Sunday, May 31, 2026 -The former head of a Chinese temple famed as the birthplace of kung fu has been sentenced to 24 years in prison and fined 3.5 million yuan ($517,000) for crimes including embezzlement and bribery.
Buddhist monk Shi Yongxin, 60, was charged in
March this year after being placed under
investigation last July.
A court in the central
Chinese province of Henan handed down the sentence, saying
Shi had abused his role as the abbot at Shaolin Temple to embezzle,
misappropriate, and take and give bribes totaling about 300 million yuan over
nearly three decades.
Shi pleaded guilty and told the court he would not appeal,
state media reported.
Shaolin Temple said last July that its head monk was under
joint investigation by multiple agencies for suspected criminal offences
including embezzlement and violation of Buddhist precepts by maintaining
improper relationships with multiple women over a long period.
Shi's monastic certificate was
swiftly revoked by the Buddhist Association of China amid the investigation.
Responding to Shi's sentencing in a statement, the association
said on Friday, July 29, that "he brought it on himself".
Shi, known as Liu Yingcheng before he became a monk in 1981,
oversaw the temple since 1987 and became its abbot in 1999.
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