Shaolin kung fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is one of the oldest, largest, and most famous styles of wushu, or kung fu of Chan Buddhism. It combines Chan philosophy and martial arts. It was developed in the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, Greater China during its 1500-year history. Popular sayings in Chinese folklore related to this practice include "All martial arts under heaven originated from Shaolin" and "Shaolin kung fu is the best under heaven," indicating the influence of Shaolin kung fu among martial arts. The name Shaolin is also used as a brand for the so-called external styles of kung fu. Many styles in southern and northern China use the name Shaolin.
History
Chinese martial arts before Shaolin
Chinese historical records, like Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, the Bibliographies in the Book of the Han Dynasty, the Records of the Grand Historian, and other sources document the existence of martial arts in China for thousands of years. For example, the Chinese martial art of wrestling, Shuai Jiao, predates the establishment of Shaolin temple by several centuries. Since Chinese monasteries were large landed estates, sources of considerable regular income, monks required protection. Historical discoveries indicate that, even before the establishment of Shaolin temple, monks had arms and also practiced martial arts. In 1784 the Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin. This is, however, a misconception, but shows the historical importance of Shaolin kung fu.
Southern and Northern dynasties (420–589 AD)
Shaolin temple established
In 495 AD, Shaolin temple was built among the Song mountains in Henan province. The first monk who preached Buddhism there was the Indian monk named Buddhabhadra (), simply called Batuo () by the Chinese. There are historical records that Batuo's first Chinese disciples, Huiguang () and Sengchou (), both had exceptional martial skills. For example, Sengchou's skill with the tin staff and empty-hand strikes is even documented in the Chinese Buddhist canon. After Buddhabadra, the monk Bodhidharma (), described as either Central Asian or South Asian (Indian) and simply called Damo () by the Chinese, came to Shaolin in 527 AD. His Chinese disciple, Huike (), was also a highly trained martial arts expert. There are hints that these first three Chinese Shaolin monks, Huiguang, Sengchou, and Huike, may have been military men before entering the monastic life.
Bodhidharma's influence
Bodhidharma is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. In Japan, he is known as Daruma.
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 Buddihsm, 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 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 via "a chain of Buddhist saints and martial heroes." The work itself is full of anachronistic mistakes and even includes a popular character from Chinese fiction, the 'Qiuran Ke' ('Bushy Bearded Hero') (), as a lineage master. Scholar-officials 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." 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:
Sui and Tang dynasties (581–907 AD): Shaolin soldier monks
During the short period of the Sui dynasty (581–618), the building blocks of Shaolin kung fu took an official form, and Shaolin monks began to create fighting systems of their own. The 18 methods of Luohan with a strong Buddhist flavour were practiced by Shaolin monks since this time, which was later used to create more advanced Shaolin martial arts. Shaolin monks had developed very powerful martial skills, and this showed itself towards the end of the Sui dynasty.