108 Movements and Shaolin Monastery Morning Bell Chimes

[pseudoswitch]

Hi Everyone,

I visited the British Museum in London yesterday, where they have on display 3 bells which apparently were taken from Qi Yuan temple in China. These bells were said to toll every morning at sunrise, with 108 chimes. The 108 Chimes caught my attention, as within most WC forms, the effective movements add up to 108.

I was wondering if maybe their is a connection with this and the 108 dummy hall? Maybe the dummy movements were performed each morning in unison with each bell chime? What are everyone's thoughts on this and the mystical 108 number? :)

Regards,

pseudo

[Geezer]

pseudoswitch Wrote>

I visited the British Museum in London yesterday

Which Museum was it??, I'm curious if there's anything online about it??

Sheldon;)

[yuanfen]

I have an article in Inside Kung Fu way back around 1990
explaining the significance of 108 in India, China, Tibet, martial arts,
meditation, other arts. Part of the trasmission of the lamp to Chan. Its there in the Lankavatara Sutra. A principle of harmony
and completion of a cycle. It blends theory of numbers(0,1,2,3),
ancient astronomy- the cycles of eclipses. It is there in ordering information in many martial arts- wing chun, taiji-both Chen and Yang, prayer cycles (beads)- its embedded in Mahayana and Chan culture.It is pre Buddhist in origin in India and is present in organization of dances (Bharat Natyam), prayers, calendars and many other things.

[pseudoswitch]

Geezer > The British Museum is near Russell Square in Bloomsbury, the website address is:

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/

There is a section on the asian antiquities galleries, but the monastery bells are not featured on the site as far as i can see. Still if you are in London one day i definatley recommend you to visit the museum, all the galleries are fantastic.

Yuanfen > Thanks for the info. Is your article available online anywhere? It's certainly an interesting topic.

Can anyone shed some light on whether the 108 movements were performed in unison with each bell chime?

Cheers,

pseudo

[yuanfen]

pseudo- my website person is way behind in updating my site at
<www.azwingchun.com>, otherwise that article (108 steps- the Sino-Indian connection in the martial arts) and several others would have been up there by now.

The dummy hasnt always had 108 motions. Ip man trimmed it to
108 one time. Then there were 8 kicking motions section in addition as well. Much depends on what you count as a motion.
Again, it's all in the details. In both Indian and Chinese culture including arts there is a preoccupation with organizing things by numbers as checks on sequences and organization for transmission of knowledge. There are other constituent numbers
also involved in organization 3(sam pai fat) 4, 9, 18(18 hands of lohan). Other numbers were shared by Taoists and Budhhists-
5 elements, 8 paths, bagua- but 108 is primarily buddhist.
All this is not just limited to wing chun. Chen taiji- first form has 108 motions... and understandably because of its origins Yang old-long form has 108 motions. There is a buddhist temple in japan that has 108 bells. Tibet has 108 turns for some prayer wheels.

By the way at the british museum did you ever see Jeremy Bentham's(end of 18th and early 19 th century philo) preserved body? the head fell off some decades ago.

BTW Congrats to the Aussies for beating the Indians in the bRit game of cricket for the World cup. get you next time.
(sorry again for key board problems)

[pseudoswitch]

Thanks Yuanfen :) I'll check out your website periodically. I didn't know that Chen and Yang Tai Chi had the 108 movements too. It seems i have my reading cut out for me :)

Regarding Jeremy Bentham, yes i have seen his body but it's now on display in the porticio at University College London, here's a pic:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/images/auto_il.gif

I guess that is a replica head! He wouldn't be looking too pretty if they had his real head on display :) A high ranking freemason apparently. Him and old George Bush senior :D

Regards,

pseudo

[Geezer]

pseudoswitch Wrote>

Still if you are in London one day

Last time I was in London was in Nov 2001 when me and the then girlfriend paid a visit.

I'm originally from Isleworth, West Middlesex and before I moved out here in 96, I was knocking around in Ladbroke Grove.

I've never actually been to that Musuem, I thought it would be near the Natuaral History or Victoria and Albert, guess not.??

Sheldon;)

[yuanfen]

Thanks much pseudo for the pic of the body of Jeremy Bentham.

[Grendel]

Originally posted by yuanfen
Thanks much pseudo for the pic of the body of Jeremy Bentham.
Nice hat. :p