Editing Shaolin Monastery (section)

==Architectural complex of Shaolin Temple==
{{More citations needed|section|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Shaolin Temple.jpg|thumb|Bell tower at Shaolin Temple grounds]]
[[File:Shaolin temple layout plan.png|thumb|Layout of the Shaolin temple grounds]]
===Protection of the site===
The original Shaolin Temple was burned to the ground in 1928 by [[Shi Yousan]], a renegade nationalist warlord.<ref>{{harvnb|Khabarovsk|loc=Shaolin Temple}}</ref> The monks were either killed or deported. The ground lay more or less abandoned, and under [[Mao Zedong]]'s [[Cultural Revolution]], it suffered additional damage. However, in 1982, six years after Mao's death in 1976, the Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the People's Republic of China was passed.<ref>{{harvnb|Su|2015|p=1}}</ref>

The [[Mount Song|Songshan Scenic Area]], established that year, came to include the Shaolin Temple Scenic Spot. "Scenic areas" were created by the 1982 law as protected regions valuable to the public for their natural or cultural assets. The Songshan Scenic Area covered the mountains around Denfeng. In 1990, the Ministry of Construction and [[Tongji University]] proposed that scenic areas be divided into subregions called "Scenic Spots". When this measure was passed by the state council (central government), the "Songshan National Scenic Area" (SNSA) acquired the "Shaolin Temple Scenic Spot" (STSS), consisting of the Shaosi side of the Scenic Area. Though named after the famous monastery in the south of the spot, it also included the north, where the government established a kung fu academy, the largest in China. The scenic spot consists of the entire park.<ref>{{harvnb|Su|2015|p=167}}</ref>

The government promptly allocated funds for the reconstruction of the monastery as a tourist site. They were to rebuild nine halls, restore ten, and construct eight new ones. However, all documentation on the temple had been destroyed. Already familiar with the type of structure, the architects interviewed elders who had been at the monastery before 1928 for details.<ref>{{harvnb|Su|2015|pp=164–166}}</ref>

The task became greater than simply restoring the monastery of 1928. That monastery was the end point of a long line of development, which included reconstruction after some twenty or more previous destructions, and variations in size from twenty monks during the Tang dynasty (619–907) to more than 1,800 monks living in 5,000 rooms during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).<ref>{{harvnb|Su|2019|loc=3. Historic Background of the Case Study}}</ref> No single configuration representative of the entire span of the monastery was apparent. Multiple possibilities existed, and deliberations about what to restore were complex and prolonged. By 1998, the government of Dengfeng had reconstructed or restored fourteen architectural items, mostly buildings.<ref>{{harvnb|Su|1919|loc=Table 1}}</ref>

By 2010, it was obvious that management decisions were beyond merely the government. A new management was created that year to operate a joint venture between the government, a private company from Hong Kong, and the abbot of a newly constituted body of monks. They were empowered to maintain a balance between historical authenticity and tourist sustainability.<ref>{{harvnb|Su|2019|loc=5.1. Implementing Authenticity Criteria of the AHD}}</ref>

[[UNESCO]] was not far behind this change in management technique. It took an interest and was invited to participate. In 2010, several ancient sites around Dengfeng were united into a single UNESCO World Heritage Site, with eight distinct scenic spots. The Shaolin Scenic spot contained three of the WHS components, collectively called the "architectural complex".<ref name=icomos16/> By this, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) of UNESCO designated three ancient sites: the Shaolin Temple compound, assigned the name "Kernel Compound"; its cemetery, the Pagoda Forest; and its subsidiary, the Chuzu Temple.

