The former head of China’s famed Shaolin Temple was sentenced to 24 years in prison for crimes including embezzlement and bribery spanning three decades, a court said Friday.
Liu Yingcheng, who as abbot was called Shi Yongxin, was was removed from his post in July 2025 for “extremely” bad behavior. At that time he was 59 years old.
He was investigated and fired for allegedly misappropriating project funds and temple assets.
Liu “took advantage of his positions as abbot of the Shaolin Temple and president of the Shaolin Welfare Charitable Foundation,” the Xinxiang Intermediate People’s Court in central Henan province said in a statement.
His crimes were “particularly egregious, the circumstances of the bribery were particularly grave… and the social impact was great,” the court said.
The Shaolin Temple in Henan Province is known as the birthplace of kung fu.
Liu took over as abbot in 1999 and helped the temple set up dozens of companies over the following decades, but was also criticized for commercializing Buddhism.
According to the court, he embezzled assets worth more than 131 million yuan ($19.4 million) from 2003 to 2025, acting alone and cooperating with others to do so.
He further embezzled more than 151 million yuan in funds from the organization for personal use from 2012 to 2022, the court said.
Liu had illegally received assets worth more than 11 million yuan in connection with temple construction projects since 2006.
He also gave more than 5 million yuan in cash and property to “state officials” between 1995 and 2022, seeking “improper benefits”, the court said.
Liu was also fined 3.5 million yuan (US$517,000).
He said he will not appeal the verdict, according to the court.
People on social media platform Weibo cheered the sentence. One user commented: “Crimes deserve punishment.”
Yet others offered blessings for change.
“Hopefully he will wake up, reform and provide good guidance and Buddhist light to all the inmates,” wrote another.
