 The
White Robe Hall to the east of The '1000 Buddha Hall', with
its overhanging gable roofs, was built in the Qing Dynasty.
There are murals inside the hall showing pugilistic
developments of Shaolin Boxing, for which it is also known as
Quan Pu Dian (Pugilist Hall). Scenes of monks in their martial
arts practice are presented on the north and south walls of
the hall. |
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 A
bronze statue of White Robe Bodhisvattva stands in the shrine
inside the hall. |
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 On
the north wall there are 16 groups of monks fighting
barehanded. In one group a well trained boxer monk (known as
Zhan Ju legendarily) is sparring with three other monks, one
of whom has been struck down on the ground, while the other
can do nothing but parry his constantly blows. These drawings
are a vivid representation of Shaolin Boxing of ancient times.
In addition, the bell tower, drum tower, the main hall and its
wing houses in the mural are all primarily in conformity with
the construction plots of present day Shaolin temple and its
ruins. Only the painters have rendered each of the buildings
in the style of pavilions by means of perspective, in order to
bring the temple into sight. |
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 The mural anno 2001: compare the state it is in with the B/W picture, which was taken about 85 years ago. (click on pic for large version) |
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Detail. |
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 On
the opposite wall, scenes of armed martial practice are
painted in 15 groups. The weapons include cudgels, spears,
daggers, swords, halberds, bladed double rings etc. |
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 The mural anno 2001: compare the
state it is in with the B/W picture, which was taken about 85
years ago. (click on pic for large version) |
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Detail |
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The northern part tells the story of Shaolin monks Zhi Cao, Tan Zong and eleven others rescuing Prince Li Shimin in the early Tang Dynasty; the southern part is the scene in which a stoker of the temple made his powerful presence felt and scared the uprising peasants away. These two pictures give show the clear political inclination of the Shaolin monks in ancient time. |
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| In the east part of the south and north end walls are respectively painted the images of Wenshu (Bodhisvattva Manjusri) and Puxian (Bodhisvattva Samantabhadra). The workmanship, little short of gongbi (traditional Chinese realistic painting characterized by fine brushwork and close attention to details), is much more exquisite than the first four pictures. | ||
 Besides,
on the left and right sides of the shrine two Arhats
respectively subduing dragons and taming tigers were drawn,
which are also more suburb in skill compared with the former
four drawings.These murals provide valuable references for studying Shaolin martial arts, the layout of the temple before it was burned down and the legendary stories in the history of the temple. (click on pic for large version) |
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 'Guanyin
Hall, also named White Robe Hall, was built in the late Qing
Dynasty. Inside the hall a wooden statue of the 'White-Robed
Bodhisvattva' is inshrined. On the north & south walls of
the hall are painted scenes of Shaolin monks in their martial
arts practice. In the east part of the north and south walls
are painted the images of Bodhisvattva Wenshu riding a green
Lion and Bodhisvattva Puxian riding a white elephant. On the
south & north sides of the shrine are painted two eminent
Arhats, one subduing a dragon while the other taming a tiger.
On the north part of the back wall is painted a mural showing
how Emperor Lishimin of the Tang Dynasty was rescued by
thirteen Shaolin monks. On the south part of the back wall is
painted a mural showing how Bodhisvattva Kimnara scared away
the insurgent troops.' |
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| Next is: Wenshu Dian; Manjusri Hall |
