Serving the Emperor 51
dained at a Mt. Wutai monastery, but abandons it for the freedom of itinerant
military adventures. He is no different, therefore, from countless Shaolin-
ordained fighting monks who have been earning a living outside the temple,
consuming forbidden foods in taverns from Dengfeng County to New York
City.
Whether they have received martial training or not, wandering monks have
often transgressed monastic regulations. Chinese Buddhist history has known
a special type of cleric occupying the fringes of the monastic community, who
leads an itinerant life. Often venerated by the laity as miracle workers, such wan-
dering monks engaged in healing, fortune-telling, and the like. Their extraor-
dinary powers were believed to be intimately related to extraordinary behavior,
for which reason perhaps they often breached monastic law, especially the di-
etary regulations forbidding meat and wine. Therefore, such folk thaumaturges
were sometimes referred to as “crazy monks” (dian seng), “mad monks” (feng he-
shang), or “wild monks” (ye heshang). Beginning in the early medieval period,
their hagiographies were included in such collections as Huijiao’s (497–554)
Biographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng zhuan), and they continued to figure in
Chinese religious life all through the modern period, when they were referred
to as “meat and wine monks” (jiurou heshang). One of the most famous of these
eccentric saints was the Song period Daoji (?–1209), also known as Crazy Ji ( Ji-
dian), who has been celebrated posthumously in an enormous body of fiction
and drama, becoming one of the most beloved deities in the pantheon of Chi-
nese popular religion.^89
We may note in conclusion that the connection between fighting monks
and the consumption of meat extended to their heavenly patrons. Medieval
sources indicate that unlike most Buddhist divinities, guardian deities were oc-
casionally proffered animal flesh. In an edict dated 513, the piously vegetarian
emperor Liang Wudi (r. 502–549) forbade animal sacrifices in all temples,
whether administrated by the state or by the people. One clause alluded to
those Buddhist monasteries and nunneries where deer’s heads, mutton, and
the like were offered to such fighting deities as the Four Lokapâlas (Hushi Si
Tianwang), guardian monarchs of the Four Quarters. The decree suggests
that such blood sacrifices were not uncommon. Evidently, heavenly warriors
were imagined to relish animal flesh no less than their earthly counterparts.^90
Conclusion
The Shaolin Monastery military activities can be traced back to the seventh
century. Around 610, Shaolin monks warded off an attack by bandits, and in
621 they participated in the future emperor Li Shimin’s campaign against
Wang Shichong, who had occupied their Cypress Valley Estate. The two battles
share a common connection to property: In the former, the monks protected
their temple and in the latter they fought for control of their agricultural