The Shaolin Temples: a Status Report
Richard E Overill
1. Introduction and Background
Between August 2006 and April 2008 the author visited China on a number of occasions and documented photographically the Shaolin Temple[1] near Dengfeng (in Henan Province) and the three extant southern shaolin temples near Quanzhou, Putian and Fuqing (in Fujian Province). The author’s interest in the shaolin martial arts tradition is at least in part attributable to the fact that the author has lived and trained in a rural shaolin style academy in Henan Province.
The temples are described below in the order in which they were visited. Although the name of a city has been attached to each temple it should be noted that shaolin was historically to some extent a separatist tradition which usually resulted in its temples and monasteries being built in relatively inaccessible mountain ranges.
2. The Dengfeng Temple
The northern Shaolin Temple (Shaolinsi) is situated on Shaoshi mountain in the Song mountain range (Songshan) about 15 km from Dengfeng in Henan Province. It was originally built around 495 AD but has undergone many rebuilds since [1]. It was visited by the author on Friday 4 August 2006. On this occasion I was able to gain entry to the temple at least one hour before the admission of the general public, allowing me undisturbed access to view the various halls. The price of admission to the general public was 100 RMB. I noted some 20+ individuals in monks’ robes and two or three lay people. Three adults were under instruction in using the pudao (horse knife – a single-edged broadsword on a long pole for attacking a mounted opponent) and some 30 young people were being rehearsed for a promotional film. Prior to autumn 2001 all unlicensed activities (e.g. shops, restaurants, training academies, etc.) were removed from the former ‘shaolin village’ area surrounding the temple grounds and many have relocated to Dengfeng. I note also that a number of monks have left the northern Shaolin Temple in recent years and have opened their own shaolin style academies, either within China (e.g. Shi Dejian in Sanhuangzhai [2]) or abroad (e.g. Shi Hengwei in the UK[3]). Others have been sent abroad by the Abbot to establish an official presence (e.g. Shi Yanzi in the UK [4]).
3. The Putian Temple
This southern shaolin temple is situated in the Lin mountain range (Linshan) about 17 km from Putian in Fujian Province. It was originally built around 557 AD [5]. It was visited by the authors on Tuesday 14 August 2007. There were no monks at the site and I saw no martial arts instruction taking place, although a nearby building is believed to be a shaolin style training academy. Roadside billboards around Putian advertised the presence of one or more shaolin style academies. The only people on site were two attendants in the gift shop, an elderly woman, and two building labourers. All the buildings on the site were of recent origin and the rearmost hall was undergoing substantial rebuilding works. A number of excavated weapons, including tridents and spears, were exhibited in the cloister outside the gift shop.
4. The Quanzhou Temple
A notable feature of the Quanzhou temple is that it is situated not far (1-2 km) beyond the industrial outskirts of Quanzhou in Fujian Province. It appears that the encroaching industrialisation is responsible for the relative accessibility of what was formerly a far less accessible site on Dongyue Hill. It was originally built around 874-879 AD [6]. It was visited by the author on Wednesday 15 August 2007. I observed a total of seven monks at the site. Martial arts instruction was being given to some 50 young people, grouped into two classes, who were resident in dormitories on the site. Two western adult males were each receiving individual martial arts instruction from a senior student while a group of 15-20 western adults were in the charge of an older instructor. All the buildings were of recent origin and at the far end a new entrance and an octagonal performance hall were under construction and apparently nearing completion. Beside this area more land had been cleared in preparation for further building work to commence. I was informed by a senior student or novice that all the buildings had been erected since 1992, and the more recent ones since 2002. One lay attendant manned the gift stall at the entrance.
5. The Fuqing Temple
The Fuqing temple is situated in the Shizhu mountain foothills beyond Dongzhang village about 25 km from Fuqing in Fujian Province. It is possible that it was originally built around 629 AD [7], but the record does not specify the location explicitly. It was visited by the author on Saturday 19 April 2008. Of the three southern shaolin temples it was the only one to levy an entrance charge (10 RMB, by means of a road toll). In front of the entrance a large stone plaque records the recent history of the site in Mandarin.
