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

68 Systemizing Martial Practice The Piracy Crisis Late Ming military experts were convinced that Shaolin monks had been prac- ti ...

Defending the Nation 69 lin and other monastic troops. The most detailed account is Zheng Ruoceng’s (fl. 1505–1580) “The Monasti ...

70 Systemizing Martial Practice eighteen [Hangzhou] monks chose from amongst them eight men to challenge him. The eight immediat ...

Defending the Nation 71 standard histories to works of fiction. If Shaolin’s assistance to Li Shimin was the source of its Tang ...

72 Systemizing Martial Practice tor for Henan, Cheng Shao (jinshi 1589), visited the monastery and dedicated a poem to its fight ...

Defending the Nation 73 Several decades earlier, the most powerful eunuch in Emperor Zhu Hou- zhao’s (r. 1506–1521) court, Zhang ...

74 Systemizing Martial Practice dhist units that contributed to the piracy campaign, including eighteen Hang- zhou clerics who c ...

Defending the Nation 75 Ming authors considered Shaolin monastic troops the best; Funiu fight- ing monks ranked second, and the ...

76 Systemizing Martial Practice Temples offered martial artists not only shelter, but also space to demon- strate their art. “Te ...

Defending the Nation 77 nuo and Du Taishi, were even appointed “vanguard generals” in the impe- rial army.^81 The courage of one ...

78 Systemizing Martial Practice That day, at the thatched cottage, crisp autumn sky, Thin frost, light breeze, on the tranquil w ...

Defending the Nation 79 I hear that this is the Sha Family Method, Disdaining the “rivers and lakes,” alone worthy of praise. Hi ...

80 Systemizing Martial Practice with the exception of a six-foot-tall Ming stele situated at the edge of a corn- field. Dated 15 ...

Defending the Nation 81 This floating community of “rivers and lakes” was made of itinerant martial artists who traveled in sear ...

82 Chapter 4 Staff Legends The staff was not the only weapon Ming period Shaolin monks used. Contemporary literature alludes to ...

Staff Legends 83 with a staff, pounced on him and started hitting him from all sides. Guzhou was completely unarmed and he emplo ...

84 Systemizing Martial Practice atop the lofty peak. The Red Turbans were terrified of him and escaped, whereupon he disappeared ...

Staff Legends 85 demonstrated, the attack on the monastery probably took place not in 1351 (as the 1517 inscription has it), but ...

Fig. 12. The staff-wielding Vajrapâÿi (referred to as Kiœnara) atop Mt. Song. Note the Bodhisattva Avalokitešvara of whom he is ...

Staff Legends 87 lary deity in most Chinese Buddhist temples, whereas Vajrapâÿi holds this of- fice at the Shaolin Monastery.^14 ...