The 49th Generation Of Second Chamber (Southern) Shaolin Sao Lim Kung Fu

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 the 46 after)?

Shi Gao Shen practiced Martial Arts in the Shaolin tradition or culture. Nobody, as far as I know, is claiming that he was an monk from the Songshan Shaolin temple in Henan province. Martial arts were practiced in many temples in China, since the Shaolin Martial Arts and Buddhism are one.

There are many different schools of Buddhism, and Buddhism from Shaolin (Chan Buddhism) incorporates the Martial Arts as a way of cultivating the mind and spirit. So, although the actual teachings left the Shaolin temple a long time ago, Shi Gao Shen Martial Arts can still be called Buddhist style and Martial Arts in Shaolin culture.

Therefore many other styles of Martial Art can be called ‘Layman Styles’ (Su Jia Pai). Even the Martial Arts at Songshan Shaolin temple today are a mix of Buddhist and (modern) laymen styles, since after the last destruction in 1928 there were no qualified and fully trained successors left to reintroduce the complete martial arts to the Shaolin temple in the beginning of the eighties of the previous century.

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.

Huineng 惠能, the sixth and last forefather and sixth patriarch, was the leader of the Southern school. After the fifth patriarch of ‘Chan’, after the founder Damo, the practice of ‘Chan’ went south in China.

There is a Sixth Forefather for both the Southern and the Northern School. I’ll 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. It is unknown who started the lineage of Shi Gao Shen or what the lineage names of the monks were.

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.

少林海外传人高参上人
Original 郑维明泉南史话

少林武术的发源地在河南省登封市城五里外的嵩山少林寺，以武僧著称。少林派在六组慧能禅师与神秀禅师时，分为南少林与北少林。六组以后不再传授衣钵，亦无祖师之名称。少林之南北两派；慧能之南派重“拳”精于“短手”；神秀之北派则重“腿”精于“长手”，世称“南拳北腿”之分，风格迵异，特点鲜明。月悬于小桥之上，竹林间，短桥寸劲，阔幅沉马，讯疾紧凑，此乃南派武术的特点；日出于泰山之巅，空旷间，大开大合，蹿纵跳跃，舒展大方，这是北派的特点。
少林南派法门传至浙江省南海普济寺，慧精大师是六组传下第二房之四十八传门人。而四十九传则是新加坡莲山双林寺方丈高参和尚。

Google translation:

“Shaolin overseas successor Gao Canshangren
Original Zheng Weiming Quannan History

The birthplace of Shaolin martial arts is the Songshan Shaolin Temple, five miles away from Dengfeng City, Henan Province, which is famous for its martial monks. The Shaolin School was divided into Southern Shaolin and Northern Shaolin during the Sixth Group of Zen Master Huineng and Zen Master Shenxiu. After the Sixth Group, the robe and bowl were no longer passed on, and there was no title of ancestor. There are two schools of Shaolin in the north and south; Huineng’s Southern School focuses on “fists” and is good at “short hands”; Shenxiu’s Northern School focuses on “legs” and is good at “long hands”, which is known as the “Southern Fist and Northern Legs” division, with completely different styles and distinct characteristics. The moon hangs above the small bridge, among the bamboo forests, the short bridge is inch-strong, the wide-width horse is sinking, and the news is fast and compact. This is the characteristic of the Southern School of martial arts; the sun rises on the top of Mount Tai, in the open space, opening and closing, leaping and jumping, stretching and generous, this is the characteristic of the Northern School.
The Shaolin Southern School was passed down to Puji Temple in Nanhai, Zhejiang Province. Master Huijing was the 48th disciple of the second branch of the sixth group. The 49th was the abbot of Singapore Lianshan Shuanglin Temple, Master Gaocan.”

This picture I found on Facebook seems to collaborate with this theory:

This implies that Sek Koh Sam is the 49^th 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.

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 in Putian (莆田), delving into the study of Buddhist Zen. Sek Koh Sam was a practitioner of Caodong 曹洞宗 Chan 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:

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.

Although Xueting Fuyu (雪庭福裕) is traditionally placed as the 25th generation after Bodhidharma, Sek Koh Sam’s teacher Master Hui Jing is counted as the 48th generation in the lineage.

This represents 23 generations between Fuyu (13th century) and Hui Jing (late 19th/early 20th century), spanning roughly 600–650 years. With an average of approximately 26–28 years per generation, the timeline is realistic.

