Shaolin Facts

It is very popular not only in the martial arts world but also the entertainment industry because of famous people who portrayed it on films or shows. But here are top 5 facts you should know about it.

Shaolin was used in Star Wars movies

George Lucas, the director of Star Wars admitted that he got influence from the Shaolin monks themselves for the Jedi Knights. There are great similarities between the history of the Jedi and Shaolin Temple’s origin. One example is the potential brawl with the Jedi order to Emperor Palpatine mirrors the argument between Shaolin and the emperors of the famous and powerful Qing Dynasty.

The 9 dots on the Shaolin foreheads

These are carefully arranged with three dots for each column. These are called as the Jieba. It’s not just an accessory but rather a holy marking which indicates that he was able to complete his training. Also, each of the dots represent a very important rule in Shaolin. It’s not as easy as getting as getting a marker and marking them on one’s forehead. There is a very long ceremony before you finally receive this marking. Nowadays, you won’t be able to see these on the monk’s forehead.

Shaolin warriors against the Japanese Pirates

When soldiers did not yet exist during the 16th century, they were the one who were assigned to defend China especially from one of its biggest enemy, the “dwarf pirates” of the great country Japan. The Ming Court was the one who decided that they should protect the shores of China an incident were hundreds of people died, more than thousands of people were already homeless, infrastructures were destroyed and a big amount of money was being taken from them. There had been four main battles against the two parties and these weren’t easy ones until they defeated the pirates during the last battle.