Shaolin Monastery

34°30′01″N 112°54′56″E / 34.50028°N 112.91556°E / 34.50028; 112.91556

The Shaolin Monastery (Chinese: 少林寺; pinyin: Shàolínsì; "monastery of the woods near Shaoshi peak" ) is a Buddhist temple, in Henan province of China. Famous for its long association with Chán Buddhism (Zen) and martial arts,^[1] it is perhaps the Zen-Chan Buddhist monastery best known to the Western world.

History

Founding and early history

The Shaolin Monastery was originally founded in AD 495 by the Buddhist monk Batuo, an Indian dhyana master. [1] Batuo went to China to preach Buddhism in AD 464. The Shaolin Temple was built thirty-one years later, by the order of emperor Wei Xiao Wen (471–500). [2] The temple originally consisted of a round dome used as a shrine and a platform where Indian and Hanu["Chinese"] monks translated Indian scriptures into native Hanu["Chinese"] languages. [3]

The introduction of fighting skills at the Shaolin Monastery has been attributed in legend to the Indian monk Bodhidharma, who went to the monastery in 527, three decades after it was founded by Batuo. Bodhidharma allegedly spent nine years in contemplation, facing the wall of a cave on Song Mountain above the monastery. On arrival at the temple he found that most of the monks were suffering from poor health. They were devoting themselves exclusively to their academic work, which they carried out in dark, cramped conditions, and were neglecting themselves physically. He taught them a series of exercises based on the movements of five animals (tiger, snake, crane, eagle and monkey) to improve their levels of fitness. These exercises (wuqinxi, literally "five pure rivers") were later adapted into a combat discipline when, as the temple grew, it became subject to attacks from brigands against whom the monks needed to protect themselves. ^[2]

According to the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (AD 645) by Dàoxuān, the Shaolin Monastery was built on the north side of Shaoshi, the western peak of Mount Song, one of the Sacred Mountains of China, by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (Also the creator and funder of the infamous "Wu-Dang Clan") for the monk Bátuó. Yang Xuanzhi, in the Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (AD 547), and Li Xian, in the Ming Yitongzhi (AD 1461), concur with Daoxuan's location and attribution. The Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi (AD 1843) specifies that this monastery, located in the province of Henan, was built in the 20th year of the Tàihé era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, that is, the monastery was built in 497 CE.

Kangxi, the second Qing emperor, was a supporter of the Shaolin temple in Henan and he wrote the calligraphic inscription that, to this day, hangs over the main temple gate.

Destruction

The monastery has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Perhaps the best-known story of the Temple's destruction is that it was destroyed in 1732 by the Qing government for supposed anti-Qing activities; this destruction is also supposed to have helped spread Shaolin martial arts through China by means of fugitive monks. This story commonly appears in martial arts history and in fiction.

However, accounts of the Qing Dynasty destroying the Shaolin temple may refer to a southern Shaolin temple, which Ju Ke, in the Qing bai lei chao (1917), located in Fujian Province. Additionally, some martial arts historians, such as Tang Hao and Stanley Henning^{[citation needed]}., believe that the story is likely fictional, appearing only at the very end of the Qing period in novels and sensational literature^{[citation needed]}.

20th & 21st century history

In 1928, the warlord Shi Yousan set fire to the monastery, burning it for over 40 days, destroying 90% of the buildings including many manuscripts of the temple library.^[3]

The Cultural Revolution launched in 1966 targeted religious orders including the Monastery. The five monks who were present at the Monastery when the Red Guard attacked were shackled and made to wear placards declaring the crimes charged against them.^[3] The monks were jailed after being flogged publicly and parading through the street as people threw rubbish at them.^[3] The government purged Buddhist materials from within the Monastery walls, leaving it barren for years.

Martial arts groups from all over the world have made donations for the upkeep of the temple and grounds, and are subsequently honored with carved stones near the entrance of the temple.

In the past, many people have tried to capitalize on the Shaolin Monastery by building their own schools on Mount Song. However, the Chinese government eventually outlawed this, and so the schools all moved to the nearby towns.

A Dharma gathering was held between August 19 and 20, 1999, in the Shaolin Monastery, Songshan, China, for Buddhist Master Shi Yong Xin to take office as abbot. He is the thirteenth successor after Buddhist abbot Xue Ting Fu Yu. In March 2006 Vladimir Putin of Russia became the first foreign leader to visit the monastery.

