Shaolin Monastery at Mount Song is considered the epicentre of the Chan school of Buddhism. It is also well known for its martial arts tradition and has long been regarded as a special cultural heritage site and an important symbol of the Chinese nation. This book is the first scholarly work in English to comprehensively examine the full history of Shaolin Monastery from 496 to 2016. More importantly, it offers a clear grasp of the origins and development of Chan Buddhism through an examination of Shaolin, and highlights the role of Shaolin and Shaolin kung fu in the construction of a national identity among the Chinese people in the past two centuries.

This Handbook approaches Chinese Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective while attempting to establish a fundamental set of core values and tenets for the subject, in relation to the further development of Chinese Studies as an academic discipline. It aims to consolidate the current findings in Chinese Studies, extract the essence from each affiliated discipline, formulate a concrete set of ideas to represent the ‘Chineseness’ of the subject, establish a clear identity for the discipline and provide clear guidelines for further research and practice. Topics included in this Handbook cover a wide spectrum of traditional and newly added concerns in Chinese Studies, ranging from the Chinese political system and domestic governance to international relations, Chinese culture, literature and history, Chinese sociology (gender, middle class, nationalism, home ownership, dating) and Chinese opposition and activism. The Handbook also looks at widening the scope of Chinese Studies (Chinese psychology, postcolonialism and China, Chinese science and climate change), and some illustrations of innovative Chinese Studies research methods. The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Studies is an essential reference for researchers and scholars in Chinese Studies, as well as students in the discipline.

For the last 100 years, the Order of Shaolin Ch'an has worked quietly to presierve the traditions, philosophy, and arts of the Order in the United States of America. since 1970, Shaolin and its martial arts have increasingly become a focal point of popular culture. Misinformation and disinformation have anchored this growing notoriety. In contrast, this volume stives to accurately share what is spiritually meaningful and martially significant about Shaolin. The living authors are Shaolin monks who wish to remain anonymous, but who put the book together largely from written records and orally transmitted teachings from three Shaolin priests, all of whom passed away in the 1970's. The were Li En Huo, Hua Ling P'o, and Ben Ch'i Lo.

This book traces the history of "kung fu" from the theories of Chinese origins to the popular competitive sport of today.