Economic State of Shaolin Temple today [Archive]

bungbukuen

08-30-2006, 07:41 AM

Poverty Levels in Henan Countryside…US$200 / year

Henan has a population of about 100mn people. About 80mn are farmers. They are very poor with an average household income of Rmb1600 per year. That is US$200 a year, or 17 dollars a month. (Data Source: China National Bureau of Statistics – June 2006)

Shaolin Temple Earnings…over US$20mn / year

Gate ticket earnings:
- About 1,500,000 tourists / year @ US$5 / ticket = US$7.5mn
- The temple gets about 25% of that, or just under US$2mn

Shaolin performances:
- 60 countries a year, over 1000 performances a year
- The troupe earns about US$10,000 each performance, at 1000 performances
- That is about US$10mn

Performances (Feng Zhong Shaolin)
- Originally performed at the Beijing Ballete Concert Hall and now throughout China
- Earned them about US$8mn in 2005

In total that is roughly US$20mn a year

On a side note the Deng Feng municipality alone has already generated over US$100mn in tourist dollar revenue ending July 2006 – obviously most of it attributed to the Shaolin temple and its surrounding wushu schools.

There is no doubt that the success of the Shaolin temple has had little impact if any on the overall living standards and conditions of the peasant farmers and small factory workers in the Dengfeng municipality. There are over 600,000 of them. Citizens still have limited access to very minimum standards of education and medical care. Factory layoffs and unemployment are high, while umemployment insurance and pensions are virtually nonesistant.

Anyone who tells you that the Shaolin temple is pumping money directly into the local economy to help the Dengfeng citizens are pulling your leg. Shaolin revenues are no doubt going into the devleopment of more tourist related business models and real estate investment projects, while government revenues are going into industrial infrastructure devleopment.

Now you know why when fat cat spiritual leaders like Shi Yongxin recieve cars from local government departments that it enrages local citizens.

And I do stand corrected….Shi Yongxin already does have an MBA.

Sources:
http://cme.ce.cn/left/rw/200604/16/t20060416_6715211.shtml
http://www.zynews.com/2006-08/15/content_415084.htm

wall

08-30-2006, 08:15 AM

Bungbukuen, you are partly incorrect.

Many people at Shaolin (DengFeng), many of the people I've known personally, have substantially increased their earnings, and now support their otherwise very poor families, thanks to Shaolin.

They have transformed themselves from sons and daughters of poor peasant farmers and small factory workers to tourist guides, kungfu instructors, taxi drivers, weapons and equipment sellers, hotel staff, shop and restaurant operators, etc.

Note that I'm not saying that the Shaolin temple is pumping money directly into the local economy to help the Dengfeng citizens, I am saying that the Shaolin business and tourism boom is having huge positive fallout effets on the local population.

The boosting in local spending and investment by millions of non-local and foreign people impact the economy on a macro level, regardless of the local re-investment, or lack of, by Shaolin itself.

In simple terms: if all of a sudden millions of extra people spend millions of extra dollars in your town, directly or indirectly it will have a positive economic impact on the whole town and most people living in it :)

Wall

NB. this is all relevant to the DengFeng and surrounding area only; the rest of Henan obviously derives no tangible macroeconomic benefit from the Shaolin boom, and so remains a very depressed chinese rural region.

PS for The Xia: the 'monks in training' are students, and as such how well they are doing financially mostly depends on their families earnings (usually they come from peasant families so they are not doing so well). The 'run of the mill monks' as you call them usually are doing pretty well by local standards; they have basic teaching or performing salaries which they augment with teaching to foreigners or other "entrepreneurial" activities, and thus overall are doing better than most young people in Henan (keeping in mind that Henan standards are a low starting point).

GeneChing

08-30-2006, 09:52 AM

I remember when they were building the Tamo statue above the cave. Laborers would carry a block of stone up the tortuous mountain trail from the Nunnery on their backs - it was brutal, hard work. They worked at dawn and dusk, when light was poor, because it was way too hot to attempt when the sun was high. These stones were easily 75-100 lbs. I know because I tried to lift one with the mistaken idea that I'd contribute to this great task. They were paid the equivalent of $0.25 a stone. And they were happy about that. That was good money for that amount of work for them.

