ABSTRACT
Their detachment from military application was the most significant transformation of Chinese martial arts in the Qing dynasty, with firearms replacing them as the major military weapons after the Opium War. The Imperial Martial Examination was abolished in 1901. Martial arts deepened their roots in traditional Chinese culture, but also prospered with the expanding network of religions and societies, such as the White Lotus, the Heaven and Earth Society, and the Society of God Worshipers. In this period, a great number of martial arts schools and classics emerged.
