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Thread: Shaolin's Buddhist College

  1. #1
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    Shaolin's Buddhist College

    Meet you all at Donglin in a decade...

    Martial arts center to build a Buddhist college
    By Lydia Chen 2008-1-4

    SHAOLIN Temple, the birthplace of Chinese martial arts, plans to spend 300 million yuan (US$41.1 million) on a new temple which will become home to the nation's biggest Buddhist college.

    The new temple, on the site of the Donglin Temple in Xingyang County, Henan Province, will cover 107 hectares and is expected to take 10 years to build, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

    Donglin used to be a temple for royal families in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

    Most buildings in the temple have been destroyed in wars since it was built almost 1,800 years ago.

    The new temple will include China's biggest Buddhist college and will offer courses in literature, philosophy, logic, English and computing, as well as traditional Chinese culture such as calligraphy and Chinese medicine, the report cited Shi Yanruo, supervisor of Shaolin Temple, as saying.

    Most of the teachers will be monks, and the courses will be taught in three schools of Buddhism tailored for students from China's mainland and southeastern Asian countries such as Thailand and Myanmar, the report said.

    Besides preparatory classes and bachelor classes, the college will also set up postgraduate classes, but these will be exclusive to monks, the report added.

    Meanwhile, Shi Yongxin, abbot of Shaolin Temple in Henan's Dengfeng City, has ruled out the possibility of the temple making an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange soon.

    Such a move may "compromise the ancient temple's reputation," the Xinhua new agency reported.

    The Dengfeng government established the Songshan Shaolin Tourism Group in August to integrate local tourism destinations including the Shaolin Temple and said the company may launch an IPO on the Chinese mainland or in Hong Kong.

    The 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple reported that it made more than 100 million yuan in ticket revenue alone in 2006.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #2
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    I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to learn buddhism in a communist country. I can't help but think that they (the prc curriculum coordinators) will skew it until it is not recognizable as or for what it is. The redactions will be plentiful and will mold buddhism into something that modularly fits into the political agendas of the PRC.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to learn buddhism in a communist country. I can't help but think that they (the prc curriculum coordinators) will skew it until it is not recognizable as or for what it is. The redactions will be plentiful and will mold buddhism into something that modularly fits into the political agendas of the PRC.

    One can call it Mc Disney Buddhist Studyland! Build it and as long as you can make money from it, it is great!

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to learn buddhism in a communist country.
    while i understand what you're saying, the dharma will be found wherever people have patience and determination.

    anyone living in china may have access to the dharma even if much of the buddhist instruction is manipulated.

    and even in a country where there is a law for tibetan buddhist monks to have official permission to seek rebirth, so that the government can control who will be the next dalai lama. lol

    ....... by the way, 100 million yuan in ticket revenue alone in 2006? that makes 300 million a bit more approachable.

    they didnt get my money last time i went to the temple though. you should've seen the salty look on the guards faces.

  5. #5
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    Degree in Chinese Kung Fu at Henan University

    Shaolin Temple works with university to enroll overseas students for Kung Fu major
    Source: Global Times Published: 2020/12/28 18:07:20


    Performers stage a martial arts performance at Shaolin Temple scenic area on the Mount Songshan, Central China's Henan Province, July 13, 2019. (Photo: Xinhua)

    Shaolin Temple in Central China's Henan Province and Henan University on Monday reached an agreement to jointly open a new major on Chinese Kung Fu, with a focus on overseas students, but the cooperation brought controversy on social media.

    The major will recruit martial arts lovers from around the world and be delivered in Chinese. The course work will be delivered to degree (bachelor's degree, master's degree and PhD) and non-degree students, Henan University announced Sunday.

    So far, what qualifications an applicant needs to be admitted, what courses will be taught, how students' performances will be evaluated, and what students will be required to achieve to graduate, have not been announced.

    The news has sparked heated discussions online, with many saying that the Wushu major would be useless and impractical in modern times; even a waste of valuable educational resources.

    "Why not use educational resources on academic researches or technological innovations," a Chinese netizen commented.

    "Does a PhD student have to deliver PhD-level academic research? If it's just martial arts, it's really just a gimmick," wrote another netizen.

    Some also expressed worry about setting up the major, suggesting it was a publicity stunt and for economic profits, after Ma Baoguo, a self-proclaimed "Supermind" Taichi master, was criticized for destroying a traditional culture and promoting "deformed values" for his indecent use of the martial arts.

    Ma was knocked out within 30 seconds when he challenged a 50-year-old kickboxing coach to a fight in East China's Shandong Province in May, but later earned notoriety for his infamous video speech in which he refused to admit defeat, despite sporting a swollen black eye. His short videos on multiple social networking platforms soon saw endless memes and mocking of Ma.

    But many still expressed their support, believing that the new major could help spread traditional Chinese culture to people overseas. Referring to karate and taekwondo, some hoped Chinese Kung Fu could be promoted to more overseas audiences, with sound and strict rating criteria issued to those with different levels of competency.

    "We need to set up our own brand of traditional Chinese martial arts, a complete set of certification and grading systems, as well as a cultural affinity to attract more to understand Chinese culture," a netizen commented.

    "It's a good thing to have a scientifically systematic discipline that specializes in the transmission of martial arts, which cannot be done without scientific theory. I just hope that China's real martial arts and the spirits of martial arts will be carried on," one said.

    Famed for its long history and excellence in Kung Fu, Shaolin Temple attracts many Kung Fu admirers from all around the world every year.

    The Wushu College of Henan University, which was officially established in November 2019, reached an agreement with the temple to train talents for the global transmission of martial arts, reports said.

    Starting in 2020, the college selects 30 outstanding students every year from its freshmen. Following systematic training, those who are qualified will be sent to the overseas cultural center of Shaolin Temple as coaches after graduation, in a bid to foster the spread of Shaolin Kung Fu to the world.
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    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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