But beforeJet Licame, it was in ruins.
The 20th century was tough on the temple too.
because of firearms, the fires burned for 40 days.
For a short period in 1941 during the Japanese occupation, it was converted to a secondary school.
But that wasnt the worst.
By the 1980s, only four monks survived, struggling to hold on to what remained.
To understand what happened, its important to understand who Jet Li is.
His Chinese name is Li Lianjie.
He was the first superstar champion from a newly formed martial art called wushu.
Wushu bid to be an event of the 2008 Beijing Olympics but didnt make the official cut.
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Jet dominated the early national wushu championships.
He captured his first All-Around championship in 1974 before he hit puberty.
That shocked the wushu community because the second and third place contenders were well into their 20s.
Jet held that national All-Around title for five consecutive years, a competitive record that remains untouched.
Lis success earned him a slot on an international friendship team of ambassadors to the U.S.
This historic cultural bridge is remembered as ping pong diplomacy.
The second group of Chinese ambassadors was a wushu team, including Jet.
Jet performed wushu for President Nixon and Henry Kissinger on the White House lawn.
However, Watergate broke out when the team arrived.
That usurped the headlines leaving the wushu ambassadors in its shadow.
But that was the American news.
In China, there was a different story.
Trying to be cute, Nixon asked Jet if he would serve as his personal bodyguard.
The 11-year-old Jet quipped back, I dont want to protect any individual.
When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!
Its important to understand the distinction.
Jet is native Chinese, born in the nations capital city Beijing.
Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco as an American, back when birthright citizenship was valid.
Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong when it was under British colonialist rule.
On Location at Shaolin Temple
The Shaolin Templewas a joint China-Hong Kong production.
The film retold a classic chapter of Shaolins glorious past when 13 Shaolin monks rescued Li Shinmin.
Li later became Emperor Taizhong of the Tang Dynasty (598-649 CE).
The episode is depicted in one of surviving murals in White Garment Hall at Shaolin Temple.
Many of them went on to become notable martial arts movie stars in Asia.
The film was a showcase of wushu choreography.
Even though many of the fight scenes are sped up, the level of skilled choreography remains thrilling.
The precision and complexity of the fights, especially the fights with weapons, is what wushu does best.
The Shaolin Templehad limited distribution internationally, exclusively showing in overseas Chinatown theaters.
In 2011,Shaolinwas shot on location and was originally promoted as a remake ofThe Shaolin Temple.
It starred Jackie Chan and Yu Hai (of the originalThe Shaolin Temple) in extended cameos.
However, Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse, and Fan Bingbing took the lead roles.
The community around Shaolin Temple had been practicing Shaolin Kung Fu for generations.
The largest private institution, Shaolin Taguo Martial Arts School, has had up to 36,000 live-in fulltime students.
Most of these students are children who also receive a complete education.
In China, a degree in martial arts is marketable both as a coach or in enforcement.
The influx of tourism and the martial economy has allowed Shaolin Temple to rebuild and restore.
Shaolin now has several subsidiary temples within China and dozens of international representatives all over the world.
The temple also holds summits on Zen and traditional Chinese medicine, as well as academic symposiums.
And Jet Li was the vehicle of that rebirth.