In Henan, there are still cave dwellers. In fact, some of them aren't that far from Shaolin. Many rural Chinese live very poorly - ramshackle dwelling, dirt floors, no electricity or plumbing. There are some extremely poor areas of China. Shaolin isn't one of them anymore. It's one of the most affluent temples in China now, so of course there's considerable trickle-down. Remember the forced relocation? That was a huge shakedown and many of the migrant poor who made their living hawking crap in front of the temple were sent on. Most relocated to Baimasi, which is the next most popular tourist temple in the area. But if you want to see poverty near a temple, check out the beggars in front of some of the smaller ones. Visit Guanlinsi and pay your respects. The poor there will break your heart.

lunghushan

08-30-2006, 04:53 PM

They have a documentary called Shaolin Ulysses that talks about some of the monks that came to the U.S. and covers a little bit of history from where the Shaolin temple was around 4 monks to where it grew so now there are 18,000+ students.

One of the boys who came over, they talk to his family, mom and dad and sister, and they said they lived in a cave when they first were married, and show the cave.

The sister does taiji because she was a girl she was not allowed to be a monk like her brother. It was extremely sad the frustration on her face as she did the taiji form and the fact that she can't make as much money as her brother because he is a monk and is in the U.S., and she isn't, all just because she's a girl.

Equally sad was the fact that her taiji wasn't the best ... it really made me want to go over to China and give her lessons and bring her and her parents back to the U.S., but I don't know how I could do that. Anyway if every poor person from China came over here it would cause a breakdown of civil services in this country.

Anyway overall the suffering and poverty in the world caused by overpopulation and lack of infrastructure around the world is extremely sad.

bungbukuen

08-31-2006, 11:03 AM

Wall – it is completely preposterous to imply that the majority of inhabitants of the Dengfeng municipality are somehow poverty free, or even operating at levels near minimum international poverty line standards. The reality of it is that Dengfeng is also an impoverished region, so I do not know why you try to candy coat this matter. It is insensitive and a real slap in the face to the poor peasant farmers.

Granted the 83 odd wushu schools in Dengfeng (teaching 50,000 students) brought in a cool Rmb500mn in 2005, or US$60mn. Undoubtedly this has created some isolated opportunities for local citizens to get ahead, and I am very happy for those who have improved the quality of their lives and their families. But the large majority of benefits go directly to business and government - not Joe Blow.

For the majority of the 600,000 people living in Dengfeng, the overall quality of living standards in terms of income levels, education, medical / healthcare, unemployment insurance, pensions, etc…, are far below international poverty line standards, and therefore is simply blissful ignorance to think that the tourist “boom is having huge positive fallout effects on the local population”.

lunghushan

08-31-2006, 11:41 AM

The father of one of the monks in the U.S. is some kind of instructor at Shaolin, and the sister teaches taiji as well, and from the pictures of their house, they have the bare minimum, a phone, some old appliances, small dwelling, nothing fancy at all.

GeneChing

08-31-2006, 02:26 PM

Have you seen Shaolin Ulysses (http://www.martialartsmart.net/prmb001.html)? Take a close look at the credits. ;)

As for Dengfeng, if your talking about the city of Dengfeng, it's not so bad. If your talking about the region - the county - well, that's a different story. I think there are 13 areas in Dengfeng county and some are rather poor. Like I said, there are still cave dwellers nearby.

In regards to lunghushan's reference, the monk you are refering to is Zhang Lipeng (aka Shi Xingpeng). He was featured on the cover (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=145)of our 2002 Shaolin Special (Jan/Feb) (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=144). His sister, Zhang Meimei, was our got qi master for our 2003 Shaolin Special (Nov/Dec) (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=397). Lipeng's father is Zhang Jianshu, who I've known for over a decade. I've had meals at that house shown in Shaolin Ulysses and if you think that's 'the bare minimum', you don't know China at all. Their home was a mansion compared to what most Chinese have in that area. That's where this issue is tough to discuss with people that haven't spent a lot of time with the common folk of China (or India, or Africa, or such nation). The scale is so completely different from what we experience in 1st world countries.

To add some salt in this wound, Zhang Jianshu's house was completely demolished during the Shaolin relocation. I saw him fleetingly in 2003 (in fact, there's footage of one of his other protege in my video Shaolin Trips: The First World Traditional Wushu Festival (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd-gc001.html)). At that point, I think his house was scheduled to be demolished or just recently demolished. I can't remember now. Last I heard, the Zhang family left the area. I haven't seen them since.

lunghushan

08-31-2006, 02:45 PM

Man, Gene, wow, is there anybody you don't know? That's crazy.

