Shaolin's Timeline

[Semillas]

Hello. I'm a new member in this forum. I practice Ngo Mei Siu Lam Kung-fu, a northern style.

I'm in the making of a webpage about Shaolin, and want to ask everybody for
important event into the history of shaolin temples. I have some events in my
timeline of shaolin:

Construction of the Shaolin temple of Henan
Bodhidharma
The legend of the 13 monks and the Emperor Taizong
Construction of the Monastery of Fukien
Construction of the Monastery of Kwantung
Chang San Feng and Wu-tang P'ai
Construction of the Monastery of Ngomei
Construction of the Monastery of Wutang
Chueh Yuan the Shao-lin revitalizes Ch'uan
Nan Kuen Pat Tui
Wai-chia / Nei-gar
Connections with the Taoists temples of Wu-tang
Destruction of Henan in 1570
Destruction of Fukien in 1760
New destruction in 1836
The 108 warring monks' history
The five surviving monks' of the destruction of the Monastery

Any ideas? Thanks

[carona]

Hi Semillas,

I usually don't post on this board but do check in from time to time...

Since you're also located in Spain and you aren't receiving any replies I thought I try to help out a bit...

I think people will not reply because of the type of questions you ask....

I haven't heard of the style you practice but I wonder why a northern style would have a cantonese name (siu lam being Shaolin)...

as for the timeline you want to make... don't believe everything you find on the internet, most of it are legends and fairy tales... I suggest you get some serious sources before publishing something on your style to not perpetuate the same old bull****...

look into Meir Shahar's book on shaolin monastery for example...

or pm me and maybe i can help you

[David Jamieson]

Hello. I'm a new member in this forum. I practice Ngo Mei Siu Lam Kung-fu, a northern style.

I'm in the making of a webpage about Shaolin, and want to ask everybody for
important event into the history of shaolin temples. I have some events in my
timeline of shaolin:

Construction of the Shaolin temple of Henan
Bodhidharma
The legend of the 13 monks and the Emperor Taizong
Construction of the Monastery of Fukien
Construction of the Monastery of Kwantung
Chang San Feng and Wu-tang P'ai
Construction of the Monastery of Ngomei
Construction of the Monastery of Wutang
Chueh Yuan the Shao-lin revitalizes Ch'uan
Nan Kuen Pat Tui
Wai-chia / Nei-gar
Connections with the Taoists temples of Wu-tang
Destruction of Henan in 1570
Destruction of Fukien in 1760
New destruction in 1836
The 108 warring monks' history
The five surviving monks' of the destruction of the Monastery

Any ideas? Thanks

1. The temple was constructed for another monk in around 490 ce.

2. Bodidharma allegedly arrived around 527 ce

3. the 13 monks legend is from teh time of a pirate attack in the 13th century?(check this one)

4. fukien is not yet confirmed to have actually existed

5. there is and was no kwangtung temple that was "Shaolin Temple"

6. WuTang is whole and apart from Shaolin. It is Taoist and not buddhist. There was interchange between the two, but not conglomeration.

7. Unsure who this is

8. the connection with taoism were philosophical between dhyana(ch'an) similarities of philosophical practice and observance of reality. Taoism and Ch'an buddhism shared a lot of ideas about how the universe and people worked. Martial arts weren't really part of it as far as I know. It's possible there was formal interchange, but not a lot about it, if anything from the timeline.

9. henan faced 3 destructions iirc

10. legend. may or may not have happened at all.

11. 1836 is fairly recent. are you talking about henan? or the alleged fukien temple?

12. the 108 warring monks. I don't know about this, but there is a document that deals with monks who are notable. I'm not sure if there are 108 of them though.

13. the gee sim sin see, and others story is mostly story. The 5 tigers, 10 tigers etc etc are usually legends that are formed and embellished to bolster one group or another. NOt sure of the actual historical validity behind it.


Yes, Meir Shahar's book is definitely important for anyone who is looking for information about the shaolin monastery and it's history. There are few books that have the kind of credibility that this one does. Most material is quite nonsensical and made up by amateurs over the years to promote their own martial arts and schools and to make money etc etc.

[GeneChing]

The Stele which records the 13 monks helping Li Shinmen has seven different texts engraved on it starting at 621 ending at 728 (see Shahar for details). The Shaolin monks capture Wang Shichong's nephew, Renze, on May 23, 621.

The piracy campaign is around 1550.

Semillas, you'll find some answers to some of your questions in my archived e-zine article series Bak Sil Lum vs. Shaolin Temple

[Semillas]

As my Sifu told me, on the year 1945 (approximately), the monk Boon Ming moved from the county of Sichuan to Canton; one of his pupils came to Spain, who taught to my teacher, Manuel Castro; this pupil, I suppose, would be from Canton, with the result that it pronounced the name in Cantonese.

Thank you for the answers

[LFJ]

I'm in the making of a webpage about Shaolin, and want to ask everybody for
important event into the history of shaolin temples.

seems like there are plenty of these online as it is, and almost all of them have differing stories.

also, there are not several "shaolin temples". each branch temple under shaolin had its own specific name. even the "southern shaolin temple", (which there are several of all claiming to be the original one while the fact that there ever was one originally is disputed, as it is) the signboards on those temples say "southern shaolin temple", which means thats its whole name. its not another "shaolin temple" in the south, not southern "shaolin temple". its "southern shaolin temple". same with the "northern shaolin temple", north of henan. the songshan shaolin temple in henan province is the only one with a signboard saying "shaolin temple".

[Shaolinlueb]

actually david ross went back in time and created all kung fu as we know it. he tells of his exploits somewhere on here.