shaolin

The main pillars of Shaolin culture are Chan Buddhism (禅; chán), martial arts (武; wǔ), Buddhist art (艺; yì), and traditional Chinese medicine (医; yī). This cultural heritage, still constituting the daily temple life, is representative of Chinese civilization. A large number of prominent people, eminent monks, Buddhist disciples, and many others, visit the temple for pilgrimage and cultural exchanges. In addition, owing to the work of official Shaolin overseas cultural centers and foreign disciples, Shaolin culture has spread around the world as a distinctive symbol of Chinese culture and a means of foreign cultural exchange.[6]