84 Systemizing Martial Practice
atop the lofty peak. The Red Turbans were terrified of him and escaped,
whereupon he disappeared. People looked for him, but he was seen no
more. Only then did they realize that he was a Bodhisattva displaying
his divinity. Thereafter, he became Shaolin’s protector of the law (hufa),^4
and occupied the seat of the monastery’s “guardian spirit” (qielan shen).^5The legend is not unrelated to historical events. The Shaolin Monastery was at-
tacked by bandits during the 1350s Red Turbans’ uprising.^6 As Tang Hao has
Fig. 11. Abbot Wenzai’s 1517 Vajrapâÿi’s (Nârâyaÿa) stele. Note that the divine
warrior’s vajra has been replaced by the staff.