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 year), when the joint forces of the eight powerful countries of Britain, France, the United States, Japan, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Russia occupied Beijing in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, Chinese dignity was degraded to its lowest point. Many Chinese started to despise their own culture, which had been built and developed on principles of spiritual cultivation and humanistic morality. They believed that these traditional cultural foundations could not save their country. Instead, they needed to learn from the West. Chinese minds started to open and guns and cannons became more popular.
After 1911, the Qing Dynasty fell in a revolution led by Dr. Sun, Yat-sen. Due to the mind-expanding influence of their earlier occupation, the value of traditional Chinese martial arts was reevaluated, and their secrets were gradually revealed to the public. From the 1920s to the 1930s, many martial arts books were published. However, this was also the Chinese Civil War period, during which Chiang, Kai-shek tried to unify the country. Unfortunately, in 1928, there was a battle in the area of the Shaolin Temple, and the temple was burned for the last time by warlord Shi, You-san’s military. The fire lasted for more than forty days, and all the major buildings were destroyed. The most priceless books and records on martial arts were also burned and lost.
It was also during this period that, in order to preserve Chinese martial arts, President Chiang, Kai-shek ordered the establishment of the Nanking Central Guoshu Institute at Nanking in 1926. For this institute, many famous masters and practitioners were recruited. The traditional name for martial techniques (wushu) was renamed Chinese martial techniques (zhong guo wushu) or simply country techniques (guoshu). This was the first time in Chinese history that under the government’s power, all the practitioners of the different styles of Chinese martial arts sat down and shared their knowledge. Unfortunately, after only three generations (that is, the time it takes to train a group of students from novice to advanced), World War II started in 1937 and all training was discontinued.
In 1945, after the Second World War, mainland China was taken over by communists. Under communist rule, all religions were forbidden. Naturally, all Shaolin training was also prohibited. Later, under the communist party, wushu training was established by the Chinese Athletic Committee. In this organization, the communist party purposely deleted portions of the martial training and their applications in order to discourage possible unification of martial artists against the government. From Chinese history, it is well known that almost all revolutions that succeeded did so due to the unification of Chinese martial artists. Unfortunately, only the aesthetic and acrobatic parts of the arts were preserved and developed. Eventually, it became known that the athletes trained during this period did not know how to fight or defend themselves. Performance was the goal of this preservation. This situation was not changed until the late 1980s. After the communist government realized that the essence of the arts—martial training and applications—started to die out following the death of many traditional masters, the traditional training was once again encouraged. Regrettably, many masters had already been killed during the so-called “Cultural Revolution,” and many others had lost their trust of the communist party and were not willing to share their knowledge.
In order to bring Chinese wushu into Olympic competition, China expended a great deal of effort to promote it. With this motivation, the Shaolin Temple again received attention from the government. New buildings were constructed and a grand hotel was built. The Shaolin Temple became an important tourist