The 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple, located in China’s Henan Province, is to host a martial arts contest. While details are yet to be confirmed, on 18 August the news agency Xinhua quoted Venerable Shi Yongxin, the temple’s abbot, as announcing at the end of a Zen forum that the event would include individual and group performances in karate, taekwondo, and kung fu. According to Ven. Shi Yongxin, the competition is intended to promote global awareness of the temple: “Shaolin Temple expects to form ties with the world through various events, expand [the] impact of Buddhism and make Shaolin culture better known,” the abbot explained. This is the first event of its kind to be organized in the history of the temple, which is credited with the birth and preservation of kung fu.
Shaolin monks performing kung fu. From Imagine China
The connection between Buddhism and martial arts may be found in myth. In the sixth century, the Indian monk Bodhidharma went to Shaolin and sat in meditation there for nine years. Concerned about the physical well-being of the monks, he left two books for them to study: The Marrow-cleansing Scripture and The Muscle-changing Scripture. In Buddhism, a healthy physical body is considered a requisite for mind training.
Ven. Shi Yongxin, abbot of Shaolin Temple. From AFP
Laura Zhou of the South China Morning Post (SCMP) quoted the Henan-based Dahe Daily as saying that although Ven. Shi Yongxi did not reveal when and how the martial arts contest would be arranged, Shaolin students from all over the world would be invited and unusual martial arts performances such as “iron shielding body” would be seen in action. According to a news report by Ecns.cn, the abbot hopes that the event will boost exchanges between different schools of martial arts.
Shaolin Temple is a popular tourist attraction that is visited by thousands each year. Visitors come both to see the martial arts performances and to take in the architectural beauty of the temple, which is one of the oldest still functioning to full capacity.
Kung fu performance at Shaolin Temple. From AFP
In recent years, however, Ven. Shi Yongxi and the temple have been criticized for commercializing Shaolin, a temple usually considered sacred. According to the SCMP, the abbot, who is also the CEO of the Henan Shaolin Temple Industrial Development Company, is dubbed the “CEO monk” in the local media. The report states that the development company oversees investments for kung fu performance troupes, manages the use of the name “Shaolin” in dramas and films, and administers Shaolin kung fu centers around the world. For Ven. Shi Yongxi, these are efforts to spread the values of the temple and Buddhism to the world. As part of its cultural promotions, the temple has held an international Shaolin Culture Festival annually since 2012, which this year will take place in London.
The proposed martial arts contest has raised heated discussion on local social media channels, drawing a mixed response from the public. “Shouldn’t [the] Shaolin Temple be a place of peace instead of a [spectacle] for the public?” the SCMP quotes one Weibo user as saying, while another user commented, “It’s really like travelling back to the kung fu legends in the book.”