Shaolin monks built on and perfected the exercises, later adding animal-inspired movements, to become Shaolin martial arts - the mother of all that we know as kung fu, as well as Japanese and Korean martial arts. Shaolin won great esteem by protecting the country in times of invasion, earning a special place in the heart of China. Yet, despite its fame, Shaolin remained a relatively undisturbed place, sheltered from civilization.

　　Everybody's kung fu fighting

　　Fast forward to 1983. A young actor and martial arts prodigy from Beijing Sports University is starring in a new Hong Kong wushu movie whose storyline comes from the history of Shaolin temple. The actor is Jet Li, and the film is Shaolin Temple. Much to everyone's surprise, it's a hit. Jet Li becomes a superstar in China, inspiring a kung fu craze that sees the sleepy little Shaolin Temple inundated with tourists and Jet Li wannabes.

　　Almost overnight, kung fu schools have sprung up around the temple, housing legions of kung fu students (the estimated number today is 20,000). Fleets of tour buses roll in, packed with flag-following, camera-toting tourists doing bad kung fu impersonations in front of the pagoda garden - the same sacred burial ground where Jin Kong once practiced with his fellow monks.

　　Shaolin today is a standard stop for tour groups. Thousands of tourists per day walk past the gates - a radical departure from the original vision of a clandestine monastery for quiet, contemplative zen meditation. Yet the Shaolin tradition lives on...or does it?

　　Survival and success

　　Three major attacks - the first shortly after Da Mo, the second in 1647 and the last in 1927 by Chang Kai-shek - plus the effects of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) did irreparable damage to Shaolin. The loss of sacred books, the razing of the temple and deaths of great masters drove it almost to extinction.

　　But ironically, Jet Li's Hong Kong film breathed new life - and money - into Shaolin. The Chinese government recently invested 152 million yuan in redeveloping the temple, tearing down most of the schools and souvenir shops in the surrounding area and relocating them to the nearby town of Deng Feng. Another big boost has come from the Shaolin performance team that tours the world, doing shows for everyone from the Queen of England to rock fans at Lollapalooza.

　　Having survived eras of persecution where the practice of kung fu was punishable by death, the greatest challenge yet may be for Shaolin to survive the perils of its own success.