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Shaolin during WWII

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  • Shaolin during WWII

    It was mentioned somewhere on this site that the Shaolin tried to fend off the Japanese during WWII but at great cost. I was wondering if anybody had a more detailed account of this.

  • #2
    Maybe not ww2...

    Im not sure it was WW2 that they helped defend the country. Around that time China was going through the Cultural Revolution, which put most of the country into peril. Mao ordered farmers to stop producing crops in order to produce mass arms. Many people died of malnourishment and starvation, and around this time was probably the hardest time for the monks at Shaolin Temple. Many of the 30th generation monks went through this such as Shi SuXi, Shi Hai Teng & Shi Su Yun. It was a tough period to be a Shaolin monk as they still trained hard, but with alot less nourishment from lack of food.

    From what I can remember, the Shaolin helped defend the country from Japanese pirates. Im guessing this was a few hundred years ago. But I couldnt give you a definate with out researching more. I just dont think it was ww2.

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    • #3
      The cultural revolution started in the 1950's, not the mid 1930's. I believe Mao was still in the process of "ascending to the throne" during the Japanese invasion.

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      • #4
        The Cultural Revolution was from 1967 to 1976. During WWII, China was undergoing a civil war of sorts, between Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalist army, and Mao's Communist rebellion, on top of dealing with the invading Japanese. So, it was a bit of a mess. You had China fighting amongst themselves, while running away from the Japanese. China really couldn't defend itself when these two factions were going after each other. Chiang eventually fled to present day Taiwan; Mao "ascended to the throne" I think in 49. An event which Truman got hurt by, as it was generally felt that "he lost China to Communism". (This was a factor towards our eventual involvement in the Vietnam war.) It was all a tumultuous time for the Chinese after that, between Mao's "Great Leap Forward", to, Mao's disastrous Cultural Revolution.

        I've got some Chinese history, somewhere in the site. You can find it in the java menu to the left.

        The temple was a mess from the 1928 fires on towards the late 70's. A good deal of it had been destroyed, with the exception of a few buildings in the back. Not exactly a good place to live. As far as I know, the monks did not get involved in repelling Japanese invaders; to do so would have been suicidal, considering the weapon disadvantages. And, I'm not sure the Japanese even spent that much time dealing with Henan province; a lot of their activity was on the coast and in the major cities.

        The monks did deal with Japanese pirates, hundreds of years ago, an event which is chronicled to some degree, in the museum part of the temple. The part that now is Yongxin's wushu auditorium.
        Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

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        • #5
          Isn't there the picture of themonk soldiers, on horseback, with rifles.
          "Arhat, I am your father..."
          -the Dark Lord Cod

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          • #6
            I think I saw that, somewhere in Uwe's Photo Library section. I'm not sure, but if they were a force, do you think that they were at all significant? There isn't a mention of WWII stuff in the temple's museum place for one as I can remember, and secondly, the temple was no where near its previous grandeur and strength during these yesrs.

            Nice signature Arhat.... Can't remember the history behind THAT now, lol.
            Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

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            • #7
              yup, Uwe had it in a gallery, it's also in one of the coffee table books, I think the one with the lineage and poem.

              It's a squad of men, on horseback, with rifles, and in the caption they are referred to as either soldier monks or monks. I found it remarkable for the rifles and the horses. Who knows, maybe it was a squad of soldiers who became disciples while being stationed there. I have no idea, it;s the only picture I ever saw like that and never heard it referenced.

              I have absolutely no idea as to the significance of any of it. I always found it to be a curious picture and have always meant to ask around about it.
              "Arhat, I am your father..."
              -the Dark Lord Cod

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              • #8
                "In the seventeenth year of the Republic (1928), Shi Yousan, one of the Warlords, set fire to Shaolin Temple, which lasted for over 40 days, burning some of the buildings and invaluable historic relics," abbot Yongxin.

                Only the front of the temple was damaged, unfortunately the library was one of the structures incinerated, valuable records and works of literature on Shaolin wushu such as Orthodox Shaolin Skills, Secrets of Shaolin Boxing, and The Essence of Shaolin Boxing were lost in the fire. Many of the monks decided it was time to leave. They scattered to the winds, some returning to the "world" as ordinary citizens, others to different temples, or simply to wander, though many considered this dangerous as the country was in turmoil no one knew what was going to happen on the political front. Of the over 1 000 monks that had populated the temple only 150 would remain at Songshan. They left the front of the temple in ruins, locked the main gates, stopped taking in newcomers, and lived quietly in the rear of the temple as they eeked out a survival with intrusions from the outside world.

