During the Ming Zhengjia period, because the Shaolin stick monks participated in the early struggle against the Japanese invaders, and later Cheng Chongdou's book "Shaolin Stick Art Interpretation" came out, Shaolin stick art became famous all over the world.

It is also mentioned in Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Ji Xiao", and it is also mentioned in Yu Dayou's "Book of Swords", but Yu describes it in the book in the language of criticism, and the Shaolin stick technique he has seen is said to have lost the true transmission of stick skills, and let the two monks Zong Qing and Pu Cong follow him to learn art in the army. Pu Cong returned to the vulgar after completing his studies and did not want to be a monk anymore, and Zong Qing said when he saw Yu Dayou again after more than ten years, he had passed on a hundred people in Shaolin Temple. In fact, at that time, there were at least two lines of Shaolin Temple's stick technique, one was the stick that Yu Dayou went to Shaolin Temple before, Shaolin monks practiced; Around 1450 in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Jueyuan, a certain Yanzhou prince who was shaved in Shaolin Temple, invited folk martial artists Bai Yufeng and Li Suo to enter Shaolin Temple to teach martial arts. Bai created the "Eighteen Arhat Hands" and "Five Fists" to pass on the monks and lay disciples, while Li Sue passed on his original mastery of the "Red Fist" (also known as Taizu Changquan and Dahong Fist), "Grabbing Technique" and "Stick Technique". Li Suo's stick technique is recorded in detail in the pedigree of Mr. Niu Hanzhang, also known as the "eight-pan chain stick", divided into "seven methods and eight points", a total of 66 potentials, the name of each potential is recorded in detail, mainly single-headed sticks. (Note: At that time, monks and lay disciples studied art together in Shaolin Temple, and it continued when lay disciple Cheng Chongdou entered Shaolin Temple.) ）

Therefore, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Li Suo, a native of Zhongzhou, was the ancestor of Shaolin stick art. At that time, Bai's five fists, Li Suo's big red fist was not widely heard, but in the Ming Jiajing period Tang Jingchuan made the Emei Taoist song mentioned the Shaolin Temple's boxing, only because of the anti-Japanese and the young ** martial arts famous monks used sticks, so the outside world ignored its boxing, rendering all the sticks, in fact, Bai's five fists, and Li Sue's big red boxing are very good.

After Shaolin Stick Art became famous, Shaolin monks began to plot how to deify the origin of their stick arts.

First of all, these Shaolin monks of the early 16th century found a Shaolin inscription of the protector god "Narayana" (Narayana), who was a warrior in Buddhist mythology, holding a vajra, was erected by Zu Duan, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple in the 12th century. Therefore, Wen Zai (1454-1524), the abbot of Shaolin Temple at that time, set up an inscription in 1517 and nominated it as "Na Luo Yan God Protector Trace", and the inscription regarded "Na Luo Yan" as the temple's dancing stick protector god. This is the earliest inscription of the Shaolin Temple martial arts in the Ming Dynasty, and all the Shaolin Temple tablets before 1517 have no record of whether "Na Luo Yan" will be a stick or not, and even the various martial arts that Shaolin Temple said later, and there is no record that "Na Luo Yan" is the Garan God of Shaolin Temple. In the past, the temple used Guan Gong as the god of Garan, but in 1517, the Shaolin Temple changed the god of Garan to "Naroyan", who knew how to play sticks. This is directly related to the general environment in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, when the imperial court began to re-attach importance to and advocate "armed equipment", and "Na Luoyan" has become a symbol of "armed equipment" in Shaolin Temple. This happened at the beginning of the 16th century, and it is interesting to note that the Shaolin monks not only confused "Narayan" with "Wubei", but also confused "Narayan" with "Kimnara" (Sanskrit: Kimnara), one of the Buddhist protectors of the Dharma and collectively known as one of the "Eight Divisions of the Heavenly Dragon". Like the Naroyan, the Kinnara is a god of Indian origin and is often depicted as a demigod and sometimes a musician in heaven, and the two are confused for no other reason than their similar Chinese names, suggesting that many of the Shaolin monks in the mid-16th century were uneducated. (Author's note: Shaolin Temple, a symbol of "martial arts", the concept scope also includes Dong Cheng, the founder of Tongbeiquan in the Jiajing Wanli period, the founder of Shaolin Temple martial arts in his "Ten Questions", Bai Yufeng, a martial arts master from the folk to create "five fists", and Li Suo's stick technique has become the "vajra" of "Jinnaro". As a result, the personified "Wubei" on the Tongbei boxing spectrum generally refers to Bai Yufeng who created boxing, Li Suo who passed the stick, and Jueyuan, the "former Yanzhou famous son" who introduced martial arts to Shaolin Temple, that is, the founder of Shaolin Temple martial arts)

