The management office of the Shaolin Temple in Songshan, Henan Province recently issued a notice confirming that the abbot Shi Yongxin is under official investigation for alleged criminal activities. This news, like a bombshell, has caused a huge shock in the Chinese religious community. With this “Buddhist CEO” under investigation, controversies surrounding his vast commercial empire have once again become a focus of public attention.
On the morning of July 26, rumors about the abbot of the Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin, being taken away for investigation spread like wildfire. His personal Weibo account stopped updating suddenly since 6:58 AM on July 24, breaking the usual pattern of posting about 1.5 Weibo posts per day, sparking speculation from the public. Several media outlets tried to verify the information, but the phone at the temple’s reception remained unanswered, and the responses from the temple’s monks were ambiguous.
However, on the evening of the 27th, the Shaolin Temple management office issued a situation report that completely confirmed the rumors. The report stated that Shi Yongxin is under investigation for alleged criminal activities, undergoing a joint investigation by multiple departments, and detailing serious issues such as embezzlement of temple assets and maintaining inappropriate relationships with multiple women, resulting in having illegitimate children.
The official intervention and clear statement have escalated this incident from mere rumors to a confirmed event, unraveling the complex controversy surrounding this figure known as the “Buddhist CEO”.
The Shaolin Temple, located on Mount Song in Dengfeng City, Henan Province, was founded in the 19th year of the Northern Wei Dynasty (495 AD), over 1500 years ago. It is the birthplace of the Chan sect of Chinese Zen Buddhism, known as the “Number One Temple under Heaven”. During the Cultural Revolution initiated by the Communist Party of China, the temple suffered severe damage with monks forced to return to secular life, Buddha statues destroyed, and halls collapsed. It wasn’t until after the Cultural Revolution that the Shaolin Temple was rebuilt.
Shi Yongxin (born Liu Yingcheng) entered the Shaolin Temple in 1981. After the passing of the head elder in 1987, he took charge of temple affairs and was promoted to abbot in 1999. Under his leadership, the Shaolin Temple expanded into a “commercial empire” spanning across culture, tourism, film and television, food, and other fields, earning him the nickname “Buddhist CEO”.
Before the investigation, Shi Yongxin served as the Vice President of the Chinese Buddhist Association and the President of the Henan Provincial Buddhist Association. He had been a national People’s Congress representative multiple times and was regarded as a “political monk”, allegedly enjoying treatment equivalent to a deputy minister level.
The controversy surrounding Shi Yongxin is not new. As early as 2015, a netizen claiming to be an “informed person at the Shaolin Temple Shi Zhengyi” anonymously accused Shi Yongxin of having dual household registrations, a chaotic personal life, extramarital affairs with multiple women and having illegitimate children, and misappropriation of temple assets.
At that time, the official position of the Shaolin Temple denied these accusations and reported the accuser to the police, labeling it as “malicious slander”. While some of the previous accusations were investigated by official authorities and found to be unsubstantiated or without evidence, this official report now confirms the truth behind some of those rumors.
Over the years, Shi Yongxin’s push for commercial development at the Shaolin Temple has faced criticism for being “over-commercialized”. There is widespread concern about whether the sacred grounds of Buddhism have become tools for profit, creating a stark contrast between the image of monks as detached from worldly desires and Shi Yongxin’s role as a creator of a “commercial empire”. Events such as the high ticket prices at the Shaolin Temple and the associated company spending large amounts to bid on commercial land have sparked public debates on the purity of Buddhism and faith.
In particular, in 2022, a Shaolin Temple-affiliated company, Henan-Tiesong Digital Technology Co., Ltd., won a bid for commercial land in Zhengzhou for 452 million yuan. Although the Shaolin Temple later withdrew from the shareholder ranks of the company, questions about “venturing into real estate” persist.
In a broader historical context, the Shi Yongxin incident reflects profound changes in the Chinese Communist Party’s religious policies.
Epoch Times has previously reported that Shi Yongxin’s rise to power was related to support from specific factions. During Jiang Zemin’s era, the government promoted the commercial development of religious sites, with Jiang himself inspecting various religious sites. This led to local authorities using religion as a means to develop their economies or profit from them, resulting in a widespread commercialization of religious sites.
For further reading: Exclusive: Leaked Documents on How the CCP Is Transforming Religion.