Shaolin Temple, a Sacred Place of Wushu and Chan Buddhism

Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng County, Henan Province, is known in and outside of China for Shaolin wushu (martial arts). The temple was built in 495, the 19th year of the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty and was named Shaolin because it is at the northern foot of Shaoshi Mountain and surrounded by densely growing trees (lin means forest).

In 527, the Indian monk Bodhidharma came to China and settled at Shaolin Temple, where he began to preach Chan (Zen), a form of Buddhism originating in India. This was the beginning of Chan Buddhism in China, with Bodhidharma as the first teacher and Shaolin as the first temple. Later, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Chan became the most influential branch of Buddhism in China.

Bodhidharma advocated self-cultivation through sitting meditation and held that meditation is of primary importance to the attainment of Buddhahood. He set an example by sitting with his face to the wall in a rock cave northwest of the Shaolin Temple for nine years, and his shadow became engraved deep into the rock face. The rock is now in Baiyi Hall at Shaolin Temple, and the cave is now known as Bodhidharma Cave.

In 1125, the Temple of the Founder of Chan was built on the road to Bodhidharma Cave. The main hall, though not large, is a treasure house of sculptures. Carved on the 12 octagonal stone columns of the hall are colored designs of female musicians, children, birds, pomegranates, peony flowers, and grass. There are another four stone columns featuring bas-reliefs of heavenly guardians, auspicious clouds, and coiling dragons. The sculptures on both sets of columns have bold lines and imposing colors, and the human figures are simple and unsophisticated.

The stone slabs in the eastern, western, and northern halls bear carved designs of officials worshiping Buddha and of arhats (saints) watching the sea, as well as dragons, Chinese unicorns, sea turtles, elephants, and deer. The designs are vivid and lifelike.

The sumeru pedestal of the divine platform in the main hall is covered with designs of mountains, trees, a temple, a pagoda, crop fields, a tiny bridge over a stream, wandering monks, a farmer with his donkey, and people waiting to be ferried across a river.

The luxuriant cypress in front of the main hall is four meters around. It is said that Hui Neng, the sixth abbot of the Shaolin Temple, took a cypress sapling in his alms bowl from Guangdong Province and planted it in front of the main hall of the Temple of the Founder of Chan when he returned to the Shaolin Temple to pay homage to Buddha. The tree is over 1,200 years old.

Bodhidharma was the first to practice what is now known as Shaolin martial arts. His limbs had become stiff from the long periods of sitting still and facing the cave wall, and he felt great discomfort. He also noticed that the monks were falling asleep during meditation and that their health was deteriorating, so he invented an exercise of eighteen movements, now known as the Eighteen Routines of Shaolin Martial Arts, imitating the pounce of the tiger, the climb of the monkey, and the jump of the leopard.

He also taught the monks the regimen of limbering up and cleaning the bone marrow and internal organs. Limbering up consists of stretching the muscles through exercise and improving circulation. Cleaning the bone morrow and internal organs consists of removing internal stagnant substances through deep breathing exercise.

The regimen, also called wushuchan (martial arts and meditation), combines movement with stillness and meditation with martial arts. Later, monks at the temple enriched and improved Shaolin martial arts by drawing on the strong points of the martial-arts traditions.

There is a mural entitled Thirteen Shaolin Cudgeling Monks Rescue the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty on the walls of Baiyi Hall. It depicts the fight for power toward the end of Sui Dynasty between Prince Qin (599-649) and General Wang Shichong (?-621). At the crucial moment, monks from the Shaolin Temple came to help Prince Qin attack Wang Shichong's army from behind and win victory. When Prince Qin came to power as Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, he conferred titles on the monks, granted land to the Shaolin Temple, and issued a special edict that allowed the monks to eat meat and drink wine.

Later, the Shaolin Temple was made an imperial temple governing other Buddhist temples in the area. To defend the temple, the imperial court gave permission to the Shaolin Temple to organize a troop of monk-soldiers and sent army officers highly skilled in military arts to teach them how to use the broad sword, the spear, the two-edged sword, and other weapons, thus forming the complete system of Shaolin martial arts. In return, the monk-soldiers performed meritorious deeds in defense of the royal court.

About 300 meters west of the Shaolin Temple is the Pagoda Forest. In accordance with the Buddhist system, pagodas were built there to keep the¡¡About 300 meters west of the Shaolin Temple is the Pagoda Forest. In accordance with the Buddhist system, pagodas were built there to keep the¡¡remains of the deceased abbots and other eminent monks, and stone table inscribed with the merits and virtues of the dead were erected.

The Pagoda Forest has 231 pagodas built during the 1,200 years after 791, the eleventh year of the reign (780-805) of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty. The form and size of the pagodas bear the influences of the times and show the ranks of the dead during their lifetimes and the economic situation at the temple. The pagodas vary in appearance and are from one to seven stories high, the highest being 15 meters. Some of them have closely-placed eaves, some look like pavilions, and some have a sumeru pedestal. The pagoda foundations are square, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, or round.

Most of the pagodas are carved with inscriptions of the occupants' ranks, religious names, and meritorious services. The inscriptions are useful materials for the examination of the history, religious practices, and economy of the Shaolin Temple and a treasure house for the study of the pagoda architecture, calligraphy, and sculpture of ancient times.

The Mahavira Hall after reconstruction in 1986. The hall, a venue for important Buddhist activities, was destroyed by war in 1928.		Shaolin Temple was built in 495 as a residence for an eminent monk from India, as ordered by Emperor Xiaowen (467-499) of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Bas-reliefs on the doorposts of the Temple of the Founder of Chan. The bas-reliefs were carved in the seventh year of the reign (1119-1125) of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Sitting in meditation.	Monks practicing martial arts.	A tablet with inscriptions in the handwriting of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) of the Qing Dynasty.
Shi Yongxin (central right), the current abbot of the Shaolin Temple.		Practicing martial arts in the winter cold.
	The stone tablet in front of the Bell Tower at the Shaolin Temple. The carving is A Complete Drawing of the Three Religions and the Nine Schools of Thought. The three religions are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and the nine schools of thought are Confucianist, Taoist, Yin-Yang, Legalist, Logic, Monist, Political Strategy, Eclectic, and Agriculturist. The portrait on the left is Confucius; that on the right is Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism.