Shaolin Monastery Stele


The Shaolin Monastery Stele is a stele erected in 728. Its seven inscriptions, texts dating form 621 to 728, were a public record of the military support the Shaolin Monastery had provided early Tang military campaigns, and are credited with maintaining the Shaolin in good favour with Emperors, at a time when other religious organisations were being curtailed.

Text 1

Text 2

Text 3

Text 4

Texts 5 and 6

Text 7: Thirteen heroic monks

Text 7 is a list of thirteen heroic monks. It's likely that the list was compiled close to the time the stele was erected, or even added at a later date, and may therefore be influenced as much by folklore that had grown up in the years since the Cypress Valley victory in 632.

The thirteen heroic monks

Cited by Emperor Taizong of Tang for meritorious service