Shaolin Temple, the ancient Chinese monastery famed for its Buddhist traditions and kongfu, on Wednesday donated books about the temple's kongfu and medicine to the Library of Congress in Washington.

Shaolin Temple, the ancient Chinese monastery famed for its Buddhist traditions and kongfu, on Wednesday donated books about the temple's kongfu and medicine to the Library of Congress in Washington. Arch Abbot Shi Yongxin (M) from the Shaolin Temple participated in the ceremony held at the library.

Arch Abbot Shi Yongxin from the Shaolin Temple participated in the ceremony held at the library. The books were derived from ancient scripts of the Ming and Qing dynasties hundreds of years ago.

In the ceremony, Master Yongxin said many of Shaolin's ancient scripts were destroyed in a fire in 1928, but the temple has began an endeavor to rebuild its library in recent 30 years, and has managed to find 3,600 ancient books in the temple.

In giving the books to the Library of Congress, Master Yongxin also said he is keen to learn about the modern management of libraries, and put it to use in the temple's own library.