The development of Shaolin Kung Fu and the 3 Chinese schools of thought

Hi Steemians,

today I want to write about the 3 main schools of thought in the ancient Chinese culture. These schools have a strong influence even today in the whole East Asian world.

The 3 schools consist of:

➟ Daoism 道教 (Daojiao)
➟ Confucianism 儒教 (Rujiao)
➟ Buddhism 佛家 (Fojiao)

In the beginning there was only the school of the "way", the 道. (Interestingly the character consists of "to go" 廴 and "head" 首) The focus of this school is longevity and a healthy body. The body is consisting of different "souls" and one of these souls will exist forever. Taiqi 太極 and Qigong 氣功 for example belong both to the Daoist school.

Confucianism with Confucius 孔子 as its „founder“ focuses on morality. Everything is about developing virtue 德 and how to become a good person. Every child in China starts to learn the 弟子規 , Dizigui, "the rules of the students", where they learn how to behave and how to cherish their parents and teachers.

Buddhism is the only foreign school of thought which came from India to China. I already wrote about Buddhism and I will write more about it in the future. When Buddhism arrived to China it got mixed with Daoism. When this happened it was the beginning of 禪, Chan/Zen, the Buddhist school of the Shaolin order. Monks needed to put more focus on their bodies in order to endure their hard life with work, little sleep and long meditation sessions. They used the Daoist movements and developed their own style and thus Shaolin Kung Fu was born. They realized that body and mind is one. You need to focus on both if you want a healthy life.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Let's start healthy into next week :)