Xu Shiyou was a legendary general. He was a monk before joining the Red Army. His extraordinary martial arts and courage saw him through many hand-to-hand battles. His knives are on display in the Military Museum of Chinese People’s Revolution in Beijing.
Shaolin monk Xu Shiyou was a monk in Shaolin, a Buddhist temple famed for its martial arts.
Born in 1905 to a destitute peasant family, Xu had an extremely hard childhood before a Shaolin monk took the 8-year-old to the temple.
Life in the temple was hard. Xu would rise before dawn to chant Buddhist scriptures before practicing martial arts. After eight years there, Xu heard his mother was very ill.
Shaolin had a rule for people who wanted to leave: fight your way out. Xu fought through three lines of more than 100 monks and left Shaolin. Xu's family was still very poor. A landlord's son tried to seize Xu’s ox as it ate the landlord’s crops. Xu argued with the landlord’s son and punched him. That punch was fatal. Xu had to flee soon after returning home.
He joined the army of Wu Peifu, a warlord who was fighting other warlords. Four years later, Xu became a company leader thanks to his courage. In 1925, encouraged by his classmate Wang Shusheng (who also later became a general), Xu started to organize peasant rebellions and joined the Red Army.
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