story on 9? monks residing in the temple...

[oasis]

i know there's enough info about the old school monks that returned to the temple after the cultural revolution took place (like Shi Su Xi, Shi Su Yun, Shi Dechen and Shi Xingzhen), but is there any more information (like a list) on the monks that were still in the temple during that period before it was repopulated? Some places mention 9 and others mention 10.

I was just wondering if there is any information on them today...

[GeneChing]

I've heard numbers ranging from 4 to 13. It's hard to determine because of the chaos of the CR, coupled with some revisionist issues when it was first reconstructed. Some monks returned after leaving. Only a few allegedly stayed, but no one is really sure who (or at least you get different versions). Some apparently lived in the mountain nearby - keep in mind that it would be fairly easy to stay hidden up there before there was any roads (the road to Shaolin wasn't built until after the Open Policy) you'd just have to be able to live off the land, and that wouldn't be too tough, except during winter.

[Royal Dragon]

So is the transmission of Shaolin Kung Fu actually unbroken through these monks? Or is it only partially preserved?

[GeneChing]

There were definately monks that stayed through and kept the teachings. There were also a lot of laymen disciples and folk masters that helped. No single human can contain all of the Shaolin arts, so it was a group effort of many.

[norther practitioner]

lot of laymen disciples


Would those include those guys who you had that piece on in the last Shaolin Special?

[oasis]

Originally posted by norther practitioner



Would those include those guys who you had that piece on in the last Shaolin Special?

yes, like this article:

"The Guardian at the Temple Gate"
Shaolin's "Top Ten" Grandmaster Liang Yiqian"

found in this issue
http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=144

he played an important role in transmitting a lot of traditional shaolin, as did others.

i'm still interested to know gene. do you by any chance have a brief list of some of the monks that are known to have remained in the temple during the period of discussion? just curious :)

[GeneChing]

Well, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Shi Suxi is invariably on the list. Shi Suyun is too, but when I did some research on him to write his obituary in Shaolin Special 2000 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=152), I found some stuff that said he in fact, returned to secular life from '52 to '82. They used to talk about the Four olds at Shaolin, a play on the notion of the Four olds of the Cult Rev. Suxi and Suyun were two of them, Wanheng was another and I can't remember the fourth off hand - I got to look that up (along with the list of thirteen - that I really have to look up since I can't even remember which book that was in). Now Wanheng was defrocked by Abbot Yongxin, and when that happened, all this dirt about Wanheng not ever being a monk came out, sort of a mudslinging campaign. Who knows? Certainly not me.

Anyway, that's a start for you. I'll look around for those lists when I get a free moment. If anyone else has input here, please jump in.