The Shaolin Monastery. History, Religion and the Chinese Martial Arts

The ShAoliN MoNAsTerY history, religion, and the chinese martial arts meir shahar ...

The Shaolin Monastery ...

The Shaolin ...

Monastery History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts Meir Shahar University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu ...

© 2008 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 13 12 11 10 09 08 6 5 4 3 2 1 Lib ...

For Noga Zhang Hui ...

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Contents Maps and Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part I: Origins of a Military Tradition (500–900) Chapter 1: The ...

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Maps and Figures Maps Location of the Shaolin Monastery 10 Shaolin’s contribution to Li Shimin’s campaign against Wang Shichong ...

Huiming brandishing the staff; woodblock illustration dated 1614 99 Late Ming woodblock illustration of Sha Monk wielding the s ...

Acknowledgments Two friends have contributed most to this study: A’de guided me at the Shaolin Monastery and generously shared w ...

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1 Introduction At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Shaolin Monastery has arguably become the most famous Buddhist ...

2 Introduction It could be argued, of course, that individuals and collectives alike have al- ways found ways to justify violati ...

Introduction 3 tary ends. As the following chapters demonstrate, the answer varied from one period to another. Whereas Shaolin m ...

4 Introduction orate mythology that ascribed them to Buddhist saints and to Daoist immortals. Propagated the world over by train ...

Introduction 5 in military treatises and martial arts manuals; local gazetteers and monastic histories (which, unlike general hi ...

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Pa rt I Origins of a Military Tradition (500–900) ...