Xuětíng Fúyù (雪庭福裕), 1203–1275, was an abbot of the

Shaolin Monastery Shaolin Monastery (少林寺 ''Shàolínsì''), also known as Shaolin Temple, is a renowned monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin Kung Fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak of the So ...

of the

Caodong Caodong school () is a Chinese Chan Buddhist sect and one of the Five Houses of Chán. Etymology The key figure in the Caodong school was founder Dongshan Liangjie (807-869, 洞山良价 or Jpn. Tozan Ryokai). Some attribute the name "Cáodòng" ...

lineage. He is famous for inviting all of the martial artists in China to the Temple to discuss, practice, and fight, refining their technique into one Shaolin style. He held these symposiums three times, each for a period of three years. As the martial artists returned to their home towns, they brought back the Shaolin techniques with them. This is why so many Asian martial arts systems can trace their roots to the Shaolin Temple, and why the Temple is sometimes erroneously known as "The birthplace of martial arts". Fúyù also wrote a 70-character

generation poem Generation name (variously zibei or banci in Chinese; tự bối, ban thứ or tên thế hệ in Vietnamese; hangnyeolja in Korea) is one of the characters in a traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean given name, and is so called because each ...

that is used for generational naming at the Shaolin Temple. Each generation uses the next word in the poem. For example, the 29th abbot of the Shaolin Temple, Shi Xing Zheng, was of the 32nd generation, and Xing is the 32nd word in the poem.

References

Chan Buddhist monks Chinese Zen Buddhists 1203 births 1275 deaths {{China-reli-bio-stub

See also

References