Twenty sayings. Fifteen centuries. Every source named.

The masters of the Shaolin Temple passed their art from generation to generation in short sayings: proverbs of the fist (拳谚, quán yàn), easy to memorize and impossible to exhaust. This book gathers twenty of them and gives each one the treatment it deserves: the Chinese original, tone-marked pinyin, a faithful translation, the story of where it comes from, and one way to test it in your own body.

What makes the Complete Edition different:

• Checked against the temple's own record. Every saying verified against the four-volume Encyclopedia of Shaolin Martial Arts compiled by Shi Deqian, 31st-generation master, with book-level citations throughout.
• Three further witnesses. The early Qing "Ten Methods" manuscript of Wang Zhicheng, preserved by the Wu Gulun lineage; Jin Jing Zhong's 1934 training manual, prefaced by the temple's own abbot; and the academic record, principally the Cambridge University Press history of the Chinese martial arts.
• The teachings behind the teachings. The lost reverse line of the most famous training proverb. The temple's two-year, five-year, ten-year skill timetable. The coin and pearl eye-training drills. The dead-hand doctrine: learn to heal before you learn to harm. The honest history of the boast that all kung fu comes from Shaolin.
• A practice for every saying. Each chapter ends with a concrete exercise you can test in your next training session, whether you train Kung Fu, Qi Gong, or simply life.
• 38 pages, illustrated. Original ink-wash artwork throughout, including the real Qing dynasty fresco of the temple's White Robe Hall.

Curated by Shi Heng Chuang, 35th-generation Shaolin disciple.

Digital download (PDF). Delivered instantly to your email after purchase. Read on any device.