Originally Posted by
SHemmati
i'm not into history, but since it's your concern, let's clear some facts.
1. luohan 18 hands and luohan quan: luohan 18 hands and luohan quan are different styles of shaolin, they have nothing in common. technically luohan 18 hands is the simplest style of shaolin, it doesn't imitate any luohan and its move are all reminiscent of daily activities of the monks and sometimes they may refer into some famous Buddhist stories, while luohan quan is an advanced style that clearly imitates luohan(s). historically, luohan 18 hands originally dates back to the Sui dynasty (581-618 AD), while luohan quan dates back to the early Song dynasty (960s AD), or maybe a bit earlier.
2. the number of the luohans: in Chinese Buddhism, the luohans had originally been 4, then later on the number have been increased to 16, and it's just in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 AD) that they are finally increased into 18. so, the concept of 18 luohans was introduced centuries after the original creations of luohan 18 hands and luohan quan and those stories that luohan 18 hands and luohan quan were originally created somehow based on the 18 luohans is a myth that has been created in much later times.
3. luohan 18 hands and luohan quan and the 18 luohans: so, what's the truth? the truth is, back since the Sui dynasty the shaolin monks began creating new moves. those moves later deceloped into a form. the form was developed over time. some hundred years later, in the Song dynasty, luohan quan and some other major styles were also created. at that time, there have been a number of luohans in Chinese Buddhism, but the number of them has been less than 18, it's been 16 or probably only 4. furthermore, we don't know what the names of these forms had been at those times, the forms have developed over times, they've had names changed in occasions, moves changed, added, and removed over and over. finally, in the Ming dynasty, during which the number of the luohans had finally increased into 18, the monks gave a final shape to the old form by adding Buddhist salutes to beginning and ending of the form so it had 18 moves in accordance with the number of the holy luohans. furthermore, i have to add that since these times, monks and folks around shaolin began creating new styles for these 18 luohans, such styles with 18 forms, one form for each luohan. you must not mix between the original shaolin luohan quan from the Song dynasty with these 18 luohan styles which were created some hundreds of years later in the Ming and even Qing dynasties and some of them even in the recent decades.
4. about the names: so, both luohan 18 hands and luohan quan originally date back to much earlier dynasties and the number 18 and the name 'luohan 18 hands' are a post-Ming dynasty implementation. over time, shaolin monks as Buddhists have implemented Buddhist names into their kung fu styles. this naming scheme is seen in both luohan 18 hands and luohan quan. however, unlike luohan 18 hands in which the names just refer to some Buddhist stories not the luohans, luohan quan obviously imitates the luohan(s): luohan sits in meditation, luohan reads the scripture, luohan sleeps, luohan listens to sutra, luohan looks into the mirror, luohan contemplates Buddha, ... . most the names tell you the stories of the luohans. but, there's some important point here: the names in shaolin vary from lineage to lineage. for example, some lineage calls a move luohan sleeps, another lineage believes it's luohan listens to sutra, another one calls it luohan contemplates, etc. so don't be in search of moves by their names, names vary.
good luck.
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