Monk Chou

In 495 A.D. Emperor Xiao Wen of the Northern Wei dynasty built the Sholin Monastery for the Indian monk Batuo, where he translated Buddhist scriptures from Indian to Chinese.
Abbot Batuo recruited local children to train as monks. A boy named Chou was extraordinarily intelligent. He understood the scriptures faster than any other and knew them by heart in no time. After studying, he would join other young monks in wrestling and boxing. But he was thin and weak, and was often bullied by his playmates. Then he decided to practice Wushu from Master Batuo.

For a long time , the other young monks did not see Chou at play after class and wondered what has had been doing all of those days . One day in a hall they saw him doing Wuhsu. They laughed at him and demanded a contest. Chou smiled humbly and retreated saying,"I am no match for you." Two stepped over and grabbed Chou's arms, but failed to budge his. They were surprised. Another came forward for a try. Chou said Modestly, "All right, I will do a bit for you to see."

He stretched his arms and legs, then jumped onto the wall, his body at a precarious angle to the ground. He walked on the wall in this way from the western end to the eastern end, then another jump brought him onto the beams of the hall. The beams were meters apart. Chou jumped from one to another , He landed on the floor lightly and raised an incense burner that weighed five hundred kilograms. From then on no one dared to bully him. Once he traveled to Western Wangwu Mountain in Huaizhou and saw two tigers fighting. He used hos cane to chase them away.

Abbot Batuo spent much time training Monk Chou. When the old abbot passed away, he named Monk Chou as his successor. Abbot Chou played an important role in promoting Shaolin Wushu.