MODERN HISTORY

After World War II in 1945, Mainland China was taken over by communists. Under communist rule, all religions were forbidden. Naturally, all Shaolin training was also prohibited. In 1966, Mao Zedong sent the Red Guard to the Shaolin Temple with a self-appointed mission ‘to eliminate the vestiges of the past and to destroy the old culture in order to create a new one.’ They overturned and smashed the statues of the Buddha, imprisoned the monks and closed the Shaolin Temple. None of the 200 remaining monks resisted and it looked as if the Shaolin Temple would become a memory (Cook, p. 19).

Later, under the Communist Party, wushu training was established at the National Athletics Institute. In this organization, the communist party purposely deleted portions of the martial training and applications in order to discourage possible unification of martial artists against the government. The government made a gymnastic-like martial art without the emphasis of combat application. Eventually it became known that the athletes that trained during this period did not know how to fight or defend themselves in general. Performance was the goal of this preservation. This situation was not changed until the late 1980’s. After the communist government realized that the essence of the arts, the martial training and applications, were dying out with the traditional masters, the traditional training was once again encouraged. Unfortunately, many masters had already
been killed during the Cultural Revolution and many others had lost their trust of the communist party and were not willing to share their knowledge (Yang, p. 9).

In 1982, some of the buildings were refurbished and a number of the monks were brought back in order to provide an authentic backdrop for the Jet Li film The Shaolin Temple. This film was enormously popular in China and inspired a nationwide interest in the martial arts. In the beginning of 1985, the temple received 20,000 letters asking for information on Shaolin Temple boxing or begging to be admitted as disciples. The local authorities were quick to realize that this demand for martial arts could be a fruitful source of income and so fifteen martial arts schools were set up near the Shaolin Temple and in the surrounding area. Some enterprising teachers who were (or claimed to have been) former monks also teach privately to those students able to pay the high fees they demand (Cook, p. 18).

The state and Communist personnel control all activities, thus the nature of Shaolin boxing has changed. State control over who may become a monk and the development of Shaolin Temple boxing as a modern sport (wushu), means that in Mainland China the traditional conception of Shaolin martial arts used by warrior monks is over (Cook, p. 19).

CONCLUSION

It is obvious from a number of books published in the 1980’s and 90’s that in some regards the Shaolin Temple and the art of Shaolin Temple Boxing is flourishing. The buildings have been restored and demonstration teams of Shaolin monks travel the world to demonstrate their art. The old Shaolin Abbot De Chan wrote in 1992, “I’m 85 this year and how gratified I am to see that the ancient Shaolin wushu is blossoming again in radiant splendor.” However, it is questionable that an art which at least some of its inspiration in the Buddhist dharma, can truly survive in a centralized communist state. What the future holds for the Shaolin Temple is uncertain, but hopefully it will once again control its own destiny.

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by Dale (10/2003)