Shaolin History
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Shaolin History
Searching for the Shao-Lin Monastery
by Dr. William C. C. Hu and Fred Bleicher
Most of the martial Arts of Asia Claim to Trace Their ultimate beginnings to the Half-Legendary Shao-lin Monastery of Ancient China. Here BLACK BELT's Historians Sift the Sands of Chinese History to Pinpoint the Exact Location of the Shao-lin Monastery.
The history of the oriental martial arts as presented today might be compared with a lump of kindergarten modeling clay, which every day assumes different shapes according to the personality of the particular child who tries to express himself through it. Too often while modeling an historical sequence of events the worker in the clay of history will substitute fiction for facts. Whenever there is a void in the actual story extemporaneous versions, either manufactured stories or bastardizations of chronological history, are conceived by the fictioneer to conceal his own ignorance.
This practice is nothing new—it has been prevalent since ancient times. Whenever a new phenomenon was introduced that could not be explained readily, some myth, legend or superstition was manufactured to ease the inquisitive mind. The mind thus subdued was prevented from searching for more realistic and profound explanations.
As these myths and legends were allowed to exist their credence began to gain in momentum and after a period of time they were recorded as accepted truths. This has been the way of all primitive peoples in explaining the universe and creation' in explaining the birth of a race or the creation of a nation or empire.
As we read most of these accounts today we are amused, and treat them as humorous jokes and superstitions. And yet . . . when it comes to the current far-fetched explanations of the history of the martial arts we accept what we hear without question, either because the version of the story is told by a person we trust or because we want to conceal our personal ignorance.
The most pathetic thing about this acceptance is that we do not require proof of documentation nor do we venture into research for ourselves. Just like our ancestors listening to stories told them by their witch-doctors, medicine men and wizards, we accept whatever is said without question, out of ignorance or overtrust, meanwhile failing to realize that our minds are being subjugated and kept from the healthful exercise of searching for the truth.
The Heaven and Earth Society
To illustrate this we translated in the last issue of BLACK BELT a section of the story of the legendary Heaven and Earth Society (T'ien-ti hui) as recorded in the Ch'ing pai lei ch'ao. There are many gross mistakes and discrepancies in this story, recorded by the scholar Hsü K'o, and even more erroneous material in the story which was adapted and popularized by storytellers and later writers. To understand and evaluate the story which Hsü K'o recorded we must first examine both the author and his purpose in compiling such a voluminous work as the Ch'ing pai lei ch'ao.
The Ch'ing pai lei ch'ao is a set of 48 volumes compiled by Hsü K'o in 1917. It is a collection of material derived from stories, anecdotes, fables and similar sources. The material included is for the most part categorized by sinologists as yeh-shih or "wild history" (fictitious) and as such to be used by scholars with extreme caution. While it is not bona fide history it is nevertheless extremely valuable to sociologists and cultural anthropologists as a supplement to more orthodox works.
Practically every subject of interest is included in Hsü K'o's volumes, although his sources are never indicated. In the preface of this set of books the compiler notes that some of the material is quoted from works in his personal library, some is the fruit of his own observations and some is mere hearsay.
Hsü K'o was a student of Li Wen-t'ien, a noted scholar of the Ch'ing, or Manchu, dynasty. His teacher belonged to a group of conservatives influential in that dynasty's twilight period. Li Wen-t'ien believed that the time-honored civilization and institutions of China were the best in the world. He was extremely opposed to the modernization of China and he advocated the continuation of the ancient and traditional institutions. Hsü K'o was grossly influenced by his teacher and emerged later as a traditional classical scholar. As a contribution to scholarship he compiled the Ch'ing pai lei ch'ao to make available a large amount of useful information not generally included in orthodox writings. It was his purpose to do for the Ch'ing dynasty what the compilers of the noted work T'ai-p'ing kuang chi did for the pre-Sung period.
Focus on the Shao-lin Monastery
In the Story of the Heaven and Earth Society the Shao-lin monastery is the main focus of activity. However Hsü K'o, at the beginning of his story, notes that " . . . The Shao-lin monastery [is located] in Chiu-lien-shan, P'u-t'ien-hsien, Fu-chou-fu, Fukien Province." This statement is entirely false and cannot be substantiated by historical atlases or gazetteers. However, by giving the name of the mountain, the district, the prefecture and the province, his description of the locality appears to have more validity than it deserves.
In the Chung-kno ku-chin ti-ming ta tz'u-tien, which is a geographical dictionary of ancient and modern place names, "Chiu-lien-shan" is recorded as being the name of a mountain located in the province of Kwang-tung (site of present-day Canton and Hong Kong). Meanwhile, both the district and the prefecture- P'u-t'ien-hsien and Fu-chou-fu- are located in Fukien, the province to the north of Kwangtung. Both of these places are situated near the South China Sea and are hundreds of miles away from Chiu-lien-shan mountain. How, then, could Chiu-lien-shan be located in the province of Fukien as noted by Hsü K'o?
