Edo

Edo (江戸, literally "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. It was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. During this period, it grew to become one of the largest cities in the world and home to an urban culture centered on the notion of a "floating world".

History

From the establishment of the Tokugawa bakufu headquarters at Edo, the town became the de facto capital and center of political power, although Kyoto remained the formal capital of the country. Edo grew from what had been a small, little-known fishing village in 1457 into the largest metropolis in the world with an estimated population of 1,000,000 by 1721.

Edo was repeatedly devastated by fires, with the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 being the most disastrous. An estimated 100,000 people died in the fire. During the Edo period, there were about 100 fires mostly begun by accident and often quickly escalating and spreading through neighborhoods of wooden machiya which were heated with charcoal fires. Between 1600 and 1945, Edo/Tokyo was leveled every 25–50 years or so by fire, earthquakes, or war.

Muyesinbo

The Muyesinbo (or Muyeshinbo, meaning "new compendium of martial arts") is a Korean martial arts manual published in 1759. The book is a revision of the older Muyejebo, made during the reign of King Youngjo (1724–1776). It adds twelve disciplines or "skills" of both armed and unarmed fighting by Prince Sado to the original six which were descbribed in the Muyejebo. No copies of the Muyesinbo have survived, but its contents can easily be determined by tracing back and comparing the Muyejebo with the later Muyedobotongji.

Prince Sado also originated the term Sib Pal Gi (십팔기, 十八技, “Eighteen [Fighting] Methods” or possibly "Eighteen [Warrior's] Tools” if using 十八器), shortened from Bonjo Muye Sib Pal Ban (본조무예십팔반, 本條武藝十八般, "A Treatise on the 18 Martial Categories of the Yi Dynasty"). This mirrors the Chinese concept of the "Eighteen Arms of Wushu" (十八般兵器) to identify the Korean collection of weapons depicted in the Mu Ye Sin Bo (note that 十八般兵器 is pronounced Sip Pal Ban Byeong Gi in Korean, 십팔반병기, where the words Ban Byeong are left out to render Prince Sado's term, and these omitted words roughly translate as "martial methods" making them essentially superfluous when taken in context).