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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.
Suggested Keywords for further search: Shaolin | Shaolinsi | Shaolin Temple
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