Since then, the "vajra" in the hand of "Naroyan" has been transferred to the hand of "Jinnaro", and has been used by Shaolin monks to this day.

Then, the Shaolin monks also improved the status of their stick skills from the god "Kinara" from several other aspects:

First, in addition to the Shaolin stick technique as a symbol of the Shaolin Temple's "Garan Protector" and "Martial Arts", the Shaolin monks further elevated the "Kinara" to a status that had never been enjoyed before: a bodhisattva, considered to be no less than the god of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Second, the image of a saint who was incarnated as a bearded, barebacked, barefoot, and working in the kitchen appeared, and when the Red Turban Army ransacked the temple at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the temple was guarded and the robbers were scared away. This transformed image is a metaphor for the six ancestors of Zen Buddhism, Huineng, who came from a humble background and worked in the kitchen. As a result, the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng was also skillfully transformed into the body of the "Kinara", that is, when the "Kinara" Bodhisattva appeared (holding a vajra and turning into a saint), it was the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng who held a burning stick. (Author's note: The Zen Buddhism of Shaolin Temple was started after the Yuan Dynasty Zen master Fuyu monk moved in, and the former Shaolin Temple was not Zen Buddhism.) From this point, it can also be seen that the "Jinnaro" of the Shaolin Temple's "Jialan Protector" with the incarnation of the six ancestors of Zen Buddhism Huineng cannot appear before the Yuan Dynasty, and the "Na Luo Yan God Protector Trace" tablet appeared in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, which is in line with the historical fact that the martial arts of Shaolin Temple were opened in the middle of the Ming Dynasty)

Third, the history of Shaolin stick art is pushed forward, lengthened, and made up a story, Shaolin monk deliberately said on the inscription: "The eleventh year of the Great Yuan Dynasty (1351)...... , sit in the land of Garan".

The Shaolin Temple was indeed attacked by bandits in the 50s of the 14th century, and the martial arts historian Tang Hao verified that the incident occurred in 1356, not 1351 as stated on the inscription. The "Red Turban" did not "retreat in fear", but the peasant Red Turban Army occupied the Songshan Shaolin Temple without effort, the Shaolin monks fled in all directions, and the monks fled to Shandong for refuge. Temples were occupied, belongings were looted, and monasteries were almost destroyed due to the often extremely destructive nature of peasant rebels. 14th-century sources confirm that there is no mention of any monk who resisted the invaders. The early Ming Dynasty sources only account of the catastrophe suffered by the monastery, not the victory of the monastery. In fact, as Tang Hao points out: "In 1359, it was Chagan Timur who commanded the imperial army to counterattack the Red Turbans and force them to withdraw from Henan, that the Shaolin monks were able to return to the Shaolin Temple." You must know that at that time, the Shaolin monk had fled the Shaolin Temple for 3 years.

Therefore, the inscription of the Shaolin Temple in the middle of the Ming Dynasty not only fabricated the story of "the fire monk scared off the Red Turban Army", but also fabricated two lies about the time when the "Jinnaro" holding the stick protector appeared in the Shaolin Temple!

What's more, the Shaolin monks of the Qing Dynasty ignored the original inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty, and starved to death because the Shaolin monks did not want to rely on the occupation of the cultivated land that they did not want to rely on to sustain their lives, and the second because they got the first note to ask the Shaolin monks to recognize the situation, and wanted to protect their property and joined the local military and civilians to raid and capture Wang Ren to help the Tang Dynasty, saying that it was "Thirteen Stick Monks to Save the Tang King", and the Shaolin monks who did not mention the martial arts (it is entirely possible that they would not be able to do martial arts at all) were said to be "stick monks", and "helping Tang" was said to be "saving the Tang King". So he fabricated a lie to further push the history of Shaolin stick art to the early Tang Dynasty.

