chinese shaolin temple

"Shaolin Temple" redirects here. For other uses, see Shaolin Temple disambiguation.

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Shaolin Monastery

Shaolin Monastery 2006.JPG

Shaolin Monastery

Information

Mountain Name               Mount Song

Address               Dengfeng, Zhengzhou, Henan

Country                China China

Coordinates       34°30′01″N 112°54′56″ECoordinates: 34°30′01″N 112°54′56″E

Website               Official site

Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple Chinese:  pinyin: shao lin si is a Buddhist temple in Dengfeng county, Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. The temple is situated in the forests of Shaoshi Mountain ; shao shi shan, one of the seven mountains of Song mountains ; song shan. The word lin  means "forest." Hence the temple has been named Shaolin. Shaolin is one of the four holy Buddhist temples of China. In addition to being the birthplace of Chan Zen Buddhism, Shaolin is the first temple that institutionalized kung fu. Because of its long famous association with Shaolin Kung Fu and development of many other Chinese martial arts, it is considered the cradle of kung fu. So that the Chinese saying goes: "All martial arts under heaven arose out of Shaolin."

Shaolin Monastery and its famed Pagoda Forest were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 as part of the "Historic Monuments of Dengfeng."

History

The first Shaolin Monastery abbot was Batuo also called Fotuo or Buddhabhadra a dhyana master who came to China from India in 464 AD to spread Buddhist teachings.According to the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks 645 AD by Daoxuan, Shaolin Monastery was built on the north side of Shaoshi, the central peak of Mount Song, one of the Sacred Mountains of China, by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty in 477 AD. Yang Xuanzhi, in the Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang 547 AD, and Li Xian, in the Ming Yitongzhi 1461, concur with Daoxuan's location and attribution. The Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi 1843 specifies that this monastery, located in the province of Henan, was built in the 20th year of the Taihe era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, that is, the monastery was built in 495 AD.The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty was a supporter of Shaolin Temple, and he wrote the calligraphic inscriptions that still hang over the Heavenly King Hall and the Buddha Hall today.