Shaolin Temple

Brief Introduction of the Shaolin Temple
Shaolin Quan or Shaolin Chuan originated in the Shaolin Temple on Mount Songshan at Dengfeng in Henan Province. It was named after the temple. The founder of the Shaolin Quan was said to be an Indian monk, Bodhi-dharma. The proposition, though very influential, was proved to be false, for there was a monk named BodhHiharma but he knew nothing at all about Chinese Chuan. In fact, Shaolin Quan was the manifestation of the wisdom of the monks of the temple, secular Wushu masters and army generals and soldiers.

David Carradine made it famous. And Jet Li (Lethal Weapon4, Shaolin Temple) helped Deng Xiaopeng make it a tourist attraction for today's world. But the Shaolin Temple in the Song Shan Mountains in China's western Henan Province has been around for over 1500 years. And its latest bout of fame is not its first...

In 496 A.D. the Shaolin Temple was built not far from Luoyang, the new capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). It gets its name from its location in the forest (lin) at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain. The temple was built in the 19th year of the reign of Emperor Xiaowen in order to host an Indian monk named Bada (sometimes "Batao"). We know very little else about Bada, except that he was respected and that he followed the traditional Theravada school of Buddhist thought common today in places like Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Some 21 years later in 517 A.D. (some sources say 527 A.D.), a second Indian monk, Damo (sometimes "Tamo"), arrived at the monastery. He was not well received and so (according to the legend) he sat down and waited to be allowed in. He waited nine years. But that wait changed Buddhism forever. Dama is also known as Bodhidharma, and he was the 28th (some sources say 18th) successor in a line of religious leaders who could trace themselves directly back to Buddha. And Bodhidharma, after finally being admitted to the monastery at Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, began to teach the ideas that eventual created a new school of Buddhist thought. Many Westerners know of the Shaolin Temple primarily as the home of a martial arts form called Kungfu. But Bodhidharma also made it the birthplace of a school of Buddism known as Zen (Chan in Chinese).

While tradition attributes the Yijinjing (the "manual," if you will, for Kungfu) to Bodhidharma, no record of the book's existence appears until after the end of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). That makes it unlikely that Bodhidharma wrote -- alomst 400 years earlier. But there is no doubt about the connection of the book (or of Kungfu) to the Shaolin Temple. In 621 A.D. Shaolin monks fought at the Battle of Qianglingkou; 13 monks, as the story goes, defeated the army of Wang Shigong and completed the establishment of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong (599 - 649) rewarded them handsomely...

After the Battle of Qianglingkou the Shaolin Monastery began to play a military role in Imperial affairs that grew to include over 1000 "soldier-monks" during the Ming era (1368-1644). But when Manchu invaders took China's imperial thrown and formed the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) martial arts were outlawed. Between 1644 and 1928 the Shaolin Temple was burnt at least three times. A number of relics and over 230 pagodas (tombs of important monks) have survived on the grounds; some date back as far as the Tang era.

Today several structures greet visitors to the temple, including a Bell Tower and a Drum Tower, both characteristic of Chinese temples. There is also the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, Mahavira Hall (the temple's main building, built during the Jin Dynasty and restored in 1986), and the Sutra-Keeping Pavilion with well over 5000 Buddhist sutras in its library. Fangzhang Hall traditionally served as a resting place for the temple's abbots; in 1750 the Qing Emperor Qianlong lived in this building for a period.

During the late 1980's and much of the 1990's, tourism and spirituality met head-on at the temple and spirituality, frankly, lost. At one point the temple employed former monks and non-monks to teach Kungfu techniques to as many as 10,000 students. But a new abbot took charge in 1999 and the temple has renewed an emphasis on meditation. While the temple still welcomes visitors, as one source puts it, the temple is now less "tacky."

Since 1991 the China Zhengzhou Shaolin Wushu Festival in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, has been held annually. This year the festival will be held from October 16 to 20, 2004 in Zhengzhou City.

Zhengzhou is about 50 miles from the Shaolin Temple.

