Free Republic

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Chinese kung fu, is demanding an apology from an Internet user who said its monks had once been beaten in unarmed combat by a Japanese ninja, Chinese media reported on Friday. Shaolin Temple, in the northern province of Henan, became famous in the West as the training ground for Kwai Chang "Grasshopper" Caine in the 1970s "Kung Fu" TV series. Ninjas -- professional assassins trained in martial arts -- date back to mediaeval Japan. "The so-called defeat is purely fabricated, and we demand the Internet user to apologise to the whole...

Shaolin Monks Fight to Protect the Temple's ReputationMonks of China's famed Shaolin Temple, which is commonly considered the birthplace of Chinese kung fu, a unique combination of Buddhism and Chinese martial arts, have been more and more aware of safeguarding the temple's reputation by legal means. "The Shaolin Temple is an important piece of cultural heritage for all human beings. To protect it, we must propose draft legislation to ensure appropriate action," said the abbot of the Temple, whose religious name is Shi Yongxin. Located in Dengfeng County in central China's Henan Province, the Shaolin Temple was built in the...