shaolin temple is china's famous temple, and chan sect. it is located atthe foot of shaoshi mountain and got its name from its location. shaolin templehas a reputation for its zen buddhism and shaolin gongfu, which is the mainattraction of the scenery spot. shaolin temple was built for indian monk patuoin 495 or 19 of the yaihe year in the northern wei dynasty by xiaowenemperor.
shaolin was built against the hills. in the period of its great prosperity,seven buildings lined the central line of the temple, but in the war amongwarlords in the period of kuomingtang, some main buildings were burnt byshisanyou, including the hall of heavenly king, the abbot's room and the hallfor preaching the buddhist doctrines and the bell tower and many preciousbuddhist sutras pugilism charts were destroyed as well. in the late 20thcentury, shaolin temple was rebuilt to the old system.
the stone tablets in shaolin temple are also well known, which are mainlyin the ciyun hall, or the tablet passage. about 120 pieces of handwriting worksare stored here, dating from the northern qi dynasty. many famous masters, suchas caijing, mipei, zhao meng fu and dong qichang, ever left their handwritinghere.
tower forest is where the monks were buried. the one in shaolin temple isthe biggest in china, 232 all together. it is of great value in the study ofbuddhism scriptures, buildings and zen buddhism.
besides, some other famous places include the buddhist convent, built inmemory of damo buddhist meditating facing the wall; damo cave and the sweet dewtower, where batuo ,the founder for the shaolin temple, translated thesutras.
in addition to the visit to the historic buildings, shaolin would giveperformance of shaolin gongfu, which will broaden your outlook and let you havea taste of the charm of shaolin martial arts.
chinese kungfu: chinese is a general designation of chinese wushu andgongfu, a culture developed from the long practice in life and the knowledge ofthe body. it's a traditional precious heritage, and at the same time a specialsport of great value.
with china's reform, chinese gongfu has spread over the world. to promoteits development worldwide, the olympic committee has included chinese wushu inthe events of the __ sydney olymipcs.