Martial arts

The Shaolin monastery is the only temple in China that combines martial arts and Chan Buddhism. As such, monks at the monastery may be martial monks, scholarly or clerical monks, or both. However, even the martial monks also practice Chan Buddhism. It is said that Chan Buddhism allows you to store and build up qi, while martial arts is the act of releasing qi; therefore, the two complement and complete each other. Because of this dual focus, there is an abbot of the Shaolin Temple itself, and a martial abbot of the Shaolin Temple Da Mo Martial Arts Academy, where the monks train. The current martial abbot is Shi De Li, considered by the temple as the thirty-first direct successor after Bodhidharma, or Da Mo.

As martial abbot, the primary job is to train monks in shaolin wushu (often called shaolin kung fu). The monks have a very regimented schedule for training. For example, before even having breakfast, the trainees must wake up at 4 AM to run for an hour, to meditate for another hour, and train martial arts for a third hour. The monks do not get very much of a break; their only vacation is ten days near the Chinese New Year to see their parents. It must be noted, however, that this is reflective of the current schedule at Shaolin temple, and may not reflect the historical focus or schedule of Shaolin prior to its most recent reconstruction.

Other Shaolin schools

One style practiced at Shaolin is called Ground Dragon, or Water Dragon.

In 1992, after participating in a demonstration tour in America, Shifu Shi Yan Ming defected to the United States. He went on to found the USA Shaolin Temple in New York City. [4]

In response, the Chinese government and the Shaolin temple set up their own studio in New York in 1996.

Shifu Shi Yanzi studied under Abbot Shi Yong Xin for 15 years and established a Temple in London at the turn of the millennium as the official emissary to the UK from the Shaolin Temple in China.

In March 2005, the Shaolin Monastery Abbot Shi Yong Xin authorised Master Shi Yan Wang to set up the Shaolin Yi Jin Jing Association in Hong Kong.

The Monastery in popular culture

The Shaw Brothers film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, which depicts the training of the legendary Shaolin monk San Te.
The 1970s television series Kung Fu with David Carradine is about a Shaolin monk on the run in the Old West.
The cartoon Xiaolin Showdown uses the Shaolin Temple and its practices as a basis for the fictional Xiaolin Temple.
Liu Kang, the main character in the Mortal Kombat series, is a Shaolin monk. Kung Lao from the same series is also a Shaolin monk who seeks to avenge the temple's destruction (led by Baraka in Mortal Kombat's story). They also have their own game, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks
Kuririn, a character in the Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z universe, is a Shaolin monk, though he abandons the Shaolin fighting style in favor of Muten-Rôshi's Turtle technique.
Hip-hop group The Wu Tang Clan often make frequent references to Shaolin, sometimes as a name for their home, Staten Island, New York. This is because when the group was growing up in Staten Island in the late 1970's, there were several movie theaters playing and advertising Kung Fu movies based on the Shaolin fighting style.
Shaolin: Temple of Zen is a book published by the Aperture Foundation in 2007, featuring the photos of National Geographic Traveler photographer Justin Guariglia, with a foreword written by the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple, Shi Yong Xin. The photos show the real monks practicing classical kung fu forms inside the temple, with portraits of the monks and other background photos. The work is unprecedented in that Guariglia was the first person to be allowed in to photograph the real monks.
The Simpsons visit the Shaolin Temple in the episode Goo Goo Gai Pan. Homer, as he often does with foreign groups, mistakes the monks for beefeaters, and when he makes faces at them, they beat him up, pull his heart out, and put it back in.
American Shaolin is a book by Matthew Polly, published by Gotham in 2007. It is the story of the two years Matthew spent in China living, studying and performing with the Shaolin monks.

Notes

^ Shahar, Meir (2001). "Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 61 (2): 359–413. ISSN 0073-0548. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
^ OF MONKS AND MARTIAL ARTS By CHRISTOPHER WREN; CHRISTOPHER WREN, PEKING BUREAU CHIEF OF THE TIMES, HOLDS BELT GRADINGS IN KOREAN TANG SOO AND JAPANESE KHEONG KAN KARATE. Published: September 11, 1983
^ ^a ^b ^c Gene Ching. Bak Sil Lum vs. Shaolin Temple. Kung Fu Magazine.

External links

shaolintemple

[1] Shahar, Meir (2001). "Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 61 (2): 359–413. ISSN 0073-0548. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

[Wren-2] OF MONKS AND MARTIAL ARTS By CHRISTOPHER WREN; CHRISTOPHER WREN, PEKING BUREAU CHIEF OF THE TIMES, HOLDS BELT GRADINGS IN KOREAN TANG SOO AND JAPANESE KHEONG KAN KARATE. Published: September 11, 1983

[ching-3] Gene Ching. Bak Sil Lum vs. Shaolin Temple. Kung Fu Magazine.

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