If we count from Bodhidharma (traditionally active around 520–540 CE) to Hui Jing (late 19th century), we have about 48 generations over roughly 1,350–1,400 years. This gives an average of 28–29 years per generation, which is entirely plausible for Buddhist and martial arts lineages, where teachings were often passed on in a master’s later years.

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.

The meaning of the Second Chamber:

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? I could not find any other source for this list.

Sek Koh Sam received his dharma name 高参 (Gao Can) in accordance with the generational poem of the Yishan Xichan Chang Qing Temple (福州怡山西禅长庆寺), the ancestral temple of both Meifeng Temple and Shuanglin Temple. The temple uses the following 28-character poem to determine monastic generations:

妙慧光辉亮参禅，雄振善缘乘宝莲。 精进勤修愿力大，祥云瑞庆志和成。

Venerable Xing Liang (行亮上人), his tonsure master, belonged to the “亮” (Liàng) generation. Following the poem, Sek Koh Sam received the next character “参” and was given the dharma name 高参 (Gao Can / Gao Shen), making him part of the sixth generation in this lineage. This name was later confirmed during his full ordination at Putian Meifeng Temple.

This connection firmly places Sek Koh Sam within the Caodong Sect (曹洞宗) of Chan Buddhism through the West Chan (Xichan) lineage, while his martial arts transmission followed the separate South Shaolin tradition.

根据少总现任总务雄字辈陈志发的判断,今时今日新加坡高参派少林门人已经传到了“善”或“缘”字辈了。According to Chen Zhifa, the current Shaolin Martial Arts Association General Manager, who holds the Xiong generational title, the current generational order of the Gaocan School of Shaolin in Singapore has reached the “Shan” or “Yuan” generational order.

This are the complete generational names (“zi-bei” 字辈)

	Character	Pinyin	Meaning
1	妙	Miào	Wondrous, subtle insight
2	慧	Huì	Wisdom, clarity
3	光	Guāng	Light, radiance
4	辉	Huī	Brilliance, shine
5	亮	Liàng	Bright, luminous
6	参	Shēn	Participate, engage in meditation
7	禅	Chán	Zen, meditation
8	雄	Xióng	Strong, heroic
9	振	Zhèn	Rise, inspire
10	善	Shàn	Goodness, virtue
11	缘	Yuán	Karma, connection
12	乘	Chéng	Harness, ride upon
13	宝	Bǎo	Treasure, precious
14	莲	Lián	Lotus, symbol of purity
15	精	Jīng	Refined, diligent
16	进	Jìn	Progress, advancement
17	勤	Qín	Industrious, hardworking
18	修	Xiū	Cultivate, practice
19	愿	Yuàn	Aspiration, resolve
20	力	Lì	Strength, energy
21	大	Dà	Great, vast
22	祥	Xiáng	Auspicious, good fortune
23	云	Yún	Cloud, blessings
24	瑞	Ruì	Auspice, luck
25	庆	Qìng	Celebration, joy
26	志	Zhì	Will, intention
27	和	Hé	Harmony
28	成	Chéng	Completion, achievement

妙慧光辉亮参禅， Wondrous wisdom and radiant brilliance illuminate the Chan path.

Explanation: This line emphasizes profound and subtle wisdom (妙慧) that shines like brilliant light (光辉亮), illuminating the practice of Chan/Zen meditation (参禅). It represents the clear insight and enlightened understanding essential for genuine spiritual cultivation.

雄振善缘乘宝莲。 Heroic and vigorous, one rides the precious lotus of virtuous karmic connections.

Explanation: This line describes a powerful, heroic spirit (雄振) that advances by making use of good karmic affinities and connections (善缘). The “precious lotus” (宝莲) is a classic Buddhist symbol of purity and spiritual elevation — “riding” it signifies rising above worldly conditions through positive karma.

精进勤修愿力大， With diligent cultivation and the great power of vows.

Explanation: This line stresses diligent and continuous effort (精进勤修) in spiritual practice, supported by the immense power generated by great vows and aspirations (愿力大). In Mahayana Buddhism, “vow power” refers to the strong resolve to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

祥云瑞庆志和成。 Auspicious clouds bring celebratory blessings; harmonious aspirations are fulfilled.

Explanation: The final line speaks of auspicious signs (祥云瑞庆) and the successful realization of harmonious goals and intentions (志和成). It conveys optimism — when wisdom, diligent practice, and good karma come together, one’s spiritual aspirations are naturally and harmoniously accomplished.