Honan Shaolin Hui–河南少林會 was founded in Shanghai in the early 1900s by Shifu Jian Jin Shan (蕑金山師傅) with a vision of preserving and propagating a Shaolin lineage and its heritage, which had for centuries had been transmitted by both lay and monk masters in the Luoyang region. At that time, the 'New Culture Movement (新文化運動)' expressed negative views on traditional martial arts and values that Master Jian Jin Shan defended and advocated. They called for a new Chinese culture based on modern, progressive, and western ideals and rejected traditional Chinese values of family ties and other cultural concepts held for centuries.
Tragically, on December 8th, 1941, the Honan Shaolin Hui 河南少林會 in Shanghai was invaded. The Japanese military shot Shifu Jian's elderly aunt, the most senior instructor at the academy, and Shifu Jian was imprisoned, where he eventually died, believing his work had been lost. However, that was not the end of the story. We survived.
