Development of
Shaolin Kung Fu (02)
...During
the Song dynasty the abbot of the Shaolin temple called Fu Ju,
invited experts from 18 schools to Shaolin for a kung fu exchange.
They remained there for three years, which resulted in the Shaolin
Boxing Manual, which described 280 routines.
During
the Jin and Yuan dynasties, monk Yuan descended the mountain and
traveled west. In Lanzhou and Luoyang he met the experts Bai Yu Feng and Li Sou, and returned with them to Shaolin for a further
exchange of kung fu skills. More than 70 routines of Shaolin kung
fu were created on the basis of the' Luohan Quan', which developed
futher into 173 routines. Meanwhile
Jue Yuan created the five animal immitating boxing styles; the
Dragon, the Tiger, the Leopard, the Crane, and the Snake, as well
as the art of attacking.
During
the Ming and Qing dynasties, the temple of Shaolin turned into a
sort of 'police' force in China. This lead to numerous folk
legends about heroism. At the same time the Qing government's ban
on kung fu caused many monks to leave the temple and roam the
country. They popularised the Shaolin kung fu all over China. When
those monks came back to the temple, thy brought back with them a
lot of new knowledge. By the end of the Qing dynasty there were
several hundred styles of Shaolin kung fu in use.
Some
of these styles have been lost over time, but a lot have survived.
They include the 'Xiao Hong Quan', 'Da Hong Quan', 'Tong Bei Quan',
Pao Quan, 'Luohan Quan', 'Xing Yi Quan' etc...
