Businessman, fraudster, secret lover—these are words one would hardly associate with a monk.
Shi Yongxin, the head monk of China’s Shaolin Temple, was
removed after committing acts of an “extremely bad nature,” according to China’s top Buddhist authority, following allegations of embezzlement, “improper relationships with multiple women,” and “fathering illegitimate children.”
The Shaolin Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a 1,500-year history, known as the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and kung fu, serving as a global symbol of discipline and resilience. It attracts tourists and kung fu students worldwide.
China’s Buddhist Association, the highest Buddhist authority under the communist regime, announced on July 28 that it has stripped Shi of his ordination certificate while he is under investigation.
“Shi Yongxin’s actions are extremely serious, severely damaging the reputation of the Buddhist community and the image of monks,” the statement said.
The ordination certificate is a formal license recognizing a monk’s status. Losing it means Shi has been disrobed or defrocked from the monastic community.
This follows an
announcement on the Shaolin Temple’s website, issued the previous day, saying that Shi is suspected of “embezzling project funds and temple assets,” maintaining multiple mistresses, and fathering illegitimate children. The temple said that “multiple departments” are conducting a joint investigation.
NTD found the last
post on his own Weibo account, which has more than 880,000 followers and had been updated daily with Buddhist teachings, is dated July 23.
Shi, known as Liu Yingcheng before he became a monk in 1981, he became its abbot in 1999, as the temple's website showed.
Known as the “CEO Monk” for establishing dozens of companies abroad, Shi built a Shaolin business empire spanning multiple sectors, including education, cultural tourism, catering, traditional Chinese medicine, retail, and even real estate. He also established cultural centers overseas, adopting a tiered membership fee, and organized Shaolin kung fu shows overseas.
In addition to his businesses, Shi Yongxin, deputy president of China’s state-run Buddhist Association and president of its Henan Province division, has aligned with pro-communist policies. In August 2018, Shaolin Temple held its first communist-style anthem-raising ceremony, following a CCP mandate to display the national flag at religious sites.
Before the Shaolin Temple’s announcement, a
post that Shi Yongxin was intercepted by authorities while “attempting to flee to the United States with 34 people, including mistresses and children,” trended on social media platforms Weixin and X. It also claimed Shi had 51 mistresses and 174 illegitimate children, of which 141 were born through surrogacy.
Local police officials dismissed it as fake news.
A source close to the Shaolin Temple revealed to Caixin Media that Shi Yongxin was “called away” late at night on July 25. The next day, information about Shi Yongxin being under investigation began to circulate.
Similar Accusation Raised 10 Years Ago
The accusations against Shi are not new. The 59-year-old monk has long been repeatedly embroiled in scandals involving corruption and debauchery.Ten years ago, on July 25, 2015, a widely circulated online
post titled "Who Will Supervise Shi Yongxin, the Big Tiger of Shaolin Temple?" signed by an alleged “Shaolin Temple insider,” accused Shi of having dual household registrations (a system used in China to record and manage individuals’ residential status and personal information) and two ID cards.
The post further alleged that Shi had sexual relationships with multiple women, including fathering children with a nun and raping another.
It also claimed that he established companies using temple resources, misappropriated assets, and embezzled funds. He allegedly gradually transferred shares of Shaolin-related companies to his mistresses.
The post provides extensive details, including Shi's ID card numbers, photos and details of his alleged mistress, photos of their child, and the names and details of witnesses.
At the time, the Shaolin Temple described the claims as “vicious libel,” and local authorities, after investigation,
deemed the allegations either false or lacking sufficient evidence, noting only minor issues in financial and internal management that needed improvement.
When asked about allegations of corruption and affairs with women in a 2015 BBC
interview, Shi did not directly answer the questions but repeatedly stated, “If there were a problem, it would have surfaced long ago.”
Why Now?
News of Shi Yongxin’s investigation was a trending topic on Weibo, Chinese version of X, on Monday morning.
“I doubt many people would find the investigation surprising. The truly surprising thing is, why is he only being investigated now?” one Chinese netizen asked.
Some analyses suggest that Shi's troubles may stem from his uneven profit-sharing with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime.
Current affairs commentator Li Linyi told the
Chinese edition of The Epoch Times that the CCP has set its sights on the immense wealth Shi amassed through the Shaolin Temple, which has made communist officials eager to seize this lucrative resource.
Li asserted that uneven distribution of profits led to Shi’s downfall. Regarding the decade-long allegation of corruption, mistresses, and illegitimate children surrounding Shi, local authorities had turned a blind eye because he provided benefits to them.
A netizen
referred to three speculated reasons: one is that when the Chinese regime faces public criticism, it typically reveals scandals to divert attention, Another reason is that Shi's political “umbrella” backer has lost power. The third is “pig slaughter”—a CCP “old rule” designed to seize wealth.
A 2015 Caixin Media
report revealed Shi Yongxin’s ties to former Henan party chief Li Changchun, the late party boss Jiang Zemin, and Buddhist Association president Zhao Puchu, under whose guidance Shi Yongxin transformed the Shaolin Temple into a commercial empire.
Current affairs commentator Chen Simin told the
Chinese edition of The Epoch Times that over the years, Shi Yongxin has faced numerous well-substantiated accusations but has always emerged unscathed, indicating his connections with high-ranking communist officials, largely due to the protection of figures like Li Changchun and Jiang Zemin and others behind the scenes.
Another netizen commented, “Making Shi a trending topic has led readers to ‘focus diversion’: issues like
lead poisoning,
6 university students died from falling into a flotation tank during a visit to a state-owned enterprise, and
toxic tap water are being overshadowed and forgotten.”
Another echoed this sentiment,
saying, “It’s just a diversion of public attention, as recent incidents of lead poisoning in Gansu children and smelly water in Hangzhou both point to government accountability.”
