Shaolin kung fu: Difference between revisions

The idea that Bodhidharma founded martial arts at the Shaolin Temple was spread in the 20th century, however, this idea came from a debunked apocryphal 17th century legend that claimed Bodhidharma taught the monks philosophies of [[Chan Buddhism|Chan BuddihsmBuddhism]], in which the monks were then able to use these philosophies to create their own combat techniques of [[Shaolin kungfu]]. The idea of Bodhidharma influencing Shaolin boxing is based on a [[Qigong]] manual written during the 17th century. This is when a Taoist with the [[pen name]] 'Purple Coagulation Man of the Way' wrote the ''[[Yijin Jing|Sinews Changing Classic]]'' in 1624, but claimed to have discovered it. The first of two prefaces of the manual traces this succession from Bodhidharma to the Chinese general [[Li Jing (Tang dynasty)|Li Jing]] via "a chain of Buddhist saints and martial heroes."<ref name=shahar/>{{rp|at=p165}} The work itself is full of anachronistic mistakes and even includes a popular character from Chinese fiction, the 'Qiuran Ke' ('Bushy Bearded Hero') ({{lang|zh|虬髯客}}), as a lineage master.<ref name=liu/> [[Scholar-official]]s as far back as the Qing dynasty have taken note of these mistakes. The scholar Ling Tinkang (1757–1809) described the author as an "ignorant village master."<ref name=shahar/>{{rp|at=p168}} Even then, the association of Bodhidharma with martial arts only became widespread as a result of the 1904–1907 serialization of the novel ''The Travels of Lao Ts'an'' in ''Illustrated Fiction Magazine'':{{sfn|Henning|1994}}