Narayana’s Disappearance in the Shaolin Temple：Indian Buddhism’s Transmission and Transformation in China

　　ABSTRACT: Focusing on the disappearance of Narayana, bodhisattva of Samgharama in the Shaolin Temple, this paper attempts to discuss Indian Buddhism’s transmission and transformation in China.

　　Built in A.D. 496 for Buddhabhadra from Northern India, the Shaolin Temple is a typical one well-known for its Chinese kung fu with a history as long as 1,500 years, and also one which maintained a significant link with India. After Buddhabhadra, several Indian monks came to the temple in succession and engaged themselves in translating Buddhism sutras into Chinese. In fact, the Shaolin Kung Fu is closely related to the belief in Narayana, a symbol of the Shaolin spirit and culture. Around the Yuan Dynasty (A.D.1206-A.D.1368), however, the statue of Narayana started to disappear. Kimnara coincidently took his place to be worshipped in Samgharama and went into folklore and historical documents. Nevertheless, Narayana has still remained alive in local people’s oral history in the form of language fossil. In brief, this paper endeavors to seek and restore the original truth that Narayana was and should be the genuine dharma-protecting bodhisattva in the Shaolin Temple by studying relevant documents, tablet inscriptions, pictures, and Buddhist sutras, in combination with an on-the-spot investigation into some oral Buddhist terms in the dialect spoken in the vicinity of the temple.