dynasty, Shi Nai-an wrote in the 2nd episode of Water Margin that Shi Jin, the Nine-Tattooed Dragon, had learned martial arts from Wang Jin, the head instructor, and said, "Which eighteen martial arts are there? Spears, hammers, bows, crossbows, cannons, whips, mace, swords, chains, Laos, axes, battle-axes, and go, halberds, cards, rods and guns, steaks." He was referring to weapons. To the late Ming dynasty Wanli years, Xie Zhaozhe in the "five miscellaneous chopping block" volume 5, said: "eighteen general: a bow, two crossbow, three guns, four knives, five swords, six spears, seven shields, eight axes, nine battle-axe, ten halberds, eleven whips, twelve mace, thirteen haggard, fourteen Shu, fifteen fork, sixteen head, seventeen Mian rope lasso, eighteen white hit." The so-called white fight, according to the Ming dynasty Zhu Guozhen (Wanli Tianqi between people) in the "Chung block sketch" volume 12 "weapons - martial arts eighteen things," said: "white fight that is hand-to-hand combat play,...... commonly known as boxing, Suzhou people said that hit the hand. " Early Qing Dynasty Zhou Liang Gong in the "Min Xiaoji" said: "White fight, that is, today's hand-to-hand combat, the name of the short hit is also", and said "martial arts eighteen, the end of the white fight to white fight, to white fight for the end, clear that it does not hold an inch of iron also". Eighteen martial arts originally refers to all weapons, to this point and the white fight included.　Tang Shunzhi (1507-1560), a famous general of the Ming Dynasty who fought against Japanese invasion, said in Wuzhi: "There are six of the thirty military weapons, and the bow is called the first. Martial art is eight out of ten, and the bow is the first." At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the power of firearms is still not high, the battle is still with the bow, crossbow for the distance weapon, so in the military weapons thirty-six, martial arts eighteen, the bow are listed as the first.　Since the Qing Dynasty, there have been 4 kinds of sayings for the 18 martial arts: The first kind of sayings are "knife, gun, sword, halberd, □, stick, fork, rake, whip, mace, hammer, axe, hook, sickle, pick, crutch, bow and arrow, rattan card".　The second statement is the same as the above eighteen items, but the last three items are changed to: generation, choice, bow and arrow.　The third is "nine long and nine short". Nine long for the gun, halberd, stick, battle-axe, fork, □, hook, long spear, ring; Nine short for the knife, sword, abduction, axe, whip, mace, hammer, stick, pestle. Nine long and nine short in not listed in the long-distance shooting weapons of the bow and defensive weapons of the card or rattan card, this is the modern martial arts teacher generally do not practice bow and arrow, only to teach the reflection of the routine.　The fourth kind of statement, modern opera circles, some people think is knife, gun, sword, halberd, axe, battle-axe, hook, fork, whip, mace, hammer, grasp, □, stick, long spear, saber

stick, crutch, meteor hammer and other 18 kinds of weapons.　"Eighteen martial arts" was first seen in the Southern Song Dynasty Hua Yue compiled military book "Cuiwei North Records", Hua Yue had won the martial arts scholar. This book was compiled in the Southern Song Dynasty Jia Ding first year (1208 years): he called himself in the book, "I heard", see "eighteen martial arts" is actually earlier. Unfortunately, most of the military books of the Song Dynasty were destroyed in the conflagration, and very few of them have been handed down today, so the original source and connotation of "eighteen martial arts" are not available for investigation today. Xie Zhaozhe "five miscellaneous chopping block" in the "eighteen martial arts" of the specific content of the account: "a bow, two crossbow, three guns, four knives, five swords, six spears, seven shields, eight axes, nine battle-axes, ten halberds, eleven whips, twelve Jane, thirteen Laos, fourteen Shu, fifteen forks, sixteen handles, seventeen sheer rope rope, eighteen white hit. " The first seventeen are the name of the weapon, the eighteenth name "white fight", is "unarmed boxing".　The Water Margin" is written in eighteen kinds: spear, hammer, bow, crossbow, cannon, whip, mace, sword, chain, Laos, axe, battle-axe, go, halberd, card, stick, gun, steak. There is also the so-called eighteen martial arts refers to nine long and nine short: nine long is gun, halberd, stick, battle-axe, fork, hydrazinium party, hook, long spear, ring; nine short is knife, sword, crutch, axe, whip, mace, hammer, pestle.　