History
Thanks Gene,
When can we expect that Issue to reach Australia?
Oral History, did somebody mention oral history?
Ok, just to confuse matters. My oral history has always been a bit different to everybodys else…
Suppose we go back to the period of the alleged destruction of the Southern Shaolin temple.
It that era, to shave ones head and to become a Monk was a new lease on life. Soldiers without armies or patrons would often take up the life of a monk. People from all walks of life became monks. Some for true spiritual enlightenment, some for a respite or an alternative to their current lot, some to hide.
Suffice to say, that not all monks were the same, some were much more spiritually motivated than others. Politics and military physical culture were commonplace.
As we know, there were many temples, across Southern China, some more grand, some less grand. Some more pious, some less pious, as with the monks that inhabited them, the temples took on various characters.
The Ming Dynasty had fallen, the Ching had moved in. Many Chinese nationalists believed China “occupied” by a foreign power. There was revolution in the air, and nationalism in the hearts of the people.
One stronghold of this nationalism and revolution was a Temple in the south, one often called the Shaolin temple, but the name is less important than the spirit. This was a stronghold of revolutionary fighters, dedicated enemies to the Ching. A temple less known for its religion than its politics, however clothed.
The armies of the Ching could not overwhelm the temple, whether it be for political or military reasons, one can only speculate. But there was a stalemate.
However, by using cunning and subterfuge, they managed to create a conflict amongst the temples that ended in the eventual destruction of this particular temple, and perhaps the political influence of this community of temples in the South.