                In 1931 the Japanese army seized control of Manchuria as a spearhead to the Sino-Japanese War prior to World War II. By 1941 Japanese invaders had taken over the temple again damaging what was left, & using it as a school. In 1948 Mao’s Communist rebels took control of the 13 000 acres belonging to the temple leaving them with only 5. The practice of wushu was also banned as being “counter-revolutionary,” and a threat to the state.

                Of 150 or so that remained at Songshan the world would intrude on them yet again during Chairman Mao's "Great Leap Forward" (Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976). The “Old World” was bad; this was to be a “New” China. Mao’s band of zealots, the Red Guard, left no stone unturned in their zeal to fret out enemies of the People: the rich & bourgeois, "religion is the opiate of the masses" according to Karl Marx, and religious practices were banned throughout China. When the Communist government came to power in 1949 they forbid the ordination of new monks. During the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards destroyed shrines, statues, burned books, & even brutalized monks. Of the Daoist and Buddhist temples that remained open the monks and nuns were thus harassed for 10 years. In Shanghai I was in a Catholic Church where all the windows had regular panes, all the stain glass had been smashed out during the Revolution; the Priest & nuns had been sent to work in the fields. The Church had been used as a tax office; other churches had been used as stables. In 1978 the 1949 policy was rescinded and religious freedoms eventually restored.

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                • #9
                  Of 150 or so that remained at Songshan the world would intrude on them yet again during Chairman Mao's "Great Leap Forward" (Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976)
                  The "Great Leap Forward", as I've mentioned, is not the Cultural Revolution. Two different things.

                  The Great Leap Forward started in 1957 or 1958; it was a move on Mao's part to increase steel production in China, to the point of competing with other countries, such as Great Britain. Mao formed collectives, which were a common thing in Soviet society, and had many people alter their productivity from agriculture to steel production, to the point where "backyard" steel furnaces were common. Interestingly enough, this whole process was centered in Henan province.

                  It ended up being called the "Great Leap Backward", as by 1960, famine overtook the country. Upwards of 20 million people died.

                  The Cultural Revolution, starting in 1967, was just another of his brilliant moves, this one kind of going in the opposite direction, whereby he forced academia and technology to abandon their practices, and moved them into the fields to increase agriculture. Religious persecution was common.

                  Overall, these were not good years to be a monk, or, anything other than "Mao", for that matter.
                  Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                  "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

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                  • #10
                    Thanks Doc, I actually didn’t know that. Ahh more damned history to read………

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                    • #11
                      Shaolin during World War II

                      Here is a litle tidbit on that one, but like doc said, there is not too much information available. I have some I will make eventually available , but I am currently involved in wrapping the Tiet Sit Kuen project.

                      Here we go:

                      During WWII monks fought in partisan detachments.

                      The most dizzy career was made by Xu Shiyou (monk's name Youniang). He entered a Communist party, became a Head of Guanzhou's military district and fellow-campaigner of Mao Jiedong.

                      Information about him can be found even in the book of Li Zhisui "The private life of Chairman Mao" (Random House, New York, 1994).


                      Uwe

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                      • #12
                        Yan Ming has told us a few stories of that guy- he was considered to be highly skilled, if it' the same monk...

                        About that picture, it is one monk on horseback, the rest lined up, with rifles, and the caption reads:

                        in 1926, then Abbot of the Shaolin Temple, secretary of the Songshan Temple Security Corps, gathered the monk soldiers to hold an oath taking ritual in front of the Temple's Mahavira Hall.
                        "Arhat, I am your father..."
                        -the Dark Lord Cod

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                        • #13
                          Arhat,

                          according to some of my old notes from Shi Wang Heng it is the same one.

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                          • #14
                            Here is the image you refered to:
                            Attached Files

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                            • #15
                              Well, I'm curious. If they're "monk soldiers", why are they wearing some sort of official looking uniform?? From pictures I've seen in the past, looks more like the Chiang's Nationalist army than Mao's rebels.

                              Sure the translation is correct? Sometimes meanings get miscontrued, especialliy when it comes to the older "tradtional" Chinese language.
                              Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                              "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

                              (more comments in my User Profile)
                              russbo.com


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