Eighteen kinds of martial arts refers to the common types of weapons in martial arts, first seen in the Song Dynasty play "Zhang Xie Scholar", later generations have a variety of interpretations. First, in the Ming Dynasty, Qi Jinshu compiled "Selection of Yuan Opera - Wang Huan Bai Hua Ting": "If we talk about eighteen kinds of martial arts, bow and clunky guns, spears, swords and halberds, whips, chains, hammers and boring." Second, the second installment of Water Margin, written by Shi Nai-an in the Yuan and Ming dynasties: "The eighteen martial arts are spears, hammers, bows and jungles, whips, swords and chains, axes, battle-axes, halberds, cards, rods, and spears." Third, Ming Wanli Xie Zhao Xie "five miscellaneous chopping blocks": "eighteen: a bow, two worn out, three guns, four knives, five swords, six spears, seven shields, eight axes, nine battle-axes, ten halberds, eleven whips, twelve mace, thirteen Laos, fourteen Shu, fifteen forks, sixteen head, seventeen Mian rope lasso, eighteen white hit."　Later generations also appeared "nine long and nine short", "six short and twelve long", as well as "big eighteen general", "small eighteen general "and other martial arts content said. Comprehensive "eighteen martial arts" content, delete the repetition, *** including the following species: is a projectile weapon: bow, crossbow, arrow, vector, cannon.　Of long weapons are: go, spear, gun, stick, Shu, pestle, rod, staff, stick, axe, battle-axe, halberd, sword.　Of short weapons are: sword, knife, whip, mace (simple), hook, sickle, hammer, crutch, ring (circle) Of soft weapons are: chain, meteor, sheep rope rope.　Of unarmed martial arts, collectively known as "white fight". Generations of "eighteen kinds of martial arts" referred to in these kinds of items, does not include all of the weapons. For example, flying daggers, sleeve arrows, three-pointed two-bladed knife, pegs, daggers, mandarin duck battle-axe, yin and yang sharp, the scholar's pen, iron ruler, rope dart, three-sectioned stick, etc. are not included. As for martial arts novelists pen sword made many "strange weapons", it is more difficult to include a bow: horse arrows, sleeve arrows, foot arrows, two crossbows: crossbows, Zhuge crossbows, crossbows, crossbows, crossbows, crossbows, slang crossbows.　Three guns: lance, forked gun, musket, snake gun, watch gun, javelin, line gun, god gun, halberd gun, hook and sickle gun, horse-repelling gun, flying gun.　Four knives: machete (long knife), horse knife, waist knife, pole knife, plain knife, hook knife, eyebrow knife, dagger, knife, three pointed knife. Flying Knife.　Five swords.　Six spears.　Seven shields.　Eight axes.　Nine battle-axes.　Ten halberds.　Eleven whips.　Twelve mace.　Thirteen haggis (Laos): bone, hammer, cone, vertebrae, chain hammer (meteor hammer), garlic hammer, bone hammer, lying hammer, heavy hammer.　Fourteen sticks: double-headed stick, manipulative hook stick, wolf's tooth stick, boring stick, foot stick, Qi Mei stick.　Fifteen forks.　Sixteen palladium: clang palladium, palladium, steak, provincial palladium, shovel, crescent shovel, horse fork.　Seventeen sheep rope lasso.　Eighteen white strikes.　Eighteen kinds of weapons -- sword

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Ancient China has "eighteen kinds of martial arts" said, in fact, refers to eighteen kinds of weapons. As for which eighteen, historically different, generally refers to the bow, crossbow, gun, stick, knife, sword, spear, shield, axe, battle-axe, halberd, Shu, whip, mace, hammer, fork, palladium, go. In these eighteen kinds of weapons, some have been eliminated, like Shu, Go; some have evolved, like the battle-axe, the original is a kind of big axe in ancient times, but now it has become a kind of compact weapon, with blade and hook, both hands can hold one, such as Ziwu Battle-axe.　In fact, the weapons in Chinese martial arts are far more than eighteen kinds, if we add all kinds of strange weapons and all kinds of hidden weapons, the total number of fear is not less than a hundred kinds. Here we only introduce some common short and long weapons, and in the concealed weapons introduced a little more, for readers to understand an important side of Chinese martial arts.