Fourth, the Shaolin monk not only made up stories that his stick skills were taught from the sacred "Jinnaro", and later, "Jinnaro" was rendered as "Wubei", which is the source of all Shao** techniques (including the creation of Bai's five fists, Luohan boxing, etc.). The original creators and disseminators of Shaolin Temple's martial arts, Bai Yufeng, Li Suo and Jueyuan, are all concentrated on the "Jinnaro", that is, the "Wubei" of Shaolin Temple.

Interestingly, during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Dong Cheng, a native of Huaiqing Mansion, the founder of Tongbeiquan, also metaphorized his two teachers, Zhang Wenkui and Guo Wanqing, as "Song Taizu" and "Jinnaro Wubei", saying that the two were "born to know" Wuyong. Zhang Wenkui and Guo Wanqing taught Dong Cheng's Dahongquan (also known as Taizu Boxing and Hongquan) and Bai's Five Boxing respectively, while Zhang and Guo were most likely the layman's disciples or grandsons of Bai and Li Sue. On page 239 of the book "Jiaozuo Martial Arts", "Yucun Martial Arts has a long history", it is recorded: "During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty...... It is suitable for people from Qingzhou, Shandong Province to start the boxing king during the day, and pass through our village to dedicate themselves to performing arts to pass on their skills...... Its name is 'Dahong Boxing, Changquan, Black Tiger Boxing...... the first generation of Yi X Wusheng member Zhang Wuzhang, Zhang Wuchen", indicating that it was not only Zhang Wenkui who spread Dahong Boxing in Huaiqing Mansion during the Jiajing period, but also Bai Qi. With Zhang Wenkui's Dahong boxing master or master Li Suo, he implied that "Song Taizu who created the boxing art in the name of him"; and with Guo Wanqing's five-fist teacher or master Bai Yufeng, he implied that he was the Shaolin "Jinnaro God" who was "armed with weapons". Therefore, the "Wubei Jinnaro" in the Tongbei Boxing Spectrum is no longer the incarnation of stick skills, but refers to Bai Yufeng, who has made the greatest contribution to the Shao ** technique. (Note: Red Boxing or Dahong Boxing began at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, I don't know who founded it, and the reason why it was named Song Taizu's "Thirty-two Potential Long Boxing" is mainly a metaphor for the "Thirty-two Governing Strategies" set by Song Taizu.) In the early days, it spread in Shandong and Henan, and later spread to the northwest)

Some researchers also believe that it was the image of the Monkey King in "Journey to the West" that influenced the magical description of "Jinnaro" by some Shaolin monks, including the layman Cheng Chongdou.

In short, using the Buddhist gods "Kinara" and "Arhat" to teach Shaolin monks martial arts can make Shaolin monks practice martial arts and kill in order to protect the interests of the temple, and feel at ease.

It's a pity that the young ** monk doesn't seem to combine the practice of martial arts with the enlightenment of Buddhism, and the Taoist martial arts are better combined in this regard. Japan's Sawaan Zongpeng (1573-1645) put forward the theory of "no heart" in fencing, and formed the popular bushido spirit of "forgetting life and death" by Suzuki Daishu, and the Chinese folk also have long had the saying of "using the wonders and keeping one heart" (later generations called Yue Fei said), and the "Dong's Liuhe gun" (Wangbao gun) created by Dong Bingqian in the late Ming Dynasty also said that "the heart forgets the hand, the hand forgets the gun, and it is done with one touch, such as eye protection".

