The Holy land of the Shaolin

The representative of the Orthodox Tradition of the Shaolin Chan, Venerable Master Hai Deng (chin.: shìhǎidēng Fǎshī 释海灯法师) was not only an important authority in Martial arts but also he was a Great Master of Shaolin Chan Buddhism.

Even when he was 86 years old, he lived a very active life, participating in the Buddhist conferences in cities like Chengdu and Beijing, reading sutras many hours every day and teaching Wugong to his numerous students and followers. Master Haideng was born on February 8th, 1902 as Fanwubing (chin.: Fàn wúbìng 范无病) in Jiangyou county (chin.: Jiāngyóu 江油) of Sichuan province (chin.: Sìchuānshěng 四川省). He was born in a very poor family. His father was a tailor. Master Haideng started training in Chinese Martial Arts since he was 7 years old. His uncle Xue Jiu Zhi (chin.: xuējiǔzhì 薛久志), a well-known master of Kung Fu in that area, taught him the sword skills.

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In 1963, the Shaolin Temple (少林寺) was officially declared by the state of Henan Province (河南), as a Provincial Historic Monument and is listed by the State Council as one of China’s key national cultural relics (chin.: wewuguji 文物古跡). But for the Revolution that broke up on 1966 there were not historic monuments. So once more the monks were sent back to their homes and no one cared about the temple, until 1979 the PRC Congress declared Shaolin Temple as one of the last remains of the National Treasures (chin.: guobao 國寶) and the reopening of the Temple was decided.

The Shaolin Temple of Song Shan that time had only 8 Buddhist Monks (chin.: heshang 和尚). Most of them were sick and weary (chin.: pibing 疲病). The temple Monks works for their food in the nearby fields, but the crop are not many. There is no income for incense and candles (chin.: xianguo 香火) and everyone is working very hard to protect the dignity of this ancient Holly Temple.

One of them is the Venerable Master Shi Yin Song, which is now the Shaolin Temple’s seat of honour Buddhist Monk (chin.: Shaolinsi de shouzuo heshang 少林寺的首座和尚).

Venerable Master Shi Yin Song, is a native of Nanyang (chin.: Nanyan sheqi 南阳社旗) of He Nan Province in 1946. Because of his family poor economic condition Master Shi Yin Song left home when he was very young. His family are farmers but also they are devoted Buddhists so the Buddhist dogma is not something unknown to him. 

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The most Venerable Master Shi Su Xi, of the Shaolinsi passed away (chin.: yuanji 圆寂) at 11:20 on Wednesday, March 8th 2006 (the 9th day of the 2nd month of the year of the dog) at the age of 82. For those who might not know Venerable Master Shi Suxi Zhang Lao (chin.: Zhang Lao长老 - senior Buddhist Monk), was one of Shaolin’s most venerated monks (chin.: heshang 和尚) and martial arts masters (chin.: wugong shifu 武功师父). For us, followers of Shaolin Tradition, Venerable Master Shi Su Xi was our father.

Venerable Master Shi Su Xi witnessed more than sixty years of Shaolin’s turbulent history: the huge destruction of the Shaolin Temple, the rise of the Communist party, the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Cultural Revolution, the persecution of Buddhism and Buddhist Temples all over China, the suffering of the Monks and Nuns and the rebirth of Shaolin in the last 25 years.

His Monk clothes and his ashes (chin.: guhui 骨灰) will be kept (chin.: juxing 举行) in the Shaolin Pagoda Forest (chin.: shaolin si talin 少林寺塔林) in his newly built Pagoda which is separated in 3 different parts, following the Buddhist Tradition. Namely the Clothes tomb tower (chin.: ji yi zhong ta 即衣冢塔), the Bone & Ash stupa (chin.: guhui shelita 骨灰舍利塔) and the long-lived tower (chin.: shou ta寿塔). For those who might not know the long-lived tower is build only for outstanding Monks.

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