So most Chinese are even poorer than them? That's not very good at all.

Okay, I'm going to shut up now because I know nothing. Will you please just post a lot so we can read?

lunghushan

08-31-2006, 11:03 PM

Yep, there it is, Gene Ching as the Shaolin consultant.

Okay, I don't know what I was thinking. Meimei doesn't look like she's doing taiji there. She says she learned for 3 years, but I have no idea what that form is. It's too stiff for a taiji form.

Anyway, also you can't tell how big the house is.

Who knows. They don't look like they're doing that bad -- they even have a yard, something a lot of people in Seattle don't have.

wall

09-01-2006, 12:27 AM

Wall – it is completely preposterous to imply that the majority of inhabitants of the Dengfeng municipality are somehow poverty free, or even operating at levels near minimum international poverty line standards. The reality of it is that Dengfeng is also an impoverished region, so I do not know why you try to candy coat this matter. It is insensitive and a real slap in the face to the poor peasant farmers.

I never said any of that...? Are you sure you are referring to my post? Please go read my post again :)

Oh I forgot, aren't you that guy that never reads other people posts and keeps trying to argue, the one from the Huston Shaolin thread a while ago?
Now I understand ... :rolleyes:

If you are interested just go and re-read my post and you will notice that I did not write any of the things you mention, and that in fact I wrote the opposite, indicating Henan repeatedly as being a very poor region, and that Shaolin business has greatly improved things for many DengFeng residents by Henan standards, keeping in mind that Henan standards are a very low starting point.

Wall

bungbukuen

09-01-2006, 01:58 AM

Wall – just because you are getting your China facts mixed up there is no need to feel frustrated.

If you look income levels (urban and rural) between Dengfeng and the rest of the cities in Henan as produced by the Zhengzhou statistical bureau, you will see that Dengfeng is in fact one of the poorest municipalities.

Average Urban and Rural Montly Net Incomes (RMB)
Xin Mi: ...............Urban 8758...................Rural 4500
Xin Zheng:..........Urban 8800...................Rural 4800
Xin Yang:............Urban 9100....................Rural 4690
Kong Yi:..............Urban 9045....................Rural 5499
Dengfeng:..........Urban 7410...................Rural 3990

I would love to see you try to convince any of the thousands of peasant farmers and families living in the Dengfeng area who have limited access to proper schooling, medical, pension benefits, etc…, that Shaolin temple is having a positive affect on their lives. Poverty and regional income disparities are a severe problem, and it is naïve to assume that corporate revenue dollars somehow majically reduce poverty levels on thier own. What is needed is proper government taxation policies and social infrastructure spending programs.

Cheers,

omarthefish

09-01-2006, 02:54 AM

On the last page with all the discussion about what the living conditions are, it IS a kind of wierd complicated issue. To give some perspective, here's a couple pics I took in the area surrounding Xi'an, technically part of the same municipality:

This is a typical kitchen with "simple appliances":

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17497713@N00/230811993/

You can see the floor in the kitchen is brick but in the rest of the house it is packed earth. (dirt) On the left is a larger stove, home made out of bricks and powered with wood scraps as coal is too expensive for this family. That funny handle on the right is the billows to get the fire hot enough for Chinese cooking. You can see a smaller propane powered burner in the background too though. I was too embarrassed to take a phot of the rest of their home. This wasn't a tourist site. It was a friends classmates home. No heat. No indoor plumbing.

This is one of those "yards" that were mentioned earlier:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17497713@N00/230812272/

What wasn't mentioned is that they are generally communal. You might not have a yard in Seattle but you don't have them in cities in China either. The houses you can see surrounding the yard, housing numerous families, are not heated and have no plumbing. There is an outhouse out back and a water pump in the yard to collect water for drinking and washing. The entrance to the "residences", which are either single or double rooms, look like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17497713@N00/230812442/

Again no heating. Just a single room with enough space under the door that mice can come in and visit. The walls and floor are either bare concrete concrete with cheap primer covering it.

