China's
most famous martial arts tradition was indeed developed by Buddhist
monks at the Shaolin Monastery, 80-km west of Zhengzhou.
Each year, thousands of Chinese enroll at Shaolin's martial art schools.
Large classes of enthusiastic young trainees, many no older than nine
or ten, can often be seen in the monastery grounds ramming a javelin
through their imaginary opponent's body or kicking into a sparring
dummy with enough force to wind an elephant.
Shaolin Temple was built in A. D. 495 by Emperor Xiao Wen of the Northern
Wei Dynasty for his revered monk Bhadra who had come all the way from
the Western Regions to preach Buddhism in China. More than thirty
years later, Bodhidharma, an Indian monk, came to Shaolin Temple where
he established and preached Zen Buddhism, Zen meaning meditation.
Bodhidharma held that one could achieve sainthood or nirvana if only
he could spend long periods of time sitting and meditating before
the wall, free from all worldly thoughts. This simple and easy way
to cultivate mind and body was quickly popularized among the people.
And Shaolin Temple has since become known as a sacred place of Zen
Buddhism both at home and abroad.
When Bhadra was the abbot at Shaolin Temple, the monks there developed
several new sets of Chinese boxing for body building and self-defence
on the basis of boxing arts popular a-mong ordinary folks such as
Wuqinxi (Game of Five kinds of Birds and Beasts). The temple also
admitted as disciples those who were adept in martial arts. It was
said that in the city of Lu-oyang one day Bhadra saw a young man doing
a risky show with a shuttle-cock on top of the wooden fence round
a well. It was so difficult and risky a game that even a single misstep
would cause him to fall woefully into the well. Yet this young man
managed to kick the shuttle-cock at his back 500 times without a break.
Bhadra was greatly impressed so that he accepted him as his disciple.
After the institution of Zen Buddhism by Bodhidarma, monks devoted
even more time to meditation.
However, they found it very hard to sustain for long the strain of
this kind of exercise, for meditation slowed down the circulation
of blood in the body. To counteract this bad effect, the monks designed
new ways to do body-building boxing, which gradually evolved into
the unique Shaolin Boxing. Monks good at martial arts formed teams
of temple guards. Their movements, characterized by agility and suddenness,
were like those of a tiger pouncing upon its victim or of an eagle
swooping down on its prey. Whether they were moving forward or backward,
their footsteps were perfectly aligned. They moved like a whirlwind
in defense as well as in offence, or sometimes in a combination of
both. And when they stood still, they were like piles driven deep
into the ground. .. nothing whatsoever could budge them a bit. In
the Hall of One Thousand Gods in the temple, one can see even today
of the flagstone floor the pits worn by the monks of old days in the
course of their training in martial arts.
Towards the end of the Sui Dynasty, a group of 13 monks from Shaolin
Temple saved Li Shimin, Duke of Qin, by Shaolin martial arts when
his life at stake.
After Li Shimin ascended the throne, Shaolin Temple was granted a
large tract of land and permitted to retain a force consisting of
500 monk soldiers. Consequently the reputation of Shaolin martial
arts spread far and wide and, being constantly improved upon, became
in time an important school of martial arts in China. This age-old
Gongfu for body-building and self-defense has gained widespread influence
in his history and now has fans both in China and in other countries.
In spite of the fires and vandalism, many of the monastery buildings
are still standing, although most have had any original charm restored
out of them. One of the more interesting sights is the Forest of Pagodas
(Shaolin talin) outside the walls past the temple; each pagoda was
built in memory of a monk.
Nowadays Shaolin is a tourist trap catering to crowds of Chinese tourists
who are bussed in every day. The way from the main bus parking area
to the monastery is thick with food stalls, ice-cream sellers, street
photographers and small souvenir shops selling imitation scimitars
along with other junk. Try to visit on a weekday when there are less
people. There's also a better chance of seeing some of the martial
arts classes in action. You may bump into the occasional foreigner
studying at Shaolin.
The monastery sits on Songshan, a mountain sacred to Taoists. On the
same mountain is the Taoist Zhongyue Temple, thought to be founded
during the Qing Dynasty, and the site of the oldest surviving pagoda
in China. |
