Kung fu shrine suffers attack
By admin on 2014-12-23

He was China's youngest Abbot in the Shaolin Temple – 22 when he ascended the throne. He was one of the first monks in China with an MBA. He is also the most controversial Buddhist here, allegedly for turning the shrine into a money-making machine.

Now, he is in the spotlight again after hackers targeted the website established to promote Shaolin's shows and products worldwide.

The hackers have posted a purported letter of confession on the site (shaolin.org. cn) in the name of the Abbot Shi Yongxin, who "admitted his guilt" in commercializing the temple generally considered as the cradle of China's traditional martial art, or Kung fu.

The Temple's website remained inaccessible until the time of going to press Thursday.

The letter and a photo of Shi in a sitting posture were not visible on the temple's website shortly after the attack Wednesday. But the screen shot has been circulated across Chinese websites, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Thursday.

The letter, shown with Shi's signature and written in the first person, summarized the history of the Temple and his own growth path.

"Over almost a decade as Shaolin's abbot, I have done my best to convert Shaolin from a small shrine to a top-notch international attraction. I felt proud with a sense of accomplishment. But now, increasingly, I feel guilt and regret over what I have done," it states.

"Its rapid development is at the expense of sacrificing the tranquility and sanctity of the Temple ... I hope to not proceed further on the commercial path and become a sinner in the eyes of Shaolin and Buddhism," it reads.

The Temple's Master Shi Yanyu denied the abbot having written the letter, according to the newspaper.

"The hackers' action is patently illegal and we'll let our lawyers handle the case," Qiang Daliang, manager of Henan Shaolin Temple Development Company, told the Global Times.

Speculation is that Shaolin and Abbot Shi were targets of hackers and public criticism because Shi's effort to commercialize and internationalize Shaolin has offended those who saw these moves as a departure from Shaolin tradition.

This is nothing new for Shi, who is a highly controversial figure both at home and abroad. His very rise to the top as an abbot in 1987 – six years after he joined Shaolin – aroused suspicion. That did not deter him from pressing ahead with reform of the temple.

He set up the country's first temple-based website in 1996. He was one of 18 monks in a half-year course on business administration at Shanghai's Jiaotong University, leading to The Los Angeles Times calling him the "CEO in a monk's robe."

He spent much time travelling overseas – for meetings, in Kung fu delegations and cultivating elite society. The Shaolin Temple was the country's first temple to welcome former Russian president Putin.

The Guardian newspaper of London reported that Shaolin was paid $10,000 for each performance in the US. There is no clear estimate of the funds raised by the temple's commercialization drive.

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.