The China Shaolin Temple, located in the Henan province, is the one place in
China where religion and art fuse under the same philosophical principles and
the same roof. The China Shaolin Temple, which the world knows as a Kung Fu destination,
also happens to be the seat of Zen Buddhism. In fact, it was here that both were
born. In a nook in the Songshan Mountains, the China Shaolin Temple is shrouded
in legends, myths and mysteries. The China Shaolin Temple was built in
the era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, in around the year 495 AD, to house an Indian
Buddhist monk called Batuo. The temple was commissioned for him and his followers
by the Emperor Xiaowen, one of the monk's patrons and deciples. The father of
Zen Buddhism, another Indian monk called Damo, came to the China Shaolin Temple
in 517.
With a history of 1,500 years to back it up, the China Shaolin Temple is the
biggest Buddhist academy. The China Shaolin Temple is home to numerous relics.
Among them are the "Hall of Heavenly Kings" or "Tianwangdian",
the "Mahavira Hall" or "Daxiongbaodian", the "Pagoda
Forest", the "Dharma Cave", several ancient inscriptions and
calligraphy and, of course, the "Shaolin Temple Martial Arts Training Center"
and its propagation of the living relic of Kung Fu.
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