Shaolin Orthodox 72 Arts

Author: De Qian / et al
Editor-in-Chief: Dong Yingshuang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-04-01
Features: Excerpt: Introduction to Shaolin's 72 Arts
Section: Overview of Shaolin's 72 Arts
1. Origin of Shaolin's 72 Arts
According to the Shaolin Fist Manual, the Shaolin Temple originally had 36 external and 36 internal hard and soft skills, also known as 36 external and 36 internal arts. These were all secretly passed down within the Shaolin sect and lacked detailed written records. The "Shaolin 72 Arts" now referred to are generally considered a collective term for Shaolin martial arts. They are often called "divine arts" in legends and modern wuxia novels, making it difficult to see their true nature behind the veil of mystery.
By the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, due to political turmoil and the advocacy of some righteous individuals, a martial arts craze swept the country, giving rise to a generation of martial arts masters. During this period, Shaolin martial arts and their reputation were widely disseminated. Two influences emerged on Shaolin martial arts:
First, people rushed to learn from Shaolin, leading many fame-seeking and profit-driven individuals to falsely associate themselves with Shaolin, creating a situation where it became difficult to distinguish truth from fiction.
Second, this trend inspired Shaolin martial artists to intensify their practice. They not only actively taught their own martial arts but also drew from the strengths of various schools, integrating and innovating to enhance Shaolin martial arts. This led to a wave of large-scale integration and development, making the popular Shaolin martial arts richer in both quantity and content than what was practiced within the temple.
At the same time, some martial artists, even some scholars, wrote books and published them to inherit and develop Chinese martial arts, advocating and promoting physical fitness through martial arts and serving the nation with their skills. This led to a peak in the publication of martial arts books and the excavation and organization of traditional martial arts, with Shaolin martial arts being the mainstream of this peak.
This phenomenon had a profound impact on Shaolin martial arts:
On one hand, it significantly strengthened the research and dissemination of Shaolin martial arts, giving rise to accomplished martial arts scholars and theorists like Tang Hao and Xu Zhedong.
On the other hand, some individuals disregarded historical facts, making forced associations or misattributions, publishing counterfeit books under the name of Shaolin. Some authors even used Dharma names, but these names did not align with the lineage traditions of Shaolin Temple.
According to records, Shaolin Temple had five major sects before the Yuan Dynasty. In the early Yuan Dynasty, a monk named Fuyu unified these five sects, establishing the Xue Ting Caodong sect of Shaolin Temple and writing a lineage decree for future generations. Since then, Shaolin monks of each generation have followed this naming convention. This decree consists of 70 characters:
"Fuhuizhizijue, lioben yuankewu, zhouhongpubangzong, daqingtongxuanzu, qingjingzhenruhai, zhanjisunchunzhu, dexingyongyanheng, miaotichangjiangu, xinlangzhaoyou Shen, xingmingjianchongzhai, zhongzhengshanxiangxiang, jinlianxinyanjiedu, xuetingwei jiedushi, yinyouguimenglu."