On August 2, 2026, on the occasion of World Martial Arts Day and National Fitness Day, the "Seeking Roots and Ancestral Land of Nanquan Returning to the Mountains - Second Batch of Nanquan Joint Returning to the Mountains Stele Ceremony" was grandly held at the South Shaolin Temple in Putian. This event is hosted by the South Shaolin Martial Arts Promotion Association of Fujian Province. More than 400 people from more than 20 schools of Nanquan from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Hong Kong and other places gathered in their ancestral homes to trace the cultural heritage of NanShaolin martial arts through erecting monuments, exhibitions and exchanges, and write a new chapter for the protection and inheritance of Nanquan intangible cultural heritage.
PART.01
At 9:00 am, representatives and guests from various schools visited the Historical and Cultural Museum and the ancient temple halls one by one. Through cultural relics, images, and visual materials, they systematically learned about the thousand year history of the Southern Shaolin Temple and the dissemination of Nanquan culture in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hong Kong.
Subsequently, everyone moved to the ancestral hall and stood solemnly to worship the martial arts masters of Nanquan throughout history. In a solemn atmosphere, representatives of various schools offer incense and perform martial arts rituals in sequence, expressing deep remembrance of their predecessors' contributions to founding the school and passing on art and virtue. This ceremony is not only a tribute to the ancestors of martial arts, but also embodies the profound spiritual core of "remembering the source of drinking water and respecting teachers and valuing the way" in the inheritance of Nanquan, further consolidating the cultural consensus of various schools with the same roots and traditions, and passing on the torch from generation to generation.
PART.02
At 9:30, the ceremony of returning to the mountain and erecting a monument began with the welcoming ceremony of Lion Wu. After watching the promotional video and sitcom "Southern Shaolin", the chairman of the Fujian Southern Shaolin Martial Arts Promotion Association and the abbot of the Southern Shaolin Temple, Master Kong Xing, delivered a welcome speech.
He pointed out that "Nan Shaolin Temple is the ancestral home of Nan Quan, and more importantly, the spiritual bond that connects martial arts colleagues at home and abroad. This time, returning to the mountain to erect a monument is not only a return to the skills, but also a reshaping of the cultural roots." He emphasized that today's return to the mountain is not the end, but a new starting point for Nan Quan to move from "fighting on their own" to "grasping fingers to form fists." Nan Shaolin Temple is willing to build an exchange platform for Nan Quan styles from all over the world and discuss the path of intangible cultural heritage protection together.
Subsequently, representatives from the Eighteen Paths, Lu Jiaying, the Dragon Fist, Zhou Zhenjiang, the Minghe Fist, Huang Xiaodong, and the Southern Shaolin Martial Arts Association, Lin Chunjie, spoke one after another, expressing their firm wishes to trace their origins and promote the spirit of Southern Fist.
The unveiling ceremony of the monument pushed the event to a climax. The commemorative stone tablet engraved with the inheritance history and development of various schools has been officially completed in the square of the South Shaolin Inheritance Hall, symbolizing the "return to the ancestral home" of the various schools of Nanquan and marking a new stage in the inheritance of South Shaolin martial arts.
PART.03
At 12:30 noon, the second meeting of the second council of the Promotion Association was held at the South Shaolin Inheritance Hall. The meeting studied policy documents such as the "15th Five Year Plan for Building a Strong Sports Nation" and watched a review video of "Chengmai Huanxin - Three Year Record of the Protection and Inheritance of South Shaolin Intangible Cultural Heritage Martial Arts (2024-2026)", which comprehensively presented the fruitful achievements of the Promotion Association in recent years in excavation and sorting, returning to the mountains to erect monuments, and cross regional exchanges.
The council listens to the annual work report and issues appointment letters to newly hired special advisors and honorary vice presidents. Master Kong emphasized in his summary that we should take the "15th Five Year Plan" as a guide, strengthen standardized construction, promote the vitality of Nanquan intangible cultural heritage in upholding integrity and innovation, and call on all schools to unite and contribute their martial arts strength to the construction of a sports powerhouse.
PART.04
At 13:00 in the afternoon, the "Southern Fist with a Thousand Year Rhyme and Eight Directions with a Thousand Miles of Wind -2026 World Martial Arts Day · National Fitness Day Southern Fist Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance and Exchange Conference" was brilliantly staged. Vice President of the Promotion Association, Venerable Xianfeng, Chinese Martial Arts Eight dan Zhou Qingquan, President of the Guangdong Southern School Martial Arts Research Association, Zhou Zhigui, President of the Hong Kong Cai Yinchuan Wing Chun Association, Cai Yinchuan, and Director of the Fujian Martial Arts Sports Management Center, Wu Xianju, delivered speeches successively.
Subsequently, representatives of martial arts groups from Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hong Kong and other places took turns on stage, winning cheers with their combination of strength and softness in Nanquan techniques.
This ceremony is another grand event for various schools of Nanquan to return to their ancestral homes, following the "Cross Sea Traceability · Returning to the Mountain Dynasty" in 2025. The event, linked by martial arts, not only strengthened the centripetal force of Southern Shaolin as the ancestral home of Southern Boxing culture, but also achieved deep mutual learning and integration among various schools through cross regional exchanges.
This joint Guishan Stele and Intangible Cultural Heritage Exchange Conference is not only an important milestone in the protection of Nanquan intangible cultural heritage, but also a vivid practice of implementing the "Sports Power" strategy and demonstrating confidence in Chinese culture. It will surely inspire the vast number of martial arts colleagues to work together and continue to write the era's glorious chapter of Nanquan culture in upholding integrity and innovation, contributing the unique strength of martial arts practitioners to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