It seems there had been a belief popular during the Ch'ing dynasty that there was an old monastery of over a thousand year's antiquity in the Chiu-lien-shan. However it was not mentioned that the monastery was situated in Fukien Province. In order for us to progress further the most important thing to do is to establish exactly where the Shao-lin monastery was located.
One of the earliest records of the Shao-lin monastery is found under the biography of Fu-t'o shih in the Hsü kao seng chüan, by the T'ang dynasty monk Tao-hsüan. It reads:
"A shaman from Central Asia, by name P'o-t'o, who was profoundly devout, became an object of veneration and faith to the Emperor Kao-ti, so that His Majesty gave orders for the Shao-lin monastery to be built on the north side of the Shao shih mountain for him to dwell in, food and provisions being supplied at the public expense."
In the Lo-yang chia lan chih, a book recording ancient Chinese Buddhist temples and shrines, there is recorded this statement:
"The Shao-lin monastery is located on the foothill on the north side of the Shao-shih mountain.
It was erected by Emperor Hsiao-wen of the Northern Wei dynasty.
The erection of the Shao-lin monastery is also ascribed to the Northern Wei dynasty by the Ming i t'ung chih, the historical gazetteer of the Ming dynasty. It reads:
"The Shao-lin monastery is located in the foothill on the north side of the Shao-shih mountain in the western part of Teng-feng-hsien. It was erected during the Northern Wei dynasty. In the Liang dynasty Bodhidharma resided there and spent nine years gazing at the walls."
Sketchy Accounts Are Later Validated
These accounts are a bit sketchy and are only general statements without giving specific descriptions. However, all agree that the Shao-lin monastery was located on the foothill of the Shao-shih mountain and that it was erected during the time of Hsiaowen-ti, also known as Kao-ti, who ruled under several titles one of which was T'ai-ho.
During the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty (1644-1911) a tremendous geography of the empire was compiled in three editions. The first edition was published in 1744 and comprised 356 volumes. Under the description of temples and shrines in Honan Province (east-central China) it is recorded that The Shao-lin monastery was built in the middle of the reign of the Emperor Hsiao-wen of the Northern Wei dynasty under the reigning title of T'ai-ho. It was built for the residence of Fu-t'o ch'an shih."
This statement entered in the official Imperial Gazetteer gave tremendous validity to the earlier statements recorded in the Hsü kao seng chüan. Later Ch'ing emperors were not satisfied with this work and ordered revisions, to allow for expansion of entries and to bring the work more up to date.
The second edition of the Ta-Ch'ing i t'ung chih was published in 1790 in an expanded 424 volumes and included descriptions of the newly-conquered areas in Turkestan and elsewhere. However, not much correction was accorded to the entry for the Shao-lin monastery.
Definitive Reference to Shao-lin
The third edition, usually called the Chia-ching ch'ung hsiu i t'ung chih, was published in 1842 in 560 volumes. This is the most important edition as its main aim was not only to expand the descriptions but to correct mistakes that appeared in the first two editions. The entry describing the Shao-lin monastery reads:
"The Shao-lin monastery is located at the foothill on the north side of the Shao-shih mountain located in the northwestern part of Teng-feng-hsien, in the province of Honan. In the twentieth year of the reign of T'ai-ho (479 A.D.) of the Northern Wei dynasty, this monastery was erected. In the Sui dynasty, Emperor Wen-ti (581-604 A.D.) changed the monastery's name to be called Chih-hu. In the T'ang dynasty (618-960 A.D. ) the name of the monastery was again changed to Shao-lin. To the right side of the monastery there is an old relic called mien-pi-shih or 'the gazing rock,' and to the left of the monastery is another relic of old called the mien-pi-an or 'the gazing hut,' both of which are sacred relics where Bodhidharma sat and gazed for nine years. In the Ch'ing i-t'ung chih which refers to the T'ang dynasty writer Tao-hsüan, who wrote the Hsü kao seng chüan, entered under the biography of Fu-t'o ch'an shih that the Shao-lin monastery was erected in the Northern Wei dynasty by Emperor Wen-ti, in the middle of the reigning title of T'aiho, for Fu-t'o ch'an shih to dwell in, and the statement also that the Emperor of the Sui dynasty erected this monastery, is contrary and wrong."
This entry gives us a better description of the location of the Shao-lin monastery. The scholars who compiled this edition refuted the claim that Emperor Hsiao-wen of the Northern Wei dynasty had erected the monastery for the residence of Fu-t'o ch'an shih as they could not find any evidence to support this claim. They also noted that some writers were confused between emperors Hsiao-wen-ti, who is sometimes called Wen-ti of the Northern Wei dynasty (471-479 A. D. ), and the Sui dynasty emperor Wen-ti who ruled during the period 581-604 A.D. The reason for error is that the Northern Wei dynasty existed for only a short time during the turmoil of the North-South dynasties, which boasted many kingdoms and rulers.
Emperor Wen-ti of the Sui dynasty is better known since when he lived and ruled he was the only ruler of a unified China.
