The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts

Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple (Chinese: 少林寺; pinyin: Shàolín Sì; Wade–Giles: Shao-lin Szu, pronounced [ʂɑ̂ʊ̯lǐn sî]; Cantonese Yale: Siulàhm Jí) is a Chán Buddhist temple on Mount Song, near Dengfeng, Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. It is led by Abbot Shi Yongxin. Founded in the fifth century, the monastery is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin Kung Fu and it is the best known Mahayana Buddhist monastery to the Western world. Shaolin Monastery and its famed Pagoda Forest were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 as part of the "Historic Monuments of Dengfeng." 

history

The first Shaolin Monastery abbot was Batuo (also called Fotuo or Buddhabhadra, or also known as Bodhidharma) a dhyana master who came to China from India in 464 to spread Buddhist teachings.
According to the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (645) by Daoxuan, Shaolin Monastery was built on the north side of Shaoshi, the central peak of Mount Song, one of the Sacred Mountains of China, by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty in 477. Yang Xuanzhi, in the Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (547), and Li Xian, in the Ming Yitongzhi (1461), concur with Daoxuan's location and attribution. The Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi (1843) specifies that this monastery, located in the province of Henan, was built in the 20th year of the Taihe era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, that is, the monastery was built in 495.
The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty was a supporter of Shaolin Temple, and he wrote the calligraphic inscriptions that still hang over the Heavenly King Hall and the Buddha Hall today.


The Shaolin Monastery History, Religion and the Chinese Martial Arts