Short Weapons

The so-called short weapons refer to those whose lengths are generally no longer than a person's eyebrow, and which are lighter in weight and often held in one hand when used. The most common short weapons are knives and swords.　There are two types of knife styles: single knife and double knife, both of which focus on chopping. The single knife requires courage and swiftness, and mostly has the action of wrapping the head and lifting the flower. Double knife is more ornamental, good hands dance, like a group of snow rolling, no one shadow. In the early years of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xingde, a native of Suzhou in Anhui Province, was famous for his double knives and was known as "Double Knife Zhang". At that time, there were many wolves in the mountains, which harmed the travelers, Zhang Xingde went with his knife and killed nine wolves in three days, which was a good story. During the Tongzhi period, there was a young woman in the Twisted Army named Liu Sanjun, also known for her double swords, but later led the surrender of the Qing Army.　The sword is double-edged, mainly used to tease and stab, with a light and elegant style. Swordplay is also divided into two kinds of single sword and double sword, with the single sword as the most. Qing Xianfeng, Tongzhi years, Kaifeng, Henan Province, there is a young woman Du Xianying skilled in swordsmanship, had a boat on the Yangtze River for business, a group of robbers boarded the ship at night to rob, Du Xianying waved his sword to fight, and even killed three robbers, the group of robbers scurried away. Earlier, in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, there was a famous lyricist named Zhou Ji (1781-1839), who had outstanding martial arts skills and killed many bandits. There were two big robbers who hated him and wanted to kill him. Zhou Ji went north for business and passed through Shandong Province. The two thieves followed Zhou Ji and prepared to kill him in an inn without Zhou Ji realizing it. That night, the two thieves pounced into Zhou Ji's room and raised their swords, Zhou Ji was in a hurry to fight and had no weapon in his hand. In a critical moment, a young girl with two swords flew into the room, and the two swords were like rainbows, and in a few moments, the two thieves were stabbed to death. Zhou Ji see this woman's martial arts far better than their own, ask name, only to know is the innkeeper's daughter, named red moth, it turned out that she has long recognized the two robbers, so secretly added intention to prevent, in the critical time to save people.　Some swords are equipped with a sword spike on the hilt (also known as "sword robe"), known as the "sword". Swords without spikes are called "martial arts swords". The long spike is more difficult to practice. Some people also have iron beads strung on the spike of the sword, flying with the spike of the sword, can hit people to cause injury.　Wudang sword, Dharma sword, Taiji sword, Qingping sword, dragon sword, etc. are more famous sword sets.　The axe is also a short weapon today. In ancient times, the axe used in combat was mostly long-handled, commonly known as the "big axe", belonging to the long weapon, which has been practiced by very few people in the martial arts world today. Another short-handled axe, commonly known as "board axe", that is, "Water Margin" in Li Kui used. In the Qing Dynasty, Jiangxi Jiujiang, a son of this art, had a double axe to deter the group of thieves. So far, there are still axe sets, to swing and split the main.　Whip has two kinds of soft and hard. Hard whip is made of steel, **** thirteen sections, commonly known as "bamboo steel whip", the end of the sharp, to split the main smash, can also be pricked. Soft whip is commonly known as "nine whip", by nine sections of thin steel rods or thin copper rods linked together, the length is slightly less than the height, its action to winding and whirling round mainly. Nine-section whip is easy to carry, is still very popular, the practitioner more at the ends of the whip tied to the silk block, swinging can be whirring, to add ornamental.　The mace is a long steel weapon, mostly four-pronged, no edge, the end of the tip, about 0.8 meters long, also belongs to the split smashing weapon. Another double mace, each about 0.6-0.7 meters long.　Hook is a kind of multi-bladed instruments, its body has a blade, the end of the hook, hand guards for crescent-shaped, pointed and bladed. The common one in martial arts is the double hook, which is more difficult to practice. Legend has it that Dou Er Dun, a native of Xian County, Hebei Province, in the mid-Qing Dynasty, was famous for his double hooks.　