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Main gate of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan, China.

See also: Shaolin Temple (disambiguation)

The Shaolin Monastery (Chinese: 少林寺; pinyin: Shàolínsì) is a Ch'an Buddhist temple at Song Shan in Henan Province of what is now the People's Republic of China. The monastery was built by the Emperor Hsiao-Wen in AD 496, and the first abbot of Shaolin was Batuo, (also, Fotuo or Bhadra (the Chinese transposition of Buddha), an Indian dhyana master who came to China in AD 464 to spread Buddhist teachings. ^[1] Long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts, it is the Mahayana Buddhist monastery perhaps best known to the Western world. ^[2] Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... The Shaolin Temple may refer to: The Shaolin Monastery, a Chinese Buddhist monastery in Henan, China Shaolin Temple (1977 film), a 1977 martial arts film directed by Chang Cheh Shaolin Temple (1982 film), a 1982 martial arts film starring Jet Li Category: ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Chán is a major school of Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... Mount Song, known in Chinese as Songshan, is one of the five sacred mountains of China and is located in Henan province. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... For other province-level divisions, see Political divisions of China. ... Main gate of the Shaolin temple in Henan Batuo (Fo Tuo, Chinese: ; pinyin: Bátuó, from Sanskrit Buddhabhadra), an Indian dhyana master, was the founder and the first patriarch [1] of the Shaolin Monastery. ... Dhyāna is a term in Sanskrit which refers to a type or aspect of meditation. ... For other uses, see number 464. ... Kung fu redirects here. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ... Occident redirects here. ...

Early history

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. 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 AD 497. Dàoxuān (Chinese:道宣; Wade-Giles: Tao-hsüan; CE 596-667) was the Chinese Buddhist monk who wrote both the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (續高僧傳 Xù gāosÄ“ng zhuàn) and Standard Design for Buddhist Temple Construction. ... The Sacred Mountains of China are divided into two groups associated with Taoism and Buddhism. ... Xiaowen (孝文帝) (467 - 499) was the emperor of the Northern Wei dynasty from 471 to 499. ... Northern Wei Buddha Maitreya, 443 AD. A Buddhist stela from the Northern Wei period, build in the early 6th century. ... Yang Xuanzhi (Chinese:楊衒之) was a Chinese writer and translator of Mahayana Buddhist texts into the Chinese language, during the 6th century, under the Northern Wei Dynasty. ...

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.^{[citation needed]} This article needs cleanup, so as to conform to a higher standard. ... Flag (1890-1912) Anthem Gong Jinou (1911) Qing China at its greatest extent. ... Japanese name Kanji: Hiragana: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Vietnamese name Quốc ngữ: Hán tá»±: The art of calligraphy is widely practiced and revered in the East Asian civilizations that use Chinese characters. ...

Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma is said by the Shaolin monks to have introduced the sect of Chan (Zen) Buddhism to them at Shaolin Temple in Henan, China during the 6th century. Bodhidharma was also given the opportunity to teach what the monks called “18 Hands of the Lohan,”^[3] (non-combative healthful exercises).

Various styles of Chinese martial arts are said in some sources to have been practiced even before the Xia dynasty (founded in 2205 BC), styles such as Jiao Di, the precursor of Shuai Jiao.^[4] Not to mention Shou Bo kung fu practiced during the Shang dynasty (2,000 years before the Shaolin Temple's construction), and Xiang Bo (similar to Sanda) from the 600s BC,^[5] along with the hundreds of other systems of Chinese martial arts that have persisted from ancient times to the present day. There is a story that Huiguang and Sengchou were martial artists before the arrival of Bodhidharma, when they became two of the very first Shaolin monks.^[6] For the Sixteen Kingdoms Period state, see Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms). ... Shuai jiao (Chinese: 摔跤 or 摔角; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shuai-chiao) is the modern Chinese term for Chinese and Mongolian wrestling. ... Remnants of advanced, stratified societies dating back to the Shang period have been found in the Yellow River Valley. ...

