“少林CEO”释永信被传正在接受调查

“少林CEO”释永信被传正在接受调查

释永信是现任少林寺方丈、中国佛教协会副会长、河南省佛教协会会长。据报道，释永信因私生子和挪用公款问题被人指控，但少林寺方面否认其正接受调查。中国佛教协会在其网站上表示，针对释永信的指控“关乎少林寺乃至中国佛教的形象和声誉”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

lurid 耸人听闻的

allegation 指控

disciple 门徒

embezzle 贪污

oust 罢黜

Mystery deepens over China's scandal-hit ‘CEO monk' Shi Yongxin（433words）

By Lucy Hornby in Beijing

The Chinese abbot who turned the temple where kung fu was invented into a sprawling commercial empire failed to turn up at a Buddhist meeting in Thailand this weekend,fuelling speculation that he is under investigation after weeks of lurid allegations.

Shi Yongxin,the round-faced,yellow-robed “CEO monk” who heads the Shaolin Temple,has been accused by a former disciple of fathering several children out of wedlock and embezzling money.

The allegations,widely reported in Chinese media,are the latest in a string of controversies surrounding the globe-trotting abbot,whose aggressive commercialisation of the historic temple for tourism,martial arts and cultural purposes has made him China's most famous Buddhist and turned the Shaolin temple into China's most recognisable brand.

A communications officer at the temple,surnamed Ma,denied that Abbot Shi was under investigation. Abbot Shi could not immediately be reached for comment.

The temple,tucked into a forested mountainside in central Henan province,houses warrior monks whose high kicks and seemingly magical powers have featured in numerous action films. The temple fell on hard times after being stripped of its lands and monks under Communist rule,but staged a comeback under Abbot Shi.

A crackdown on corruption and consolidation of political power under President Xi Jinping has already claimed other religious figures,including celebrity guru Wang Lin,who stands accused of murder. Mr Wang is the qigong master-turned oil mogul who testified in the trial of ousted energy and security tsar Zhou Yongkang.

Religious activity in China is managed by government bureaucracies,and the revenue-generating potential of popular temples that survived several decades of Communist upheaval is often combined with suspicion over their potential influence.Abbot Shi enjoyed the blessing of the authorities and was a member of the National People's Congress and vice-chairman of the state-backed Buddhist Association of China.

The allegations against Abbot Shi have “affected the image and reputation of Chinese Buddhism”,the Buddhist Association said on its website. The State Administration of Religious Affairs last week asked its local bureau to investigate the allegations,according to an unconfirmed report in Chinese media. An official at the bureau said: “We are looking into it.”

Abbot Shi has survived earlier controversies,including the 2009 plan to list the temple on the stock market that was widely derided in China. He later blamed the local government for the plan.Earlier this year,he travelled to Australia to present a $3.8m cheque to purchase land for a $380m kung fu theme park,hotel,golf course and property development.