These pictures were taken in the area around Xi'an which is a much richer area than the area around Dengfeng. The people here mostly don't have to worry about starvation but 2 years ago there was a disastrous flood and I expect some people went hungry then. Some 500,000 yuan were raised in disaster relief, 50,000 actually made it to the area.

wall

09-01-2006, 03:39 AM

Wall – just because you are getting your China facts mixed up there is no need to feel frustrated.

You know, it's unusual, you've managed to somewhat irritate me :) That speaks volumes about your trolling skills, as I very rarely get irritated, bravo!

I conclude by saying:

1 - I'm not getting my China facts mixed up (I'm actually partly saying the same thing as you are, if you cared to read what I write ... :rolleyes: )

2 - I'm stating my China facts as experienced by me, in first person, for months, in Henan, in various trips :)

The families of the statistics? I've seen a variety of them, been guest at their homes, made friends with their sons and daughters involved in KungFu schools and related businesses ... businesses they can have thanks solely to Shaolin tourism, otherwise they would be plowing a field for some meagre subsistance food, like most people in rural Henan do, or trying to move to a bigger city to work in dead-end poverty line manufacturing.
Of course, many are still doing that, but Shaolin business has helped just as many carve for themselves a better life as KungFu teachers, shop assistants, tourist guides, restaurant operators, and may other jobs that would otherwise simply not exist in dengFeng.
It does not seem a difficult concept to understand...

But I guess you've lived there all your life so you know best ...

I've made the contribution I could to this thread with all the info I have on the subject, so I have nothing further useful to add ... and have no interest to be lured in an obvious troll :)

Wall

PS. I've just read your post below: as expected ... another attempt at trolling, this time by making it personal, with a little flattery to come across "nice" :rolleyes:

bungbukuen

09-01-2006, 06:59 AM

No one is trying to steal the show from you Wall. Just correcting your facts. No one is arguing that the hustle and bustle has helped a number of families. But with regards to the overall population they are still at the same levels and lower with the rest of the province. Unless you are claiming that income levels produced by the Zhengzhou municipal statistical burea are wrong and that your few months living in China and network of friends provides a much more reliable and accurate statistical base:p

It is good to see that you are trying to learn more and even trying to integrate into Chinese culture. You should be proud of your efforts as most people never make it down there. But do not assume that living in China for a few months makes you an informed expert. You are still a rookie and have years to go.;)

BBK

unkokusai

09-01-2006, 07:09 AM

LOL

It's fun to watch folks try to out-pretentious each other!

GeneChing

09-01-2006, 10:58 AM

Come on now, unkokusai, that's what forums are for. There's nothing like a good troll to fan the flames, eh?

I think the main dispute here between bbk & w is based on perspective. I know w has been to Shaolin many times, but he's probably stayed only in that region - Dengfeng city, Shaolin valley, etc. Dengfeng county actually encompasses a lot more and many of those extended areas are much poorer. Only the areas immediately surrounding Shaolin and Songshan have benefitted from the tourist boom. I've been taken far off the beaten path in Dengfeng to some of the impoverished villages and that's what's lowering these stats that bbk keeps quoting. That's hours away on sketchy dirt roads.

unkokusai

09-01-2006, 02:08 PM

Come on now, unkokusai, that's what forums are for.

I know, and I love it! Great entertainment value. The only thing better really is the 100-page "Oh yeah? Fight me, then! Oh, never mind..." threads.:D

wall

09-02-2006, 12:16 AM

... he's probably stayed only in that region - Dengfeng city, Shaolin valley, etc. Dengfeng county actually encompasses a lot more and many of those extended areas are much poorer. Only the areas immediately surrounding Shaolin and Songshan have benefitted from the tourist boom ...

Spot on Gene, I've been talking all along about the DengFeng town and immediately surrounding area only, as clearly and repeatedly explained, but Bung just wants to read it otherwise so he can troll along :)
I've noticed he's trying it with you in the 'Abbot pimps his ride' thread, where you have "sugar coated a nasty illegal act just to boost up your mate the abbot" ;) :rolleyes:

:)

lunghushan

09-02-2006, 11:06 AM

How is it an illegal act if one govt. institution gives to another govt. employee?

???

bungbukuen

09-03-2006, 01:23 AM

lunghushan

09-03-2006, 01:30 AM

PRC Nerd Law Facts:
PRC law defines bribery as the giving of monies or goods to personnel of State organizations or public servants for improper benefits. Improper benefits are also defined as excessive amounts of money or gifts, and are considered bribes.

