“Gained merit in battle” reads the epitaph of two of the 231 eminent Shaolin monks honored with shrines in the Pagoda Forest. The number of layers in a shrine reflects a monk’s virtue; his bones, and often those of disciples, are buried below. Photograph by Fritz Hoffmann
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“Gained merit in battle” reads the epitaph of two of the 231 eminent Shaolin monks honored with shrines in the Pagoda Forest. The number of layers in a shrine reflects a monk’s virtue; his bones, and often those of disciples, are buried below.

Photograph by Fritz Hoffmann