Shaolin Monastery and Shaolin Wushu

Shaolin Quan is one of China's most well known traditional Wushu, its name originating from the Shaolin Monastery.

The monastery is situated in Henan Province, 13km northwest of DengFeng country town at the western foot of Mt. Songshan. The name Shaolin comes from the fact that the monastery is nestled in the woods(lin) below the shady northen slope of Shaoshi Peak.

Shaolin Monastery was built in 495 under the patronage of Emperor Xiaowen (reigned 471-500) of the Northen Wei Dynasty, to accommodate a visting Indian monk, Bodhiharma. During the 1,500 years of its history, it has gone through many ups and downs; at times a vast thriving establishment, at others suffering decline and disaster.

In 573, Emperor Wudi (reigned 561-579) of the Northen Zhou Dynasty prohibited the Buddhist and Taoist religions. The Shaolin Monastery was abandoned. After 581, Emperor Wendi (reigned 581-605) of the Sui Dynasty revived Buddhism, granting the monastery 10,000 mu (666 hectares) of land and providing subsistence for the monks. Not long after, however, wide spread uprisings and wars against the Sui resulted in the monastery being razed to the ground, with only a stone pagoda left standing.

By the reign of the Tang Dynasty Emperor TaiZong (reigned 627-650), the monastery flourished once more, again in possession of more than 600 hectares of land, buildings with a total of more than 5,000 rooms, over 1,000 monks, and its own army and statutes.

In 1312, Emperor RenZhong (reigned 1312-1321) of the Yuan Dynasty ennobled the abbot of the Shaolin Monastery as the Great Master of the Void and the Duke of Jin. However, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, it met again with disaster, once more being consumed by fire. The buildings remaining today date from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the title plaque, ShaoLin Monastery, above the main entrance was written by Emperor KangXi (reigned 1662-1723) of the Qing dynasty. Unfortunately, its troubles were not over yet. In 1928, during a battle between feuding warlords, Shi YouSan sent troops to burn the monastery. The fire raged for more than 40 days, reducing most of the main halls to ashes and destroying many cultural relics.

After 1949, the People's Goverment put the Shaolin Monastery under protection and began repairing its buildings. Fully restored, it is now open to tourists.

Founder of Shaolin Quan

Regarding the founder of Shaolin Quan , there has been much debate through the centuries.Tradition ascribes its beginnings to the Indian Monk Bodhidharma who came to China and lived in the ShaoLin Monastery early in the 6th century. Bodhidharma, it is said, developed a set of exercises for the monks to pratise after their long periods of meditation, and these formed the basis of Shaolin Quan . However, through historians generally recognize that Bodhidharma was the founder of the Chan Sect of Chinese Buddhism, there is no evidence that he ever stayed in ShaoLin Monastery for any length of time or that he knew anything about martial arts

Historical material suggests that almost immediately after its founding, self-defence or some other form of physical training was part of life in the monastery. The account of Chan Master Zhou is interesting. It is is said that when he entered the monastery as a weak boy he was often bullied, so he decided to learn martial arts, which made him physically tough and skilled in combat.

Whatever the origins of Shaolin WuShu, by the end of the Sui Dynasty(581-618), the outstanding combat skills of the Shaolin monks became well known. At that time, Li ShiMin, Prince of Qin, was leading his troops against his military rival, Wang ShiChong at LuoYang. Li heard of the fighting skills of the Shaolin monks and called upon them to help him. The monks responded by capturing Wang's nephew, thus aiding the defeat of Wang and the founding of the Tang Dynasty by Li ShiMin. Li rewarded the monks with titles, bestowing more land and privileges on their monastery and erecting a stele(an inscribed pillar) recording their archievements. The monastery precincts were expanded and the system of monk-soldiers was established. The fame of Shalin Wushu spread across China. Have you seen the film Shaolin Monastery, which was based on the story of the monk soldiers who helped Li ShiMin with their fighting skills?

From this time on, the monastery became a great centre for the development and practice of WuShu. Practice became more varied: armed and unarmed skills, calvary and infantry combat were developed. Skilled Wushu masters were frequently invited from all parts of China to teach the monks.

Hence many times in its history, the Shaolin Monastery became a focal point for WuShu , assimilating what was best in the different schools of martial arts.

According to records, the wushu practised at the monastery in different periods was varied in style and content. Among the unarmed combat styles were those resembling the fast and agile Chang Quan. Others were powerful, like Nan Quan, or emphasized the use of will and the mind as well as breathing like XingYi Quan(will-mind boxing) and Rou Quan(soft boxing); still others imitated animal movements like LuoHan Quan(Arhat boxing) and Hou Quan(Monkey boxing).

Shaolin staff skills were especially famous, although all the 18 military weapons were practised. In addition, many others forms of exercise evolved, such as Standing Pole Exercise, Hard Skills, Light Skills and Qi Gong(breathing exercise). Years of treading and stamping have worn depressions in the brick floor of the Shaolin Monastery's Hall of Thousand Buddhas where the monks used to pratise WuShu.

As the fame of Shaolin WuShuspread, Shaolin monks received imperial summons to fight several times. They fought against Japanese pirates, who plundered the Chinese coast, wreaking havoc among the local people from the 14th century on, during the Ming Dynasty. After an imperial call, Shaolin monks led by Yue Kong and Da ZaoHua engaged the Japanese pirates in the area around present-day Shanghai. Records say that these monks soldiers fought bravely, wielding iron staffs. In one encounter, they relieved the seige on Shanghai. Later, however, they were all killed by Japanese pirates who lured them into an ambush.

Today, Shaolin Monastery and its WuShu are as famous as ever, its varied, artistic styles providing popular at home and abroad.