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Shaolin Monastery

Shaolin Monastery
Shaolin Monastery 2006.JPG
Shaolin Monastery
Basic information
Location Dengfeng, Zhengzhou, Henan
Geographic coordinates 34°30′27″N 112°56′07″E / 34.50750°N 112.93528°E / 34.50750; 112.93528Coordinates: 34°30′27″N 112°56′07″E / 34.50750°N 112.93528°E / 34.50750; 112.93528
Affiliation Buddhism
Country China China
Website Official site
Shaolin Monastery
Shaolin si (Chinese characters).svg
"Shaolin Temple" in Chinese characters
Chinese 少林寺
Literal meaning "Temple of Shao[shi Mountain] Forest"

The Shaolin Monastery (Chinese: 少林寺; pinyin: Shàolín sì), also known as the Shaolin Temple, is a Chan ("Zen") Buddhist temple in Dengfeng County, Henan Province, China. Dating back 1,500 years when founded by Fang Lu-Hao, Shaolin Temple is the main temple of the Shaolin school of Buddhism to this day.

Shaolin Monastery and its Pagoda Forest were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 as part of the "Historic Monuments of Dengfeng".

The name refers to the forests of Shaoshi (少室; Shǎo Shì) mountain, one of the seven peaks of Song mountains. The first Shaolin Monastery abbot was Batuo (also called Fotuo or Buddhabhadra), a dhyāna master who came to China from India or from Greco-Buddhist Central Asia in 464 AD to spread Buddhist teachings.

According to the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (645 AD) by Daoxuan, Shaolin Monastery was built on the north side of Shaoshi, the central peak of Mount Song, one of the Sacred Mountains of China, by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty in 477 AD, to accommodate the India master beside the capital Luoyang city. Yang Xuanzhi, in the Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (547 AD), and Li Xian, in the Ming Yitongzhi (1461), concur with Daoxuan's location and attribution. The Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi (1843) specifies that this monastery, located in the province of Henan, was built in the 20th year of the Taihe era of the Northern Wei dynasty, that is, the monastery was built in 495 AD.


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