Sep 21, UIC – Shaolin Temple, a Zen Buddhism temple, was a legend of invincible in Chinese Kung Fu for hundreds of years. Zen, a philosophy to pursuit peace in mind by meditation, and Kung Fu, a martial art to pursuit physical power, harmoniously integrate at Shaolin, making it one of the most important religious and cultural spot in the country. The stories of Bodhidharma, the Emperors’ oblation, and the fascinated description in Chinese martial art fictions cover the centuries-old temple with a mysterious veil.
More than 200 UIC students had a chance to peer into the mystery today. Master Deyang, a great figure in contemporary Shaolin Kung Fu with a deep insight in the Zen practice, an active preacher of Zen and Kung Fu culture in China and abroad, was at UIC to give a lecture on Zen and Kung Fu, as one part of the series lectures “Chinese Kung Fu and Culture”. Prof. Gong Pengcheng, famous Taiwan scholar, MC of the lecture, said that students nowadays were quite familiar with Shaolin Temple, but may not understand the cultural meaning behind. He hoped the lecture could help students leant to understand the profound cultural and aesthetic connotation of Chinese martial art.
Master Deyang is giving the lecture
In the lecture, Master Deyang talked about the history of the Shaolin Temple and explained the relation between Zen and Kung Fu. He also performed the Shaolin Dahung Fist and taught the students a way to keep healthy. The students were very interested in his humorous speech. They enjoyed a very interesting dialogue together about the Shaolin Temple.
Student: Could you tell us your daily timetable at Shaolin? When do you practice Kung Fu?
Deyang: No, I can’t. If the secret is out, everyone can practice Shaolin Kung Fu (laugh). Actually we get up at 4:00 in the morning for the matins, and then have breakfast at 6:00. We are free then until 8:00 when we start our daily duty. Some of us will patrols around the temple, and some will guard the temple halls. Just like you study for knowledge, we must practice a lot by ourselves to master the skills.
Student: People now talk a lot about the commercialization of the Shaolin Temple. They call Master Shiyongxin the CEO of Buddhists. It was said that he drove a BMW, had a laptop computer, and even had a secretary to work for him. Is that true?
Deyang: It’s true. Why can’t he do that? We have a BMW at Shaolin. It was a tourism awards granted to Shaolin by the Government. There are also more than one secretaries working for the temple. These are all for our work. The Master was called CEO by the media and other people in the society. You should know that besides living in the temples to carry on the strict practice, Buddhists have to communicate with the rest of the society to impart the Buddhism philosophy. The Buddha himself often visited the Maharajas and aristocrats in his time. He can be called the first CEO of the Buddhists.
Shaolin Temple must follow the development of our time. In 1996, we set up the Shaolin Temple website. In 1997, Shaolin Temple has its own computer lab. All the young monks at the temple know how to use the computers now.
Student: It is said that when the great Buddhist masters cremated, their relics can be found in the ashes, is that true?
Deyang: It’s true. But whether relics can be found after the cremation is not the only standard to judge whether a Buddhist is great. We should judge him by his influence both among Buddhists and among the public, to see if he was recognized by the society.
Dahung Fist Performance
Cheryl Chen/ Christy Zhao
Communication and Public Relations
