Monk Fu Yue became the abbot of Shaolin and combined the five Chan branches back into one called Chou Dong. People came from all over to hear his dharma talks and as a result Shaolin became very famous and prosperous. He built more Shaolin Temples in Helin (southwest of Kuolon, Mongolia), in Chang En (now known as Xian), in Suzhou, in Taiyuen and in Luoyang. With each new temple, he sent a Songshan Shaolin monk to be abbot. Fu Yue's impact on the spread of Chan and Shaolin was tremendous. It earned him some very special titles. To Shaolin, he is Kai Shan Jiu Shi ("open mountain founder"). In 1312, Yuan dynasty Emperor Renzhong (1285-1320) bestowed the title of Da Shi Kong Cai Fu Yi Tong San Shi (a third level ranking) which was elevated after Fu Yue's passing to Pu Guo Gong ("grandfather whose teaching goes to every corner of the country).
While Ba Tuo is the founder and first abbot of the temple and Ta Mo is the founder of Chan, Fu Yue is the founder of the current lineage of the Shaolin Temple.
Fu Yu invited the best martial artists to come and share their knowledge while training at the Shaolin temple. Three times, for a period of three years each time, martial artists from many places came to the Shaolin temple to share their knowledge. The Shaolin monks recorded the forms and techniques, which they observed into a library which was kept at Shaolin. It is for this reason that the Shaolin Temple is often considered the birthplace of martial arts. However this is incorrect. The Shaolin Temple can be seen more as a modern day University that simply studied martial arts and then combined the useful techniques into a new system. This system is now known as Shaolin Kung Fu.Fu Yu's lineage continues unbroken to this day.
Abbot Fu Yue created a very special poem for Shaolin. Each of the 70 characters in this poem is now used as a generation name for Shaolin monks and disciples. For example, current abbot Yongxin is of the 33rd generation. Accordingly, Yong is the 33rd character in this poem. Currently the oldest surviving generation is Su (30th) and the youngest is Chang (38th).
1st Lineage of abbots at the Shaolin Temple:
- Ba Tuo
2nd Lineage of abbots:
- Ta Mo (378-?)
- Hui Ke (487-594)
- Sheng San (d. 606)
- Gao Xing ( 580-651)
- Hung Ren (600-678)
- Hui Neng (638-713)
3rd Lineage of abbots:
- Fu Yue (during the Sung dynasty)
- Shi Xing Zhen (1914-1987)
- Shi Yong Xin (b. 1965, current abbot, 33rd generation Shaolin monk)
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