Shaolin Temple & Movie news!!

[T'ai Ji Monkey]

This is something from the local newspaper.



Beijing (AP) Kung Fu Movie makers be warned.

The warrior monks of China's famed Shaolin Temple now require permission for anyone wishing to film within their hallowed precincts, newspapers reported Thursday.
Movie and television crews must be supervised by officials from a local antiquities bureau and the increasingly finance-minded monks must agree to any commercial use of images, according to the Beijing Star Daily.

The rules, recently approved by the provincial assembly in central Henan Province, are part of a preservation campaign for the ancient temple, which is considered one of the birthplaces of Chinese kung fu.
The policy also aims to pass on the benefits of its economic exploitation to the monks.


Maybe someone got some additional info on this.

[GeneChing]

My understanding is that there were two problems with filming at Shaolin.

First was that some of the filmakers were making disreputable films that sullied the Shaolin image or misrepresented Shaolin. I heard an unverified rumor of a film crew trying to make a Class III there (HK adult film) but I don't beleive that since pornography is a very serious crime in PRC. Moreso, the problem has been from documentary crews misrepresenting Shaolin. Now I've been involved with two Shaolin documentaries and they tend to follow their own interests. Some documentaries have gone so far to show fake monks as real monks, even a fake abbot, so Shaolin sought to control this.

The other problem was destruction of relics to "get the shot". There was rumor of a crew spray painting one of the pagodas to get the proper lighting - again, I don't beleive that since I've shot pictures in the pagoda forest myself and never had lighting problems. But you know how Shaolin rumor is.

Additionally, I doubt that the monks will be benefitting from any fees directly. That makes a good story, but more likely the money is going to some provincial government officer. Shaolin has to work under the auspices of many bureaus.