Legendary Shaolin Temple on Songshan Mountain, home to monks who have practiced Kungfu for thousands of years, welcomes martial arts enthusiasts from around the world, some of whom become masters, writes Zhao Feifei Kungfu enthusiasts from all over the world dream of visiting the legendary Shaolin Temple on central China's Songshan Mountain.
They come to improve their physical skills and spiritual foundations from masters of this sublime martial art in a traditional, austere setting. A mixed lot, many have only been exposed to the 1500-year-old tradition through movies and television shows. Others have devoted their lives to this ancient art, learning from elderly masters in dojo from New York to New Delhi. One might be forgiven for assuming that Shan Li, 21, is a tourist at Songshan Mountain. But the German has traveled halfway around the world to fulfill his dream of becoming a Shaolin master. Shen Li is his adopted name as he discarded his birth name following the rules: once a monk joins the temple, and a Buddhist name is bestowed by the Abbot who shares the same surname. ``Everyday I wake up with everything fresh before me. I find epiphany each night. It's as if my life is running anew,'' enthuses Shan Li, who has been living in the Shaolin Temple for more than three years. Shan Li is one of hundreds of Westerners who throng to this temple devoted to physical discipline, spiritual development, and perpetuating this penultimate martial art form. While the millennia of tradition continues at Shaolin Temple, the monks are walking out of their once forbidden world, giving performance of ``Shaolin Warriors'' by the temple's Wu Seng (Soldier Monks). The show will depict the monks' daily life, their religious rituals, and the amazing physical feats. Music combined with high-tech lighting and a stage setting that evokes Buddhism philosophy has created a visual event that is both vibrant and dramatic. To perform in the outside world, the show is seen as a commercial enterprise. Shi Shenzhi, Shaolin Temple's Receptionist Monk, says that giving commercial performance is not as shocking as it may seem: He cites the fact that with Buddhism's signature tolerance, Shaolin is more open now and has incorporated styles from other fighting forms. This is in contrast to the past, when other martial art techniques were not permitted to ``taint'' the Shaolin style. Those who did not belong to the Shaolin Temple were not permitted to learn the martial art. Now everyone is encouraged to learn Shaolin kungfu. And the art itself has changed, says Shi. ``Wushu was once only fighting-oriented, now it's more artistically-oriented,'' he says. It seems that technology and spirituality go hand-in-hand. Today, most of the Soldier monks, who in the past were forbidden material possessions, accept gifts during their troupe's Asia tours in South Korea and Japan. Their cloth belts which play an important role in maneuvering the ``qi'' (life force) inside the body during practice now also hold the latest models of cell phones. Text messaging and pop stars are part of their vocabulary, and indeed, sometimes Shi Yanlu, the temple's kungfu master, seems more like a Hollywood booking agent than a monk. Every few minutes his mobile phone chimes, and he's off, fielding calls from overseas groups and individuals, mostly the Europeans who want to visit the Shaolin Soldier Temple and Soldier Monks, or from film directors who want the monks to appear in movies, or from art directors who want to include them in a photographic project. Head Abbot Shi Yongxing makes it a point to stay abreast of the latest technology; he commissioned the establishment of the Shaolin Website: www.shaolin.org.cn. Yet while much has changed, much has also stayed the same. All Shaolin monks are still required to study three basic subjects: Chinese, history, and the classics of Buddhism. Little boys still enter the temple, full of dreams. Clad in a saffron robe, little Shi Xiaobao, 8, is imitating the actions of animals -- tigers, leopards, white cranes, dragons and snakes as well as the praying mantis, monkey and eagle, each embodying a Shaolin style which is derived from animal movements. The Hebei native became a Shaolin Soldier Monk two years ago, at an age when most boys are entering grade school. He's used to life here, he says staunchly, but admits that he missed his parents terribly when he first arrived. Now, he sees them once a year. Shi Yanying, 20, entered the temple at the age of 8, after a heated competition among hundreds of children. ``It's a baptism of fire I will never forget,'' he reminisces, ``We were all about the same age, with the same dream. The ultimate goal, for all of us, was to enter the Shaolin Temple.'' Shi Yanying displays a gallery of injuries -- a scar on his chest, bruises on his elbows, calluses on his palms that reveal the real rigor of Kungfu. Those rigors no longer include six marks on the scalp, forged by burning incense. Former Prime Minister Zhou Enlai found the practice cruel and inhuman, and the ritual had been eliminated in since 1960s. Initiates of the Soldier Monks need to enter the temple at such a young age, because to master the most difficult ``Tongzi Gong'' (childhood feats) of Shaolin kungfu, it must be trained from a young age. Once mastered, the body achieves the ideal Shaolin ``state of being'' -- supple, strong and light. The Soldier Monks rise at 5:30 a.m., and run uphill to Da Mo Cave where the Shaolin kungfu founder Da Mo was said to have meditated for nearly 10 years. Their physical prowess is such that the run takes them half an hour, whereas it would take even an athletic person twice the time. After an hour of practice, they breakfast on porridge or mantou (steamed bread) before proceeding to three hours of morning drills. Lunch is usually mantou with vegetables and tofu, followed by a brief rest, and then practice again from 3:30 to 6 p.m. After a 6:30 vegetarian dinner, meditation starts at 7 p.m. Their lifestyle is as invariable as their diet, and they perform superhuman feats of strength on a vegetarian diet -- Six commandments are strictly followed: no alcohol, no meat, no sex, no lying, no killing, no overindulging. On weekends, the monks wear civilian clothes as they go about their chores or go down the mountain to shop. Shaolin's fabled martial arts were born soon after the temple's founding, in A.D. 495. The first group of Soldier Monks created a set of 18 fighting actions -- the original kungfu -- which utilized all parts of their bodies. These were combined with the use of various weapons made from simple farming tools and were initially meant for daily exercise and sources for meditation. Legend has it that Da Mo, imitated the wild animals to build up his body when he closed himself in the cave, meditating the Zen philosophy for nearly 10 years. The first Soldier Monks are commonly acknowledged to be Seng Chou and Hui Gang, disciples of the Indian scholar monk Buddhabhadra. In 497, Buddhabhadra left India and settled in the Songshan Mountains, and became very interested in Chinese Wushu although it is not known if he received any training himself. His disciples Seng Chou and Hui Guang, however, perfected the skills, and according to historical records, Seng Chou was able to ``walk a wall'' and leap up onto rooftop with one bound to demonstrate the formidable strength in his legs. Hui Guang was said to be able to keep a shuttlecock in the air by kicking it 500 times without stopping while, at the same time, balancing on the rails of a well. It was only later, during Sui Dynasty (A.D. 581-618), that Shaolin kungfu was used as self-defense, as the monks protected the temple from bandits. At that time the temple grew considerably when Sui Emperor Wen Di granted the temple some 670 hectares of land for the temple to build exquisite halls and pavilions. Over the past 1,500 years Shaolin monks have engaged in battles to not only defend their temple, but also protect the Chinese emperors against warlords. Nevertheless, Soldier Monks never use their fighting prowess for acts of aggression. Its tradition of peace, harmony and spirituality forged through years of struggle and war: the Shaolin martial art is based on their Buddhism beliefs. Shi Yanzhi, 21, specializing in Nine Link Whip and eagle boxing who has just returned from a U.S. performing tour, says, ``We know what goes on in the outside world through newspapers. And I know how appealing the outside world can be. But Shaolin kungfu is profound and inexhaustible. To be a kungfu master, you have to lose something to gain something. For me, I choose to stay with Shaolin.''
( eastday.com August 16, 2002)