Under PRC law, government administrative personnel may NOT:

a) Receive gifts while discharging official duty within the PRC. Gifts are gift articles, gift money, vouchers or goods purchased with nominal costs, whether given outright or in the name of or in the form of receptions, ceremonies, seminars, weddings and funerals;

(b) Receive gifts in performing official duties relating to foreign parties only. Such gifts are gift articles, gift money or vouchers, and must be reported according to value.7

According to section eight under criminal law in China, graft in the amount of more than Rmb100,000 is punishable to a minimum of 10 fixed years in prison.
The fat abbots pimp ride is easily worth over Rmb100,000 in China.

Source:
PRC Criminal Law - Chapter VIII: Graft and Bribery
Provisions Against Offering and Accepting Gifts by State Administrative Organs or Personnel in Performing Official Duties within the PRC (《国家行政机关及其工作人员在国內公务活动中不得贈送和接受礼品的规定》), art. 2-4.

Yeah, but this was a STATE organization giving another person in a STATE organization a STATE owned car for their use.

Yes? Even if it was a personal owned car which is extremely doubtful, it was a STATE organization giving an employee in a STATE organization a gift.

Do you understand the difference?

No law was broken, give me a break.

Anyway I don't get your high and mightiness over this. Who the heck cares if somebody gets a gift? I don't care if you give him a SUV ... why should I? Why should you?

You really think the Shaolin 'temple' is some 'temple'? It's not, it's like China Martial Arts Disneyland.

bungbukuen

09-03-2006, 11:29 PM

Originally Quoted by Lunghushan
Even if it was a personal owned car which is extremely doubtful, it was a STATE organization giving an employee in a STATE organization a gift.

Hey legal wizard - it does not matter if it was the Zheng zhou municipal government, the Dengfeng municipal government, or even Dengfeng Auto Corp. themselves who donated the gift. Shi Yongxin is still a public servant to the PRC, and the Abbott of the Shaolin Temle which also falls under the category of a state run organziation, who recieved an excessive gift. Of course how you want to interpret that meaning under criminal law is up to you.

If you do not like my Nerd Facts, or feel that they are somehow inaccurate, please take it up with the sources and post your own facts with sources. I do not mind.

Overall I thought it was interesting to present another side to this story.

Buddhists, public servants, state organizaitons, corporations, Shaolin, or any other individual, are not above the law.

Posted by Lunghushan:
You really think the Shaolin 'temple' is some 'temple'? It's not, it's like China Martial Arts Disneyland.

Yes I think it is a legitamate temple, and yes I think it is the Disneyland of MA.

BBK

lunghushan

09-04-2006, 11:27 AM

Hey legal wizard - it does not matter if it was the Zheng zhou municipal government, the Dengfeng municipal government, or even Dengfeng Auto Corp. themselves who donated the gift.

Yes I think it is a legitamate temple, and yes I think it is the Disneyland of MA.

BBK

Not a legal wizard, but obviously you aren't either. If you can't make the distinction between a kick-back for political gain and the government doing something.

Why do you think it's a legitimate temple?

In China these days everything is about money. The people pretending to be monks in temples are pretending. You'd be hard pressed to find a real monk these days.

Anyways I'm done with this conversation. It's obvious that some people are believing the marketing B.S., and having a hard time understanding that it's just marketing B.S.

I suppose you think that Mickey Mouse is really a mouse, and not some guy in a mouse costume. It's the same with the 'Shaolin' temple. Those aren't monks -- those are guys in monks costume.

xiao

09-04-2006, 01:35 PM

Hey Gene,

LiPeng his family moved back to their hometown in Hunan Province (near Zhang Jia Jie). His father is still teaching and celebrated his 60th birthday 2 weeks ago.

About Tjun Mei...her taiji ( as well as her KF) is really not bad at all (hey if you train 8-10 hours a day for 10-15 years:eek: ) ..don't know witch part the showed in the PBS Documentary:confused:

lunghushan

09-04-2006, 02:03 PM

Justaguy

09-04-2006, 03:42 PM

Not a legal wizard, but obviously you aren't either. If you can't make the distinction between a kick-back for political gain and the government doing something.

Why do you think it's a legitimate temple?

