Shaolin kung fu comes from the Shaolin Temple. That's where the name comes from too.
The Shaolin Temple is more than 1, 500 years old. It is in mount Song in Henan.
But why do we have Shaolin kung fu? Who made it?
How it began?
Many stories say that Bodhidharma (菩提达摩), an Indian(印度的)monk, went to the Shaolin Temple in the year 527. The monks there were not very strong. Bodhidharma said they studied too much, and they didn't exercise enough. He then taught kung fu to the Shaolin monks to make them stronger.
But some people say those stories aren't true. Some of the Shaolin monks knew some kung fu before they went to the Shaolin Temple. They taught their kung fu to other monks there. The monks all worked together to make their kung fu better. After many years, their kung fu became Shaolin kung fu.
Why is it famous?
Some Shaolin monks helped the Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin win a war. So Li made friends with the monks. He gave a lot of land to the temple. After that, the Shaolin Temple and Shaolin kung fu became famous all over China.
But not all emperors liked kung fu. Sometime during the Qing Dynasty, people could not study Shaolin kung fu. Many monks had to leave the temple. They went to different places and saw many new kinds of kung fu. They studied them and took them back to the Shaolin Temple. All of the new ideas changed Shaolin kung fu a lot.
Today, Shaolin kung fu is still the most famous kind of kung fu in China. People say," All kung fu comes from Shaolin, but Shaolin kung fu is the best."
Now, Shaolin monks want people to remember their kung fu. They are asking the United Nations to make aolin kung fu a "World Intangible Cultural heritage(世界非物质文化遗产)."