History of Shaolin Temple—Home of Zen Buddhism and Kungfu
Monk Buddhabhadra (Ba Tuo) Builds Shaolin Temple on Mt. Song:
It is said that a Buddhist monk from India named Buddhabhadra, or Ba Tuo in Chinese, came to China during Emperor Xiaowen's reign during the Northern Wei Dynasty period in 495AD. The emperor liked Buddhabhadra and offered to support him in teaching Buddhism at court. Buddhabhadra declined and was given land to build a temple on Mt. Song. There he built Shaolin, which translates into small forest.

Zen Buddhism Comes to Shaolin Temple:
Thirty years after Shaolin was founded, another Buddhist monk called Bodhidharma from India came to China to teach Yogic concentration, known commonly today by the Japanese term "Zen" Buddhism. He traveled throughout China and finally came to Mt. Song where he found Shaolin Temple where he asked to be admitted.

A Monk Meditates for Nine Years:
The abbot, Fang Chang, refused and it is said Bodhidharma climbed high into the mountains to a cave where he meditated for nine years. It is believed that he sat, facing the cave wall for much of these nine years so that his shadow became permanently outlined on the cave wall. (Incidentally, the cave is now a sacred place and the shadow imprint has been removed from the cave and moved to the temple compound where you can view it during your visit. It is quite remarkable.)

After nine years, Fang Chang finally granted Bodhidharma entrance to Shaolin where he became the First Patriarch of Zen Buddhism.

The Origins of Shaolin Martial Arts or Kungfu:
Supposedly Bodhidharma exercised in the cave to keep fit and when he entered Shaolin Temple, found that the monks there were not very fit. He developed a set of exercises that later became the foundation for the specialized interpretation of martial arts at Shaolin. Martial arts were already widespread in China and many of the monks were retired soldiers. Thus existing martial arts exercises were combined with Bodhidharma's teachings to create the Shaolin version of Kungfu.

Warrior Monks:
Originally used as exercise to keep fit, the Kungfu eventually had to be used against attacking assailants after the monastery's assets. Shaolin eventually became famous for its warrior monks who were masterful in their practice of Kungfu. Being Buddhist monks, however, they were bound by a set of principles called martial ethics, wude, that includes prohibitions such as "do not betray your teacher" and "do not fight for frivolous reasons" as well as eight "hit" and "do not hit" zones to ensure the opponent will not be too seriously injured.

Buddhism Banned:
Not long after Boddhidharma entered Shaolin, Emperor Wudi banned Buddhism in 574AD and Shaolin was destroyed. Later, under Emperor Jingwen in the Northern Zhou Dynasty Buddhism was revived and Shaolin rebuilt and restored.

Shaolin's Golden Era: Warrior Monks Save Tang Dynasty Emperor:
During turmoil early in the Tang Dyansty (618-907), thirteen warrior monks helped the Tang emperor rescue his son, Li Shimin, from an army aiming to overthrow the Tang. In recognition of their help, Li Shimin, once emperor, named Shaolin the "Supreme Temple" in all of China and fostered learning, teaching and exchange between the imperial court and armies and the Shaolin monks. Over the next few centuries until Ming loyalists used Shaolin as a refuge, Shaolin Temple and its style of martial arts enjoyed a flourishing of development and advancement.

The Decline of Shaolin:
As a haven for Ming loyalists, Qing rulers finally destroyed Shaolin Temple, burning it to the ground and destroying many of its treasures and sacred texts in the process. Shaolin Kungfu was outlawed and the monks and followers, those who lived, were dispersed through China and to other, lesser, temples following Shaolin teachings. Shaolin was allowed to reopen again about one hundred years later but rulers were still distrustful of Shaolin Kungfu and the power it gave its followers. It was burned and rebuilt several times over the following centuries.

Present-day Shaolin Temple:
Today, Shaolin Temple is a practicing Buddhist temple where adaptations on the original Shaolin Kungfu are taught. According to some sources, the original Shaolin Kungfu was too powerful so was replaced by Wu Shu, a less aggressive form of martial arts. Whatever is practiced today, it is still a place of dedication and learning, as can be seen by the hundreds of youngsters practicing outside on a given morning. There are now over eighty Kungfu schools around Mt. Song in Dengfeng where thousands of Chinese children are sent to study, as young as age five. Shaolin Temple and its teachings remain impressive.

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