The abduction is a wooden weapon, there are two kinds of short abduction, long abduction, short abduction is about 0.7 meters long, long abduction is about 1.3 meters long. The abduction is characterized by the disposition of a cross handle near the end of the stick, into a "Ding" shape. The abduction can be used to hit the smash, but also can be used to hook and pull the lock to take the other side of the weapon.　Staff and abduction similar, but its cross handle placed at the end of the end of the stick, also into the "Ding" shape. Staff length of about 1.2 meters, can be used with one hand, can also be used with both hands, its techniques have hooks, hanging, avalanche, point, dial, tease, poke, split, sweep, hit and so on. Shaolin martial arts have "Dharma staff" all the way.　Whip is a short wooden stick, about 1.3 meters long, the tip of the pole is slightly thin, it is said to be derived from the horse whip pole. Whip short and no edge, easy to carry, easy to use, popular in the northwest.　In ancient times, there is a short weapon called "iron ruler", about 0.6 meters long, thin and flat, no tip and no edge, to split smashing point poking mainly in the Qing Dynasty is still relatively popular, has been extremely rare.

Long weapons

The most common long weapons in the martial arts is the gun, stick, sword three.　In the martial arts, the gun is known as the "king of all weapons". As the saying goes, "the gun is tied to a line", the requirement is tied to a flat straight, that is, the so-called "in the flat gun, the king of the gun, in which a little bit of the most difficult to prevent". The gun law to stop, take, zha main, and have split, collapse, pick, dial, with, pull, circle, frame method. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the famous general Wang Yanzhang was good at using the iron gun, known as "Wang Iron Gun". Song Dynasty generals Yue Fei, Yang Zaixing are gun masters. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Yang Sinniang, a native of Weizhou (present-day Laizhou City) in Shandong Province, traveled across the North and the South with his gun, claiming that "twenty years of pear-shaped gun, no enemy in the world", but Qi Jiguang pointed out the flaws of the Yang family's pear-shaped gun. At the end of the Ming and early Qing dynasties, Emei gunplay was once again the best for a while. Qing Xianfeng years, Jiangsu Wuxi Tao Mou good gun, known as the "Tao family gun", unexpectedly lost in Wuxi guard Jiang Zhishan under the Tao Mou worship ambush to seek advice. Jiang Zhishan dancing with a gun, "flashing into white light", as if the diameter of several feet of the wheel in the rotation. Jiang Zhi Shan made Tao splash water on him, who knew that the water could not be splashed, rebound as rain, Tao drenched, and Jiang Zhi Shan body without water. Stick is the longest history of long weapons, the earliest was called "Shu" (ancient Shu have prongs without edges). There are many kinds of stick, from the shape of points, there are cold weapons long stick, qimei stick, three sections of the stick, the tip of the stick, etc.; from the texture, there are wooden stick, iron stick, copper stick, etc., in order to the most common wooden stick. Early sticks were made of jujube wood, which was solid and heavy. Later changed to ash stick, take its toughness, lighter. Stick to fierce and fast for the upper, more spinning sweep and dance flower action, striking a larger space, so it is called "stick hit a large area". Shaolin stick, kungo stick are more famous stick.　The three-sectioned stick is three sections of short wooden sticks connected together with an iron ring, which can be put away or put away, and is very easy to change. Tip stick is at the end of the stick with an iron ring connected to a short stick, in response to the enemy can receive the effect of surprise. Both the three-sectioned stick and the tip stick are difficult to practice, and if you are not careful, you will easily hurt yourself.　Big knife is the knife behind the long handle, also known as "spring and autumn sword", "supine moon knife", "long knife". Tang Dynasty sword length of 3 meters, weighing 7.5 kilograms, both sides of the edge, known as the "Stranger's Sword", when the army specifically set up a Stranger's Sword Team. Nowadays, all the big swords used in martial arts are with one side of the blade. There is also a type of Park Sword which has a shorter handle and a longer, narrower blade, and is also used with both hands. The Park Sword form is still in circulation.　