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Yijin Jing
The Yijin Jing (simplified Chinese: 易筋经; traditional Chinese: 易筋經; pinyin: Yìjīn Jīng; Wade–Giles: I Chin Ching; lit. 'Muscle/Tendon Change Classic', 'or "Sinews Transformation's Classic"') or Yik-kan Ging is a manual of daoyin exercises, a series of mental and bodily exercises to cultivate jing (精; essence) and direct and refine qi, the internal energy of the body according to traditional Chinese medicine.
In Chinese, yi means "change", jin means "tendons and sinews", while jing translates to "classic".
According to legend, the Yijin Jing was said to be left behind by Bodhidharma (Da Mo) after his departure from the Shaolin Monastery, and discovered within his grave (or hidden in the walls of the temple) years after he left (or died). It was accompanied by another text, the Xisui Jing, which was passed to a student of Bodhidharma's, but has not survived to the present day.
The monks of Shaolin supposedly practiced the exercises within the text but lost the true purpose of the document; Lin Boyuan recounts that they "selfishly coveted it, practicing the skills therein, falling into heterodox ways, and losing the correct purpose of cultivating the Way. The Shaolin monks have made some fame for themselves through their fighting skill; this is all due to having obtained this manuscript."[citation needed]
Both documents were written, per the mythology, in an Indian language which was not well understood by the monks of the temple. According to one legend, a monk decided that the text must contain more valuable knowledge than simply self-defense, and went on a pilgrimage with a copy of the text to find someone who could translate its deeper meaning. During his travels, he met an Indian priest named Pramati in the province of Szechwan. Upon examining the text, Pramati explained that its meaning was extraordinarily deep and beyond his ability to translate fully. He nonetheless provided a partial translation. The monk found that within a year of practicing the techniques as Pramati had translated, his constitution had become "as hard as steel", and he felt he could be a Buddha. The monk was so pleased that he thereafter followed Pramati wherever he went.
The legendary account springs from two prefaces which accompany the Yijin Jing. One of these prefaces purports to be written by general Li Jing in 628 during the Tang dynasty, while the other purports to be written by general Niu Gao, an officer of the Song dynasty General Yue Fei. However, several inaccuracies and inconsistencies in these forewords cast doubt on the authenticity of Bodhidharma's authorship of the Yijin Jing.
It was specifically the foreword by Li Jing by which Tang Hao traced the attribution of Shaolin Kung Fu to Bodhidharma. Li Jing's foreword refers to "the tenth year of the Taihe period of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei." The Taihe reign period did not occur under Emperor Xiaoming but under Emperor Xiaowen and, in its tenth year (487 CE), the Shaolin temple did not yet exist according to the Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi, itself an updated compilation of earlier records, which states that the Shaolin temple was built in the twentieth year of the Taihe era (497 CE). Li Jing's foreword also claims that he received the manual containing the exercises from the "Bushy Bearded Hero" (虬髯客, Qiuran ke), a popular fictional character from a Tang dynasty story of the same name by Du Guangting (850-933).
Niu Gao's foreword mentions the Qinzhong temple, which wasn't erected until 20 years after the date he claims to be writing. He also claims to be illiterate. Dictation could resolve the question of how an illiterate could write a foreword, but it is almost certain that a general of Niu Gao's stature was not illiterate. Thus during the 18th century, the scholar Ling Tingkan concluded in a sarcastic fashion that the author of the Yijin Jing must have been an "ignorant" and a "master" all at the same time (i.e., Tingkan states that the author must have been an "ignorant village master").
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Yijin Jing
The Yijin Jing (simplified Chinese: 易筋经; traditional Chinese: 易筋經; pinyin: Yìjīn Jīng; Wade–Giles: I Chin Ching; lit. 'Muscle/Tendon Change Classic', 'or "Sinews Transformation's Classic"') or Yik-kan Ging is a manual of daoyin exercises, a series of mental and bodily exercises to cultivate jing (精; essence) and direct and refine qi, the internal energy of the body according to traditional Chinese medicine.
In Chinese, yi means "change", jin means "tendons and sinews", while jing translates to "classic".
According to legend, the Yijin Jing was said to be left behind by Bodhidharma (Da Mo) after his departure from the Shaolin Monastery, and discovered within his grave (or hidden in the walls of the temple) years after he left (or died). It was accompanied by another text, the Xisui Jing, which was passed to a student of Bodhidharma's, but has not survived to the present day.
The monks of Shaolin supposedly practiced the exercises within the text but lost the true purpose of the document; Lin Boyuan recounts that they "selfishly coveted it, practicing the skills therein, falling into heterodox ways, and losing the correct purpose of cultivating the Way. The Shaolin monks have made some fame for themselves through their fighting skill; this is all due to having obtained this manuscript."[citation needed]
Both documents were written, per the mythology, in an Indian language which was not well understood by the monks of the temple. According to one legend, a monk decided that the text must contain more valuable knowledge than simply self-defense, and went on a pilgrimage with a copy of the text to find someone who could translate its deeper meaning. During his travels, he met an Indian priest named Pramati in the province of Szechwan. Upon examining the text, Pramati explained that its meaning was extraordinarily deep and beyond his ability to translate fully. He nonetheless provided a partial translation. The monk found that within a year of practicing the techniques as Pramati had translated, his constitution had become "as hard as steel", and he felt he could be a Buddha. The monk was so pleased that he thereafter followed Pramati wherever he went.
The legendary account springs from two prefaces which accompany the Yijin Jing. One of these prefaces purports to be written by general Li Jing in 628 during the Tang dynasty, while the other purports to be written by general Niu Gao, an officer of the Song dynasty General Yue Fei. However, several inaccuracies and inconsistencies in these forewords cast doubt on the authenticity of Bodhidharma's authorship of the Yijin Jing.
It was specifically the foreword by Li Jing by which Tang Hao traced the attribution of Shaolin Kung Fu to Bodhidharma. Li Jing's foreword refers to "the tenth year of the Taihe period of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei." The Taihe reign period did not occur under Emperor Xiaoming but under Emperor Xiaowen and, in its tenth year (487 CE), the Shaolin temple did not yet exist according to the Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi, itself an updated compilation of earlier records, which states that the Shaolin temple was built in the twentieth year of the Taihe era (497 CE). Li Jing's foreword also claims that he received the manual containing the exercises from the "Bushy Bearded Hero" (虬髯客, Qiuran ke), a popular fictional character from a Tang dynasty story of the same name by Du Guangting (850-933).
Niu Gao's foreword mentions the Qinzhong temple, which wasn't erected until 20 years after the date he claims to be writing. He also claims to be illiterate. Dictation could resolve the question of how an illiterate could write a foreword, but it is almost certain that a general of Niu Gao's stature was not illiterate. Thus during the 18th century, the scholar Ling Tingkan concluded in a sarcastic fashion that the author of the Yijin Jing must have been an "ignorant" and a "master" all at the same time (i.e., Tingkan states that the author must have been an "ignorant village master").
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