SHAOLIN TEMPLE
The temple is located on a north-south axis between Shaoshi Hill and Wuru Peak, in a wooded environment of which it takes its name (temple in the Shaoshi Forest). This is where the Chan cult was born, the most important of Buddhism. Established in 495, under the reign of Emperor Taihe of the North, by an Indian monk coming to the region to transmit doctrine. In 527, Bodhidharma, a disciple of the 28 th generation of school founded by Kasyapa, one of Sakyamuni's servants, arrived from India by the South Seas. He settled in the temple and quickly gathered a large number of faithful to whom he transmitted the doctrine of Chan Buddhism. Based on his personal experience, based on intensive meditation, his art of self defense and careful observation of birds, insects and fish, Bodhidharma invented a form of boxing, first known as the boxing of the heart and spirit, then later "boxing of the temple of Shaolin".
The temple rapidly wins in reputation and records exemplary development in the following centuries.
At the beginning of the Tang, Li Shimin later became Emperor Taizong, based on the know-how of three Shaolin monks (Zhijian, Huiyang and Tanzong) to fight an enemy of the Sui dynasty on the decline.
The mastery acquired by the monks over the centuries was highly appreciated by the Tang court, which then offered unconditional support to the temple of Shaolin. Nicknamed the «First Temple under heaven», Shaolin reaches his apogee under the Yuan and Ming; the temple had 2,000 monks. From the Qing, the temple's prestige gradually declined and, in 1928, Shi Yousan, a warlord, set fire to the buildings. The fire lasted more than 40 days and was the most devastating incident the temple had known. Most of the current buildings are recent construction, imitation of the classical Chinese architecture. The name of the temple placed above the entrance is the hand of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing.
The heavenly King's Room (Tianwang Dian) was rebuilt in 1981 at the same time as the Mahavira Hall, the main temple building.
The Salle des Mille Buddhas and the Pandaravasini Hall are of origin and recently renovated. The Thousand Buddhas Hall houses two Ming statues: one of the Buddha Vairocana, bronze, and the other from Amitabha Buddha, stone. The brick floor consists of the 48 fingerprints of the monk practicing its boxing movements. The hall of Pandaravasini, also known as the art of boxing art, features performances of Shaolin boxing on the north and south walls. This is where monks practiced meditation, so important in Chan Buddhism doctrine (meditation in frozen position: look at the wall).
At 300 m west of the temple, the forest of stûpa (Talin), reliquary with the remains of the great monks of the temple: over 240 stûpa erected on a space of 14,000 m 2. China's largest stûpa.
Since the late 1980 s, the complex has included a Shaolin Temple kung fu training center. Several other schools were then opened in the mountains. Most offer internships for foreigners but, attention, some have abandoned their traditions in favor of a much more mercantile approach to their art.