Another reason for a mistake some scholars may have made is that during the reign of Emperor Wu-ti of the Northern Chou dynasty (527-78 A. D.), in the time of the wars between the North and South dynasties, the Shao-lin monastery was destroyed by fire. It was during the reign of the Sui dynasty emperor Wen-ti (581-604 A.D.) that the reconstruction was accomplished. Emperor Wen-ti of the Sui dynasty was extremely sentimental, and he changed the name of the monastery to Chih-hu
This name was derived from a Han dynasty poem reading:
I ascend that bare hill
And yearn for my mother;
I climb that wooded hill
And look for my father.
The monastery continued under this name until the beginning of the T'ang dynasty (618-960 A.D.) when the name Shao-lin was restored.
Shao-lin Influence With The T'angs
It was during the T'ang dynasty that the Shao-lin monastery gained in importance. In the early T'ang years there was a palace revolution led by a person named Wang Shih-ch'ung. He was originally from Turkestan but when his mother remarried he assumed a Chinese name. He entered public service through the Corps of Body Guards and in 605 A.D. became Vice-President of the Board of Revue. In the year 618 A.D., fearing the jealousy of the courtiers, he seized the capital and assumed sole control of the government. In the following year he compelled the sovereign to abdicate in his favor and he set up the Principality of Cheng.
In 621 A.D. he was attacked by Li Shih-min, the first T'ang dynasty emperor. Wang Shih-ch'ung was prepared to surrender but before he could he was slain by an officer whose father he had executed. It is recorded in a plaque within the Shao-lin monastery that there were thirteen monks who assisted Li Shih-min in defeating Wang Shih-ch'ung.
A noted poet, scholar and official of the Ch'ing dynasty, T'ien Wen (1635-1704), recorded this episode of the Shao-lin monks in an essay which he titled Yu Shao-lin-ssu chi, or an account of a visit to the Shaolin monastery. In this essay he noted that he had seen there a stone tablet written by the emperor T'ang T'ai-tsung whose personal name was Li Shih-min.
"There is a tablet which was written by the Emperor T'ai-tsung during the time that he was bidding for the throne. It was at that time that Wang Shih-ch'ung was usurping the throne with revolt. The tablet was given to the monastery for the valiant and courageous work of the monks. There was a monk by the name of T'an-tsung who had led thirteen monks from the Shao-lin monastery into the military ranks of the emperor to help put down the revolt of Wang Shih-ch'ung. When victory was won, of the little band of monks only T'an-tsung accepted the rank of a general and remained in the service of the emperor. The only favor the other monks asked was to be able to return to the monastery and serve Buddha. The emperor awarded each monk with a purple cloak (Kasa) to show his gratitude. This incident should be appended to the T'ang-shu or the history of the T'ang dynasty."
The incident was not entered in the Chu T'ang-shu, the first compilation of the history of the T'ang dynasty. However in the Hsin T'ang-shu or the revised history of the T'ang dynasty there is mention of the incident. Even if it had not been included in the orthodox T'ang history this note by T'ien Wen should be held as a valid version.
First of all, T'ien Wen was a scholar above reproach and he did not write this essay to prove any special point. It is merely a description of what he had seen visiting the Shao-lin monastery. Second, the historical sequence is correct and an ink rubbing of the inscription on the stone tablet was in existence so that other scholars made independent mention or it. Third, the monastery would certainly not have forged a plaque or tablet with inscriptions by the Emperor. Last of all, an Imperial gift of such a stone tablet jibes with the fact that this early T'ang emperor thought highly enough of this monastery to restore its former name of Shao-lin.
Another popular contention is that the Shao-lin monastery was located in the Sung mountains. The Sung-shan as it is called in Chinese is the name of the middle of five peaks that make up the Shao-shih mountains. Therefore, to contend that the Shao-lin monastery was situated on Sung-shan is only an effort to be more distinct in location.
Mistaken Site Tied To Rebellion
In the province of Fukien, however, in the prefecture of P'u-t'ien-hsien, there is an area which is often called "Sung-shan." The Chung-kuo ku-chin ti-ming ta tz'u-tien relates that while this area is sometimes called Sungshan a more popular name for it is Hsien-ku-yen, or "The Cliffs of the Fairies." There is a stone building on this mountain and the moss covering the hill seems to form inscriptions. A mistake could easily have been made by the populace during the Ch'ing period. Since Hsu K'o wrote down only the popular consensus he did not bother altering his story to validate its historicity.
Since the Heaven and Earth Society was a nationalistic movement with the sole aim of restoring the Ming rulers we can perhaps understand why the location in coastal Fukien Province was chosen instead of the actual location far inland in Honan Province. During the early years of the Ch'ing dynasty—the setting of the story— the Ch'ing government had not as yet conquered all of China. Across the Straits of Formosa on the island of
Haiku of Roshi Kaimon
The Goal
The sun blinds my narrowed eyes;
Raising my hand to shield them,
Body falls-hand outstretched.
M.Z.
Email: darth_vengence1@hotmail.com
