Kung fu shrine under attack
- Source: Global Times
- [03:41 November 13 2009]
- Comments
A file photo (June 2009) of the main gate of the Shaolin Temple in Songshan, Henan Province. Photo: CFP
Chinese News Weekly said the temple receives 1.5 million vistors a year and has a yearly income of 60 million yuan ($8.8 million), whereas The Guardian puts the figure at 10 million pounds (100 million yuan). In 2006, Henan officials presented to Abbot Shi a spectacular sports sedan worth one million yuan ($125, 000) for his contribution to local tourism.
Shi's commercialization was denounced by fellow monks and local residents. Shi Yongguo, Shi Yongxin's senior fellow apprentice, and the abbot of the Fujian-based South Shaolin Temple, said Shi Yongxin's motive for a commercial Shaolin Temple went too far. "The South Shaolin Temple will not adopt such practices to become famous," he said.
Li Zhenying, a Dengfeng resident living near the Shaolin Temple, said Shi is a controversial figure locally as many believe that monks should keep away from business practices. "What he did over the years is seek personal gain and fame," he said.
However, Shang Qiumin, chief of the Tourism Service Department of Shaolin, a Dengfeng-based tourism agency affiliated to the Shaolin Temple, is supportive of Shi Yongxin's controversial actions. He said the current abbot's move represents the general trend in the administration of the temple and has had its benefits.
"The living standard of monks has improved greatly thanks to Shi's effort, and the temple has never attracted so much attention before," said the 52-year-old, who served as secretary of the late abbot Shi Xingzheng from 1985 to 1988.
Zhou Xueying a history professor at Nanjing University, said it was for history to judge the merits of Shi's reform. "Buddhism has been secularized since the time of the Song Dynasty. It is inevitable for Shaolin and other temples such as Wutaishan to ride on the modernization tide and move into the future," he said.
Although it may be reasonable to question the abbot's commercialization drive, he said it was unreasonable to wreck the temple's website to vent anger.
"That is certainly not a good way of communicating and resolving the issue," he said.
Guo Qiang and Liang Chen contributed to the story
