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History
of the Shaolin Temple The history of China began long before the
Qui Dynasty, but it's emperor Chin united many of the warring states and
joined many parts of the Great Wall ( built in parts against marauding Hans
and Mongolian's ) immuring up to 300,000 Chinese workers into the wall in the
belief that it would be stronger against attackers and would be invaders. It
was believed that these workers would strengthen the Great Wall with their
bones and their spirits. (This is also the emperor who created the Terra
cotta Warriors at the expense of 700,000, yes seven hundred thousand,
workers). So it is considered that during the time of
the Qui Dynasty the Emperor Chin united most of China into one nation. In his
quest for longevity, Emperor Chin tried many potions and lotions and slowly
poisoned himself with a mercury based longevity drug. Around 700 years later in 497 AD, in the
time of the Southern & Northern Dynasty, the first Shaolin Temple was
built. The Establishment of
Shaolin
Exact details of what happened at this
meeting are not entirely clear but is seems that Ba Tuo was offered riches, a
place in the palace and encouraged to continue his teachings. Ba Tao kindly
declined this offer and asked for a piece of land far away from any
'civilized' place in the province of Henan, on the side of the Song sang
Mountain. There he was given a large piece of land and the resources to build
a monastery in an area called 'Wooded Hill' or 'Small Forest', which
translates to Shaolin in Mandarin or Sil-Lum in Cantonese. Introduction of
Physical Exercise
There of course he found the Shaolin Tzu
(Temple). It was, 40 years after it was founded, and it had become famous for
scholarly translations of Indian Buddhist scripture into Chinese. Bodidarma
sought entrance to Shaolin but the abbot of the day, Fang Chang would not let
him into the temple (many sought entrance for various reasons). Bodidarma was determined to enter and see
the Shaolin Tzu. He located to a nearby cave on the side of a mountain ( this
cave can be visited when in Henan/Shaolin as well as climbing to the top
where a 40 foot Buddha is erected in honor of Ta Mo ) where (it is said) he
sat in meditation facing a stonewall. Many versions of this event exist,
including; · That
he sat facing a wall for most of the next nine years at the end of which
Bodidarma's deep blue piercing eyes had apparently drilled a gaping hole in
the cliff wall. ( we did not find such a hole but we did find what seemed to
be a permanent shadow ) · That
he fell asleep meditating and his eyelids closed and when he awoke, he was so
distraught that he cut of his eye lids so that this would not happen again (
since this would be against Buddhist teaching - and he was a devote Buddhist
- this is unlikely ). That he was visited
by monks (initially secretly as they were interested in the ‘foreigner’) and
was supplied with food and water. In this way he was able to demonstrate his
knowledge and skill of Buddhism to such a degree that he was finally (after 9
years?) admitted into the temple. Irrespective of which story is true, it is
clear that Fang Chang at some time relented and allowed Bodidarma entry into
the temple Shaolin. Upon gaining entrance to Shaolin, Ta Mo (as
he was now called by the Chinese) saw that the monks were weak and unable to
perform the rigorous meditations he expected that Buddhist Monks should be
practicing. Whilst meditating, they often fell asleep or were very restless
and were not achieving inner calm or peace (a state required to reach
Enlightenment, that for which all Buddhist strive!). He spent some time in seclusion pondering
the problem. Considering the time and health awareness of the period, Ta Mo
came to a staggeringly accurate conclusion that the monks were not fit to
meditate. With this in mind he started working on a solution; he created
three treaties of exercises. These in-place exercises were later
transcribed by monks as; a. "The
Muscle Change Classic" or "The Change of the Sinews," b. "The
Marrow Washing" c. "The Eighteen
Hand Movements later named The Eighteen Lohan Shou (Lohan meaning
enlightened) This marked the beginning of Shaolin Temple
Kung Fu (meaning hard work and perfection). Ta Mo later devised some
self-defense movements based on his knowledge of Indian fighting systems
(Bodidarma was born an Indian Prince and was well versed in Yoga and Indian
Kung Fu). Shaolin
Kung Fu
Shaolin was not a poor temple by this time
and was regularly attacked by peasant armies (since individuals had no chance
to penetrate Shaolin defenses and walls). Often, to enrich its knowledge,
Shaolin would invite wandering healers, scholars and now also martial art
masters into its walls to learn from these by sharing knowledge and skills. Shaolin became very apt at Kung Fu and in
repelling the attacking bandits. Slowly but surly the Shaolin became renown
for their martial arts prowess and fighting ability. It is to be noted that
not all Shaolin Monks were warrior monks; often they chose to specialize in
areas of expertise, much like university professors. Although at this time
all practiced Kung Fu, not all were totally focused on the practical aspect
of the art, only the Warrior Monks. It is also interesting to note that
Shaolin preferred not to hurt their assailants as this would have
ramifications for their spirituality in this life and the next! A mere 30 years later, Shaolin was closed
and forbidden, it took some 30 more years, around 600AD, before it was
reopened. The Second Temple
The
13 Champions
Tang sent a message to the Shaolin temple
asking for help to save his son. 13 monks were sent to answer their emperor's
plea, although in fact it may have been a much larger force (113 monks or
so). Even though the number of Shaolin monks sent was small (the enemy's army
numbered 10,000 men) the Shaolin were victorious, the enemy was beaten back
and decimated and the Emperors son was saved. In recognition of their great action T'ai
Tsung awarded the monks land, and bestowed upon the temple the title, 'Number
One" temple in China. Later that same saved son, Li Shimini,
succeeded his father and a very strong bond was forged between the Imperial
court and Shaolin. Regular interchange and training between high ranking
soldiers and graduate Shaolin Warrior Monks saw further development of
Shaolin Kung Fu and the integration of the secret Imperial (Eagle) Kung Fu
into Shaolin knowledge and skills. 72 Movements
This later became common practice for
Shaolin. Shaolin adepts were sent out to share Buddha's teaching and help the
poor (much like the founder of Shaolin). It was also a test, as many would be
Shaolin monks were tempted by worldly pleasures and did not return. Those
that did became the Priests and brought many new skills, knowledge and wisdom
from their travels. The
Third Temple
170
Movements
This maneuver obviously impressed Chuan
enormously and he introduced himself to the senior. Much to his surprise the
old man did not know much of martial arts and what little he knew he had
learned from the local master Pai Yu-feng. Pai Yu-feng was a friendly 50 year old and
Chuan convinced him to accompany him back to his temple. Over the next few
years they, using the 18 fists, the 72 movements and these 'pressure point
techniques' redeveloped Shaolin Kung Fu into the 170 exercises that became
one of the foundations of Shaolin Kung Fu as we know it ( This is also how
traditional Shaolin Kung Fu is taught today. First the basics very similar to
the 170 exercises and then the 5 Animal Styles). The
Time of the Ming Dynasty
At this time, Shaolin reached its peak.
Each Temple was like a university of Buddhism, health and the finer arts.
Each temple had several Shaolin Masters who were experts or specialists in a
particular area of training, well-being or philosophy. Rich Chinese would
send their sons (and later even Daughters) to Shaolin to become students (not
priests) and learn from the best in every field. Shaolin adepts would also undergo a
rigorous test before they were considered ready to leave the temple on their
journey years. In order to graduate from the temple, they would have to
exhibit phenomenal skills and pass through 18 testing chambers in the temple
(which were possibly more symbolic in nature as no evidence was found in any
of the Shaolin Temples of any such rooms). |