I myself, as a Western European, always wondered about a few things surrounding Sek Koh Sam. Op deze pagina benoem ik enkele van deze verwonderingen.
The 49th generation of Second Chamber Southern Shaolin.
1. 少林南派二房 What does ‘Second Chamber of (Southern) Shaolin’ mean ?
2. 第四十九代传弟子 Sek Koh Sam is het 49th generation. Who is the first generation (and 46 after)?
3. Sometimes the Shaolin of Sek Koh Sam is called “Ee San Pai” or “Hill Patrol Sect” also known as Yi Shan School. “怡山派” What does Yishan mean/refer too?
4. The names of a few of the associations Sek Koh Sam started have ‘Sao 少 XXX San 山’ in them. What does that mean and why were these names chosen?
1 & 2. The 49th generation of Second Chamber Southern Shaolin.
South Shaolin and North (Songshan) Shaolin come from the same sect. Songshan Shaolin in Henan Province is the forefather of Chan. Bodhidharma is the legendary founder of the sect. The “ Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall” identifies Bodhidharma as the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism in an uninterrupted line that extends back to the Gautama Buddha himself. After Bodhidharma there were another 5 patriarchs; together they are known as the 6 forefathers of Chan Buddhism.
These are the founder and the five (six) forefathers:
初祖 – 菩提达摩 Founder Bodhidharma
二组 – 慧可 Second forefather Huike
三组 – 僧璨 Third forefather Sengcan
四组- 道信 Fourth forefather Daocxin
五组 – 宏忍 Fifth forefather Hongren
六祖 – 慧能 (南禅) Sixth Forefather Huineng (Southern Chan)
According to tradition, the sixth and last ancestral founder, Huineng (惠能; 638–713), was one of the giants of Chan history, and all surviving schools regard him as their ancestor. After Huineng Chan Buddhism splits into a Southern School and a Northern School.
There is a Sixth Forefather for both the Southern and the Northern School. I focus here on the Southern Chan School.
The Southern School splits up into two sects after Huineng.
1. Nanyue sect南岳系; the Lingji school of Buddhism 临济宗would come from there, amongst others.
2. Qingyuan sect 请院系; the Caodong 曹洞宗school of Buddhism would come from there, amongst others.
Are the chambers related to the five branches of ‘Chan’. This style is seen as the second chamber or style/school of Shaolin, also called the second chamber of Shaolin. Does ‘second chamber’ refer to the second forefather? This sounds logical but does not seem to be the case.
According to Bodhidharma’s will, sixth forefather Huineng did not ‘hand down the Mantle’ anymore. From then on, the names of the Chan Masters are no longer recorded. But although the names are not recorded, apparently each new generation was numbered. The ‘Door to enlightenment’ was passed on to the Nanhai Puji Temple 南海普济寺in Zhejiang Province . Master Hui Jing 慧精 was assumed to be the 48th generation after Huineng.
This picture I found on Facebook seems to collaborate with this theory:
This implies that Sek Koh Sam is the 49th generation, directly after Damo. Huineng is also mentioned here; so second chamber does not refer to the second forefather Huike otherwise Huineng would not have to be mentioned. All this assuming this information is correct. The problem here is that I have not been able to find any other resources that would be able to collaborate this in any way. Reconstruction of all (or any) of the other 42 generations between Huijing and Huineng is going the be very difficult if not impossible. If only because after Huineng there were many splits and side branches which makes it even a more daunting task.
Could the chambers refer to “The five houses of Chan”?
These are:
- Caodong school
- Fayan school (absorbed into Linji school)
- Guiyang school (absorbed into Linji school)
- Linji school
- Yunmen school (absorbed into Linji school)
The Five Houses of Chán (also called the Five Houses of Zen) were the five major schools of Chan Buddhism that originated during Tang China. Although at the time they were not considered formal schools or sects of Buddhism, they are now regarded as important schools in the history of Chán Buddhism. Most Chán lineages throughout Asia and the rest of the world originally grew from or were heavily influenced by the original five houses of Chán.
Over the course of Song Dynasty (960–1279), the Guiyang, Fayan, and Yunmen houses were gradually absorbed into the Linji house. At the time of Sek Koh Sam the five houses were condensed in to two only: Caodong and Linji. If second chamber refers to on of these; which one is het first and which is the second?
The name Koh Sam (Gao Shen) was given to him by monk Xingliang and not Hui Jing. So most likely there was no generational poem for the names inside the second chamber lineage. Or there was but it was not used in this case since Sek Koh Sam already had a monk name before studying under Hui Jing?
Sources tell me that “ In 1903, Lin Ya Hong formally became a monk, and began studying Mahayana Buddhism at both Qingxing Temple and Meifeng Temple (梅峰寺) in Putian (莆田), delving into the study of Buddhist Zen. Sek Koh Sam was a practitioner of Caodong 曹洞宗 Chan Buddhism.“ Others told me he practiced Linji Buddhism. I cannot say for sure whether Sek Koh Sam practiced Caodong or Linji Buddhism.