===Access to the site===
The Shaolin Temple Scenic Spot is located approximately in the middle of [[Mount Song]], an E–W trending massif on the right bank of the [[Yellow River]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Song Shan Travel Guide | publisher=Travel Dojo | url=https://www.traveldojo.com/song-shan/ | access-date=30 December 2022 | archive-date=31 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231012626/https://www.traveldojo.com/song-shan/ | url-status=live }}</ref> The massif is terminated by [[Luoyang]] on the west side and [[Zhengzhou]] on the east. The straight-line distance from Luoyang to Shaolin is about {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on}}; from Zhengzhou, about {{convert|73|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref>Google Maps on this article's coordinates, "Measure distance" tool.</ref> Either city is a popular starting point for a bus or automobile tour to the site.<ref>{{cite web | title=How to Visit Shaolin Temple (Tips, Photos & Map) | publisher=China Travel Tips – Tour-Beijing.com | url=https://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/henan-travel/luoayng-travel/luoyang-travel-tips/how-to-visit-shaolin-temple | access-date=30 December 2022 | archive-date=31 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231021056/https://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/henan-travel/luoayng-travel/luoyang-travel-tips/how-to-visit-shaolin-temple | url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn-lr|As of early 2023, those two types of vehicle as well as bicycles and motorcycles, are the only ways to get to the Scenic Spot. High-speed trains cover most of the distance, but a vehicle ride is required to get from the stations to North Gate. For a detailed list of the resources as well as pictures of the stations, see {{cite web | title=How to Get to & around Dengfeng Shaolin Temple 2023 | publisher=China Discovery | url=https://www.chinadiscovery.com/dengfeng-tours/transportation.html}}}}

[[Mount Song]] is divided by an extensive valley on its south-central side, where much of [[Dengfeng]] is located. The mountains around the valley, forming an upside-down U, have been defined as the Songshan Scenic Area.<ref>{{cite journal | first=Xiaohui | last=He | display-authors=etal | title=Evaluation of ecological environment of Songshan scenic area based on GF-1 data | journal=Materials Science and Engineering | number=392 | year=2018 | volume=392 | page=2| doi=10.1088/1757-899X/392/4/042029 | bibcode=2018MS&E..392d2029H | s2cid=134971664 | doi-access=free }} Figure 1.</ref> The pass over the U is located directly north of the valley. On the western side is the Shaolin Scenic Spot, accessed by [[China National Highway 207]] (G207), which winds over the pass from the direction of Luoyang and runs past the scenic spot, before descending into the valley and joining other roads leading to Zhengzou. The north entrance of the scenic spot adjoins G207.<ref>{{cite web | title=Shaolin Temple, Dengfeng Maps 2023: Updated, Detailed | publisher=China Discovery | url=https://www.chinadiscovery.com/dengfeng-tours/maps.html | access-date=31 December 2022 | archive-date=31 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231035400/https://www.chinadiscovery.com/dengfeng-tours/maps.html | url-status=live }} Map: Shaolin Temple Tourist Map.</ref>

[[File:少林寺景区停车场 - panoramio.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|The major public parking lot, just south of the bus stop]]

The North Gate is an entirely new complex built to facilitate the arrival and departure of visitors along the main point of entry, Highway G207. The local highway representing G207 in this case is East Ring Road, Dengfeng.<ref>Bing road map under the coordinates of Dengfeng.</ref> The Shaolin bus stop is at the minimum of the southward-curving highway,<ref name=printable>{{harvnb|Khabarosk|loc=Printable version of the map of the area around the Shaolin Temple}}</ref> at {{coord|34.51641|112.94883| format=dms|display=inline}}.

===Topography===
The temple's inside area is {{convert|160|×|360|m|sp=us}}, or {{convert|57600|m2|sp=us}}.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} The buildings are arranged in three lengthwise strips. It has seven main halls on the central axis and seven other halls around, with several yards around the halls. These halls are primarily museums containing Buddhist artifacts. Memorials and monuments are scattered freely around the place, as are ancient [[Ginkgo biloba|ginkgo]] trees.<ref>{{harvnb|ICOMOS|2008|p=17}}</ref>

The architecture below follows the World Heritage Site (WHS) arrangement.<ref name=icomos16>{{harvnb|ICOMOS|2008|p=16}}</ref>