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, fiction, and cinema.

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]}. Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: Fújiàn; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ...

Recent history

The Pagoda Forest, located about 300 meters west of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan.

There is evidence of Shaolin martial arts techniques being exported to Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries. Okinawan Shōrin-ryū karate (小林流), for example, uses the "shaolin" characters (小林) in its name.^[7] Other similarities can be seen in centuries-old Chinese and Japanese martial arts manuals.^[8] Image File history File links Photo of the Pagoda Forest, located about 300 meters west of the Shaolin temple in the Henan province, China. ... Image File history File links Photo of the Pagoda Forest, located about 300 meters west of the Shaolin temple in the Henan province, China. ... A pagoda at Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia This article is about the building style. ... This article is about the prefecture. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Karate (disambiguation). ...

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.^[9] This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...

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.^[9] The monks were jailed after being flogged publicly and parading through the street as people threw rubbish at them.^[9] The government purged Buddhist materials from within the Monastery walls, leaving it barren for years. This article is about the Peoples Republic of China. ... Cover of the Little Red Book containing the doctrines of the Red Guards In the Peoples Republic of China, Red Guards (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people, who were mobilized by Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution, between... Whipping on a post Flagellation is the act of whipping (Latin flagellum, whip) the human body. ...

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. March 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase announces that the 2006 Fiji general elections will be held in the second week of May 2006 from the 6th to the 13th. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: ) (born October 7, 1952) is the current President of the Russian Federation. ...

A painting on a wall in the temple.

Image File history File links Shaolin-wushu. ... Image File history File links Shaolin-wushu. ...

See also

• Mudra
• Yì Jīn Jīng
• Wudangshan
• Zhou Tong (archer)
• Yue Fei

A mudrā (Sanskrit, मुद्रा, literally seal) is a symbolic gesture usually made with the hand or fingers. ... The Yì JÄ«n JÄ«ng (Chinese: 易筋經; Wade-Giles: I Chin Ching; literally Muscle/Tendon Change Classic) is a qìgōng manual most notable as the source of the attribution of Shaolin Kung Fu to Bodhidharma; both this attribution and the authenticity of the Yì JÄ«n JÄ«ng... Cliffside Temple at Wudangshan The Wudang Mountains (武當山; pinyin: wǔ dāng shān, also known as Wu Tang Shan or simply Wudang), are a small mountain range in the Hubei province of China, just to the south of the manufacturing city of Shiyan. ... Zhou Tong (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; d. ... Statue of Yue Fei, from the Yue Fei Mausoleum in Hangzhou. ...

References

1. ^ Order of the Shaolin Ch'an (2004, 2006). The Shaolin Grandmaster's Text: History, Philosophy, and Gung Fu of Shaolin Ch'an. Oregon.
2. ^ Shahar, Meir (December 2001). "Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 61 (2): 359-413. ISSN 0073-0548. 
3. ^ The Martial Arts. An A&E Documentary, 1998
4. ^ Prof. Kang Gewu. The Spring & Autumn of Chinese Martial Arts: 5,000 Years. Plum Pub., 1995.
5. ^ Prof. Kang Gewu. The Spring & Autumn of Chinese Martial Arts: 5,000 Years. Plum Pub., 1995.
6. ^ Canzonieri, Salvatore (February–March 1998). "History of Chinese Martial arts: Jin Dynasty to the Period of Disunity". Han Wei Wushu 3 (9).
7. ^ Bishop, Mark (1989). Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques. A&C Black, London. ISBN 0713656662. 
8. ^ Leff, Norman. Martial Arts Legends (magazine). “Atemi Waza”, CFW Enterprises, April 1999.
9. ^ ^{a b c} Gene Ching. Bak Sil Lum vs. Shaolin Temple. Kung Fu Magazine.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Shaolin

• Article analyzing modernization of Shaolin Kung Fu
• Shaolin International Federation
• Samples of outfits and wears for Shaolin monks