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

88 Systemizing Martial Practice stood astride Song Mountain and the “Imperial Fort” (Yuzhai). The Red Troops disintegrated and w ...

Staff Legends 89 heroic defense of the monastery was staged there as part of the three-day sai ritual operas. In the village dra ...

90 Systemizing Martial Practice khakkhara). Others serve as walking sticks or carrying poles. However, in the hands of many arha ...

Staff Legends 91 vealing their familiarity with its etiological myth. On another level, martial dei- ties such as Vajrapâÿi exon ...

92 Systemizing Martial Practice personal example that vindicates Buddhist military action. If Vajrapâÿi can de- scend from heave ...

Staff Legends 93 legends, which can be traced back to the Song period, evolved through a se- ries of prose narratives and plays, ...

94 Systemizing Martial Practice The superhuman dimensions of the staff-wielding monkey remind us of another staff expert, who li ...

Staff Legends 95 for the hagiographic literature of the Shaolin Monastery, or, conversely, did Shaolin monastic legends influenc ...

96 Systemizing Martial Practice Even as he leaves no doubt that his protagonist specializes in staff fight- ing, Dong Jieyuan su ...

Staff Legends 97 the earliest versions of the story cycle, Lu is armed with the staff. A Southern Song list of topics popular am ...

98 Systemizing Martial Practice crescent’s significance in contemporary weaponry can be gauged by its appear- ance in the names ...

Staff Legends 99 The Yang Family story cycle evolved around the historical figure of the Northern Song general Yang Ye (?–986), ...

Fig. 19. Late Ming woodblock illustration of Sha Monk wielding the staff. ...

Staff Legends 101 The Origins of Monastic Staff Fighting Ming period popular lore extends the connection between fighting monks ...

102 Systemizing Martial Practice to examine the staff’s place in Buddhist history, for its military role might have derived from ...

Staff Legends 103 monk’s symbol. Paintings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas often have the deity’s monkish attendant carry one or bot ...

Fig. 21. The staff as the emblem of the monk; Japanese portrait of the Chinese monk Yinyuan (1592–1673). ...

Staff Legends 105 combat. Here, then, we perceive a connection between the ring staff and the fighting staff. Slightly altered, ...

106 Systemizing Martial Practice Avîci Hell. His staff enables him to rescue his mother, just as Moses’ permitted the prophet to ...

Staff Legends 107 Daocheng explained that “the elegant term for Buddhist itinerancy is ‘flying staff.’ This is because when the ...