the Han Chinese majority, as opposed to Manchu practices of wrestling
and archery on horseback), especially those of heterodox religious groups
and secret societies. In traditional Chinese society, martial arts practice was
not so much spiritual as it was the equivalent of keeping firearms. These
groups were often considered subversive by the authorities and, indeed,
some were. For example, the Taipings, a quasi-Christian cult, grew into a
major threat to the regime, occupying a large portion of southeast China
between 1850 and 1863.
The term wushuas it is used today in the People’s Republic of China
is only rarely seen in ancient texts. This term also translates into “martial
arts” in English. The term wushuhad become commonplace early in the
twentieth century (possibly following the Japanese use of shuor jutsu, as
in jûjutsu[pliant skill]). Even the young Mao Zedong referred favorably to
the Japanese practice of jûjutsu (roushuin Chinese), which he carefully
noted had evolved from Chinese skills.
The Nationalist government (controlled by the Nationalist Party,
known as the Guomindang) adopted the term guoshu(national arts) in
1927 to associate them with modern Chinese nationalism. As a result, the
term guoshuguan(national arts hall) has carried over to the present in
some overseas Chinese communities.
The term kung fu(gongfu) merely means “skill” or “effort” in Chi-
nese. In the eighteenth century, a French Jesuit missionary in China used the
term to describe Chinese yogalike exercises. It was accepted for English us-
age in the United States during the 1960s to describe Chinese self-defense
practices seen outside Mainland China as being similar to karate. It was
widely popularized by theKung Futelevision series in the 1970s and is now
a household word around the world. However, this term evokes a fanciful,
exaggerated association of the Chinese martial arts with Shaolin Monastery
and Buddhism—a distorted image of these arts, whose origins go back
much further than either Buddhism in China or Shaolin Monastery.
From early times, the martial arts emphasized weapons skills. The
Conversations of the States(Conversations of Qi) mentions five edged
weapons: broad sword, straight sword, spear, halberd, and arrow. The
Rites of Zhou also lists five weapons: halberd, lance, pike, and long and
short spears. The Book of Rites includes archery, charioteering, and
wrestling in the seasonal martial training regimen. In the section on music,
it further describes martial dances with shield and axe and choreographed
halberd and spear movements—early examples of combining ritual with
martial techniques into routines commonly known in modern karate par-
lance as kata. The ancient Chinese aristocracy doubled as priests. Religion
and governance converged; therefore, there were rites to support military
as well as peacetime activities.66 China