Probe needed to rid old temple of its trust crisis

Shaolin Temple and its presiding monk Yongxin have never been in such a severe credibility crisis. Yongxin has been accused of abusing his position by keeping a mistress and having fathered a child, as well as misappropriating money accumulated through the temple's various business activities.

Yongxin has long been a controversial figure since he rose to fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s by launching commercial activities for the renowned temple in the city of Dengfeng, Central China's Henan province, and making the temple famous worldwide.

If anything, there is no denying that he has contributed a lot to what the temple is today. It is he who has organized monks with martial art skills to stage performances all over the world, which has helped build the reputation of this temple with a history of more than 1,500 years. It is he who has presided over the launching of a lot of culture centers to give publicity to Buddhism and Shaolin Temple all over the world. It is he who has made Shaolin Temple a well-known tourist attraction, which has not only helped the temple make money but also injected impetus onto the local economy.