1. "Phoenix - Eye Fist: A Shaolin Fighting Art of South China"
by Cheong Cheng Leong and Donn Drager. New York - WEATHERHILL - Tokyo. 

Sample from chapter 1:

"Though historical material on the Shaolin Temple in Honan is sparse, scholars generally agree that there was a second Shaolin Temple located in Fukien province and that the latter temple became a focal point for the study of the art of close combat, It is believed that during the reign of Emperor K'ang-hsi (1661-1722) of the Manchu, or Ch'ing, dynasty (1644 - 1912), the imperial armies contained 128 fighting monks from the Fukien Shaolin Temple. These monks distinguished themselves in action against the raiding nomadic tribesmen who were attacking the western borders of the Chinese homeland. Later, however, Manchu officials convinced Emperor K'ang-hsu that the Fukien Shaolin Temple was the spawning ground for anti-government forces; and the emperor's imperial armies razed the temple. 

Only five monks are said to have escaped, and the systems of combat that they are supposed to have developed are said to be the basis of all modern Shaolin." 
 
 

Our tradition states: 
The Triad was founded by the Five Elders.

2. "The Fighting Arts" 
by Howard Reid and Michael Croucher, published by Simon and Schuster by arrangement with the B.B.C.

Sample from chapter 4:

"He sent an army, which was assisted by a renegade Shaolin monk. From details of the attack which have survived in legends, it seems that the Temple was surrounded and burned down. Some 110 monks died, but 18 were protected by the Buddha's answer to their prayers, a large yellow curtain to keep the flames from them. In the end, it is said, only five of these survived the attack. They are known as the Five Ancestors and they are the legendary founders of the Triads, one of China's notorious secret societies, whose roots are said to go back to the sixteenth century."

"Even today's secret societies, such as the Triads, have strong associations with the martial arts."

" I-He-Ch'uan, The Fists of Rightious Harmony, known in the West as the Boxers."

" Another organization known in the West is the Triads. This was related to the White Lotus and its offshoots, but developed separately in South China, possibly because the language spoken there was unintelligible to Chinese from other parts of the country. The English name derives from the title 'The Three in Accord Society'; "Three" or 'Triad' referred to the trinity of heaven, earth and man.

The members of the Triads say their Society was founded in 1674 at the time of another rebellion to depose the reigning emperor of the hated Ch'ing Dynasty, Appalling figures are associated with the ending of the rebellion: 700,000 people were executed in one month in one province alone; 100,000 fled to Taiwan (then Formosa)".

"The Triads have always been opportunistist, joining in with other organizations' rebellions, doing anything to attack the Ch'ing. In this way they captured Shanghai, holding it for 18 months while, at the same time, besieging Canton. The organization is far more profound than its modern association with crime would suggest. The Triads' beliefs include much that comes from Chinese folklore. Many of their ideas are based upon the Five Ancestors who survived the burning of the Shoalin Temple."

#3.  From: "Five Pattern Hung Kuen," Part Two. Written By Dr. Leung Ting.

The following is from page 27 entitled Philosophy of The Five Pattern Kung Fu. First paragraph: "The techniques of the Five-Pattern System, having been originated by Ng Mui and Miu Hin, were passed through four generations to Sifu Yuen Yik Kai. Though it has been two centuries since the system was first created, yet, each technique of the system still retains its original characteristics – each movement of the practitioner resembling the movements of the beak, the wing, the tail or the paw of the five creatures, amply proving the source of these techniques."

#4.  From The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia…Tradition-History-Pioneers, by Corcoran and Farkas with Sobel.

*Forms of Kung Fu; page 27: "Five Elders – Style of kung-fu; also the five priests who escaped the burning of the original Shao-lin Temple."

#5.  From The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia…Tradition-History-Pioneers, by Corcoran and Farkas with Sobel.

*Forms of Kung Fu; page 93: " Hung-Chia: Southern style of Chinese kung-fu stressing powerful hand techniques, delivered from strong low stances. As the story goes, five monks, called the Five Ancestors escaped from the Shao-lin Temple during its destruction by government troops. One monk, Chi-Sim, made his way to southern China, taking refuge among the boat people, where he was recruited by a floating opera troupe to teach martial arts. Chi-Sim reportedly modified his Shao-lin style accordingly; kicks and the more intricate balancing maneuvers found in northern strains of Shao-lin were excluded.

The origination of the style is credited to Fong-T’sai after his escape from the Shao-lin Temple. Another source holds that the originators of the style were Ng-Mui and Mui-Hin;

The system is based on the movements of the five animals: dragon, snake, tiger, leopard and crane. A famous exponent of this system is Yuen-Yik-Kai, in Hong Kong." (Michael Staples)

#6.  From The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia…Tradition-History-Pioneers, by Corcoran and Farkas with Sobel.

