Shaolin Temple

Biodata

Power Progression

History

Recognition of Mo Wenjian

In 1801, the wandering monk Xingku heard rumors about Mo Wenjian and investigated his apparent connection to Buddhist reincarnation stories. After spending three hundred taels of gold and three days and nights of threats and enticements to sever the child’s worldly ties, he brought Mo Wenjian to Shaolin. The abbot and six hall heads unanimously recognized him as a reincarnated Buddha child 1.

Shaolin granted Mo Wenjian unrestricted access to its Scripture Repository. When he began cultivating the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic in 1803, the temple supplied daily medicinal baths, three medicinal meals a day, and personal instruction from Abbot Xingshan. His slow progress nevertheless attracted accusations that he was a fraud or that Shaolin had fabricated his identity to increase its religious standing 1.

Martial Reforms and Abbatial Succession

Mo Wenjian’s revelation of the Marrow Cleansing Classic renewed the monks’ confidence in him. Rather than keeping the art to himself, he offered to write it down for the entire temple. He then taught the eminent monks to adapt cultivation methods to their individual physiques instead of copying manuals rigidly 1 2 3.

Xingshan’s resulting breakthrough to Gang Force required him to retire as abbot. He instead became Mo Wenjian’s dedicated Dao protector. Although the six hall heads normally nominated the next abbot, they entrusted the choice to Mo Wenjian, who selected Xingku with their unanimous approval 3.

The Beile’s Provocation

The son of the Bordered Blue Banner’s lord arrived without the customary three-month notice and accused Shaolin of either being deceived by Mo Wenjian or deliberately deceiving the public. He threatened the temple with destruction, but Xingshan’s Gang Force pressure forced him to his knees. Mo Wenjian subsequently displayed Early Huajin strength before the accompanying generals, who knelt and hailed him as the Buddha’s son 5 6.

Thousand Buddha Hall Fire

As Mo Wenjian’s cultivation advanced, several eminent monks feared that his ascension would deprive Shaolin of further teachings. During their discussion of persuading him to remain, a fire broke out in the Thousand Buddha Hall complex. A fallen eternal lamp ignited stored lamp oil, and the flames spread faster than the temple’s firefighting preparations could contain 19.

The monks exhausted their water supply but hesitated to demolish sacred halls for a firebreak. Mo Wenjian extinguished the blaze by enveloping the complex in Qi and Blood released from his sarira. Xingshan interpreted the disaster as a warning against selfishly obstructing Mo Wenjian’s path and offered to accept lifelong imprisonment. Shanhui instead sentenced him to three years of reflection in Bodhidharma Cave 19 20.

Permanent Home and Mountain Closure

After briefly leaving the mountain, Mo Wenjian returned with Ye Fan and admitted him as a lay disciple. Ye Fan received permission to select three martial arts, on condition that he remain at Shaolin until reaching Dan Jin 23 24.

Mo Wenjian later chose to keep his main body in the National Martial Arts World, making Shaolin his permanent home. He recalled Xingshan from his punishment, urged the monks to become Buddhas themselves rather than merely seek divine assistance, and announced a hundred-year mountain closure. While Ye Fan contended with the Great Qing in the mortal world, Shaolin’s monks would cultivate under Mo Wenjian and begin studying stellar power 28 29.

Organization and Rules

• Abbot and six hall heads: The abbot is expected to be Shaolin’s foremost publicly known expert, while the hall heads rank among its ten strongest public representatives 3.
• Mandatory retirement: An abbot who reaches Gang Force must relinquish office 3.
• Succession: The six hall heads normally jointly nominate the next abbot; Mo Wenjian’s selection of Xingku departed from this procedure 3 19.
• Seniority: Generational standing determines precedence, including the order in which eminent monks receive Six-Revolution Golden Pills 16.
• Restricted teachings: The Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic is normally reserved for successive abbots. Privately transmitting Shaolin martial arts is forbidden 23 24.
• Lay disciples: The temple accepts disciples who do not become monks. The farmer who rescued Ye Fan had previously taken refuge there as a lay disciple 23.
• Discipline: Shaolin does not impose the death penalty. Monks guilty of grave crimes may instead be confined for life in the Demon-Subduing Pagoda 20.

Grounds and Facilities

• Fire precautions: Thirty-six locations hold water vats reserved for emergencies. Water must otherwise be fetched from the foot of Mount Song, making replenishment slow 19.

Martial Arts and Cultivation

Bodhidharma’s Legacy

Shaolin’s traditional martial arts combine physical cultivation with interpretations of Buddhist teachings 3.

