Shaolins destruction !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sean_stonehart]

Ah... thanks for the heads up Gene. I'll keep that in mind.

[GeneChing]

...that's the best hike on songshan. You'll find a pic of a big suspension bridge on your ticket if you buy one. POint and ask and they direct you. I found it by accident. I was looking for the dragon pools and missed big time. But it was one of the most fortuituous accidents ever.

[yearofdragon76]

sean i know of the way you took but when i was there (1997)you could hardly call them stairs..lol

[yearofdragon76]

when i walked up the cliif I took a rout through the pagoda forrest and then through a small village like section on the base of the mount...it was summer and extremely hot and as you went up there was of course peddlers selling water and drinks...then you walked to a point wherer there was supposedly stairs at one point but were crumbling and then it was basically scaling the mountain..it was funbut very excerting...we saw the cave then went to the statue and looked at the view from there...does the statue still stand?..I saw and new of the cable but the way I went was free...just a little hazardous long and physical..but fun.
I din't have the map we just walked dirt paths and ask the locals wich way to go till we started going up.

[Vapour]

http://www.russbo.com/start.shtml

"Just this week, Henan government officials drove through the streets of Shaolin village (outside of the Shaolin gate, near the Tagou school), with loudspeakers and informed the people and the shopowners that they had to leave by the next day.

The village has been emptied, and it is slated for destruction soon.

This is the final remnant of what used to be referred as the "Shaolin village". It is only a step in the long process of China's desire to get the Shaolin Temple onto the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

It may also be the final step in the process of fulfilling the Henan government's desire (and others), to make the Shaolin Temple Wushu Guan, the sole destination for foreigners who are wishing to train in Shaolin gong fu. All the Shaolin village schools have relocated either to Zengzhou or Dengfeng.

As I've been told, expect a "new Shaolin" by August, 2003. It's probably going to be all cleaned out by then.

More details as they become available."

[mantis108]

Frankly, I am confused. Is this fulfillment of Shaolin destiny or is it plain fabrication of Shaolin destiny? In another thousand years, people would have to wonder without responsible and reliable documentation. When would the Chinese government ever learn?
*SIGH*

Oh well... Wushu Disneyland is the inevitable reality.

Mantis108

[prana]

sh1t, I hope this governments crazy ideas doesnt anihilate the long awaited freedom of the Tibetan government in exile.

Before the occpation in 1940, the young Karmapa wrote a revelation of his rebirth, and saw Tibetans eventually moving to the north east of India. I guess they are there to stay ?

Hope China doesnt destroy the heritage of the Shaolin temple again, that would be 3 times the stupidity. The Tibetan people speak highly of the Shaolin temple and the Shaolin monks speaks highly of the Tibetan sutras. May they be free to practise their ways.

[ddh]

is continuing in it's grand tradition of being afraid of real martial arts development that it can't control. This is not new in China. Why do you think people have cultivated this art in families, villages and on a personal level. The art itself may continue to move into the pretty styling mode that has become the Olympic model and perhaps deeper development in the art will be put under more strict control. But I think you can count on individuals teaching individuals to continue. It's a time honored tradition in China to be wary of the government.

[WushuSpear]

Wow

Am I the only person who thinks this might be a good thing in the long term for the Temple? Removing the last remaining private schools and shops is just a continuation of a process that was started by the abbott some time ago.

I think it's been well documented his desire for the temple to return to it's buddist roots and reduce the influence of the private martials circles in things shaolin. The schools have mostly relocated to Dengfeng which isin't far using the bus.

The abbott has been recorded stating he wants the shaolin arts to focus more on their traditional aspects which has not always been the case. In the future, the wushu Guan looks like it will be the preferred site of foreign students training and the temple will have more control of what's being taught. Hopefully this will put an end to some southern contemporary forms being passed off as traditional shaolin. What remains to be seen is exactly how much influence and control he abbot has over the martial monks and how much they'll support him.

On the human rights issue I feel for the people displaced in this final relocation yet I think everyone knew it was coming. China has a long way to go in it's journey to human rights for everyone yet I think we in the outside should realise that this is the way it has always been done there. Hopefully things will get better in the near future.

I think we should wait and see what the abbot has in his grand plan for shaolin and who knows how history will remember him?

WushuSpear

[Kinjit]

Stumblefist, you don't really like countries outside the USA a whole lot do you?

[carly]

doesn't sound too spiritual and full of Buddha-like love to me, but rather very political and worldly.

[prana]

welcome to the root of all problems

Most religions are good, it's usually the followers....

whats the old saying " never trust someone in a suit ? "

[GeneChing]

... you haven't really been paying attention. We've been reporting on the relocation of Shaolin village since it's onset. This is phase 3 - the final phase - right on schedule.

I leave for Shaolin tomorrow. I'll let you all know more when I return.

[Guile]

Have a safe trip Gene!

[GeneChing]

With the war and SARS, it'll is certainly the most initmidating one I've undertaken. But Shaolin has invited me, so I can't really refuse.