Shaolin Temple was founded in the 19th year of Taihe, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 495).
At that time, the Tianzhu monk Batuo came to the Central Plains from the Western Regions and received the respect of Emperor Xiaowen, who was a devout Buddhist.
When Batuo traveled to the Central Plains, he saw that Mount Song resembled a lotus, so he wanted to set up a temple in the flower. Emperor Xiaowen built the Shaolin Temple in Shaoshi Mountain to support Batuo.
More than thirty years later, Bodhidharma, a monk from South India, came to Shaolin Temple, recruited many disciples, taught Zen Buddhism, and became the founder of Zen Buddhism in China.
The Shaolin sect has always been known as the first martial arts sect and is known as the Taishan Beidou of the Central Plains martial arts. Shaolin Temple monks have a long history of practicing martial arts.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, during the Dahe period of Emperor Xiaowen of the Later Wei Dynasty (AD 477-AD 499), Master Bodhidharma came from the north of Liang State and faced the wall in the Shaolin Temple of Songshan Mountain. It took nine years to complete the work, and then passed down "Yi Jin" , "Marrow Cleansing" and the second classic, founded Shaolin Martial Arts. Li Jing in the Tang Dynasty also wrote the "Preface to the Book of Changes".
Historically, before Bodhidharma, the martial arts practice in the Northern Dynasties monasteries had already been formed. The development of Shaolin martial arts began with a major event during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
In the late Sui Dynasty, the world was in chaos. King Li Shimin of Qin fought with Emperor Shichong of Zheng. Shaolin monks were invited to help, captured Wang Renze alive and forced Wang Shichong to surrender. This is the famous "Thirteen Stick Monks Save the King of Tang".
After Li Shimin came to the throne, he greatly rewarded the Shaolin Temple. The Shaolin Temple prospered again, and Shaolin martial arts also began to prosper and develop, gradually becoming the first martial arts sect in the Central Plains.
The founding king of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, also had a deep connection with the Shaolin Temple. Zhao Kuangyin was born in a military family in Jiamaying, Luoyang, and his father was a general.
Zhao Kuangyin grew up in the military camp since he was a child. He was influenced by it and subconsciously fell in love with the martial arts of dancing with swords and sticks, and dreamed of becoming a martial arts master. The soldiers in the military camp all liked this smart child. He always wanted to do something when he had nothing to do. One or two.
Zhao Kuangyin is talented and intelligent, and he can master it as soon as he learns it. Over time, he acquires good skills. Gradually, he felt that practicing martial arts only in the military camp could not satisfy his desire to become a martial arts master, so he later studied in Shaolin.
Learning martial arts is a process of practice, let alone learning martial arts in Shaolin Temple. Zhao Kuangyin learned boxing in Shaolin. From the beginning of practicing movements to the subsequent combination of movements, from beginners to masters, he gradually realized the profound culture of Zen and Buddhism in it.
In the Shaolin Temple, Zhao Kuangyin not only created the famous "Thirty-Six Forms of Taizu Changquan", but also began to accumulate philosophy of life in troubled times, which would play a vital role in his future seizing and holding the throne.
Zhao Kuangyin was in the ancient temple, but he saw the tyrants, ruthless officials, and rulers competing one after another, causing the Central Plains to be in chaos and the people were in dire straits. He vowed that one day he would give the people of the world a stable paradise;
When Zhao Kuangyin was 21 years old, he left the Shaolin Temple to find his own career. He roamed many places in North China, the Central Plains, and the northwest, which also broadened his horizons for him to establish lofty goals;
Most of the emperors in the Tang Dynasty liked Buddhism, while most of the officials in the Song Dynasty liked Taoism;
There were four incidents of "extermination of Buddhism" in Chinese history, namely "Three martial arts and one sect destroyed Buddhism". The three warriors were Tuoba Tao, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yu Wenyong, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and Li Yan, Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty. The first sect was Chai Rong, Emperor Shizong of the Zhou Dynasty. .
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was the continuation and expansion of the separatist system of vassal towns after the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty.
At that time, after years of war, the land was desolate, the water conservancy was in disrepair, and the national economy was in depression, so much so that "the population was cut off and the wilderness was covered with thorns and thorns."
Social unrest has led to many people having no choice but to flee into Buddhism and seek the blessing of Buddhism; because the land and people under the name of Buddhist temples have been exempted from paying taxes and military service since the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
This also directly led to the rapid expansion and development of Buddhism. By the late Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it directly led to a significant reduction in state taxes; the conflict between state power and religious forces had become quite acute.
When Zhou Shizong Chai Rong first came to the throne, the country was in a state of fragmentation, and it was difficult for the court to receive taxes and military service.
Because most people have attached their land and household registration to the name of Buddhist temples; many people secretly melted copper coins and cast them into bronze Buddha statues, which greatly affected the circulation of copper coins and was very detrimental to the operation of the national economy;
Buddhism is supposed to encourage people to do good and save all sentient beings. However, during the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, most Buddhist disciples took advantage of the convenience of Buddhism to make money, exploit the people, and evade taxes and duties. There were very few people who truly understood Buddhism and Zen. Very few;
The country's wars required a large amount of food and soldiers, but at that time it was very difficult for the country to collect taxes and recruit military service. Many Buddhist temples were affiliated with a large number of people. They took advantage of the blessing of Buddhism and did not pay taxes or perform military service.
Chai Rong not only hated these behaviors that blasphemed the Buddha and corrupted Buddhism, but also hated these scum that caused heavy losses to the country's fiscal revenue and military service;
Chai Rong conquered the world on horseback. He traveled across the world vigorously and vigorously throughout his life. He did not believe in the reincarnation of ghosts and gods in these religions, so he had a hostile attitude towards Buddhism from the moment he came to the throne.
In addition, there is another aspect of the background of Shizong Chai Rong's extermination of Buddhism in the later Zhou Dynasty. At that time, there were too many temples in the world, and there were also many people who entered the temples to become monks. These people reduced the number of labor force to a certain extent.
They have entered monasteries to become monks, which is not conducive to the development of agricultural production. Therefore, Zhou Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty was determined to liberate the redundant labor force from the monasteries and let them promote the country's agricultural production and increase food production, thereby laying a solid foundation for the country's development.
In May of the second year of Xiande of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Chai Rongzhao, Emperor Shizong of the Zhou Dynasty, announced to the world, "Anyone who is not given a temple quota by imperial decree will be abolished. The bronze statues of the temples will be melted and cast into copper coins and weapons. Those who cannot recite the three volumes of scriptures will immediately return to the secular world." After this, the temples were subjected to Shaolin Temple was not immune to the severe blow. It was not until Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty that it was able to slowly recover;
Although the first two officials of the Song Dynasty did not suppress Buddhism as severely as Zhou Shizong Chai Rong, they did not worship Buddhism as much as the emperors of the Tang Dynasty. All Shaolin sects have been tepid in the early Song Dynasty and have lost their former glory;
It was not until the Song Army's Northern Expedition to Khitan in the third year of Emperor Yongxi's reign that the Shaolin Sect sent people to participate in the Northern Expedition along with other Jianghu sects and paid a heavy price. The imperial court recognized its merits and gave more rewards and relaxed policies to the Shaolin Sect.
