Here I will talk about the real shaolin monks and shaolin kung fu.( As a Chinese, I think I can understand the shaolin temple and shaolin kung fu better. 🙂 ) The shaolin temple is now very famous all over the world. A lot of people believe that all the Chinese kung fu come from the shaolin kung fu, which makes the shaolin kung fu so famous. Another important reason is that there are lots of kung fu novels in China.(the most notable kung fu novel writer is Jingyong from Hongkong ) These fiction novels exaggerate the kung fu and make kung fu some kind of magic in them. All these Chinese kung fu novels talked a lot about the magic shaolin temple. This is what makes the shaolin temple more and more famous in China.
Shaolin temple has some mysterious medicines. One is called “Huanhuntang”. The meaning is resurrection and many people believe that this magic medicine can give the dead peole a new life. Actually this “Huanhuntang” is just some kind of Chinese medicin and it is used to heal the heat stroke in the shaolin temple. Lots of Chinese medicines have the same ingredients too. Another shaolin medicine is called “Dalijinggangwan”,which means “give the people unlimited strength”. This mysterious medicine is also one kind of Chinese medicine and it is used to deal with bruises, elbow and Wrist sprains, etc.
Another interesting thing I found is that most shaolin monks have cell phones. Some shaolin monks use the IM(instant message) software, like: ICQ, MSN. 🙂 The average salary for the shaolin monk is about 200 rmb / month. The junior shaolin monks learn Chinese,English,Buddhism and Computer skills everyday. They also learn shaolin kung fu for sure.
Shiyongxin, the Fangzhang(like the CEO of a company) of shaolin temple, has received his MBA degree recently. He is the youngest Fangzhang of the shaolin temple. I get the feeling that he is acting like a real CEO of shaolin temple now. He travels all over the world to introduce the shaolin temple and shaolin kung fu. A lot of western medias have interviewed him and he is planning a shaolin kung fu show in Las vegas now. In 1981, the shaolin temple has only 12 monks and the total number of tourists visited here is only 70 thousand. In the year of 2008, the shaolin monks have traveled to more than 60 countries and the admission fees for the shaolin temple is about 60 million rmb. The new “CEO” is really running the shaoling temple as a commercial company now. He is also planning to set up new temples all over the world. Because of this, many Chinese people have criticized him and they are worrying about that he might turn the shaolin temple into a “Chinese Mcdonald’s” in the future.