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the young ** monks did contribute to the imperial court at that time in the conquest of bandits, the suppression of peasant uprisings and the early struggle against the Japanese (there were also monks in other places who resisted the Japanese monks, such as the monks in Hangzhou, etc.), but there were also many young ** monks who became bandits themselves, harmed one party, and even formed rebels. For example, Wang Shixing (1547-1598), in his Yu Zhi (c. 1595), severely rebuked the Shaolin monks for their tendency to rob and rebel. He said, "Those monks who cut their hair today will be monks, and tomorrow they will be people with long hair, and they will do whatever they want." ...... There is no one who does not drink alcohol and eat meat, no one in the monk's practice." He warned his colleagues that "Henan monks are dangerous instigators." And concluded: "The abbot monk of Shaolin Temple spends his years by eating, drinking, fighting, and has no value", "Drinking and eating meat, practicing martial arts, stopping the knowledge of boxing sticks, and not knowing how to drink sticks". (The author has also seen Shaolin Temple warrior monks collectively drinking wine and eating meat in restaurants, as well as eating chicken in Kentucky stores in New Zealand, which has a bad impact overseas)

In the collection "Drunken Awakening Stone" (about 1650) by an unknown author, it is said that a monk named Mingguo once practiced stick art in Shaolin Temple, and later listened to the words of a warlock, and even wanted to imitate Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been a monk, and also wanted to be the emperor, and the foolish monk Mingguo instigated rebellion, and was arrested and executed.

Appendix 1: Why did the monks of Shaolin Temple save Tang King Li Shimin?

In the spring of the fourth year of Tang Gaozu Wude (621), Li Shimin supervised the army against Wang Shichong in the capacities of Taiwei, Shang Shuling, Yizhou Daoxingtai of Eastern Shaanxi Province, Yongzhou Mu, General Wuhou of Zuo, Envoy Zhijie, Governor of Liangzhou, Shangzhu State, and King of Qin, and carried out the unification war before he established the great Tang Dynasty.

In February, Wang Shichong had been defeated, but because Dou Jiande led more than 100,000 troops to reinforce, the battle situation temporarily became complicated. At that time, the battlefield was mainly near Luoyang, there was a "Yuzhou" between Luoyang and Shaolin Temple, formerly known as Baiguwu, it was the temple property given to Shaolin Temple by Emperor Wen of Sui, fifty miles northwest of the temple, because of its dangerous terrain, it was a place where soldiers must fight, Wang Shichong took it as his own, as a military fortress, let his nephew Wang Ren defend it, and he had troops not far from Luoyang, echoing and supporting each other, in order to resist **. On the day of April 27, the monks of Shaolin Temple united with Sima Zhao Xiaozai of Yuzhou under Wang Renze, and they should cooperate with each other, caught Wang Renze, and gave him to **; three days later, Li Shimin sent officials to the temple to give a reward - 40 hectares of land (i.e., Baiguwu) and a body of water.

This is the historical truth of "Thirteen Stick Monks Save the Tang King". There is no sword and sword shadow, no sorrowful sound of painted corners, no blood flowing, no beautiful love, plain as water, simple and unremarkable, almost unbelievable. If it is possible to have a sword and a life-and-death struggle, that plot can only be in the process of capturing Wang Renze. But this assumption has a premise, that is, as filmed in the movie "Shaolin Temple", Wang Ren must be a martial arts master, and he was stubbornly resisted during the capture process. However, we know that such a hypothesis may not have many possibilities, and capturing Wang Ren can be outwitted, not necessarily powerful, and it does not have to be done by the monks of Shaolin Temple, and Wang Ren's soldiers can also do it. In this way, the thousand-year-old myth of less ** merit will go bankrupt. There is no information to prove how many Shaolin monks participated in the operation at that time, and what their martial arts were, and the myths we know are the imagination of later generations.

There is also the question of why the Shaolin monks helped ** at that time, that is, the question of the motivation of the Shaolin monks. It is not morality or spirit that determines historical behavior, but interests. This point is very clear in the original documents, and there is not much room for imagination. This answer is in the original words of Li Shimin's "Throne Book of Shaolin Temple in Baiguwu" quoted in "Lu Ding Ji", that is, "deep understanding of machine changes, early recognition of wonderful causes", but these eight words are more tactful and subtle, and the "Emperor Tang Songyue Shaolin Temple Tablet" written by Pei Yi on July 15, the sixteenth year of Tang Kaiyuan (728), is more direct and clear, because Wang Shichong "peeps into the law realm", "will Tufan Palace", Shaolin Temple's temple Baiguwu has been Wang Shichong as "Yuzhou" , Shaolin monks are naturally unwilling, and the war is chaotic, there is less charity, the temple property is lost, and the food is a problem, not to mention that Wang Shichong is eyeing the tiger, and there is a great attempt to annex Shaolin. But who would have thought that this historical opportunity and gift would make Shaolin have the glory of eternity?

