The most complete documents that exist today concern the Shaolin Temple. However, since Shaolin martial arts significantly influence the overwhelming majority of Chinese martial arts society today (and this includes taijiquan), we should be able to obtain a fairly accurate concept from studying Shaolin history. The following is a brief summary of Shaolin history according to recent publications by the Shaolin Temple itself.
The Shaolin Temple. Buddhism traveled to China from India during the Eastern Han Ming emperor period (A.D. 58-76). Chinese emperors were given special names upon their coronation; it was customary to address them by this name, followed by the title “emperor.” Several hundred years later, as several emperors became sincere Buddhists, Buddhism became very respected and popular in China. It is estimated that by A.D. 500, there probably existed more than ten thousand Buddhist temples. In order to absorb more Buddhist philosophy during these five hundred years, some monks were sent to India to study Buddhism and bring back Buddhist classics. Naturally, some Indian monks were also invited to China to preach.
According to one of the oldest books Deng Feng County Recording (Deng Feng Xian Zhi), a Buddhist monk named Batuo came to China to preach Buddhism in A.D. 464 Deng Feng is the county in Henan Province where the Shaolin Temple was eventually located.1
Thirty-one years later, A.D. 495, the Shaolin Temple was built by the order of Wei Xiao Wen emperor (A.D. 471-500) for Batuo’s preaching. Therefore, Batuo can be considered the first chief monk of the Shaolin Temple. However, there is no record regarding how and what Batuo passed down by way of religious qigong practice. There is also no record of how or when Batuo died.
However, the most influential person in this area was the Indian monk Da Mo. Da Mo, whose last name was Sardili and who was also known as Bodhidarma, was once the prince of a small tribe in southern India. He was of the Mahayana school of Buddhism and was considered by many to have been a bodhisattva, that is, an enlightened being who had renounced nirvana in order to save others. From the fragments of historical records, it is believed that he was born about A.D. 483.
Da Mo was invited to China to preach by the Liang Wu emperor. He arrived in Canton, China in A.D. 527 during the third year of the reign of the Wei Xiao Ming emperor Xiao Chang (A.D. 516-528) or the Liang Wu emperor (A.D. 502-557). When the emperor decided he did not like Da Mo’s Buddhist theory, the monk withdrew to the Shaolin Temple. When Da Mo arrived, he saw that the priests were weak and sickly, so he shut himself away to ponder the problem. When he emerged after nine years of seclusion, he wrote two classics: the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic (Yi Jin Jing) and the Marrow/Brain Washing Classic (Xi Sui Jing).
The Yi Jin Jing taught the priests how to build their qi to an abundant level and use it to improve health and change their physical bodies from weak to strong. After the priests practiced the Yi Jin Jing exercises, they found that not only did they improve their health, they also greatly increased their strength. When this training was integrated into the martial arts forms, it increased the effectiveness of their martial techniques. This change marked one more step in the growth of the Chinese martial arts: martial arts qigong.
The Xi Sui Jing taught the priests how to use qi to clean their bone marrow and strengthen their immune systems, as well as how to nourish and energize the brain, helping them to attain Buddhahood. Because the Xi Sui Jing was hard to understand and practice, the training methods were passed down secretly to only a very few disciples in each generation. Da Mo died in the Shaolin Temple in A.D. 536, and was buried on Xiong Er Mountain. If you are interested in knowing more about Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui Jing, please refer to my book, Qigong The Secret of Youth, Da Mo’s Muscle/Tendon Changing and Marrow/Brain Washing Classics published by YMAA.