There are several other types of long weapons. Halberd in the north and south dynasty before is a kind of popular weapon, have long handle single halberd and know handle double halberd two types. Short handle double halberd belongs to the short weapon. The long-handled single halberd is divided into two kinds: at the end of the two crescent moon, called "square sky halberd"; only one side of the crescent moon, called "green dragon halberd". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Lu Bu was a good halberd maker, and Cao Cao was good at making short halberds. At present, there are still practitioners in the martial arts.　The fork is a common weapon, mostly used by hunters in ancient times. The end is divided into two strands, the name "bullhorn fork"; the end is divided into three strands, the name "three-headed fork" or "triangular fork", commonly known as "tiger fork "The fork method is based on the spear method. The fork method is based on the gun method, focusing on the center of the flat a potential, but also can lock the other side of the weapon. Since recent times, the fork practitioners more in the fork on a number of iron rings, drills can be clattering. Some people can also make the fork in the whole body rolling, commonly known as "rolling fork", quite ornamental.　Cold Weapons Shovel is an uncommon weapon, the earliest is the rural use of weeding tools. Shovel pole front and back are equipped with blades, the front is a curved moon shaped shovel, concave, crescent moon outward; tail is an axe-shaped shovel handle, the end of the open edge. Legend has it that the shovel was originally a Buddhist weapon, also known as the "convenient shovel" or "crescent shovel", practiced in a light and chic style, there are push, pressure, shoot, support, roll, shovel, cut, pick and other strikes, and its stances are named more related to Buddhism.　Palladium is also a weapon evolved from agricultural tools, the end of which is equipped with nine-toothed iron palladium, teeth as sharp as nails. Palladium total length of about 2.4 meters, weighing 2.5 kilograms, can be shot, can also be defensive, in the Ming Dynasty war against Japan was a military weapon.　The palladium is a rare weapon. Its shape like a fork, the end of the center has a pointed tip, called the front, about 0.5 meters long. The front leaning back across a crescent moon, crescent moon facing outward, crescent moon embedded in a row of sharp edges. The handle was 2.5 meters long, and the end was equipped with a ribbed iron drill called "钅尊". The 镋 can be used for striking and stabbing and framing. Because this weapon is too long and heavy, only tall and strong people can use it.

Concealed Weapons

The so-called "concealed weapons" refers to the kind of weapons that are easy to carry out surprise attacks in the dark. Concealed weapons are mostly created by martial artists, they are small in size, light in weight, easy to carry, most of them have a sharp edge, can be thrown more than a dozen meters or even dozens of meters away, fast, covert, equal to the conventional blades of a substantial extension of the greater power. In the battlefield where thousands of soldiers and horses are fighting, it is difficult to play a role in concealed weapons, so few ancient generals practiced concealed weapons. In martial arts, it is a one-on-one fight, and both sides are very close, so the concealed weapon comes in handy. Chinese martial arts in the concealed weapon to the Qing Dynasty and set its completion, reached its peak, in the martial arts in the use of extremely common. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, after the prevalence of firearms, the concealed weapon was gradually cold, but to this day there are still people in the martial arts practicing this skill.　The so-called concealed weapon refers to those who take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to secretly send weapons, characterized by short, flexible, well hidden. Concealed weapons originated in primitive society, prehistoric times, primitive man hunted and killed wild animals with many of the weapons is the ancestor of the concealed weapons, such as the Australian natives used to "fly to come to the device" and the Canary people and Tibetans used to throw the stone leather bag is a kind of concealed weapons. The short arrows used by the Chinese people in the pre-Qin period in the entertainment of "throwing pots" are also variations of throwing weapons. The "fishgut sword" used by Zhu Zhu to assassinate the king of Wu and the dagger used by Jing Ke to assassinate the king of Qin are famous examples of the use of concealed weapons in ancient China. After the Qin Dynasty, the use of concealed weapons expanded. Three Kingdoms era hand halberd is also a very powerful concealed weapon, Dong Zhuo had "pull hand halberd throw cloth", fortunately, Lu Bu dodge quickly, almost hit. This kind of hand halberd is very short, in the straight edge side has a cross out of the oblique branch, the handle wrapped around the thin rope, one-handed throwing strike, "strict front strong branch, catch eagle flare", the power is really great. Sun Ce, a famous general of the Eastern Wu, was skillful in striking the enemy with a hand halberd.　