The Monk(s) Who Made Shaolin !

I recently finished Meir Shahar's book “The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts.” I want to pick out a few passages from my notes especially about Indian connection.

 “Shaolin’s history spans fifteen hundred years. The monastery was founded during the last decade of the fifth century by an Indian-born monk, who is referred to in the Chinese sources as Batuo, or Fotuo.” (p9)

  

 “Religions tend to appropriate each other’s sacred places (Jerusalem is one example). Thus, when Buddhist missionaries arrived in China in the first centuries CE, they quickly perceived the religious potential of Mt. Song. As early as the third century a Buddhist monastery was established on the mountain, which by the early sixth century featured no fewer than six Buddhist temples. The mountain’s “Buddhist conquest” (as Bernard Faure has termed it) involved the creation of a new mythology, which tied the Chinese peak to the Indian-born faith. It centered on the legendary founder of the Chan (Japanese: Zen) School: Bodhidharma.)” (p12)

“The eighth century witnessed the flowering of a new school of Chinese Buddhism, which as indicated by its name stressed the significance of meditation (chan in Chinese; dhyâna in Sanskrit).” (p12)

“Bodhidharma has been the subject of intense scholarly research. Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars usually accept the historicity of this Indian (or, according to another version, Persian) missionary, who arrived in China around 480 and propagated the Dharma in the Luoyang region until ca. 520.” (p13)

“Bodhidharma’s association with Shaolin, which is traceable in canonical scriptures, is equally attested to by archaeological evidence at the temple itself. Shaolin steles reveal the gradual process by which the Indian saint had been linked to the Chinese temple. A stele inscription dated 728 is the earliest to have Bodhidharma residing on Mt. Song, and another, dated 798, already has Huike performing the dramatic gesture of severing his arm.” (p14)

“Li Shimin did issue a series of unprecedented anti-Buddhist laws. In 629 he ordered the execution of illegally ordained monks, in 631 he forbade monks and nuns from receiving the homage of their parents, and in 637 he decreed that Daoist priests be given precedence over Buddhist monks in all state ceremonies. In his later years, the emperor did befriend one Buddhist monk, the renowned pilgrim Xuanzang (596–664). However, he sought Xuanzang’s counsel primarily on foreign affairs rather than on spiritual matters. During his celebrated journey to India, Xuanzang gained an in-depth knowledge of western lands, for which reason the emperor implored him (unsuccessfully) to join his administration.” (p30)

“It is striking that a religion as intent on peace as Buddhism would arrive in China equipped with an entire gallery of martial gods. Buddhist iconography reveals to us an unexpectedly violent aspect of the faith. The Buddha is usually flanked by heavily armed, ferocious-looking deities who trample demons underfoot.61 Vajrapâÿi (Chinese: Jin’gang (shen)) belongs to this category of divine warriors. As indicated by his name, his weapon is the mythic vajra, or thunderbolt (jin’gang in Chinese). By the time it was incorporated into the Buddhist arsenal, the magic instrument had enjoyed a venerable history. The Hindu god Indra had employed the vajra to vanquish the cosmic dragon Vrtra.” (p37)

“In 1735 the Yongzheng emperor approved an ambitious restoration plan for the monastery, which amounted to nine thousand silver taels. Finally, in 1750, the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736–1795) capped the imperial honors, personally visiting the temple and staying there overnight. The sovereign penned four poems for the occasion, celebrating the monastery’s scenery and the religious lore of its Indian patriarch Bodhidharma.” (p190)