Shaolin Temple History
The Shaolin Temple is the much revered birthplace of Chan Buddhism in China. It was built in the late fifth century, in a mountainous region of Henan province. The temple was founded in a wooded area of the Shaoshi mountains, by a monk named Ba Tuo, under the auspices of the Chinese emperor Xiao Wen.
Ba Tuo, whose name means “man with consciousness”, was from ancient India. Originally, he joined five other Indians in Buddhist self-cultivation. Eventually, all five of his fellow Buddhist practitioners succeeded in becoming Buddha’s, but he did not. However, he did not loose heart. He was advised by his friends that if he would go to China, he was likely to succeed. After touring many countries, he arrived in China, where he found himself highly respected by Emperor Xiao Wen. According to the legend, it was during this period that Ba Tuo also became a Buddha.
As Ba Tuo was by nature fond of living in seclusion, he often went to wooded hill gullies of Mt. Song to keep away from secular affairs. Observing this, Emperor Xiao Wen enacted an edict to establish the Shaolin Temple for him on the northern slope of the Shaoshi Mountain. Since the temple was deep in the woods (translated as “lin” in Chinese) of Shaoshi Mountain, it is known as Shao-lin. Jing Rizhen of the early Qing Dynasty explained this in his book Mount Song: “Shaolin means woods in Shaoshi Mountain”.
http://russbo.com/shaolin-v15-49/shaolin-history/religious-beginnings 