The above image， again from Facebook, refers straight to Caodong.
We could try to use Caodong lineage to trace back to Bodhidharma. The beginning is then the same:
初祖 – 菩提达摩 Founder Bodhidharma
二组 – 慧可 Second forefather Huike
三组 – 僧璨 Third forefather Sengcan
四组- 道信 Fourth forefather Daocxin
五组 – 宏忍 Fifth forefather Hongren
六祖 – 慧能 (南禅) Sixth Forefather Huineng
but this then continues with a seventh ancestor, now called ‘master’:
七世 – 青原行思大师 seventh generation is Master Qingyuan Xingsi
八世 – 石头希迁大师 eighth generation is Master Shitou Xiqian
九世 – 药山惟俨大师 ninth generation is Master Yaoshan Weiyan
十世 – 云岩昙晟大师 tenth generation is Master Yunyan Tansheng
十一 – 世洞山良价大师 eleventh generation is Master Dongshan Liangjia
Here the Caodong sect begins 曹洞宗派 and the count has been reset (but I continue counting in English).
曹洞第一代良价祖师 Patriarch Liangjia (eleventh generation from Bodhidharma)
二世云居道膺大师 Master Yunju Daoying (twelth generation from Bodhidharma)
三世同安道丕大师 Master Tongan Daopi (thirteenth generation from Bodhidharma)
四世同安观志大师 Master Tongan Guanzhi (forteenth generation from Bodhidharma)
五世梁山缘观大师 Master Liangshan Yuanguan (fifteenth generation from Bodhidharma)
六世大阳警玄大师 Master Dayang Jingxuan (sixteenth generation from Bodhidharma)
七世投子义青大师 Master Touzi Yiqing (seventeenth generation from Bodhidharma)
八世芙蓉道楷大师 Master Furong Daokai (eightteenth generation from Bodhidharma)
九世净因自觉大师 Master Jingyin Zijue (nineteenth generation from Bodhidharma)
十世青州希辩大师 Master Qingzhou Xibian (twentieth generation from Bodhidharma)
十一世大明僧宝大师 Master Daming Sengbao (twenty-first generation from Bodhidharma)
十二世玉山师体大师 Master Yushan Shiti (twenty-second generation from Bodhidharma)
十三世雪岩慧满大师 Master Xueyan Huiman (twenty-third generation from Bodhidharma)
十四世万松行秀大师 Master Wansong Xingxiu (twenty-fouth generation from Bodhidharma)
十五世雪庭福裕大师 Master Xueting Fuyu (twenty-fifth generation from Bodhidharma)
Interestingly enough, we now come to Xuětíng Fúyù (雪庭福裕) ( 1203–1275 ), who was the abbot of the Shaolin Temple in the thirteenth century. He is famous for inviting all of the martial artists in China to the Temple to discuss, practice, and fight, refining their technique into one Shaolin style. He held these symposiums three times, each for a period of three years.
Songshan Shaolin temple now has adopted the Caodong sect of Buddhism. Shaolin’s patriarchal clan system was established in the 13th century by Abbot Xuětíng Fúyù (雪庭福裕). Fúyù wrote the seventy word generation poem that is used for generational naming at the Shaolin Monastery:
福慧智子覺 了本圓可悟 周洪普廣宗 道慶同玄祖 清靜真如海 湛寂淳貞素 德行永延恒 妙體常堅固 心朗照幽深 性明鑒宗祚 忠正善禧祥 謹悫原濟度 雪庭為導師 引汝歸鉉路
Sek Koh Sam’s name is not part of this system of generational naming. Read more here. Here I follow a specific line to Fuyu. That is interesting because here is the connection to Shaolin. But of course every generation has multiple successive generations. Like for example Caoshan Benji 曹山本寂 (840–90) who was also a successor of Dongshan Liangjianet as Yunju Daoying was. Is it possible that besides Fuyu a separate line arose with a link to Shaolin? That does not seem very likely to me.
Fuyu is the 25th generation after Bodhidharma. And the first generation of the current generational naming at the Shaolin Monastery. We can count up to the 48th generation; this would then be about the same generation as the teacher of Shi Gao Shen; Shi Hui Jing.
To that we must add another 23 generations; each generation has a chance to spread further than I can mention here or can even be traced by me. The 23rd generation name is Zhen 真. As mentioned earlier, a monk may have had a name before and retain it when entering another lineage. This makes searching this way virtually impossible.
This, unfortunately, does not take us any further in the search for the meaning of the Second Chamber, but it is still an interesting exploration.
