Former head of China’s ‘kung fu’ temple sentenced to 24 years in jail

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. 

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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.