The Shaolin Temple of China is located in the Dengfeng, the capital of Henan province in China. It was built in the 5th century in the lush forests on the west side of the beautiful Songshan mountains, one of China's five sacred mountains.
It was gifted 1500 years ago by Chinese Emperor Shao-min of Northern Wei Dynasty to give refuge to Indian High priest Buddhabhadra. It is for this reason that Shaolin has been called the Royal Temple. In 527 A.D Indian Master Buddhabhadra meditated to the wall at Shaolin for 9 years and created Zen. Buddhabhadra is the founder of Zen in China.
This ancient temple is the birthplace of traditional Chinese Kung fu and Zen Buddhism, and is a UNESCO heritage site. The warrior monks of the temple have been the subject of several Hollywood movies and the world's fascination with it's history and legend is justified. To train here is the dream of every Kung fu student and it was one such dream that led Shifu Kanishka to start training there and ultimately go from being a student to a disciple, to a Shaolin Kung fu Master.
It attracts martial arts amateurs, enthusiasts and students from all over the world, who try to learn the secrets and techniques of the versatile martial art form Kung fu. Students of the Shaolin Temple of China have tested to their limits every day and failure to do so, leads to expulsion. The mental focus, fierceness, speed, accuracy and timing of a Shaolin Warrior Monk is something to be experienced and can't be put to words. There are thousands of forms in Shaolin Kung fu and the techniques passed from Master to disciple upon the Master's discretion.
Shaolin Temple is known for its three treasures: Chan, Wu and Yi. Chan refers to Chan philosophy. Wu or Wu Gong refers to the extensive Martial Science we know as Shaolin Kung fu. Yi means the Internal and External Qigong & Chinese Medicine.
Many generations of fully Indoctrinated monks, Shaolin warrior monks & secular disciples have been passing down the knowledge of Shaolin Chan, Wu & Yi for centuries. This Inheritance of knowledge is strictly from Master to Disciple. This relationship is the most fundamental demonstration of the patriarchal clan system, traditional to Shaolin Temple.
The Shaolin patriarchal clan system was established in the 13th century when Abbot Xueting Fuyu, leader of Caodong sect, led the temple. The adoption of this system (which formed the grass-roots structure in ancient Chinese society) had a far-reaching impact on the temple and Shaolin Kungfu. At the peak of its historical influence, the temple ran 25 sub-temples with as many as 800-plus monks. In the 13th year of the reign of the Emperor Yongzheng during the Qing Dynasty (1735 A.D.), the imperial court carried out a major rectification of the patriarchal clans of the Shaolin Temple. At present, Shaolin Temple still has ten sub-temples with over 150 monks in total.
Shaolin Monks, like most Buddhist Monks, receive a Dharma Name(Monastic Name) during their Initiation Ceremony.
The Dharma Name basically consists of the following parts/words:
Title/Surname (Prefix)
Generation Name
Monk Name
The Surname or Title for all Shaoin Monks, Secular Disciples, Warriors is (the same) "Shi" (Shi ) as in Shijiamouni (Shi Jia Mou Ni ), the Chinese transliteration of Shakyamuni Buddha. This shows they are part of the extended family.
The Generation Name for Shaolin Temple Monks is taken from an unusual Naming System which is a Generation Poem/Verse of seventy characters (word), created by Abbot Xueting Fuyu at the beginning of the Song Dynasty. He wrote the poem for the next generations to derive their names from. For example, the given name of a monk or disciple of the 32nd generation would begin with the character "Xing", as it is the 32nd word in the poem.
The monks of the Shaolin Temple come from all over the world and are all required to learn these 70 characters of the poem by heart.
