Former abbot of China's famous Shaolin Temple sentenced to 24 years in prison for corruption

BEIJING — A Chinese court on Friday sentenced a former abbot of China’s famous Shaolin Temple to 24 years in prison after he was found guilty of offences including misappropriation of funds and bribery, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Shi Yongxin, whose original name is Liu Yingcheng, was also fined 3.5 million yuan (about $516,000) by the court in central Henan province after a trial.

The court found that Shi used his positions, including as the temple abbot, to illegally embezzle over 131 million yuan ($19 million) alone or in conspiracy with others, between 2003 and 2025, CCTV reported. The court also discovered that Shi misappropriated funds amounting to over 151 million yuan (about $22 million) for personal use for more than three months without repayment between 2012 and 2022, among other findings, the report added.

The court said Shi's crimes involved huge amounts, his bribery offenses were particularly serious and his criminal conduct lasted for a long period.

“They caused severely harmful consequences and adverse social impact,” CCTV reported the court as saying.

Shi confessed his crimes, voluntarily disclosed details that law enforcement authorities had not yet discovered and showed remorse, CCTV added.

Last year, Shaolin Temple announced that Shi was under investigation on suspicion of misappropriation and embezzlement of project funds and temple assets.

Shi was also alleged to have committed criminal offenses and violated Buddhist precepts by maintaining relationships with multiple women over a long period and fathering at least one child, according to a notice from the temple’s authority on its WeChat account at that time.

The fame of the Shaolin Temple, based also in Henan, has gone beyond a religious institution. It is renowned for its martial arts culture, or kung fu, which has been referenced in many movies and TV dramas, including the 1982 film “The Shaolin Temple,” starring martial arts superstar Jet Li.

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported in 2015 that Shi was known as a “CEO monk" and that he had sparked controversy for developing commercial operations to promote kung fu shows and merchandise.