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The Shaolin temples (Chinese: 少林寺; Pinyin: Shàolínś; literally "Young Forest Temple") are an order of Chinese Buddhist monasteries famed for their long association with Chán (Japanese: Zen) Buddhism and martial arts and are perhaps the Buddhist monasteries best known in the West.
According to the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (645) by Daoxuan, the original Shaolin monastery was built on the north side of the Shaoshi peak of Mount Song, one of the Sacred Mountains of China, by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty for the monk Batuo, who for thirty years preached Nikaya Buddhism in China. Yang Xuanzhi, in the Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (547), and Li Xian, in the Ming Yitongzhi (明一統志; 1461), concur with Daxuan's location and attribution. The Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi (嘉慶重修一統志; 1843) specifies that this monastery, located in the province of Henan, was built in the 20th year of the Tàihé (太和) era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (i.e. 497 CE). The monastery has since been destroyed and rebuilt several times, remaining one of China's oldest Buddhist temples.
Perhaps the most famous name associated with Shaolin is that of Bodhidharma or, in Mandarin, Damo. He is said to have been either a Persian or South Indian monk who travelled to China in the 5th or 6th century to teach Buddhism. A story relates that Bodhidharma was initially refused entry to the Shaolin Temple, and was admitted only after sitting in Meditation facing a wall in a nearby cave for nine years. Bodhidharma's ministry at Shaolin formed the basis for what would later be called the Zen or, in China, Chán (both terms derive from the Sanskrit term Dhyana, which means meditation) school of Buddhism.
After entering Shaolin, legend states that Bodhidharma found the monks out of shape from lives spent hunched over scrolls, so he introduced a regimen of exercises which was incorporated into the practice of martial arts. Traditionally, the Shaolin monks developed their martial arts expertise as a defense against aggressors' attacks, as a means to promote health, and as a mental and physical discipline.
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The codification of martial arts by monks most likely began with military personnel who retired to monasteries or sought sanctuary there. The monastery was a refuge where, unlike the battlefield, such individuals could exchange expertise and perfect their techniques.
The temple's military fame began during the early Tang Dynasty (618-907). The Shaolin Monastery Stele of 728 describes Shaolin fighting monks assisting then-future emperor Li Shimin in his fight against rival Wang Shichong. Once enthroned, the gratified emperor enlarged their compound and gave permission for some monks to continue their military training. Shaolin kung fu reached its peak during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when several hundred Shaolin monks were given military status and personally led campaigns against rebels and Japanese bandits. By this time, the Shaolin monks had developed their own unique style of martial arts.
The original temple survived being sacked and rebuilt many times. In 1928, the warlord Shi Yousan set fire to the monastery, destroying many priceless manuscripts of the temple library, some of its halls, and damaging the aforementioned Stele. The Cultural Revolution purged all monks and Buddhist materials from within its walls, leaving the temple barren for years. It was subsequently rebuilt, repopulated and designated an official tourist site by the Chinese government after the overwhelming success of the Jet Li movie Shaolin Temple in 1982.
By far the best-known destruction of the Shaolin-by the Qing Dynasty's Manchurian army-may have been merely apocryphal. In fact, Kangxi, the second Qing emperor, was such a supporter of the Shaolin temple in Henan that he wrote the calligraphic inscription that, to this day, hangs over the main temple gate.
Accounts of the Qing Dynasty destroying the Shaolin temple may refer to a southern Shaolin temple, which Xu Ke, in the Qing bai lei chao (1917), locates in Fujian Province. Some accounts even state that there was more than one Shaolin temple in the area. Any such temple may not have been a "Shaolin" temple per se-references to other Shaolin temples are largely if not entirely absent from the records of the original Henan temple-but a Buddhist temple with a strong reputation for martial arts, leading to an association with Shaolin. Competing claims have made been that various temples near Putian, Quanzhou, or Fuqing are the southern Shaolin temple but such claims have as much to do with the prospect of tourist dollars as with historical veracity.
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 2004, the Order of Shaolin Ch'an residing in Beaverton, Oregon, released "The Shaolin Grandmasters' Text: History, Philosophy, and Gung Fu of Shaolin Ch'an" as an attempt to explain their view of Shaolin and its place in the world today. According to the writers, the current Shaolin temple in China should be viewed in its proper time and place, and cannot be viewed as the only legitimate source of modern Shaolin. Due to the purging of the senior officials in Shaolin during the 20th century and their unwillingness to return to China, the monks in charge at Henan today (including Shi Yong Xin) have no global authority over Shaolin and its diversified growth during the last century. Many teachers and monks in the Shaolin Ch'an tradition today were taught by the senior officials who fled China, and therefore much of the Shaolin Ch'an tradition resides outside of China's borders.
In modern times, thousands of secular branches dedicated solely to the teaching of martial arts have also been built in China and throughout the world. It is important to delineate the difference between the historical-cultural Shaolin Ch'an tradition and its methods (of which kung fu is one) and secular fighting styles associated with the Shaolin tradition.