An article by The Times of London about Shaolin Monks (and their exclusion from the Olympics) prompted some interesting comments among Chinese readers when it was translated and posted at the bbs.ifeng forum. The Chinese version is titled, “The foreigners are confused: Why aren’t the Shaolin monks participating in the Beijing martial arts tournament?” Here is an excerpt of the original article, followed by Chinese readers’ comments…

Among the green peaks of the Song Shan mountain range is a town named Dengfeng, which has the highest concentration of hardmen in the world.

You can hear them all morning, training in the dozens of schools that line the road up the mountain — the chopping, punching, roundhouse kicking and brick-smashing exponents of the ancient Chinese martial art of kung fu. …

So it would have been a popular step if, as well as featuring in the Olympic opening ceremony, kung fu could have been a medal event. “This is the most popular martial art in Asia, so it is a pity that it could not be an Olympic sport,” says the Rev Shi Yongxin, the abbot of Shaolin Temple. “It is a sadness for orientals that it cannot be part of the Olympic family.” …

“In competition you must have rules about what you can and cannot do - you don’t just fight,” he says. “But the monks of Shaolin do not fight for show — we fight to defeat our opponent, by any means necessary.”

Among secular kung fu masters, this suggestion provokes ironic smiles. The true reason the monks will not compete, they say, is because they are nervous of losing, thereby compromising the Shaolin mystique, and the significant income that flows from it.

COMMENTS FROM CHINESE READERS:

此少林已经不是原来那个少林了
This Shaolin monastery is not the original Shaolin monastery.

呵呵呵，欢迎老外上山挑战！
Hehehe, welcome foreigners to the mountaintop to be challenged!

因为太强了，会打死人的
Because they are super strong, they would actually kill people

武术不能参加奥运会是因为。。。。。。。。。。
国之利器，不可示人。所以说武术是不可能参加奥运会，永远也不会的
Chinese kung fu won’t be on the list of the Olympics because… You can’t show people the country’s sharpest weapons. Therefore it is impossible for Wushu to participate in the Oympic Games. Never…

武术是武术,
表演是表演
Martial arts are martial arts
Performance is performance

此少林非彼少林了!哎~~~~
This Shaolin Temple is not the same Shaolin Temple as before! Hey~~~

少林和尚忙着赚钱呢
Shaolin monks are so busy making money.

那么多鬼老啦啦队的骚包,怕来一个就得还俗一个,所以方丈大师不准
With so many foreign cheerleaders and their trouble-bags,* they’re afraid they would leave monastic life, so the Buddhist great master has forbidden it.

武术精神的精髓,是为了强身健体,这也是能发展成体育项目的意义所在,也是奥林匹克精神之所在,少林功夫更应体现这种精神,正因为少林有这种精神,才得到了大家的尊重和认可.出家人不会打打杀杀,所以我觉得那个人不适合作为少林的一份子

The essence of martial arts is to build a strong body, which is the purpose of developing the sports industry, and also it’s the host of the Olympic spirit, so Shaolin martial arts ought to reflect this spirit; it is precisely because of this spirit that the Shaolin temple has everyone’s respect and recognition. Buddhist monks wouldn’t ever use martial arts as a form of violence, so I think that person is not qualified to be a Shaolin member.

貌似是规定不准 参加~~是规定的.事实上少林寺的人很少啊..正宗的武僧更少….
It seems that the regulations don’t allow entry~~it’s set. Actually, Shaolin monks are very few… authentic fighting monks are even fewer.

少林不是注册成什么公司了么？
Isn’t Shaolin temple registered as a company?

少林寺的和尚已没有真功夫，他们已被铜臭所淹没。那有心思练武术。
Shaolin Temple’s monks already don’t have real kung fu, they have already been flooded by money. With that thought, they practice Wushu. ❑

— Translated by Chris Tao

ORIGINAL STORY: 老外很疑惑：少林寺和尚为啥不来北京参加武术赛？

EDITOR’S NOTE:
*”trouble-bags” (骚包) sāo bāo — It may take a little imagination to discern what the cheerleaders’ “trouble-bags” are.