What Is the History of Shaolin?
Most Americans believe Shaolin is limited to the discipline of Kung Fu, but it’s actually a lifestyle that encompasses mind, body, and spirit and is based on the healing practices of Shaolin that originated over 1,500 years ago.
Zen Origins of Shaolin Temple
Shaolin Temple was established in 495 A.D. during the Northern Wei Dynasty of China. The Wei Emperor Xiaowen built the Temple on Songshan Mountain of Henan Province to host the Indian high monk Batuo. In 517 A.D., South Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma arrived at Shaolin Temple. He spent nine years meditating in a cave on Mount Wuru behind the Temple and founded the Zen School of Buddhism. For physical fitness between his long meditation sessions, Bodhidharma created a series of exercises to stretch his limbs and strengthen his body.
These exercises were taught to Shaolin monks to improve their health and thus began the tradition of Shaolin Kung Fu and Shaolin Kung Fu monks. Shaolin Temple is credited and revered as the birthplace of Zen Buddhism, known to the Western world as Zen, and the cradle of Shaolin Kung Fu. Zen is also thought to have developed as an amalgam of various currents in Mahayana Buddhist thought and of local traditions in China. As the center of Zen Buddhism, the Shaolin Temple attracted many emperors’ attention throughout China’s history. The Empress Wu Zetian (武则天, 625-705) paid several visits to the Shaolin Temple to discuss Zen philosophy with high monk Tan Zong (昙宗和尚); the founder of Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan (忽必烈,1215-1294) ordered all Buddhist temples in China to be led by the Shaolin Temple; there were eight Princes during the Ming Dynasty who became Shaolin monks.
Shaolin Kung Fu &
Zen / Zen Buddhism
For 1,500 years, Shaolin Temple developed and passed down a unique cultural and spiritual system manifested in the form of martial arts. Shaolin Kung Fu embodies not only the essence of Chinese martial arts but also the wisdom of Zen Buddhism. It is a treasured child of the cultural exchange between ancient China and India — two great ancient civilizations of the world. It is a unique cultural phenomenon founded on Buddhist teachings of “no self” and “inconstancy.”
The wisdom and courage inhabited in Shaolin Kung Fu is widely understood and respected by people of different cultures all over the world. Shaolin Kung Fu has become an integral part of mankind's spiritual civilization and is recognized as a world intangible cultural heritage by UNESECO.
Shaolin Temple monks emphasize that Zen and Kung Fu are the two integral aspects of their Buddhist regimen: Zen meditation leads to spiritual enlightenment, while Kung Fu maintains physical health for the pursuit of Zen. They call their training “Shaolin Kung Fu Zen” and in this aspect they are like two wheels of a cart that cannot be separated.
Shaolin Medicine
The Shaolin branch of medicine is a healing system with more than one thousand years of practice and integration. It was developed within the larger sect of Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions and serves as a culmination of Indian and traditional Chinese Medicine culture.
In modern application, Shaolin medicine takes "meditation" as its fundamental healing method, but also uses doctrines of respiration, acupuncture massage, Daoyin (a natural movement system), Qixue (energy flow), and diet therapy to help regulate meridians and the operation of internal organs.
It is believed that the wisdom of Zen is administered to address afflictions of the mind, which is seen as a gateway to physical illness, while conversely, the physical body is given massage, qigong, or kung fu to heal the body, which is also seen as a gateway to the mind.
An Overview of Shaolin Medicine
During the Yuan Dynasty, a famous historian named Yuan Haowen wrote that the Shaolin Pharmacy Bureau was started during the Jin Dynasty (1217), and thus has a history of more than 800 years.
The Pharmacy Bureau at that time was primarily used for treating the traumatic injuries and other diseases of Shaolin monks.
A few decades later, the Pharmacy began treating the local people and various travelers from foreign provinces who made the journey to be treated at Shaolin Temple. During this time, the treatment and medicines provided by Shaolin were free and, following traditional custom, patients would typically make a donation after the curing of a disease.
Throughout its history, the Shaolin Pharmacy Bureau developed various unique systems to cure illness or help one keep fit.