Little-known facts about Shaolin
The name "Shaolin" is heard even among those who are not interested in oriental martial arts.
However, we know about this legendary monastery quite a bit.
1. In 495, the monastery of Shaolin was founded not by a Chinese.
Its founder was a wandering Buddhist monk from India called Bhadra. He appeared in China in 464 and preached there for several decades before Emperor Xiao Wen-di ordered the construction of the Shaolin Monastery on Songshan Mountain for him.
2. In Shaolin, a legendary Bodhidharma lived for some time.
Tradition says that about 475 AD. Buddhist monk Bodhidharma arrived by sea to China, where he began to preach his teaching. Then he settled in the Shaolin Monastery, shortly before it was founded on Mount Songshan, where he founded the first school of Ch'an Buddhism.
3. The monastery did not have a monastery at first.
In 620, 13 Shaolin monks helped Li Shimin (599-649) to stay on the throne, and the monastery received the highest permission to engage in martial arts.
4. Contrary to popular belief, Shaolin is not the only Chinese monastery
Contrary to popular belief, Shaolin is not the only Chinese monastery where military monks were trained, and martial arts did not appear there. Other orders of monks began to diligently study martial arts and fighting on sticks even earlier. Records of Chunqiu, which were made around 800-500 BC, refer to "hard" and "soft" techniques of hand-to-hand combat - these two techniques formed the basis of modern kung fu. During the reign of the Moon Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), when Shaolin only began to be associated with perfect martial arts, kung fu was already known throughout China.
5. In 1928, the military commander Shi Yusan set fire to the Shaolin monastery.
Unique written sources were destroyed: for example, the Zhang Sanfeng treatise, considered the source of Taijiquan. In the ruins of the monastery lay half a century. At that time there lived only seven monks, of which only three were familiar with kung fu.
6. In addition to North Shaolin, there was a South Shaolin
According to the legends, in addition to North Shaolin, there was a South Shaolin, which was in the province of Fujian. No reliable sources about its existence have been found.
7. Interest in Chinese martial arts began after the film "Shaolin Temple" (1982).
Filming took place in Hunan. As a decoration used a real Buddhist temple. Later appeared the "Children of Shaolin" (1983) and "Martial Arts of Shaolin" (1986). The trilogy was shown even in the USSR in the framework of the film application to the "Club of Travelers" in 1989.
8. Prototypes of the Jedi in the "Star Wars" were the monks of Shaolin.
According to George Lucas, Shaolin monks became prototypes of the Jedi in Star Wars.
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