Discover Shaolin Medicine

The Shaolin branch of medicine is a healing system with more than one thousand years' of practice and integration. It was developed within the larger sect of Mahāyāna Buddhist Traditions and serves as a culmination of Indian and Traditional Chinese Medicine culture. In modern application, Shaolin medicine takes "meditation" as its fundamental healing method, but also uses doctrines of respiration, acupuncture massage, Daoyin (a natural movement system), Qixue (energy flow) and diet therapy to help regulate meridians and the operation of internal organs. It is believed that the wisdom of Chan is administered to address afflictions of the mind which is seen as a gateway to physical illness, while adversely, the physical body is given massage, qigong or kung fu to heal the body which is also seen as a gateway to the mind.

During the Yuan Dynasty, a famous historian named Yuan Haowen, wrote that the Shaolin Pharmacy Bureau started during the Jin Dynasty (1217), and thus has a history of more than 800 years, however medicinal treatments were going on in the temple well before that. The Pharmacy Bureau at that time was an organized center for healing inside the temple, primarily used for treating traumatic injuries and other diseases of Shaolin monks. A few decades later, the Pharmacy began treating the local people and even travelers from foreign provinces who made the journey to be treated at Shaolin Temple. During this time, the treatment and medicines provided by Shaolin were free and following traditional custom, patients would typically make a donation after the curing of a disease.

Throughout its history, the Shaolin Pharmacy Bureau developed various systems to cure illness or keep fit, such as the famous Bone Marrow Cleanse, Muscle/ Tendon change and various Shaolin Internal skills. There are also many secret herbal recipes handed by eminent monks of each generation to heal various ailments or promote health and longevity. By the modern establishment of the Republic of China (1912), Shaolin Medicine has documented it's system with a vast number of written works documented with millions of Chinese characters covering thousands of prescriptions. This knowledge is seldom transmitted to outsiders due to Buddhist precepts and is a treasure of Shaolin Temple. 

Our Company's Founder, Shaolin Grand Master Shi Xingzhen (Zhu Tian Xi) preparing Shaolin Medical Plaster