Dengfeng, Henan, China
少林寺 · Shàolín Sì
A monastery in the forests of Mount Song, founded in 495 for an Indian monk, where the Chan school of Buddhism, Zen in Japan, traces its first patriarch, and where monks practised fighting for so long that "Shaolin" came to mean kung fu itself. Beyond its halls stands a forest of over two hundred stone pagodas, the graves of its abbots and teachers.
Photo: Yumeto, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
In 495 Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei (386–534), who had just moved his capital to Luoyang, built a monastery in the woods below Shaoshi peak for an Indian teacher named Batuo. Its name means "the forest of Shaoshi". A generation later, tradition says, another Indian monk, Bodhidharma, came here and sat facing the wall of a cave above the monastery for nine years. The Chan school, which spread to Japan as Zen, counts him as its first patriarch and Shaolin as its ancestral home.
The monks also fought. In 621 a band of them helped the young Li Shimin, the future Tang emperor Taizong, against a rival, and were rewarded with land; a stele in the monastery still records it. Over the following centuries Shaolin fighting, especially with the staff and later with bare hands, became famous across China. The monastery was burned by a warlord in 1928; in 1982 a film made here, starring the teenage Jet Li, brought crowds back, and in 2010 it was listed as a World Heritage Site with the other old buildings of Dengfeng.
One ticket of 80 yuan covers the monastery, the Pagoda Forest, Chuzu An, the cave of the Second Patriarch, Sanhuangzhai and the kung fu show. The shuttle cars and the cable cars cost extra.
| Part | Ticket |
|---|---|
| The monastery (Changzhuyuan) | In the 80-yuan ticket |
| The Pagoda Forest | In the 80-yuan ticket |
| Chuzu An and Bodhidharma's cave | In the 80-yuan ticket |
| Kung fu show at the Martial Arts Hall | In the 80-yuan ticket |
| Cable car to Sanhuangzhai | Extra ticket |
The last and largest hall of the monastery is the one to see. Look down: the brick floor is worn into a row of shallow pits, said to be the marks of monks stamping through their exercises over centuries. Look up: on the walls is a Ming-dynasty mural of five hundred arhats.
Then walk out of the back of the monastery and along the road to the Pagoda Forest, where over two hundred brick and stone pagodas, from the Tang dynasty (618–907) to today, mark the graves of Shaolin's monks. The taller the pagoda, the more respected the monk.
"Bodhidharma invented kung fu here." That story appears only in texts of the last few centuries; historians find no early record linking him to fighting. What is recorded is the monks' staff fighting, from the Ming (1368–1644) dynasty on.
"The show is put on by monks." The daily performance near the monastery is given mostly by students of the martial arts schools of Dengfeng.
We searched Chinese sources first for this list, then English ones.
The scenic area is large: allow most of a day, and use the shuttle cars between the entrance, the monastery and the far sights.
Two stone lions guard the gate; above it hangs the plaque written by the Kangxi Emperor.
The 1982 film "Shaolin Temple" was the first to be shot at the monastery, and its gate became the picture everyone knows. Stand in the square in front of it, with the plaque and the lions in the frame, strike the young monk's pose, and you have a film-still shot of your own.
Along the first courtyard stand steles of fifteen centuries. Look for the Tang stele recording the monks' help to Li Shimin.
Rebuilt after the fire of 1928, the main hall holds the Buddhas of the past, present and future.
The hall commemorates Huike, who is said to have stood all night in the snow outside Bodhidharma's cave and then cut off his own arm to prove his resolve.
The worn pits in the floor and the mural of five hundred arhats; the hall is the oldest large building of the monastery to survive the fire.
About 230 grave pagodas of seven dynasties, the largest group of its kind in China. Some carry carvings of the monk's life; a few modern ones even show a train or an airliner.
A short climb north-west of the monastery, a small hall built in 1125 in memory of Bodhidharma. It is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Henan, with carved stone pillars of the Song dynasty (960–1279). Above it is the cave where he is said to have meditated.
When the Kangxi Emperor wrote the plaque in 1704, British and Dutch forces were taking Gibraltar from Spain.
| Year | Here | Elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| 495 | Emperor Xiaowen founds Shaolin for the Indian monk Batuo | Clovis, king of the Franks, is baptised the next year (496) |
| 621 | Shaolin monks help Li Shimin and are given land | Muhammad leaves Mecca for Medina the next year (622) |
| 1704 | The Kangxi Emperor writes the plaque over the gate | British and Dutch forces take Gibraltar |
| 1928 | A warlord's troops burn much of the monastery | Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin |
| 2010 | Listed as a World Heritage Site with the monuments of Dengfeng | An Icelandic volcano grounds flights across Europe |
One line to remember: a monastery in a forest where Zen found its first home and monks practised fighting until the name itself meant kung fu.
These are stories people tell about this place. They are legends, not history, and each one says where it comes from.
Bodhidharma sat facing the rock wall of his cave for nine years, until, it is said, his shadow was printed on the stone. A "shadow stone" was kept in the monastery for centuries.
Source: Told in Chan histories from the Song dynasty on
Huike stood all night in the snow outside the cave; when Bodhidharma said he would teach him only when red snow fell, Huike cut off his arm.
Source: From the "Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp" (1004)
Later, people who live here will be able to add the stories they grew up with, and say which of these they have heard.
Last checked 2026-11-12. Ticket price and what it covers from 2025–2026 guides (Ctrip, Dahe Piao, Maigoo); online booking rule announced by the scenic area in July 2025.
Checked 2026-11-12
Opening hours are given in the local time of the place. Prices are in the local currency. The figure after ≈ is approximate, at exchange rates checked on 9 November 2026, in .
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