The Mystery of  Shaolin Temple in China  

Source: "Health Forum" Korean Monthly (June: pp 64 ~ 69; fact check year)

Writer: Kim Young-Jin (China scholar), Translated by KiTae Lee & Daniel Julian

    Shaolin temple is located in SoSilBong on SungSan Mountain, 87 kilometers southwest from JeongJu city in the Chinese province of Hanam Seong (河南省). Constructed around 495 AD, this temple is often thought to have been founded by Bodhidharma but actually was built for the Indian Buddhist monk BalTa SamJang (跋陀三藏) by HyoMun (孝文), the king of the BukWi (北魏: 386-535) Northern Mongolian dynasty in Northern China. Bodhidharma came to China later, in 527 AD. According to WiSeo (魏書, an historical writing of the Wi dynasty which unified Northern China), King HyoMun mourned the 494 AD death of JangSuWang (the emperor of GoGuRyeo) by wearing a special cloth showing respect (魏書 - 高祖 紀第七下: 帝爲高麗王璉 擧哀於城東行宮).

    At the end of the Su or Sui (隨) dynasty in China, 13 Shaolin Buddhist monks including JiJo (志操), HyeYang(惠陽) and HyeonJong (顯宗), rescued the prince of Jin or Qin -- Lee Se-Min or Li Shimin (李世民: 627 ~ 649 AD, the second emperor of the Dang or Tang (唐) dynasty in China and helped him conquer Wang Se-Jung or Wang Shichong, the king of Zheng.

1. Chinese Prime Minister “Mu Won-Hyeong” of the Dang dynasty was assassinated by Lee Jeong-Gi, ally of the Shaolin monks.

    When Lee Jeong-Gi (李正己: 732 ~781 AD) was a child, GoGuRyeo -- his nation in Northeast Asia including Manchuria as well as North of Korean peninsula-- was overrun by an allied army of the Dang dynasty in China and the Shilla Kingdom of the Korean peninsula. It is written that about 300,000 people from Korea were subjugated by the Dang dynasty in China and forced to settle far away from their homeland. Lee Jeong-Gi and his parents were among those relocated.  

    Lee established his own kingdom on the SanDong (山東) peninsula of China, where ancient Northern Mongolian as well as Korean kingdoms had existed for many centuries. He and his sons ruled 15 states of the Dang dynasty for 55 years. He monopolized the international trading routes of BaelHae, a Korean kingdom in Manchuria at that time, as well as those of the Shilla Kingdom on the Korean peninsula and others in Japan. He also governed the canal connected to the capital city of the Dang dynasty, which is now called Jangan (Seoan or Sian:西安). When the time came, Lee Jeong-Gi’s son, Lee Nap (李納), assumed the title of “emperor” and attacked Jangan to conquer the Dang dynasty with 100,000 soldiers.  

    In 814 AD, the Dang dynasty devised a plan to get rid of Lee Jeong-Gi’s family and their regime. It was led by the Prime Minister Mu Won-Hyeong, but Mu was assassinated by agents of Lee Jeong-Gi and ally of the Shaolin.  

    The assassination of Lee Jeong-Gi remains an unsolved mystery. Did Shaolin monks kill the Chinese prime minister for Lee Jeong-Gi, acting with non-Chinese assassins? If so, why? It is perhaps the most mysterious occurrence in the history of the Shaolin temple, because it is known that Shaolin monks frequently helped the Chinese government.  

    I (Kim Young-Jin, the writer) would imagine that MuSang, a Buddhist monk from the Shilla dynasty of the Korean peninsula, directed the actions of Chinese Zen Buddhist monks at that time; in that case, some of the Shaolin Buddhist monks would have wished to aid the Lee Jeong-Gi family in order to restore their countries, which had been disenfranchised by the Dang dynasty. Otherwise, why on Earth would Chinese Shaolin monks betray their nation to help Lee Jeong-Gi?

2. The Zen lineage & life of the Korean Buddhist monk MuSang

  Another interesting issue regarding the Shaolin is Zen lineage and the life of the Korean Buddhist monk MuSang. According to YeokDae BeopBoGi (歷代法寶記: a record of Zen lineage) which had been found in DonHwang or Dunhuang and has been preserved at the museum of the Great Britain, after Bodhidharma, the Zen lineage descended down to the fifth master, HongIhn without any problem. HongIhn’s students, however, started to break with each other, each claiming true lineage from their master. They included ShinSu, HyeNeung, JiSeon, etc.  

