---
node: shaolin_monastery
type: organization
slug: shaolin_monastery
title: "Shaolin Monastery"
lead: "Shaolin Monastery (495–present) is a Buddhist monastery on Mount Song in Henan, famed as the traditional cradle of Chan (Zen) Buddhism and for its warrior monks."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
---

## What it was

It was founded in 495 by Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei for the Indian monk Batuo (Buddhabhadra). Tradition — and it is a traditional account — holds that the Indian monk Bodhidharma practiced there in the early 6th century, linking the temple to the origins of Chan.

## Role

Its warrior monks were famous from the early Tang, when they aided Li Shimin against Wang Shichong in 621 — the basis of the "thirteen staff monks" legend, commemorated on a Tang stele at the temple.

## Fate

Repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, it was most recently burned by a warlord army in 1928 and restored after 1980. In 2010 it was inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage historic monuments of Dengfeng; today it is a global symbol of Chan Buddhism and Shaolin kung fu.