Shaolin Temple of Mount Song

This article must be coded, otherwise your visit to Shaolin Temple would really be in vain.||Shaolin Temple was founded in the 19th year of Taihe of the Northern Wei Dynasty, built by Emperor Xiaowen to accommodate the Indian monk Batuo who came to preach. Located in the dense forest of Shaoshishan on Mount Song, it is thus named 'Shaolin Temple'. It is known as the 'Ancestral Court of Chan Buddhism', 'Holy Land of Kung Fu', and 'The Foremost Monastery Under Heaven'. The Shaolin Temple gate was built during the Qing Dynasty's Yongzheng era, with an inscribed board titled 'Shaolin Temple' personally penned by Emperor Kangxi. The board also bears the six-character seal of 'Treasure of Kangxi's Imperial Brush'. In front of the gate, in addition to a pair of Qing Dynasty stone lions that guard the temple, there are also two stone archways built during the Ming Dynasty, which are among the few ancient buildings that still retain a sense of cultural relics at Shaolin Temple. The lotus path leading to the Hall of Heavenly Kings, with the saying 'Lotus flowers spring up with every step', has a strong Zen charm. The stele forest on both sides contains original inscriptions from the Tang and Song dynasties. Beside the stele forest, the stele corridor displays more than 100 stone tablets, among which the 'Great Tang Empress Regnant's Imperially Composed Poem and Calligraphy Stele' written by Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty's stone carving of Bodhidharma 'Crossing the River on a Reed' are worth seeing. The Hall of Heavenly Kings was originally built during the Yuan Dynasty, with the plaque 'The Foremost Ancestral Court Under Heaven' inscribed by Emperor Qianlong. The ginkgo tree in front of the hall is over 1500 years old. The 'Li Shimin Stele' in front of the Bell Tower was erected during the Tang Dynasty. The top of the stele is carved with a coiling dragon, and the inscription praises the Shaolin monks for their military achievements in helping Li Shimin pacify Wang Shichong. The cursive script 'Shimin' on the stele is the only authentic handwriting of Li Shimin that exists today. The 'Praise Stele of the Mixed Origin of the Three Teachings and Nine Schools' was erected in the 44th year of Jiajing. The stone carving depicts the face of Buddha Shakyamuni, composed of the faces of Confucius from Confucianism and Laozi from Taoism, symbolizing the confluence and harmonious coexistence of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. This stele is a treasured relic that protects the Shaolin Temple. Emperor Qianlong's 'Overnight at Shaolin Temple' poem stele was erected in the 15th year of Qianlong's reign during the Qing Dynasty. The Mahavira Hall, the Sutra Repository, and the Hall of Heavenly Kings are known as the three great Buddhist halls. The 'Fragrant Lotus of the Precious Tree' inscribed by Emperor Kangxi hangs in the great hall. Notably, on either side of the Buddhas of the Three Times, there are standing statues of Bodhidharma and King Jinnaraja. The abbot's quarters, also known as 'Dragon Court', served as Emperor Qianlong's temporary palace during his visit to Shaolin Temple. At the entrance hangs a large bell from the Yuan Dynasty, which served as an alarm. The Sutra Repository originally housed the stone where Bodhidharma faced the wall and the Ming Dynasty's Tripitaka before it was burned, hence the incomplete character '藏' (meaning 'repository') on the signboard, indicating that the collection is incomplete. It now houses the Kangxi woodblock-printed Tripitaka and a white jade reclining Buddha, considered a top-quality piece of jade. Below the platform of the Sutra Repository is a large iron pot from the Ming Dynasty, used by the monks for cooking. The Standing in Snow Pavilion is where the Second Patriarch Huike stood in the snow to seek the Dharma from Bodhidharma by cutting off his arm. The shrine houses a bronze seated statue of Bodhidharma cast in the 10th year of Jiajing, and the plaque 'Snow Print Heart Pearl' above the shrine was personally inscribed by Emperor Qianlong. The Thousand Buddha Hall, also known as the Hall of Western Saints, has a plaque 'High Seal of the Dharma' inscribed by Emperor Qianlong. The walls feature the '500 Arhats and Vairocana Painting' from the Ming Dynasty, a treasure among the murals of Shaolin Temple. On the floor, there are 48 pits, said to be the footprints of martial monks during their training. The Guanyin Hall contains several murals, among which 'Thirteen Monks Save the Tang Emperor' is a precious piece of Shaolin Temple's mural art. The Pagoda Forest is the most important part of Shaolin Temple and the soul of the monastery, with 241 ancient pagodas representing different historical periods from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The most famous is the seven-story pagoda forest, also known as the 'Seven-Level Stupa', which is generally the burial pagoda of highly respected and venerable monks.