Why did Emperor Kangxi burn the South Shaolin Temple?

At the beginning of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, some people left by the Ming Dynasty established the Hong Guang regime, which was eventually disintegrated by the Qing Dynasty, while others hid in an empty door. These adherents of the Ming Dynasty became monks, not because they really saw through the world of mortals, but under the guise of Buddhism, they preserved their strength and made a comeback in the future.

At that time, Shaolin Temple was famous for its martial arts and many lay disciples. They rely on these lay disciples to get in touch with more righteous people who are anti-Qing and regain their sight, and cultivate their own power in the name of disciples, and their strength grows step by step. At that time, South Shaolin Temple in Fujian was the gathering place for these people.

According to the book of Heaven and Earth Society, in the 13th year of Kangxi, when the West Lu invaded, the officers and men in the DPRK were unable to resist, so they issued a royal list to gather people with courage and resourcefulness in the world and made a promise that if they successfully retreated from the enemy, they would be appointed officials and knighted. South Shaolin Temple unveiled the imperial list and knelt down to kill the enemy. Unexpectedly, after the victory, Kangxi sent three thousand guards and fiery temples to slaughter monks.

This famous "West Foothill Story" was later fabricated by the Heaven and Earth Society to discredit the Qing Dynasty with tragic history in order to gain more people's support. But Kangxi did order the burning of the South Shaolin Temple.

At that time, South Shaolin Temple became more and more powerful and its actions became more and more ostentatious. Not only that, they also hurt the local people when they carried out anti-Qing activities, so they were reported to the court by the local people. The Qing dynasty sent people to investigate thoroughly. Finally, Kangxi ordered the burning of the South Shaolin Temple.

Without the stronghold of South Shaolin, these people wandered around, and finally, with the help of Zheng Chenggong, the Heaven and Earth Society was established. Although the Heaven-Earth Society aims at fighting against the Qing Dynasty and regaining sight, it is actually a group of anti-Qing forces. They have been active in various periods of the Qing Dynasty, but nothing happened.

Until the rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, heaven and earth would join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and jointly fight against the Qing Dynasty.