One of the most famous Buddhist monks in the world has been stripped of his clerical license and removed from leadership at his historic temple over alleged abuse of power.
The Buddhist Association of China announced on Monday that Shi Yongxin, the innovative “CEO monk” of Shaolin Monastery in Henan, China, was stripped of his ordination over alleged misconduct involving money and sexual relationships with women.
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“Shi’s actions are extremely bad, seriously damaging the reputation of the Buddhist community and the image of monks,” the association said, claiming the 59-year-old “severely violated Buddhist precepts by maintaining improper relationships with several women over a long period of time and fathering illegitimate children with them.”
Shaolin Monastery, the 1,500-year-old temple believed to be the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and one of China’s most culturally important religious sites, announced on Tuesday that “after democratic evaluation and “following the relevant procedures,” Shi was being replaced as the institute’s leader.
The Chinese government is conducting a multiagency investigation of Shi’s behavior since his election to lead the temple in 1999.
Over the course of decades, Shi revitalized the ancient holy site as a prestigious and profitable institution.
The money-minded monk emphasized the temple’s long pedigree in hand-to-hand combat, opening a lucrative network of Shaolin martial arts schools on the premises. He also leaned into tourism, monitoring admissions fees and opening gift shops for visitors.
Shi also took the Shaolin brand overseas, generating attention through meetings with world leaders such as Pope Francis, Queen Elizabeth II, and South African President Nelson Mandela. He also fought to gain the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s recognition for the temple as a world heritage site.
Shi began opening Shaolin centers in foreign countries and pursuing monumental real estate deals for “Shaolin Village” facilities in Australia that would include luxury resorts and golf courses.
As his profile rose, he came under more intense scrutiny from within his own religious tradition.
Images of his travels, riding in luxury cars with an iPhone in hand, proved uncomfortable for fellow believers in a faith centered on asceticism and self-imposed poverty.
Buddhist clergy and laity accused Shi of commercializing the sacred tradition, a criticism that the CEO monk hand-waved as naive.
Concrete allegations of impropriety first arose in 2011, when he was investigated for similar charges to his current legal woes: luxury properties overseas, illicit love affairs, fathering children outside of marriage, and financial embezzlement.
An investigation was launched in 2015, but Shi emerged unscathed, telling an interviewer that “if there were a problem, it would have surfaced long ago.”
He was cleared of those charges and continued running the Shaolin Monastery for several more years before the Chinese government restricted his exit visa earlier this year.
The drama also highlights the tense relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and the country’s ancient religious traditions.
The People’s Republic of China is quick to lean into global demand for access to its historic cultural legacies based in spirituality, such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.
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The Communist Party, however, is an atheistic organization. It governs religious groups through a network of “patriotic” associations that ensure religious doctrine never butts heads with state ideology.
Shi existed at the crossroads of these interests. He served as vice president of the Buddhist Association of China and even sat in the Chinese legislature for 20 years beginning in 1998.