Haideng (; also sometimes spelled as Hai Teng and Hai-tank in older translations) (14 August 1902 – 11 January 1989) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, martial artist and emeritus abbot of

Shaolin Temple Shaolin Monastery ( zh, labels=no, c=少林寺, p=shàolínsì), also known as Shaolin Temple, is a monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin kung fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak o ...

during the 20th century. He was born Fan Wubing () in Jiangyou County,

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

province. His parents gave him the name "Fan Wubing", which means Fan the Never Sick, in hopes that this might improve his being constantly sick when he was young. At the age of 19, Fan Wubing was accepted into

Sichuan University Sichuan University (SCU) is a public university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. I ...

, but did not attend due to financial difficulties. Instead, he attended Sichuan Police Academy, but later dropped out in pursuit of martial arts training. Hai Deng was famous for his ''one-finger Chan'', one of the 72 arts of the Shaolin temple, with which he could support most of his body weight on one finger. Thanks to a visit to the USA in 1985, he was noted for his religious observance, literary skill, and qigong talents.Gene Ching. The First Shaolin Monk in America. Kung Fu Magazine, 2007
/ref> He Was first met with the Master Xu Yun (Empty Cloud.)

References

External links

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NExoT38sjj4 video of Hai Deng performing his "One finger Chan". *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMdj6FDcQMo&NR video of Hai Deng's student performing Two Finger Chan. Hai Teng Chinese Buddhist monks 20th-century Buddhist monks 20th-century Chinese people Year of birth missing Chinese male martial artists Chinese Shaolinquan practitioners zh:释海灯 {{Buddhist-clergy-stub