A Brief History of Shaolin

A history of the Shaolin temple and its monks—even a brief history—would have to begin in two distant places: with the development of Chinese civilization (over 5000 years ago), and with the birth of Buddhism in India, in the 6th century BCE. In 2674 BCE, Emperor Huang Ti of China was already practicing a basic form of martial arts, used in combat and training for soldiers; since it was common for these soldiers to end their military careers by retiring into monasteries, the martial arts also became part of temple and monastic life. Confucius espoused the importance of martial arts in 600 BCE, and Taoism also integrated martial arts into its spiritual teachings.

Buddhism spread from India into Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Burma, and was then brought to China along the Silk Road, a trans-Asian trade route, in the 1st century BCE. Well-established Buddhist communities, such as the White Horse Temple, are attested in China by the end of the 1st century. In 464 CE, when the Indian Buddhist monk Ba Tuo came to China to spread Buddhist teachings, therefore, Chinese Buddhist monks were already practicing certain forms of martial arts and wrestling, called wushu. Ba Tuo was given land on Songshan Mountain (Bear’s Ear Mountain) by the Emperor Wei Xiao Wen, and founded the Shaolin temple there in 495 CE, in what is now Henan Province. “Shaolin,” the Mandarin word for “young (or new) forest” refers to the fact that this land had first been a forest, which was cleared of trees; when the temple was built, new trees were also planted by the Emperor’s gardeners.

After Ba Tuo, another follower of Indian Buddhism came to the Shaolin temple on Songshan Mountain: Bodhidharma, a Persian or South Indian prince (who was variously called Bada, Damo or Tamo in Chinese). Bodhidharma taught a form of Buddhism that was called “Cha’an” in China, the same form later known in Japan as “Zen.” (Both words are based on the Sanskrit “Dhyana,” meaning “meditation.”) Cha’an Buddhism does not mandate that its monks follow codified rules, but emphasizes self-awareness and self-motivation instead. Meditation and the self-discipline it requires are the main paths to enlightenment, so the monks are encouraged to focus on simple, thoughtful living, rather than prohibitions or hierarchies.

Different legends describe Bodhidharma’s first encounters with the monks of the Shaolin temple. In one version, he finds the Shaolin monks in such poor condition that they often fall asleep while meditating. He sits down in a cave on the mountain behind the temple and meditates for nine straight years, facing the wall. His gaze eventually bores a hole in the wall of the cave, but when he comes down the mountain to the temple, he introduced the monks to a series of physical and breath exercises. These movements—derived from Indian yogic practices of hatha and raja—were classified according to the 18 main animals in Indo-Chinese iconography, and evolve into Shaolin kung fu.