In China these days everything is about money. The people pretending to be monks in temples are pretending. You'd be hard pressed to find a real monk these days.

Anyways I'm done with this conversation. It's obvious that some people are believing the marketing B.S., and having a hard time understanding that it's just marketing B.S.

I suppose you think that Mickey Mouse is really a mouse, and not some guy in a mouse costume. It's the same with the 'Shaolin' temple. Those aren't monks -- those are guys in monks costume.

I think that religion, politics and money have been intertwined in various ways in China for centuries - the same way they are in the West. I recall reading about complaints of Chinese people durring the Yuan Dynasty over Tibetan monks robbing and cannibalizing travelers. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I guess my point is that it could be worse. Catering to tourists is preferable to catering with tourists.

What are your standards for a temple being "legitimate"? If catering to tourists makes you illegitimate, I would imagine that most temples that I've been to in China fail on that point, as well as the Vatican.

What's a real monk either? Beyond someone who has taken a vow to live in a monastic order? I would imagine that Buddhas are few and far between in China these days, but I'm not sure if that's any more so than in the past.

In Air America Robert Downy Jr. asks Mel Gibson's Character, "What kind of Buddhist runs guns?" To which he replies, "I said I was a Buddhist, I never said I was a good Buddhist."

If you're suggesting that Buddhist monks who are trianing in kung fu to cater to tourists in the present are less legitimate than Buddhist monks who trained in kung fu to kill in the past I'd like to have that argument fleshed out a little more.

"Buddhists, public servants, state organizaitons, corporations, Shaolin, or any other individual, are not above the law."

In China today? Yes they are. Whether they should be or not is a different question altogether, but if government officials recieving bribes in exchange for favors weren't above the law the majority of the Chinese government would be in jail.

GeneChing

09-05-2006, 01:47 PM

It's been a while since I've seen that doc though. I remember admiring her lohanquan, but that's about it. I've put that documentary behind me, so my memory of it isn't that clear right now. Anyways, good to hear Zhang sr. had a pleasant 60th. His is a fascinating story. But then, there's a ton of fascinating stories at Shaolin.

I'm going to Disneyland tomorrow. Seriously. I'll check into this Mickey Mouse issue. ;)

lunghushan

09-05-2006, 03:15 PM

I dunno. What do I know about Shaolin? I've never been there. From the various pictures, movies and things it looks like the monks at the major temples just put on uniforms for show, and go home to houses, TVs, VCRs, and a lot of them have wives and kids.

Monks aren't supposed to have all that stuff, and families, are they? But what do I know. :confused:

GeneChing

09-11-2006, 03:08 PM

Well, I did cross paths with Mickey and pondered his 'reality'. I'll say this - Mickey is real enough for countless children just like many Shaolin monks are real enough for countless tourists, spectators and beginners. There are only a few performers that are permitted to play Mickey, or Pluto (who snuck up on me from behind and startled me enough that I knocked over a little kid :o ) or especially Ariel. Ahh, yes, Ariel. She's another story entirely. Is she as innocent and wholesome in private life as she appears? We can only fantasize. But back to the analogy, all of these performers are very skilled at what they do in order to get that job. In a similar fashion, if one is to adopt the perspective that all Shaolin monks are parallel to Disneyland characters, there's a tremendous amount of skill therein. Whether they are 'real' or 'fake' could concievably be overshadowed by the very notion of what it might take to portray a Shaolin monk. Shaolin temple is not like the movies where there are wires, retakes and CGI. And I can attest that challenges matches are still fought there quite regularly. Even if they were just performers, they are superior to most martial artists simply because they have to perform this role so often.

Now I certainly won't deny the existance of 'performance' monks. In fact, I was one of the first to coin that phrase. Clearly, there are many at Shaolin who don robes and are not monks at all. When the festivals come, there are literally thousands in robes. There are only a few hundred monks at most, and most of them are wuseng. The devout Buddhist monks are not very accessible to tourists, by their very nature. They are there, but they are surrounded and greatly outnumbered. Does this make Shaolin valid or not as a genuine temple? How many 'real' monks do you need? Remember the lesson of the Hui Neng and how he became the sixth patriarch. Where did the dust alight then?

It's really ironic to me when someone says "In China these days everything is about money." Is it so different in America?

lunghushan

09-11-2006, 03:31 PM

And I can attest that challenges matches are still fought there quite regularly.

