BEIJING, May 29: Shi Yongxin, former head priest of China’s Shaolin Temple, who played a significant role in popularising kung fu around the world, was on Friday sentenced to 24 years in prison under graft charges, official media reported.
He was also fined 3.5 million yuan (around USD 516,000).
Sixty-year-old Shi, once regarded as the most influential Buddhist monks in China, was convicted of crimes including duty encroachment, embezzlement of funds and bribery, according to the Intermediate People’s Court of Xinxiang City in central China’s Henan Province, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The monk was sacked and detained in July last year for violating Buddhist precepts. The violations included maintaining long-term, improper relationships with multiple women and fathering illegitimate children.
He had been Shaolin Temple’s abbot since 1999 and earned the nickname “CEO monk” for his role in transforming the institution into a popular brand worldwide.
Founded in 495 AD, the temple is located in the foothills of Song Mountain in China’s Henan province. It is associated with Chan Buddhism, also known as Zen, under the Mahayana Buddhism school.
Besides its historical and religious significance, it is a renowned centre for training in martial arts, attracting students all over the world. It has inspired many films, TV shows and video games for years, and happens to be a popular tourist destination.
Shi appeared in a public trial on Monday and the verdict was announced on Friday.
According to state-run China Daily news website, the court found that between 2003 and 2025, Shi, whose birth name is Liu Yingcheng, used his positions as abbot of the temple and president of the Shaolin charity and welfare foundation to embezzle more than 131 million yuan.
News reports further said he was found to have appropriated 151 million yuan for his own use between 2012 and 2022, and to have taken bribes totalling 11.63 million yuan since 2006 to give favours to others and take construction projects related to the temple.
Shi was also found to have given more than 5.67 million yuan in bribes to officials to obtain “improper benefits” between 1995 and 2022, according to the court’s verdict.
It said his actions constituted the crimes of embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, accepting and offering bribes – all involving “exceptionally large sums of money”.
The court said Shi should be “severely punished” according to the law, calling the circumstances of his bribery “particularly serious”, given the crimes lasted a long period, caused severe harm and had a negative social impact.
In mitigation, the court said he “truthfully confessed” to his crimes, proactively confessed criminal acts not yet known to the prosecutors, pleaded guilty and expressed remorse.
Shi did not appeal, the court said, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported. (PTI)
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