Shi Yongxin (right), the abbot of Shaolin Temple and vice-chairman of the Buddhist Association of China and chairman of Henan Province Buddhists Association, leaves the Great Hall of the People after attending the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China, on March 8, 2017. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
The head of China’s Shaolin Temple, the fabled birthplace of kung fu and Zen Buddhism, has been placed under investigation for alleged criminal offenses, according to the monastery.
Shi Yongxin, who has held the position of temple abbot for more than two decades, is accused of “embezzling and misappropriating project funds and temple assets,” the temple’s authority said in a July 27 statement on its official WeChat account.
The 60-year-old monk also faces accusations of breaching the Buddhist precepts by “maintaining improper relationships with multiple women over a long period” and secretly fathering children, according to the notice. Shi is “under a joint investigation by multiple departments,” it added.
Shaolin Temple, located in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, is one of the most famous Buddhist monasteries across the nation and in the world. Originally a place for spiritual practice, the ancient temple has undergone significant changes under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Today, Shaolin Temple has become a global business, boasting multiple ventures that include a film and television company, a painting academy, a publishing house, and a performing arts troupe, all built by Shi, who has also gained a reputation as the “CEO Monk.”
In addition to his business activities, Shi is also involved in politics. The monk currently holds several administrative positions in China, including deputy president of the Buddhist Association of China, a state-run body that supervises Buddhist activities. He is also the president of the association’s division in Henan Province, where the temple is located.
In 1998, Shi was appointed to the National People’s Congress, a Party-controlled rubber-stamp legislature, by then-Chinese leader Jiang Zemin—a role he held for 20 years.
Shi Yongxin, abbot of Shaolin Temple, meets visitors in Dengfeng of Henan Province, China, on Aug. 24, 2006. China Photos/Getty Images
According to an exposé published in the Chinese business publication Caixin in 2015, Shi had a close relationship with the late party boss Jiang, the Henan party chief Li Changchun, and the Buddhist Association president Zhao Puchu. It was under Zhao’s instructions that Shi turned Shaolin Temple into a business empire, the report said.
Originally named Liu Yingcheng, Shi entered the Shaolin Temple in 1981, becoming its abbot at the end of the 1990s, according to the temple’s official website.
Over the past decade, Shi had been caught up in multiple scandals involving embezzlement and illicit sexual activity. In 2015, for example, Shi was reportedly to have relationships with several women, including nuns and believers, and fathered two illegitimate children.
In August 2018, the Shaolin Temple held its first-ever flag-raising ceremony in response to the CCP’s directive that all religious venues should fly its red national flag. The event marked the first time in the temple’s some 1,500-year history that it formally declared a political stance.
On July 26, just hours before the temple authority’s announcement, a post titled police notice widely circulated on Weibo, China’s version of X, claimed that local authorities had intercepted Shi while he attempted to flee to the United States with his mistresses and children. According to multiple domestic media outlets, local police officials at the time dismissed it as fake news.
Annie Wu and Nicole Hao contributed to this report.