As for "saving the Tang King", that is not a matter at all. Li Shimin, as the first boss, has no possibility or need to go deep behind enemy lines, so the Shaolin monks were indeed rewarded for their meritorious service to the Tang Dynasty, but it was not to "save the Tang King", but to "help", and it was "help" rather than "save". Moreover, at that time, Li Shimin had not yet ascended the throne, and his identity was the king of Qin, so the statement of "Tang King" was both vague and inconsistent with historical common sense.

Source: History Museum

Enclosure 2: Whether the Shaolin Thirteen Stick Monks Help Tang is historically true

Since the "Thirteen Monks Helping the Tang Dynasty" is historically true, but there is no "martial arts" or "warrior monks", this leads to a historical question: did the Tang Dynasty have "less ** arts" and "less ** monks"?

The "Shao** Monk Zhi" (Beijing Institute of Physical Education Press, 1990 second edition) compiled by Jinren, the Tang Dynasty part includes Tanzong, Zhicao, Shanhu, Huiling, Puhui, Ming Song, Lingxian, Pusheng, Zhishou, Daoguang, Zhixing, Seng Feng, Seng Man, Zisheng, Kongkong, Lingyin, Weikuan, Yuanjing, Fuhu and other 19 people. Thirteen people from Tanzong to Seng Man, Tang Tablet has a record, and six people who have risen to Fuhu, although their names and surnames are chiseled, none of them indicate the source of resources.

In the folk tales of Shaolin Temple, there is the legend of "Thirteen Stick Monks Saving the Tang Lord", and the sensational movie "Shaolin Temple" produced by Hong Kong Zhongyuan Company in the eighties of the last century is based on this legend.

Is it historical truth that the thirteen stick monks saved the Tang Lord?

The history books of the Tang Dynasty did not leave any record of this. However, the inscriptions of several steles related to this Shaolin Temple have survived to this day. There are three inscriptions, one of which is "Tang Taizong gave Shaolin Temple to teach": the second is "Shaolin Temple", and the third is "Emperor Tang Songyue Shaolin Temple Tablet". It should be said that this is the earliest, most reliable, and certainly the most noteworthy source of information.

The inscription of "Tang Taizong Gave Shaolin Temple Teaching" is not long, and after careful analysis of the text, there are several points worth noting: (1) Li Shimin is the "King of Qin", which is also clear in the text. The legend of "Thirteen Stick Monks Saving the Tang King" (author's note: this legend appeared in the Qing Dynasty) refers to Li Shimin as the Tang King, which is a fallacy. The Tang Dynasty was not the Tang Dynasty. It seems that many soldiers and ordinary people participated in this meritorious action, not only a few monks of Shaolin Temple, but also "the master of Shaolin Temple" and "Master", which shows that the monks of Shaolin Temple played a leading and backbone role in this uprising. (3) Throughout the full text, there is no mention of such words as "warrior monk", "stick monk", etc., nor does it mention the martial arts of the monks of Shaolin Temple. (4) The text mentions that one of the merits of the uprising was "the capture of the murderer", and this evil was obviously Wang Renze. But the article does not mention that this operation saved Li Shimin. If the monks of Shaolin Temple really have a life-saving grace for Li Shimin, Li Shimin should mention this. The last words, "can make one or two leaders who have made meritorious contributions, come here to see each other, and never know more," the tone was completely condescending, and there was no intention of facing the life-saving benefactor at all.

