Teng Ge’er (腾格尔) is another rare soul who can sing like no other. He is from Ikezhaomeng, Inner Mongolia, China and graduated from Tianjin Conservatory of Music in 1985. Following is “Father’s Meadow Mother’s River (父亲的草原母亲的河)” which he performed during the 2004 Spring Festival on CCTV. If you’d like to take a break from life, I recommend locking yourself in a room, play this or any of Teng Ge’er’s songs, and crank up the volume; let your soul rejuvenate.
When one is asked to name ten unique things about China, there is a good chance Shaolin kungfu would be on that list. Most people probably came to know of Shaolin kungfu through Bruce Lee and Hollywood. For people inside China, Jet Li visualized for them in the popular 1981 film, Shaolin Temple (少林寺).
The Shaolin Temple was founded in 495AD – more than 1,500 years ago – by an Indian Buddhist monk, Buddhabhadra, on permission by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty at Song Shan mountain in Henan province. Bodhidharma, another monk from India, came few decades later and established the Chan branch of Buddhism. Over the 1,500 years, the practice at Shaolin is really an amalgamation of Taoism and Buddhism philosophies. This branch spread later to Japan and is more widely known as Zen Budhism.
The origin of Shaolin kungfu is attributed to Buddhabhadra’s disciples, Sengchou and Huiguang, who were already martial artists in the military before becoming monks. Bodhidharma later brought additional martial art sutras (or teachings) which is slowly refined into what is now uniquely Shaolin kungfu.
Shaolin Kungfu
(Left: Shaolin Temple monks practice Shaolin Kungfu in Quanzhou City, South China’s Fujian Province on April 9, 2009. Xinhuanet.com)
There were a number of Shaolin Temples built in China. The original and more famous one is in Song Shan.
Some wondered how much of the Shaolin monk’s prowess is real. Throughout Chinese history, Shaolin monks have engaged in real fights. Records showed they fought for Li Shimin during the Tang Dynasty, around 620AD. Following is a playful Shaolin kungfu master, Shi De Jian, demonstrating some of his skills:
Of further interest: National Geographics photographer, Justin Guariglia in 2007 produced a book with the Aperture Foundation (founded in 1952 by Ansel Adams) entitled, “Shaolin: Temple of Zen” .
An Amazon editorial review said:
Justin Guariglia provides a first–a perceptive look at the real monks of Shaolin Temple, their most inner sanctums, their devotional practice, and their traditional disciplines. He captures portraits of these venerated, compassionate warriors, who have survived the Cultural Revolution and ravenous tourists of modern China, and who stand guard at the very birthplace of the martial arts and Zen. –Gene Ching, Kung Fu Magazine
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