One of the most iconic religious institutions in China, the 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple — globally renowned as the birthplace of Shaolin kung fu — has been rocked by a high-profile corruption case that concluded with a lengthy prison sentence for its former top leader. Shi Yongxin, who served as the temple’s abbot for more than two decades before his ousting, has been handed a 24-year jail term after being convicted of multiple serious crimes including embezzlement and bribery, according to official court announcements from China’s Henan Province.
The Dengfeng People’s Court, based in the central Chinese province where the mountain-side Shaolin Temple is located, detailed that over a 22-year period spanning from 2003 to 2025, Shi misappropriated approximately 282 million yuan ($42 million) in assets belonging to the temple. Beyond the large-scale embezzlement, the court found that Shi exploited his influential position as abbot to secure unlawful profits worth millions of yuan from temple construction and development projects. The verdict also confirmed that he engaged in bribery, offering substantial illegal payments to government officials to advance his personal interests.
As reported by China’s official state news agency Xinhua, Shi, whose legal birth name is Liu Yingcheng, had already pleaded guilty to the charges against him prior to the court’s final ruling. Following the announcement of the 24-year sentence on Friday, Shi confirmed that he would not challenge the verdict through an appeal, closing the legal chapter of one of the most high-profile religious corruption cases in recent Chinese history.
Shi took control of the Shaolin Temple as abbot in 1999, and quickly gained international attention for his unconventional approach to expanding the temple’s global footprint. Often nicknamed the “CEO monk” for his corporate-style branding strategy, Shi transformed the little-known mountain temple into a globally recognized cultural brand. Under his management, Shaolin Temple opened dozens of martial arts schools across multiple continents, launched a world-famous touring kung fu performance troupe, and turned the temple into one of China’s top cultural tourist attractions, drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and visitors from China and abroad every year.
This case is not the first time Shi has faced public scrutiny. Back in 2015, he faced initial allegations of embezzlement and violating family planning regulations by fathering multiple children. At the time, he was cleared of all charges, and he dismissed the claims in a 2015 interview with BBC Chinese, stating, “If there were a problem, it would have surfaced long ago.” It was not until recent years that a renewed investigation uncovered the extensive corruption that led to his conviction. In 2025, the China Buddhist Association officially defrocked Shi, stripping him of his religious status months before the court handed down its guilty verdict.
Beyond its religious and martial heritage, Shaolin Temple holds a unique place in global pop culture. The temple gained widespread Western attention after the release of the 1982 hit film *Shaolin Temple* starring martial arts legend Jet Li. It has since been referenced in tracks by iconic American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan and even inspired a spin-off of the popular fighting video game franchise Mortal Kombat, cementing its status as a globally recognized cultural icon.