Pei Yishu "Emperor Tang Songyue Shaolin Temple Tablet" inscription about the actual content of the text is not much, through the full text, still can not find such as "warrior monk", "stick monk", "young ** art" and other words, as well as "save the Tang Lord" deeds, just "lead the crowd to reject the pseudo-teacher", both the cloud "public" The number of participants must be a lot, both the cloud "rate", Shaolin Temple must be the leader or leader. Pei Wen gave a more specific explanation of the merits of the Shaolin monks mentioned in Tang Taizong's edict, "Serving as a nephew is returned", that is, capturing Wang Shichong's nephew Wang Renze.

Looking at the full text of "Shaolin Temple", there are still no "warrior monks" and "stick monks", and there is no mention of "Shao** art". However, it is worth noting that the list of Shaolin Temple monks is listed in the text, and the original text is "Emperor Taizong Wen of Tang Wude in the fourth year of the rescue of Shaolin Temple Baiguzhuang meritorious monks: Theravada monk good protection, temple master monk Zhicao, Duwei Na monk Hui Ling, general monk Tanzong, Tongli meritorious monk Puhui, Ming Song, Lingxian, Pusheng, Zhishou, Daoguang, Zhixing, Man, Feng". A total of thirteen Shaolin Temple monks who participated in the capture of Wang Ren Zede and helped Tang have meritorious service, this is the origin of the thirteen monks in the legendary "Thirteen Stick Monks Save Tang Wang" (author's note: Mr. Tang Hao, a martial arts historian, pointed out in his "Young ** Examination": The righteousness of the "great general" in the "Great General Monk Tanzong" is just a good and honor, and the righteousness of the "great general" who leads the battle is not the same thing, and it does not have to be martial arts. ）

The peasant uprising at the end of the Sui Dynasty and the subsequent unification of Li and Tang were undoubtedly a great social revolution and a war on a national scale. Its influence and shock will inevitably penetrate into every corner of society, involving every stratum of society, no one can stay out of it, and the monks of Shaolin Temple are no exception. However, there is no information to prove that the monks of Shaolin Temple have begun to practice martial arts on a large scale and institutionalized at this time, and to form a Shao ** system with sticks as the core and named after their own temples. The Shaolin monks did not participate in the battle to help Li Shimin defeat Wang Shichong because of martial arts, they simply participated in a political revolution and large-scale war in which everyone was turned to. "Thirteen Stick Monks Save the Tang King" is a factual but deduced legend. Li Shimin, who is the king of Qin and bears the heavy responsibility of being the commander, personally disguised himself as a Lang Zhong to take on the task of being a pawn and served as a scout? How could there be only 13 monks in the enemy's camp as if they were in a no-man's land? Among the seven characters "13 monks of Shaolin Temple saved the Tang King," the three words "13" and "monk" are completely true, but to be precise, they should be "13 monks helping Tang" in Shaolin Temple.

The first to point this out was Professor Zhang Chuanxi. He pointed out in the article "Shao ** Shu has nothing to do with Bodhidharma" published in "Guangming Daily" on February 22, 1984: "The three-year monk Tan Zong of Tang Wude and others were named generals for the Tang Dynasty because they led the crowd to capture Wang Renze, the nephew of Wang Shichong, alive", which has nothing to do with martial arts, but is just a "martial thing". "Since the Shaolin Temple was built to the early Ming Dynasty, it has never left a record of martial arts. All that remained, the monks of the monastery had participated in several military operations. For example, Tang Wude's three captures of Wang Renzeshi and some other accidental military activities. These incidents are not enough to say how martial arts are at the Shaolin Temple. Zhang Chuanxi characterized the thirteen monks of Shaolin Temple as "martial arts", which was very insightful.

"Thirteen Monks Helping Tang" is a historical truth, but there is no "martial arts" or "warrior monks" in it. The thirteen monks of Shaolin Temple assisted Tang Shi, providing the best blueprint and material for the emergence of later legends. "Thirteen Stick Monks Save the Tang King" is such an exaggerated text story and folklore. But "Thirteen Monks Helping Tang" is "martial arts" after all, so it cannot be said that it has nothing to do with the later young ** art and young ** monks. It has no direct relationship with Shao ** Shu and Shao ** monks, but it has an indirect relationship. First, it has created a tradition for Shaolin Temple to participate in politics and military, and this tradition will have a wide and far-reaching impact, and even affect the birth and establishment of Shaoshu Shao Monks;