There were two unattended gift stalls by the entrance. One elderly monk was in evidence but was either unable or unwilling to answer our questions. Some informal, essentially unsupervised martial arts training was being undertaken by five young people some of whom had a dormitory at the rear of the site while others were accommodated in the bell and drum towers. Beyond the drum tower was a training area flanked on one side by a building and on the other by a series of plum blossom steles (vertical logs of differing heights) used for improving balance. In addition to the partially preserved foundations of earlier temple buildings on both sides of the main hall, I also observed substantial building work in progress on the rearmost hall standing on the site of an older, smaller hall [8] that was demolished in early 2006, according to a building worker.
6. Final Thoughts
The northern Shaolin Temple has become a fully commercial enterprise since the1980s, coinciding with rise in popularity of the shaolin brand resulting from the release of Jet Li’s Shaolin Temple films in 1981 and 1983.
Each of the three extant southern shaolin temples claims precedence over the other two but each is itself a recent (1990s) in situ rebuild with little preserved evidence remaining of the earlier buildings on its site. While it may seem regrettable that more effort has not been made to preserve the remains of the previous temples on each site, it should be borne in mind that the Chinese custom of rebuilding temples and monasteries in situ affirms the continuity of purpose of the site in question.
7. References
[1] Uwe Schwenk, The Shaolin Temple: a Historical Walk through the Past (2008) http://www.lulu.com/content/621111
[2] http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/print.php?article=589
[3] http://www.tang-long.co.uk/
[4] http://89.234.7.160/shaolin-temple/drupal-5.1/34th-generation-masters/sifu-yan-zi
[5] Chris Toepker, The Riddle of Southern Shaolin – section I:
http://www.hungkuen.net/history-riddleofshaolin.htm
[6] Chris Toepker, The Riddle of Southern Shaolin – section II:
http://www.hungkuen.net/history-riddleofshaolin.htm
[7] http://web.archive.org/web/20060701083406/http://www.kungfu-supply.nl/simon/China/fuqing_.htm
[8] http://scitech.people.com.cn/BIG5/1057/4533006.html
8. Illustrated Travelogues
George W Alexander (with John E Graham), In Search of Southern Shaolin, parts 1-4, Black Belt Magazine, July-October 2006
http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/
Andrea See, Southern Shaolin, Where are you? http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/travel_msg.php?titleid=120&traveltype=Travel%20in%20Xiamen
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreasee/tags/putian
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreasee/tags/quanzhou
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreasee/tags/fuqing
Simon Scholten, Fukien Southern Sil Lum Temple
http://www.mts.net/~sillum/South%20Shaolin%20Temple1.htm
Simon Scholten, Putian Southern Shaolin Temple, archived at
http://web.archive.org/web/20060701083355/http://www.kungfu-supply.nl/simon/China/putian.htm
Simon Scholten, Quanzhou Southern Shaolin Temple, archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20060701083354/http://www.kungfu-supply.nl/simon/China/quanzhou.htm
Simon Scholten, Fuqinq Southern Shaolin Temple, archived at
http://web.archive.org/web/20060701083406/http://www.kungfu-supply.nl/simon/China/fuqing_.htm
Benny Meng and Richard Loewenhagen, The Holy Land of Martial Arts: Southern Shaolin Temple
http://home.vtmuseum.org/articles/meng/holy_land.php
Benny Meng and Richard Loewenhagen, The Three Treasures of Shaolin: the Best Evidence of Southern Shaolin’s Legacy
http://home.vtmuseum.org/articles/meng/3treasures.php
Dan Docherty, Shaolin and Wudang, Part 1 – Southern Shaolin
http://www.taichichuan.co.uk/information/articles/shaolin_and_wudang.html
(anon.) Quanzhou’s Shaolin Temple
http://www.amoymagic.com/Kungfu.htm
(anon.) Welcome to the Fuqing South Shaolin Temple
http://www.nanshaolinsi.com
(anon.) The Introduction to Shaolin Temple
http://www.tcm-wellness.com/shaolin_en.asp?action=2&action1=12
9. General Reference
Meir Shahar, The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts, University of Hawai'i Press (2008) ISBN: 0-8248-3110-1
Wen Yu Chen, Shaolin Fang Gu, Jian Jin (1999) ISBN: 7-5306-2830-5 (in Mandarin)
Richard E Overill, A Month in China, PRAG, issue 105 (Christmas 2006) pp.7-10 (ISSN: 0141-4984)
http://www.dcs.kcl.ac.uk/staff/richard/china.doc
[1] I refer to this temple as the northern Shaolin Temple to reflect its geographical location; I use capital initials to denote the Shaolin brand, which is now a registered trademark.