File photo of Shi Yongxin, abbot of renowned Shaolin Temple.
Scandal swirls around the abbot of China's Shaolin Temple as the "CEO monk" is dogged by allegations ranging from corruption to fathering children out of wedlock to over-commercializing the temple.
Online debate about Shi Yongxin never goes quiet, but it has been noisier than ever since he failed to turn up at a Buddhist meeting in Thailand on Sunday, fueling speculation that he had been arrested on corruption charges.
On Tuesday, a report in Shanghai's National Business Daily (NBD) added to the theory that Shi is extremely wealthy by claiming that he owns an 80-percent share of a company managing Shaolin's intangible assets, which further controls seven subsidiaries. The temple reportedly has 10 percent of the shares.
It seems the head of an institution famous worldwide for its kungfu and inspiration of U.S. rap group Wu-Tang Clan just can't escape controversy.
China's religious affairs administration is investigating the case. Meanwhile, the management of Shaolin has rejected all the accusations and reported the matter to the police, asking for investigation of the alleged slander. Shi also told media that he will pursue legal means to try to clear his name.
Since the NBD story, most comments on Chinese social media have focused on Shaolin's commercial success, which is apparently at odds with Buddhist principles. A poster on qq.com said, "It's hard to tell the truth about Shi's integrity, but everyone knows the crazy amount of money that the temple makes."
More than 9,000 Sina Weibo users have commented on a blog post by a monk who used unprintable language to curse Shi's critics.
Netizens have even started taking issue with Shi's waistline. As Buddhists are usually vegetarians and vegetarians are often thin, Shi's plump figure has become conflated with the accusations of corruption.
Question and answer website zhihu.com stepped in to remind the critics that vegetarians can still get fat. Such logic is unlikely to calm this particular scandal though.