• Seventy-Two Supreme Skills: Created by Patriarch Bodhidharma; different monks perceive different Buddhist True Intentions within them 3.
• Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic: A temple-guarding supreme art whose effectiveness is closely connected to the practitioner’s Buddhist understanding 1 2 3.
• Arhat Fist: An introductory art used by Mo Wenjian to illustrate how a seemingly basic technique can contain deeper Buddhist meaning 3.
• Vajra Prajna Palm: Shaolin’s foremost palm technique in raw power 8.
• Vajra Indestructible Divine Art: One of Shaolin’s Four Great Divine Arts; Xingshan uses it to manifest a sixty-foot wrathful vajra 8.
• Golden Bell Shield, Diamond Sutra, and Immovable Wisdom King Seal: Decai combines these arts to pressure Xingshan despite possessing weaker Qi and Blood 8.
• Precept-Breaking Saber Technique: One of the Seventy-Two Supreme Skills, selected by Ye Fan for his revenge 22 24.
• Eighteen Arhats Formation and One Hundred and Eight Demon-Subduing Formation: Later provide reference material for Mo Wenjian’s simulated research into a stellar formation 27.

Mo Wenjian’s Teachings

• Marrow Cleansing Classic: Improves cultivation aptitude; Mo Wenjian makes it available to the monks and lectures publicly on its practice 1 4.
• Individualized cultivation: Small adjustments based on physique can resolve incompatibilities that rigid adherence to a manual leaves unaddressed 2 3.
• Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Fists: Gives Decai a route to Gang Force suited to his body. Mo Wenjian asks him to record it for other Shaolin monks 7 8.
• Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha Fist Intent: Can be formed by combining the Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Fists with Shaolin’s Seventy-Two Supreme Skills 24.
• Star Seals: Introduce the eminent monks to absorbing stellar power during the mountain closure 29.

Six-Revolution Golden Pills

The pills enable six qualitative transformations of Qi and Blood and allow recipients to enter the Dao through martial arts 11 12.

• Xingzhi’s resulting lunar manifestation overwhelms Suhui’s Tathagata manifestation with an Arhat Fist move 11.
• Suhui and Decai subsequently receive pills and achieve the same form of advancement 13 16.
• Documented limitation in a simulation: Six-transformation monks cannot withstand violent solar power or fully circulate all five elements. They can use moonlight with a single element, greatly reducing the benefits of Mo Wenjian’s Longevity Instruction and Five Qi method 16.

Notable Members

• Patriarch Bodhidharma — Founder and creator of the Seventy-Two Supreme Skills 3.
• Mo Wenjian — Recognized Buddha’s son, teacher, and later permanent resident; his decisions carry exceptional religious authority 1 5 28.
• Master Xingku — Brings Mo Wenjian to Shaolin and later succeeds Xingshan as abbot 1 3.
• Master Xingshan — Former abbot and Mo Wenjian’s dedicated Dao protector; recalled from penitential seclusion before the mountain closure 3 28.
• Master Shanhui — Described during the fire’s aftermath as Shaolin’s most senior, experienced, and powerful divine monk; determines Xingshan’s punishment 20.
• Master Suhui — Senior Gang Force grandmaster and an early recipient of a Six-Revolution Golden Pill 4 13.
• Master Xingzhi — Former head of Bodhi Hall and Shaolin’s first monk to enter the Dao through martial arts 19.
• Masters Dehong, Decai, Deyuan, and Dezhi — The four divine monks known as Hong, Cai, Yuan, and Zhi. Dehong dies young; Decai initially remains at Dan Jin while Deyuan and Dezhi reach Gang Force 7 16.
• Ye Fan — Lay disciple permitted to learn the Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Fists, Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, and Precept-Breaking Saber Technique 23 24.
• Master Xingdian — Qing agent embedded in Shaolin, identified by Mo Wenjian as Ye Fan’s destined archenemy 28.

Simulated Futures

The simulator depicts several possible futures for Shaolin; these are distinct from events already enacted in the main timeline.

Wuxia Great Ming Counterpart

A separate Shaolin Temple appears in the Wuxia Great Ming World explored through Mo Wenjian’s counterpart 43.

• Its abbot’s Vajra Indestructible Divine Art provides an exceptional defense during a simulated display of the major sects’ martial arts 43.
• The abbot grants Mo Wenjian unrestricted access to the Seventy-Two Supreme Skills in exchange for a sword carving 43.
• Mo Wenjian inscribes “ancestral home of the Chan school, Shaolin of Mount Song” on a cliff near Bodhidharma Cave using Chaos Sword Gang 43.
• Observing the carving gives disciples Buddhist insights that greatly accelerate their cultivation of the Seventy-Two Supreme Skills without the hidden danger of Qi Deviation 43.

Notable Quotes

“Cultivating Buddhism is not about gaining, but about letting go!”
— Master Shanhui, following the Thousand Buddha Hall fire 20

“You worship the Buddha in order to become Buddhas yourselves.”
— Mo Wenjian, addressing Shaolin’s eminent monks 28

“Spirit Mountain’s Thunderclap Temple, Mount Song’s Shaolin Temple!”
— Mo Wenjian’s aspiration for Shaolin’s future standing 28