Editing Bodhidharma (section)

=== Shaolin boxing ===
The idea that Bodhidharma founded martial arts at the Shaolin Temple was spread in the 20th century.{{sfn|Henning|1994}}{{sfn|Henning|Green|2001|p=129}} Martial arts historians have shown that this legend stems from a 17th-century [[qigong]] manual known as the ''[[Yijin Jing]]'' ("Muscle Change Classic,"{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}} "Sinews Transformation's Classic"{{sfn|Shahar|2008|p=163-172}}).{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}}{{sfn|Shahar|2008|p=163-172}} While the Shaolin-minks attributed the origins of their fighting-skills to [[Vajrapani]],{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=171}} the daoist author of the ''Yijin Jing'' wrongly assumed that the monks attributed these skills to Bodhidharma, due to the daoist tradition of attributing ''daoyin'' gymnastics to Bodhidharma, and the influence of Buddhism on Daoist meditation techniques.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=172}} The preface of this work says that Bodhidharma left behind the ''Yi Jin Jing'', and further states that the monks obtained the fighting skills which made them gain some fame from this manual.{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}}{{efn|name="Yi Jin Jing"}}

The attribution of the ''Yijin Jing'' to Bodhidharma has been discredited early on,{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=165–173}} and is also rejected by historians like Tang Hao, Xu Zhen, and Matsuda Ryuchi. According to Lin Boyuan, "This manuscript is full of errors, absurdities, and fantastic claims; it cannot be taken as a legitimate source."{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}}{{efn|name="Yi Jin Jing"}}

The composition of the text itself has been dated to 1624,{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}} while the oldest available copy was published in 1827.{{sfn|Ryuchi|1986}} In the 19th century, when the ''Yijin Jing'' became popular in military circles, and the Shaolin monks started to use it, the Shaolin martial tradition became gradually associated with Bodhidharma.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=172}} The association of Bodhidharma with martial arts only became widespread as a result of the 1904–1907 serialization of the novel ''The Travels of Lao Ts'an'' in ''Illustrated Fiction Magazine'',{{sfn|Henning|1994}} which incorporated this newly developed attribution of Shaolin martial arts to Bodhidharma.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=173}} According to Henning, the "story is clearly a twentieth-century invention," which "is confirmed by writings going back at least 250 years earlier, which mention both Bodhidharma and martial arts but make no connection between the two."{{sfn|Henning|Green|2001|p=129}}{{efn|name="Shaolin_kungfu"}}