A reading hypothesis to the martial narrative about the 1736’s “Shaolin monastery destruction”

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23925/1677-1222.2021vol21i3a10

Keywords:

Buddhism, Shaolin Monastery, Shaolin, Fighting Monks, Kung Fu, Shaolin Kung Fu

Abstract

Founded in 495 CE in Henan Province, Shaolin Buddhist Monastery is famous as one of the ch’an (zen) Buddhist birthplaces in China. More than that, is worldwide famous for its warrior monks, who inhabiting Chinese imagination since the 16th century and have connections with “Shaolin kung fu”, admired and practiced in many countries. The history and legends of these religious characters reached the western public just over 50 years ago, when “Kung fu Crazy” began – a media movement that inspired the practice of Chinese martial art on a global scale. In this article, we examine the destructions that Shaolin Monastery suffered along 1.500 years of history, more exactly in the Sui-Tang, Yuan-Ming, Ming-Qing transition periods and at the first Chinese republican era. Our mainly spot, however, lies in the historicity of a narrative present in Chinese and occidental Kung fu traditions: the “1736 destruction” of Shaolin monastery by Qing imperial troops. In looking for its roots, we note that they seem to point to both a historical episode and an important legend in the anti-Qing context of the 18th century.

Author Biographies

Rodrigo Wolff Apolloni, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG), Paraíba, em estágio de pós-doutoramento em História

Jornalista (UFPR), mestre em Ciência da Religião (PUC-SP), doutor em Sociologia (UFPR), atualmente desenvolvendo pesquisa de estágio em pós-doutoramento em História na UFCG, Paraíba.

José Otávio Aguiar, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG)

Author and co-author of books and articles, including a published biography of a Napoleonic official in Brazil, the Frenchman Guido Thomaz Marlière (1767-1836). Graduated in History from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (1999) and Ph.D. in History and Political Cultures from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (2003). He carried out Post-Doctoral research in the Post-Doctoral Program in History at the Federal University of Pernambuco between 2009 and 2010, studying the botanical work of the naturalist from Paraíba, Manuel Arruda da Câmara (1752-1811). He is currently a Full Professor, Associate 4, with Exclusive Dedication at the Federal University of Campina Grande / PB, where he teaches at the Undergraduate, as well as in the Postgraduate Programs in History (Masters) and Natural Resources (Interdisciplinary Masters and Doctorates).

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Published

2021-12-09

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 3 (2021): Religião e Arqueologia

Section

Intercâmbio

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