- Robert Young
- Mar 19
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 24
Origins
Around 495, a nondescript Buddhist temple called Shaolin was constructed in Henan province in eastern China. Thirteen years later, an Indian monk named Bodhiruchi arrived with the intention of schooling the locals in Dhyana, his preferred form of Buddhism.
Arrival
Some 30 years later, another Indian monk showed up at Shaolin. His name was Bodhidharma. (Tamo in Chinese, Daruma in Japanese, Dalma in Korean)
Meditation
For reasons that remain contentious, Bodhidharma retreated to a cave in the nearby Song mountains, where he supposedly spent nine years meditating in front of a wall. When he descended to the temple, he noted the poor condition of the young monks and decreed that physical fitness was a prerequisite for spiritual fitness.
Training
Most of Bodhidharma’s lessons focused on meditation and yogic exercises. Many claim he also taught abdominal breathing and chi development.
Influence
Over the ensuing centuries, Bodhidharma and Shaolin Temple gained fame first in China and then around the world. Dhyana Buddhism evolved into Chan Buddhism (Zen in Japanese), and the monastery produced a cadre of fighting monks who practiced what we refer to as Shaolin kung fu.
Legend
According to some historians, all that happened because Bodhidharma’s meditative teachings were merged with basic Indian self-defense techniques often used by monks on the road. Once perfected, the combination was fierce.
Whenever criminals targeted traveling Shaolin priests, they were reportedly repelled with ease and efficiency.
Fears
The temple’s history purports that after numerous victories over enemies of all stripes, the Chinese government grew suspicious, and then fearful, of the monks and their monastery. Officials prohibited them from practicing their martial art at various times, and parts of the compound were burned on several occasions.
Specifics
History confirms that anti-Buddhism campaigns took place in China in the fifth, sixth, and ninth centuries. Other efforts by government officials and warlords wreaked havoc on the temple in the 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.
Doubts
Because many researchers are skeptical about this popular history of Shaolin kung fu, it's useful to examine what we do know.
First is the contention that Shaolin Temple was the birthplace of all martial arts. This is demonstrably false. Evidence of pre-Shaolin fighting systems has been found in Babylon, Egypt, and various parts of East Asia.
Perhaps the first documented description in China comes from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), when “Six Chapters of Hand Fighting” was written. Later, a physician named Hua Tuo (220-265) analyzed the movements of the bear, tiger, monkey, and stork, which some scholars have linked to the animal-based techniques of kung fu.
Documentation
In search of other evidence, historians have looked for the remains of any texts Bodhidharma might have written at Shaolin. Their only discovery comes from a monument to his life that required repair after years of neglect. Inside was reportedly an iron box containing a book called I Chin Ching.
Examination
I Chin Ching, or Muscle Change Sutra, was translated and studied in detail. To the dismay of many, it's not a martial arts instruction manual. Rather, it describes a series of breathing and stretching routines intended to strengthen the body and enhance chi flow.
Counterpoint
It's worth noting that some researchers insist that I Chin Ching dates from after Bodhidharma's death—perhaps from as recently as the 1600s.
Exhibit A
Whether or not I Chin Ching is connected to Shaolin, several artifacts can be found there, pointing to the temple’s martial past. On the floor of the One Thousand Buddhas Pavilion are rows of paired indentations that reach several inches into the stone.
They're the result of generations of feet stomping while practicing kung fu.
Exhibit B
Two murals decorate Shaolin's Hall of White Robes. One, said to depict “Six Harmony Boxing,” shows various empty-hand techniques being executed. Readily identifiable are the tiger-claw strike and chi sao. The second mural depicts monks wielding weapons, including the staff and short sword. It's believed both works date from between 1640 and 1890.
Alternative
The “standard history” of Shaolin Temple is fascinating, to be sure, but one that's promulgated by people who reject it is perhaps more plausible and just as interesting in the grand scheme of things.
It holds that combat skills were widespread in China long before the founding of Shaolin (a given) and that they were brought there by outsiders who were experienced fighters prior to their donning of monks' robes (conjecture).
Refinement
In the temple, those newcomers supposedly augmented their martial skills with the teachings of Bodhidharma. As word spread of a Buddhist temple where the fighting arts were practiced, it attracted masters of other styles who were in need of a safe house or who had Buddhist leanings.
In this way, the monastery was eventually transformed into a martial arts melting pot of sorts.
Contribution
Even if Bodhidharma never taught a single kick or punch, he was probably the first person to use the self-discipline, universal compassion, and reverence for life taught in Buddhism as a means to moderate the potentially deadly techniques of systematized combat.
Had those influences not been added, it's doubtful the Asian arts could have survived until the present and unlikely they could have influenced history so profoundly.
Go!
No matter what scholars determine about the true history of Bodhidharma and Shaolin, the temple remains an inspiring destination for all martial artists.
Yes, government officials have transformed it into a pay-to-play tourist attraction, but the costs associated with visiting the temple pale in comparison to the inspiration and sense of history one gets from walking the ground where Bodhidharma created his legacy.