On Facebook some reacted to a mention of second chamber with this:
真正福建閩南南少林伍大房:
南少林第一房為太祖。
南少林第二房為羅漢。
南少林第三房為玄女。
南少林第四房為行者。
南少林第五房為白鶴。
Real Fujian Minnan Shaolin Five Big Rooms:
The first room in Southern Shaolin is Taizu.
The second room in Southern Shaolin is Luohan (Arhat).
The third room in Southern Shaolin is Xuannv.
The fourth room in Southern Shaolin is the Buddhist practitioner.
The fifth room in Southern Shaolin is White Crane.
This would perfectly fit the second chamber idea. The second chamber here is Luohan. Sek Koh Sam’s Shaolin is ofter reffered to as Luohan Kungfu. In fact, Shaolin and Luohan are almost synonymous with each other. Might this be the answer to this riddle?
The difference with previous lists is that the latter is specifically about martial arts and the former is more about Buddhism. But maybe it is true that martial arts and Buddhism are one.
3. Sometimes the Shaolin of Sek Koh Sam is called “Ee San Pai” or “Hill Patrol Sect” also known as Yi Shan School. “怡山派” What does Yishan mean/refer too?
“Ee San Pai” or “Hill Patrol Sect” also known as Yi Shan School. “怡山派”. For example: 南洋一带南派少林武术”怡山派”; The Yishan School of Southern Shaolin Kungfu in Southeast Asia.
Yishan is a location in Fuzhou city. In inside that area a temple is located; the Xichan Temple. 福建州怡山西禪寺. That is the place where 微嘉. Monk Wei Jia came from . He was the one that organized Sek Koh Sam.
Xi Chan temple (formerly known as Chang Qin Temple) in Yi Shan, Rong Yuan. 福州榕垣怡山西禅長慶寺. The imperial edict name is Yishan Changqing Temple, commonly known as Xichan Temple. 敕号怡山长庆寺，俗称西禅寺.
In the past, there were Zen temples in the southeast and northwest suburbs of Fuzhou. This temple was located at the foot of Yishan Mountain in the western suburbs of Fuzhou, so it was called Xichan Temple. The place where Xichan Temple is located is anciently known as Yishan.
Overseas monasteries such as Shuanglin Temple in Singapore, Shuangqing Temple in Penang, Malaysia, and Nanputuo Temple in Vietnam all belong to the Xichan Lower House, and are still managed by the resident monks of the Xichan Temple. Therefore, this is a window for cultural exchanges between Fuzhou and Southeast Asia. Every year, many foreign monks and believers come to participate, and it has become a unique landscape of the ancient temple. Take a tour here.
Is that a good reason to label Sek Koh Sam’s Shaolin as Yishan School, or is there another reason?
4. The names of a few of the associations Sek Koh Sam started have ‘Sao XXX San 少 XXX 山’ in them. What does that mean and why were these names chosen?
The following associations were initiated by Sek Koh Sam himself:
Sao Hua San National Arts Association 少华山国术健身社 1954
Seow Tin San Athletic Association 少雄山國術健身社 1954
Penang Sao Lim Athletic Association 槟城少林国术健身社 1956
Nanyang Siao Lim National Arts Association 南洋少林国术总会 1958
I know there were 5 but can’t be sure which is the fifth one, I thought it was: Penang Seow Seet San Health Culture Association 槟城少室山健身社 but apparently it started in 1964
Two of them (Penang Sao Lim Athletic Association & Nanyang Siao Lim National Arts Association) have quite logical names with the words Shaolin 少林 in them. What is striking is the absence of the character “South” 南 to indicate that this is Southern Shaolin 南少林. Sek Koh Sam reportedly made no distinction here and simply called his art “Shaolin” 少林.
Other schools with the “Shao … Shan” 少…山 ( ‘Sao’ or Seow/Siau) and ‘San’) in the name construction were opened by his students in Penang, and in Singapore and almost never use the full term ‘Shaolin’ in the name of the association, only the abbreviation.
It is not certain why this name construction was used, but even to this day it means that the schools are easily separated from other branches of Shaolin, although there are exceptions to the ‘Shao .. Shan’ rule.
(Penang) Seow Chu Sang Association 檳城少慈山体育会
Persatuan Jasmani Seow Hay San Pulau Pinang 梹城少懷山健身社 (Master Gooi Teong Hup)
Penang Siow Hua San 檳城少華山國術健身社 by Quek Heng Choon
Persatuan Jasmani Soo/Sao Beng Sun 少明山健身学院 （亚依谈）Air Itam
Sao Hoon San Physical Culture Centre 少云山健身学院 (吡叻录) Perak
Penang Sao Hong San 槟城少峯山健身学院
Penang Seow Seet San Health Culture Association 槟城少室山健身社
Singapore Seow Teck San Physical Cultural Society 新加坡少竹山国术体育会
Singapore Siow Chong San Physical Culture Society 新加坡少众山国术体育会 (16 October 1969)
