variations of the same style. In the same way that the sport versions of
martial arts gained set forms in accordance with competition rules, martial
arts styles developed set forms so that students could be compared and
rated. At the same time, however, many martial arts persisted outside the
government system and despite erratic government attempts to suppress
them. All this became clear after the government not only stopped sup-
pressing the practice of martial arts outside official centers but also began
encouraging its practice. A good example was the effort to renovate the
Shaolin Temple and“revive”its martial arts tradition.
The impetus for rebuilding Shaolin was a movie,Shaolin Temple
( 1982 ), that starred a former mainland Chinese martial arts champion,
Li Lianjie (Jet Li). When the Hong Kong movie company went to Shaolin
to shoot on location in 1981 , the temple was entirely run down and defunct
as either a religious or martial arts center. The movie was extremely
successful and it attracted Chinese and foreign martial arts students and
tourists to Shaolin.^13 Several monks and a number of martial artists claim-
ing some connection to Shaolin’s martial arts reestablished Buddhist wor-
ship and the teaching of martial arts at or near the temple. While Buddhist
worship expanded slowly, martial arts teaching and tourism exploded.
Most of the martial arts schools were only near the temple rather than
being part of it, and even those martial artists practicing in the official
temple training facility had no religious training.
In many respects, the modern legend and movie-based reconstruction of
Shaolin recapitulated the martial arts environment of what the temple was
probably like at its Ming Dynasty peak. A large andfluid community of
martial artists surrounded a community of Buddhist monks who prayed
and practiced Buddhism. While thousands of students came to study
martial arts in the nearby schools, the monastic population of practicing
Buddhists was far more limited. Matthew Polly, an American college
student, went to Shaolin in the 1990 s and studied martial arts there for
two years. His account of that period,American Shaolin,reflects both
the chaotic relationship of modern China with its traditional past and the
confused relationship between Western and Chinese perceptions of the
martial arts. The Shaolin Wushu center was built by the Henan provincial
government to promote tourism in 1989.^14 At the same time, troupes of
Shaolin monks performed around the world. Martial arts, and Shaolin as
their exemplar and putative source, became popular, recognizable, and
positive representatives of China.
The other great martial arts representative of China is Taiji, though it
lacks the site-specific identification of Shaolin. Shaolin has also benefited
230 Post-Imperial China