===Kernel compound===
* [[Shanmen]] ({{zh|c=山门|p=|labels=no}}) (built in 1735; the entrance tablet, written in golden characters, reads "Shaolin Temple" ({{zh|c=少林寺|p=shaolinsi|labels=no}}) in black background by the [[Kangxi Emperor]] of the [[Qing dynasty]] in 1704).{{clarify|date=December 2022}}
* Forest of Steles ({{zh|c=碑林|p=beilin|labels=no}})
* Ciyun Hall  ({{zh|c=慈雲堂|p=ciyuntang|labels=no}}) (built in 1686; changed in 1735; reconstructed in 1984). It includes the Corridor of Steles ({{zh|c=碑廊|p=beilang|labels=no}}), which has 124 stone tablets of various dynasties, from the Northern Qi dynasty (550–570).{{clarify|date=December 2022}}
* West Arrival Hall ({{zh|c=西来堂|p=xilaitang|labels=no}}) a.k.a. Kung Fu Hall ({{zh|c=锤谱堂|p=chuiputang|labels=no}}) (built in 1984)
* [[Four Heavenly Kings Hall]] ({{zh|c=天王殿|p=tianwangdian|labels=no}}) (built during the Yuan dynasty; repaired during the Ming and Qing dynasties)
* [[Bell tower (Chinese Buddhism)|Bell tower]] ({{zh|c=钟楼|p=zhonglou|labels=no}}) (built in 1345; reconstructed in 1994; the bell was built in 1204.)
* [[Drum tower (Chinese Buddhism)|Drum tower]] ({{zh|c=鼓楼|p=gulou|labels=no}}) (built in 1300; reconstructed in 1996)
* [[Kimnara]] Palace Hall ({{zh|c=紧那罗殿|p=jinnaluodian|labels=no}}) (reconstructed in 1982)
* [[Huineng|Sixth Patriarch]] Hall ({{zh|c=六祖堂|p=liuzutang|labels=no}})
* [[Mahavira Hall]] ({{zh|c=大雄宝殿|p=daxiongbaodian|labels=no}}) a.k.a. Main Hall or Great Hall (built circa 1169; reconstructed in 1985).
* Dining Hall (built during the Tang dynasty; reconstructed in 1995)
* [[Sutra]] Room
* Dhyana Halls (reconstructed in 1981)
* Guest Reception Hall
* [[Dharma Hall]] (Sermon) Hall ({{zh|c=法堂|p=fatang|labels=no}}) a.k.a. Scripture Room ({{zh|c=藏经阁|p=zang jing ge| labels=no}}) (reconstructed in 1993)
* East & West guest rooms
* Abbot's Room ({{zh|c=方丈室|p=fangzhangshi|labels=no}}) (built during the early Ming dynasty)
* Standing in Snow Pavilion ({{zh|c=立雪亭|p=lixueting|labels=no}}) a.k.a. Bodhidharma Bower ({{zh|c=达摩庭|p=damoting|labels=no}}) (reconstructed in 1983)
* [[Manjusri]] Hall ({{zh|c=|p=wenshudian| labels=no}}) (reconstructed in 1983)
* [[Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva)|Samantabhadra]] Hall
* White Robe ([[Avalokitesvara]]) Hall ({{zh|c=白衣殿|p=baiyi ([[Guanyin|Guan yin]]) dian|labels=no}}) a.k.a. Kung Fu Hall ({{zh|c=|p=quanpudian|labels=no}}) (built during the Qing dynasty)
* [[Hall of Kshitigarbha|Ksitigarbha Hall]] ({{zh|c=地臧殿|p=di zang dian| labels=no}}) (built during the early Qing dynasty; reconstructed in 1979)
* Thousand Buddha Hall ({{zh|c=千佛殿|p=qianfodian|labels=no}}) a.k.a. [[Vairocana]] Pavilion ({{zh|c=毗庐阁|p=piluge|labels=no}}) (built in 1588; repaired in 1639, 1776)
* Ordination Platform (built in 2006)
* Monks' rooms
* Shaolin Pharmacy Bureau (built in 1217; reconstructed in 2004)
* Bodhidharma Pavilion ({{zh|p=chuzuan|labels=no}}) (first built during the Song dynasty)
* Bodhidharma Cave
* Shaolin Temple Wushu Guan (Martial arts hall)

===Chuzu Temple===
===Pagoda Forest===
* [[Pagoda Forest at Shaolin Temple|Forest of Pagodas Yard]] ({{zh|c=塔林院|p=talinyuan|labels=no}}) (built before 791). It has 240 tomb pagodas of various sizes from the Tang, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties (618–1911).