During the revolutionary period between the Sui dynasty and the Tang dynasty, in the fourth year of Tang Gao Zu Wu De, A.D. 621, Qin king Li, Shi-ming had a serious battle with Zheng king Wang, Shi-chong. When the situation was urgent for the Qin king, thirteen Shaolin monks assisted him against the Zheng. Later, Li, Shi-ming became the first emperor of the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907), and he rewarded the Shaolin Temple with 40 qing (about 600 acres) of land. He also permitted the Temple to own and train its own soldiers. At that time, in order to protect the wealthy property of the Shaolin Temple from bandits, martial arts training was a necessity for the monks. The priest martial artists in the temple were called “monk soldiers” (seng bing). Their responsibility, other than studying Buddhism, was training in the martial arts to protect the property of the Shaolin Temple. For nearly three hundred years, the Shaolin Temple legally owned its own martial arts training organization.
During the Song dynasty (A.D. 960-1278) the monks of the Shaolin Temple continued to gather more martial skills from outside sources. They blended these arts into the Shaolin training. During this period, one of the most famous Shaolin martial monks, Jueyuan, traveled around the country in order to learn and absorb high levels of martial skill into Shaolin training. He went to Lan Zhou to meet one of the most famous martial artists, Li Sou. From Li Sou, he met Li Sou’s friend, Bai, Yu-feng and his son. Later, all four returned to the Shaolin Temple and studied together. After ten years of mutual study and research, Li Sou left Shaolin; Bai, Yu-feng and his son decided to stay and became monks. Bai, Yu-feng’s monk’s name was Qiu Yue Chan Shi who was known for his bare hand fighting and narrow blade sword techniques. According to the book Shaolin Temple Record, he developed the existing eighteen Buddha hands techniques into one hundred and seventy-three techniques. Moreover, he compiled the existing techniques contained within Shaolin and wrote the book, The Essence of the Five Fists. This book included and discussed the practice methods and applications of the five fist animal patterns. The five animals included dragon, tiger, snake, panther, and crane. This record confirms that the five animal patterns martial skills already existed for some time in the Shaolin Temple.
From the same source, it is recorded that in the Yuan dynasty, in the year A.D. 1312, the monk Da Zhi came to the Shaolin Temple from Japan. After he studied Shaolin martial arts (bare hands and staff) for nearly thirteen years, in A.D. 1324, he returned to Japan and spread Shaolin gongfu to the Japanese martial arts society. Later, in A.D. 1335, another Buddhist monk named Shao Yuan came to Shaolin from Japan. He mastered calligraphy, painting, chan theory (i.e., Zen) and Shaolin gongfu during his stay. He returned to Japan in A.D. 1347 and was considered and regarded as “country spirit” (guohuen) by the Japanese people. This helps to confirm that Shaolin martial techniques were imported into Japan for at least seven hundred years.
Later, when the Manchus took over China and established the Qing dynasty, in order to prevent the Han race (pre-Manchurian Chinese) from rebelling against the government, martial arts training was forbidden from (A.D. 1644 to 1911). In order to preserve the arts, Shaolin martial techniques spread to laymen society. All martial arts training in the Shaolin Temple was carried out secretly during this time. Moreover, the Shaolin monk soldiers decreased in number from thousands to only a few hundred. According to Shaolin Historical Records, the Shaolin Temple was burned three times from the time it was built until the end of the Qing dynasty A.D. 1911. Because the Shaolin Temple owned such a large amount of land and had such a long history, it became one of the richest temples in China. It was also because of this that Shaolin had been attacked many times by bandits. In ancient China, bandit groups could number more than ten thousand; robbing and killing in Chinese history was very common.
During Qing’s ruling period, the most significant influence on the Chinese people occurred during A.D. 1839-1840, (Qing Dao Guang’s twentieth year). This was the year that the Opium War between Britain and China broke out. After losing this war, China started to realize that traditional fighting methods, i.e., using traditional weapons and bare hands, could not defeat an opponent armed with guns. The values of the traditional Chinese culture were questioned. The traditional dignity and pride of the Chinese people started to waver, and doubt that China was the center of the world began to arise. Their confidence and trust in self-cultivation weakened, and this situation continued to worsen. In A.D. 1900 (in Qing Guangxu’s twentieth
