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.