The accused has been named, and as for the accuser, who is he, really?
Last month, an individual who identified himself as Shi Zhengyi made known to public the alleged misconducts of Venerable Abbot Shi Yongxin of the renowned Shaolin Temple.
The temple hired lawyers Blue Lan, Lu Yong Song and Zhao Lulu of Gold Partners LLP as legal counsels. They jointly said through an online post that appeared on July 25 on the temple’s official website that the allegations against Abbot Shi are “untrue” and called them “malicious insults.”
Duowei News said that Shi Zhengyi could be a monk, a resident of the temple, an employee in the temple or a person with government ties.
The Telegraph reported that Zheng Shumin, public relations chief of the temple, said to a local news website that despite being in the temple for several years now, he “never heard” of Shi Zhengyi and that “there’s no such person.”
Because “Zhengyi” translates to “justice” in Chinese, Fortune said that the name is “most likely a pseudonym.”
CNN said that their efforts to contact Shi Zhengyi were “unsuccessful.”
Shi Zhengyi has accused the abbot of inappropriate behavior, such as womanizing and siring a child, among many others.
Born Liu Yingcheng in Yingshang, Anhui Province, Shi Yongxin entered the Shaolin Temple in 1981 and studied under Venerable Abbot Shi Xingzheng (1914-1987), who became abbot in Dec. 1986 and whom he succeeded in Aug. 1999. Shi is the 30th Buddhist monk to be ordained abbot of the more than 1,500-year-old temple.
Aside from running the monastery, the 50-year-old abbot also acts as vice chairman of the Buddhist Association of China and director of its Overseas Communication Committee and serves as chair of the Henan Province Buddhist Association. Since 1998, he has been a member of the country’s National People’s Congress (9th, 10th, 11th and 12th congresses).
Shi Zhengyi described the abbot as a “big tiger” in the title he used in his online post where he mentioned about the allegations. Since assuming his post, President Xi Jinping has been targeting corrupt “tigers and flies.”
Beijing Bureau Chief for Financial Times Jamil Anderlini once had lunch at the temple with the abbot in 2011. During the course of their conversation, Shi said to Anderlini: “People tell a lot of tall tales about the Shaolin Temple.”
With the accusations made by Shi Zhengyi, people across the country and even those overseas are now talking a lot about the abbot of the temple.
Whether Shi Zhengyi is using his real name or not, or whether he is acting independently or represents a group, may not significantly matter at all for the people. What matters most to the public, perhaps, is whether the allegations against Abbot Shi are true or merely tall tales.