    ShinSu created BukSeonJong (North Zen) in Northern China, while HyeNeung established NamSeonJong (South Zen) in Southern China, and JiSeon and his student CheoJeok developed JeongJungPa (Central Zen) in the Southwest of China.  

    Each of these masters continued to insist that he held the official lineage, until CheukCheon MuHu (the female ruler at that time in Dang dynasty China) declared that JiSeon and his student CheoJeok represented the official lineage and presented them with an authenticating Buddhist surplice (special garment) as evidence.

  MuSang was the student of CheoJeok from JeongJungPa. In other words, JiSeon was 6^th, CheoJeok was 7^th, and MuSang was 8^th master in Zen lineage.

  But things didn’t go on so simply. HyeNeung’s student ShinHwoe (神會) of the South Zen school criticized North Zen and JeongJungPa, traveling throughout China and contesting the history of Zen lineage, proclaiming that the 6^th master was HyeNeung, he was 7^th, and his student MaJo (馬祖) was 8^th.

    Originally, ShinHwoe was a student of ShinSu from the school of North Zen but later, when he realized that he would not be able to adopt official lineage from his master ShinSu, he became a student of HyeNeung. MaJo was also a student of CheoJeok of the JeongJungPa School, but converted to South Zen when his eldest student, MuSang, assumed the JeongJungPa lineage. This issue has been explored in depth by the Chinese scholar HoJeok, who researches Zen lineage history.   

 The essential question is this: how could the Buddhist monk MuSang become DaeJongSa (大宗師: the great teacher)?

    It is said that MuSang was the third prince of the Shilla dynasty on the Korean peninsula. He later became a Buddhist monk in Korea and eventually aligned himself with the Dang dynasty in China in 728 AD. He met CheoJeok, a famous monk from SaCheon-Seong (四川省). MuSang immolated his index finger in humility and was therefore allowed to become CheoJeok’s student.  

    MuSang endured severe ascetic training on Mt. CheongSeong in SaCheon (四川). One day he met a starving tiger. Overwhelmed with pity, MuSang offered his body as sustenance for the noble creature. The tiger was deeply moved by his courage and benevolence and was thereafter his companion and protector.

    When word spread that MuSang was protected by a tiger, people decided to pool their money and build a temple in which he could teach. Before long, MuSang was in charge of the biggest temple in the state. He taught very famous Zen Buddhist monks like MuJu, Seok Shin-Hwoe, etc.

    According to writings found in DonHwang or Dunhuang, delegates from Central Asia came to China to acquire Buddhism. While transporting 1,000 books on Buddhism back to their land, these delegates met MuSang traveling with the tiger. MuSang foretold that the indigenous religions of Central Asia would hurt (or destroy) Buddhism and advised the delegation to wait for a later, better time to spread Buddhist teachings. When the delegates returned to their homeland, they found that MuSang’s prediction had been correct. Buddhism was under attack. Heeding MuSang’s words, they secreted their Buddhist library in the rock cave called Chimppuri. Later, they successfully retrieved and disseminated the materials.

    In the Shaolin temple of  SungSan Mountain, in the building called OhBaekNaHanDang (building of 500 rohans), there is a statue bearing the name MuSang GongJon (無相?尊). The OhBaekNaHan were Buddha’s students. They helped Buddhism flourish. Although all of them were initially Indian monks, when Buddhism spread to China, OhaekNaHanDang started to incorporate a very few Chinese Buddhist monks.

    I (Kim Young-Jin, the writer) would like to believe that MuSang must have had exceptional martial arts skills. One of his more remarkable students, named MuJu (無住: 714 ~ 774 AD), was considered a martial artist of excellence sufficient to be positioned as SeonBongGwan (先鋒官: Seon – top or prior, Bong – end of sword, Gwan – title) in the army.

    To conclude with one more significant statue found in the Shaolin temple of SungSan Mountain, consider JiJangJeon (地藏殿) of Kim Gyo-Gak from the Shilla dynasty. His likeness is found in almost all of the Buddhist temples in China. Taking Mt.GuHwaSan (九火山) in China for his hermitage, he gained great fame as a reincarnation of the Buddha of Hell -- called JiJang BoSal (地藏菩薩, ksitigarbha). Buddhist understanding includes a Hell of punishment for the wicked. JiJang BoSal wished not to transcend worldly existence and achieve Nirvana until this Hell had become totally empty.