The Holy land of the Shaolin

The Shaolin temple (chin.: Shàolínsì 少林寺) is a Chinese Buddhist monastery famed for its Chan Buddhism (chin.: chánfó 禅彿) and its martial arts (chin.: wǔgōng 武功). According to the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (chin.: xùgāosēngchuán 续高僧传, 645) by Daoxuan (chin.: dàoxuān 道宣, 596-667), an eminent Indian monk came to China in the fifth century right through India and China, crossing the huge barrier of the Himalaya (chin.: Xǐmǎlāyǎ 喜马拉雅) mountain range, teaching Xiao Sheng Buddhism (chin.: Xiǎoshèng 小乘). Emperor Tuoba Hong (chin.: Tuòbáhóng 拓跋宏), posthumous Beiwei Xiaowendi (chin.: Běiwèixiàowéndì 北魏孝文帝 - 471AD to 499AD) enacted an edict to establish the Shaolin Si (Young --New Planted-- Forest Temple the famous Shaolin Monastery) for this Unknown Great Buddhist Monk of the west, called Ba Tuo Luo (chin.: bátuóluó 跋陀羅); on the north side of the Shao Shi Shan (chin.: shǎoshìshān 少室山) of Mount Song (chin.: Sōngshān 嵩山), northwest of Deng Feng city (chin.: Dēngfēngshì 登封市), at Henan province.

Yang Xuanzhi, (chin.: yángxuànzhī 楊衒之) in the Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (chin.: Luòyángqiélánjì 洛陽伽藍記; 547), and Li Xian (chin.: lǐxián 李賢), in the Ming Yitongzhi (chin.: míngyītǒngzhì 明一統志; 1461), concur with Daxuan’s location and attribution of the Shaolin Temple.

The Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi (chin.: Jiāqìngchóngxiūyītǒngzhì 嘉慶重修一統志; 1843) specifies that the Shaolin monastery, located in the province of Henan (chin.: Hénán 河南), was build, in the 20th year of the Tai He era (chin.: Běiwèitàihéshíjiǔnián 北魏太和十九年)—the “Era of Supreme Harmony” (477-499)—of northern Wei (386-534), namely 496 AD.

Since the Shaolin temple was deep in the woods (translated as Lin - forest in Chinese) of Shao Shi Shan (chin.: shǎoshìshān 少室山), it is known as Young Forest Temple (chin.: Shàolínsì 少林寺). Jing Rizhen of the early Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), explained this in his book Mount Song: Shaolin means woods in Shao Shi Shan.

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The biography of The Dharma Master, Bodhidharma (chin.: Pútídámó 菩提達摩) and explication of his “Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices – (chin.: èrrùsìxíng lùn 二入四行论)” of principle and practice were compiled by Ven. Master Tanlin (chin.: Tánlín 曇林, 506–574) in the first half of the 6th century in Eternal Peace Temple (chin.: Yǒngníngsì 永寧寺) in Luoyang.

Venerable Master Tanlin, or Armless Lin (chin.: wúbìlín 无臂林) as he is known of the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (chin.: Xù gāosēng zhuàn 續高僧傳), not only was a member of the Bodhidharma circle, but also had an illustrious reputation as one deeply involved in the translation of Indian Buddhist books into Chinese. Tanlin has been considered a disciple (chin.: túdi 徒弟) of Bodhidharma, but he was also a student of Master Hui Ke (chin.: Huìkě 慧可). He knew Sanskrit to some degree, perhaps quite well. Though we possess no biography for this scholar monk, translation records and prefaces, a genre that provides us with a wealth of detail concerning the history of Buddhist translation in China, tell us that he took part in many translation projects at the great monasteries of the Eastern Wei (chin.: Dōngwèi 東魏, 534-550) capital Ye (chin.: Yè 鄴)—an ancient Chinese city located in what is now Linzhang (chin.: Línzhāng 臨漳) County, Hebei and the neighbouring Anyang (chin.: Ānyáng 安陽) County, Henan—during the late 530’s and early 540’s.

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The Warlords were to cause the third attack on Shaolin. Chiang Kai Shek (chin.: Jiang Jieshi 蔣介石, 1887 - 1975) worked to reunite China by putting together a huge army in his Northern Expedition (chin.: běi fa 北伐,1926-1928), which was to rid the countryside of the warlords once and for all. At the 17th year of the Republic of China (1928) Shi Yousan (chin.: shíyǒusān 石友三, 1891 - 1940) a low rank officer of warlord Feng Yu Xiang (chin.: Féngyùxiáng 冯玉祥, 1882 - 1948) was appointed to drive out the warlord Fan Zhong Xiu (chin.: fánzhōngxiù 樊钟秀, 1888 - 1930), the commander of the 4th regiment in Henan Province.

General Fan was from Pingdingshan (chin.: Píngdǐngshān 平顶山 ) Xiazhuang village (chin.: xiàzhuāng 夏庄 ). Back in 1901 he was studied Shaolin Wugong under Venerable Master Shi Henling (shìhénglín 釋恒林, 1865 -1923) for three years and he was a good friend with, Venerable Shi Miao Xing (chin.: shì miàoxìng 釋妙兴1891-1927), who was known as an extraordinary martial artist and the commander of the first ever regiment of the Shaolin Monks soldiers.

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