In 496 A.D. the Shaolin Temple was built not far from Luoyang, the new capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). It gets its name from its location in the forest (lin) at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain. The temple was built in the 19th year of the reign of Emperor Xiaowen in order to host an Indian monk named Bada (sometimes "Batao").
Very little is known about Bada, except that he was respected and that he followed the traditional Theravada school of Buddhist thought common today in places like Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Kung Du and Zen Buddhism
In 517 A.D. (some sources say 527 A.D.), a second Indian monk, Damo (sometimes "Tamo"), arrived at the monastery. He was not well received and so (according to the legend) he sat down and waited to be allowed in. He waited nine years. But that wait changed Buddhism forever. Dama is also known as Bodhidharma, and he was the 28th (some sources say 18th) successor in a line of religious leaders who could trace themselves directly back to Buddha. And Bodhidharma, after finally being admitted to the monastery at Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, began to teach the ideas that eventual created a new school of Buddhist thought. Many Westerners know of the Shaolin Temple primarily as the home of a martial arts form called Kung Fu. But Bodhidharma also made it the birthplace of a school of Buddhism known as Zen (Chan in Chinese).
While tradition attributes the Yijinjing (the "manual," if you will, for Kung Fu) to Bodhidharma, no record of the book's existence appears until after the end of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). That makes it unlikely that Bodhidharma wrote -- almost 400 years earlier. But there is no doubt about the connection of the book (or of kung fu) to the Shaolin Temple. In 621 A.D. Shaolin monks fought at the Battle of Qianglingkou; 13 monks, as the story goes, defeated the army of Wang Shigong and completed the establishment of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong (599 - 649) rewarded them handsomely...
Soldier Monks
After the Battle of Qianglingkou the Shaolin Monastery began to play a military role in Imperial affairs that grew to include over 1000 "soldier-monks" during the Ming era (1368-1644). But when Manchu invaders took China's imperial thrown and formed the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) martial arts were outlawed. Between 1644 and 1928 the Shaolin Temple was burnt at least three times. A number of relics and over 230 pagodas (tombs of important monks) have survived on the grounds; some date back as far as the Tang era.
Tourism and the Temple Today
Today several structures greet visitors to the temple, including a Bell Tower and a Drum Tower, both characteristic of Chinese temples. There is also the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, Mahavira Hall (the temple's main building, built during the Jin Dynasty and restored in 1986), and the Sutra-Keeping Pavilion with well over 5000 Buddhist sutras in its library. Fangzhang Hall traditionally served as a resting place for the temple's abbots; in 1750 the Qing Emperor Qianlong lived in this building for a period.
The temple itself is still impressive. Shanmen Hall is the first building most visitors to the temple see; it includes a tablet inscribed by Emperor Kangxi (1622 - 1723) during the Qing Dynasty. Tianwangdian (Hall of Heavenly Kings) and Daxionbaodian (the Mahavira Hall) come next. Most large events are held in Mahavira Hall. Mahavira Hall also hosts daily worship activities.
The temple's Pagoda Forest serves as a cemetery for former abbots and prominent monks. Over 200 pagodas and tombs are in the forest.
During the late 1980's and much of the 1990's, tourism and spirituality met head-on at the temple and spirituality, frankly, lost. At one point the temple employed former monks and non-monks to teach Kung Fu techniques to as many as 10,000 students. But a new abbot took charge in 1999 and the temple has renewed an emphasis on meditation. While the temple still welcomes visitors, as one source puts it, the temple is now less "tacky."
Since 1991 the China Zhengzhou Shaolin Wushu Festival in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, has been held annually. Zhengzhou is about 50 miles from the Shaolin Temple.
Greg Cruey - Greg Cruey is an educator and journalist. He works as an educational interventionist specializing in a small, rural school in Central ...
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