What is the original meaning of 18 martial arts?

During the Wanli period in the late Ming Dynasty, the specific contents of "eighteen martial arts" were: "one bow, two crossbows, three guns, four knives, five swords, six spears, seven shields, eight axes, nine cymbals, ten halberds, eleven whips, twelve maces, thirteen picks, fourteen rafts, fifteen forks, sixteen palladium heads, seventeen cotton rope lassos, and so on.

Since the Qing Dynasty, there are four main theories about the Eighteen Martial Arts:

1, which means "knife, gun, sword, halberd, shovel, stick, fork, rake, whip, mace, hammer, axe, hook, sickle, rake, crutch, bow and arrow, rattan card".

2, the arrangement is the same, but the last three become: generation, century, bow and arrow.

3, refers to "nine long and nine short". Nine are guns, halberds, sticks, cymbals, forks, spears, hooks, shackles and rings; Nine short ones are knives, swords, crutches, axes, whips, mallets, hammers, clubs and pestles. In this arrangement, the bows and arrows of long-range weapons and the cards or rattan cards of defensive weapons disappear, which is also a reflection that modern martial arts practitioners are not good at learning bows and arrows and only teach routines.

4. Refers to 18 kinds of weapons, which are called knives, guns, swords, halberds, axes, cymbals, hooks, forks, whips, mallets, hammers, grasping, boring, clubs, sticks, crutches and meteor hammers in modern drama circles. This is also an arrangement accepted by most people today.

Extended data

"Eighteen Martial Arts" is a traditional term of China Wushu, which is common in China ancient operas and novels, and refers to the skills and techniques of using various martial arts instruments.

The contents and forms of eighteen kinds of martial arts are very rich, which largely reflect the development of martial arts in that era. Modern people's understanding of "eighteen martial arts" refers to various weapons or skills.

20 1 1 On May 23rd, eighteen kinds of martial arts were approved by the State Council to be included in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. 20 19 10, 165438+ 18 kinds of martial arts were listed in the list of representative projects of national intangible cultural heritage for protection.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Eighteen Martial Arts (Word Definition)