*Forms of Kung Fu; page 101: Wing Chun; "According to semilegendary accounts, wing chun originated in the early 1700’s at the Shaolin Temple in Honan Province. At that time in Chinese history, the Shaolin Temple with its long established tradition of martial art training had become a sanctuary for dissidents, revolutionaries, and secret societies dedicated to the over-throw of the Manchu dynasty. The Manchu government employed professional soldiers who were highly skilled in the martial arts and well versed in the fighting tactics of the Shaolin Temple. Whenever they were sent into an area of Shaolin activivity to enforce the Manchu will, they quickly put a halt to the Robin Hood operations of the rebellious monks.

The Shaolin monks eventually realized that they could not rapidly train a young rebel to match the fighting skills of the Manchu soldiers since full mastery of the Shaolin martial arts required approximately eighteen years. A solution to this problem needed to be found. The elders of the temple convened a meeting and agreed to develop a new fighting art which would overcome all others, and which would take a much shorter period of time to learn.

The elders met regularly and engaged in lengthy discussions during which each elder revealed his or her most secret fighting techniques. Soon the elders became so encouraged by the progress of these discussions that they renamed the martial arts training room in which they met Wing Chun Hall, or Forever Springtime Hall. The words "wing chun" expressed their hopes for a renaissance in Shaolin martial arts instruction, as well as for a more effective weapon in their struggle against the Manchus.

However before the new fighting art could be completely developed, a Shaolin traitor tipped off the government and Manchu soldiers were sent to destroy the temple. Most of the temple residents were killed in the attack, and the few who survived quickly fled to clandestine locations throughout China.

Among the survivors was a nun named Ng Mui who had been one of the temple elders. After the raid, she hid hid herself at a nunery on Tai Leung Mountain between Szechwan and Yunan provinces. She spent her time there finalizing the movements of the new fighting art. Once completed, Ng Mui decided to call the art "wing chun" after the Wing Chun Hall in which she and the other elders had held their discussions.

Ng Mui taught the new art to the teenage daughter of bean-curd vendor Yim Yee Gung who lived in the village at the bottom of Tai Leung Mountain. Shortly before Ng Mui’s death, she named her student Yim Wing Chun since the girl had been entrusted with the art’s future. For the next two hundred years, wing chun remained a private kung fu system, taught only to family and friends, until 1952 in Hong Kong when grandmaster Yip Man first offered commercial instruction." (Paul Maslak)

#7. Wing Chun Kung Fu; Chinese Art of Self Defense, by J. Yimm Lee. 

Page 13: A Brief History Of Wing Chun…  "According to legend, wing chun (literally, beautiful springtime") was founded by a woman, Yim Wing Chun, some four hundred years ago. Yim Wing Chun learned her basic self-defense from a Buddhist nun, Ng Mui…"

#8. Ancient Sets Of Kung Fu, Vol. 1 #6 (Bok Fu Pai’s White Tiger Kung Fu Bench Form: Grandmaster Doo Wai on the cover. Page #16, paragraph #1…

"The Five Elders in the history of Chinese Kung Fu, refers to the famous five that escaped the burning of the Shaolin Temple at Fukien in the 1600’s. There were four monks and a nun, which were considered the top fighting Generals at the temple. Bak Mae (White Eyebrow), Nun, Ng Moi (Plum Flower Fist), Jee Shin Shim Shee (Long Fist), Mew Hing (18 Daoist Palms), and the chief fighting monk and expert in Bok Fu Pai (White Tiger), Fung Doe Duk, which is the focus of this article."

#9 Inside Kung Fu Magazine March 1975 (Grandmaster Doo Wai on Cover)… by Alan Sutton: 

"Among those managing to escape the inferno were four monks and a nun. And in the year 1673 they fled for their lives, accompanied only by their respective styles of Kung-Fu. Their names were: Jee Shin Shim Shee, Ng Moi (The nun whose student, Yim Wing Chun, is responsible for the Wing Chun System.), Fung Doe Duk, Mew Hin Too Jung and Bak Mai Too Jung. Two years later they finally reached their destination – O’Mie Shan mountain in Szechwan province.
It was in another temple, there, that they completely revamped – and renamed their original styles – all except Jee Shin Shim Shee, that is, who stuck with the traditional Shaolin system. (The hybrid styles and their founders were as follows: Moi Fo Chuan, Ng Moi; Bok Fu Pai, Fung Doe Duk; and Bok Mai Pai Too Jung. Mew Hin Too Jung altered his style, also, but the name went unrecorded.)"

Karate Kung-Fu Illustrated / August 1986. Doo Wai Cover. Mysterious Healing With Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu by Loren Franck. "There was a fire, and those managing to escape included four monks and a nun. They were Jee Shin Shim Shee, Ng Miu (who taught Yim Wing Chun, founder of the wing chun system), Fung Doe Duk Doa Jung, Mew Hing Doa Jung and Bok Mai Doa Jung."