3 days ago
Shaolin Temple's ‘CEO monk' under investigation for embezzlement
F or decades, he has been China's most famous monk. Abbot Shi Yongxin ran one of the country's most revered and historic sites, a sort of Glastonbury Abbey and York Minster rolled into one.
Shaolin Temple in Zhengzhou is the reputed home of Zen Buddhism and the 'kung fu' martial arts, known as wushu to the Chinese. But under Shi it became a brand, featuring in films, running networks of schools and martial arts performance centres and cultivating an enormous tourist trade.
Shi, 59, travelled the world, with an iPhone and an iPad, earning the nickname 'the CEO monk'.
According to allegations levelled this week by the Communist Party, Shi embezzled temple funds, engaged in a number of long-term relationships with women and fathered an illegitimate child.