The extensive development of concealed weapons, is in the Song and Yuan after. Northern female genitalia, qidan and other nomadic people in the war against the song, cavalry chase, the use of long soldiers inconvenience, so invented a lot of horse use of concealed weapons, such as fly catch, back crossbow, plow flower gun all kinds of. The arrival of the mongolians more will be concealed weapons for full play, such as short javelin, lasso, flying knives and qiankun circle and other weapons, in the conquest of the song, the western conquest and other wars, these concealed weapons have been widely used, the effect is obvious, muslims and european knights of the lance machete against these flexible weapons in particular, in the majority of its historical records of the palpitations of the heart.　The Ming and Qing dynasties is the peak of the development of Chinese martial arts, but also the beginning of concealed weapons from the military combat into the civilian population. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, the concealed weapon is more prevalent, the scholar, farmer, industrialist and businessman to show off the concealed weapon. During the Qing Dynasty, concealed weapons could be divided into four categories: hand-thrown, machine-shot, rope system, medicine spray.　Hand-thrown concealed weapons, such as javelins, darts, throwing arrows, flying knives and Qiankun circle. Javelin, also known as the throwing gun. As early as in ancient Greece, Rome period as a common weaponry. But that kind of javelin is very long and heavy, with today's javelin in sports is almost the same, does not belong to the scope of concealed weapons. One of the sources of javelin in China is the pikes used by the southern minorities, also known as pikes, mostly made of bamboo. Another is the Mongolian people on the horse using a short javelin, more than a meter long, several rods inserted in the side of the horse in the bag, more flexible than the bow and arrow in close combat. This weapon later to the Qing Dynasty more short and compact. General chivalry used by most of the weight but one and a half kilograms, but one meter long. Gun rod made of wood, the tip with iron, also useful for the whole body with pure iron, but will not weigh more than three pounds, the average person can carry four branches, skillful people can hit the target within 50 paces, great power.　In the hand-throwing concealed weapons, dart has long been flourishing. Darts have off-hand darts, money darts and other kinds of darts. The dart is divided into three-pronged, seven-pronged, etc., is a commonly used dart player's concealed weapon. Generally 10 centimeters long, weighing four and a half to half a catty. It can also be divided into darts with clothes and light fat. With clothes dart is tied with silk cloth in the set tail, throw the silk clothes such as arrows after the feather, play a role in stabilizing the direction of flight. Light dart is not with dart clothes, more hidden, just flight stability is poor, to hit the target requires more skill. Darts are generally tied at the waist, ***9 to 10 branches, of which there is a larger than the other called the absolute hand fat, in the dart will be exhausted and the enemy is not reduced when used. In addition, in addition to off-hand darts, money darts are also common, it is a large system of money polished edge and become. This dart is easy to manufacture, can be carried in large quantities, the use of hidden, can attack the enemy's eyes, throat and other parts of the dart, only this dart flying posture is difficult to master, the practice is more difficult, and the attack distance is limited.　In the hand-throwing concealed weapon, the more characteristic is to throw arrows. This kind of concealed weapon has three styles. The first is made of pure iron, 28 centimeters long, the front end into a triangle, the back gradually become thicker, weighing about seven and a half, suitable for beginners. The second is mixed with iron and bamboo, iron head bamboo pole, tail featherless, like an arrow and the shape of the body is slightly smaller, about 30 centimeters long, weighing about two taels. The third type is made of bamboo, the whole bamboo, the front is thin and the back is thick, the front end is sharp, for the use of mature skills.

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