BEIJING — China’s well-known Shaolin Temple introduced on Sunday that its abbot is beneath investigation on suspicion of misappropriation and embezzlement of venture budget and temple belongings.
Shi Yongxin is said to have dedicated prison offenses and violated Buddhist precepts by way of keeping up relationships with more than one ladies over an extended duration and fathering a minimum of one kid, in keeping with a realize from the temple’s authority on its WeChat account.
The attention stated a joint investigation used to be being performed by way of more than one departments and its findings could be introduced in the end.
The celebrity of the Shaolin Temple, based totally within the central Chinese language province of Henan, has long gone past a spiritual establishment. Additionally it is famend for its martial arts tradition, or kung fu, which has been referenced in lots of films and TV dramas, together with the 1982 movie “The Shaolin Temple,” starring martial arts celebrity Jet Li.
Native media reported that Shi Yongxin, whose unique title is Liu Yingcheng, had confronted accusations prior to now, together with claims that he fathered a number of youngsters and embezzled cash. Provincial investigation stories exonerated him of all fees in 2016, in keeping with the Caixin World information outlet.
Shi Yongxin entered the Shaolin Temple in 1981 and become its abbot in 1999, in keeping with the temple’s web page.
China’s state information company Xinhua reported in 2015 that he used to be referred to as a “CEO monk,” attracting complaint for creating business operations to advertise kung fu presentations and products.
Previous on Sunday, Chinese language native media shops reported that government had disregarded as faux a web based realize claiming Shi Yongxin used to be intercepted by way of government whilst seeking to flee to the U.S. with quite a few mistresses and a few 20 youngsters.