Word: abbots
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...weapons when he applied for a green card. Just ask the Henan Tourist Bureau: it put Yan Ming on a billboard of provincial treasures. Or ask Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, John Woo and Chow Yun-fat: they all call Yan Ming shifu, or master. Just don't ask the abbot of the Shaolin Temple; he "prefers not to talk about Yan Ming...
...abbot and Yan Ming embody the complex struggle under way for control of the legacy of a Chinese cultural landmark almost as celebrated as the Forbidden City or the Great Wall. It's a clash that pits monk against monk, disciple against master and, at least in one case, cop against banner. And the stakes are high. Shaolin monks' heroism on battlefields, both real and imagined, has been legendary for generations. But like so many institutions of China's imperial past, the temple was violently severed from its historical roots by the political upheavals of the 20th century...
...they kick and punch their way toward dreams of stardom as martial masters or celluloid action heroes. Most of the more than 20,000 students will return home after a few years to humble lives as security guards or construction workers. The fortunate few will be chosen by the abbot as monks, earning the Buddhist surname "Shi." They'll pay their dues at the temple by posing with tourists or welcoming state officials, and then they might become members of the exhibition troupe or go into business on their own, using Shaolin's cachet to open martial-arts schools elsewhere...
...Yong Xin, the temple's current abbot, downplays Shaolin's quirky philosophical traditions?an understandable tactic given Beijing's harsh stance on spiritual cults?emphasizing instead the need to preserve "unique artifacts of China's history for future generations." Yong Xin clearly has his eye on the value of the franchise. He wants Shaolin to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and he has restored many of its monuments, including a stela that dates to the early Tang dynasty, a pagoda-style bell tower and the Talin, or Stupa Forest, an aptly named field of richly inscribed monks' tombs...
...This is nothing new for Shaolin?the macho fighting monks were flouting dietary laws as early as the Ming dynasty, but abbot Yong Xin, anxious about Shaolin's newly pristine image, finds his prodigal brother's behavior poisonous. "The man openly eats meat and drinks," he gasps. Even in the U.S., kung fu aficionados?many of whom themselves know Shaolin only from the movies?believe Yan Ming is too much the joker. Martial arts websites abound with references to the "fake monk." But Yan Ming isn't fazed. "To be a monk you have to know how to be yourself...