That's cool. There's no legal implications to that? If a foreigner has a challenge match will they get into trouble?

Does this make Shaolin valid or not as a genuine temple? How many 'real' monks do you need? Remember the lesson of the Hui Neng and how he became the sixth patriarch. Where did the dust alight then?

I have no idea. I guess 1 monk would do it. Do you really think there is 1 monk at Shaolin who is there for Buddhism and not for commercial reasons or because they don't have any other skills than teaching martial arts or hanging out?

It's really ironic to me when someone says "In China these days everything is about money." Is it so different in America?

No, but I guess that's the point is that the China of 200 years ago or whatever is gone.

GeneChing

09-11-2006, 05:12 PM

...but this is the martial arts world. Challenges don't usually go there unless someone is seriouly hurt and usually things end with a bloody nose or a knock out. It really depends upon who you challenge. But just to give you an example, remember those 80 registered schools in the area? They have to coordinate the weekly day off because Dengfeng doesn't want rival schools to be out on the same day. When that happens, there's always fights. I'm told it's a weird logistical nightmare.

As for genuine monks, there are several. I've met more than a few. There are hundreds of fakes too, and I had to get past them to get to the genuine ones, but that's really not that hard. You just got to know the right questions. Many westerners go looking for 'real' monks and don't know the first thing about monks or Buddhism, so how could they even begin to find what they're looking for? To be frank, I've had the same problem in many spiritual centers. One of the worst places was Bodh Gaya. I literally had to beat back the tourist scammers there. It was one of the most intense tourist abuse situations I've ever been in, short of Jamaica, where at more than a few moments, I felt physically threatened and feared for my life. At the same time, Bodh Gaya was amazing and I had some very profound moments there. I'll never forget meditating beside the diamond seat - it was so powerful.

the China of 200 years ago or whatever is gone. The U.S.A. of 200 years ago is gone too. Remember, America is only a little older than 200 years now. If you were to ask about the America of 250 years ago, well then, where would that put us?

lunghushan

09-11-2006, 05:20 PM

The U.S.A. of 200 years ago is gone too. Remember, America is only a little older than 200 years now. If you were to ask about the America of 250 years ago, well then, where would that put us?

Well it would put us back to being a British colony, when much of the country wasn't inhabited with Europeans. Yes, America of 250 years ago is gone too.

Oh, well. Honestly you've done much much more in your life than I will probably ever do in mine, so I really can't judge any of this, Shaolin or whatever.

(From your posts it seems like you do more in a week than I've done in a year).

GeneChing

09-12-2006, 10:13 AM

Suzuki Roshi said (and forgive my paraphrasing) never stop to compare your practice to that of others. When you do that, you lose the way. Our lives aren't over yet, lunghushan, and there maybe past and future lives, so who cares who has done more?

It's important for you to question Shaolin. It's important for everyone to question it, and to arrive at their own conclusions. What I have issues with is when people propound their findings as the sole truth when it is subjective a relative. Many people go to Shaolin looking for a Mickey Mouse monk because that's what they've been told is there. And I'm not denying that Mickey isn't there. But just because there is a Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, doesn't mean there isn't a genuine mouse there too.

lunghushan

09-12-2006, 11:19 AM

richard sloan

09-19-2006, 02:28 PM

...It was one of the most intense tourist abuse situations I've ever been in, short of Jamaica...

this brought me a chuckle.

some of you seem to be almost purposefully obtuse.

GeneChing

09-19-2006, 04:55 PM

richard sloan, you of all people know what I'm talking about. And FWIW, Jamaica was amazing too and I had some very profound moments there. I'll never forget my meditation at Nine Mile - it was so powerful. ;)

richard sloan

09-20-2006, 12:14 PM

to bring this to jamdung would be threadjack massive, lol...

I think that what we will be continually dealing with, and it will get far worse, is a legacy of tremendous ignorance when it comes to things monastic in general, and Shaolin in particular.

Kind of like what I call the 3rd Grade Teacher Brain Fry. You know, you are in 3rd grade, master of your universe, and then suddenly you are in the supermarket and spot your 3rd grade teacher who to your mind can't exist outside of the classroom.

GeneChing

09-21-2006, 12:39 PM

I remember once having a burger back in my meat eating daze and one of my teen students spotted me in the restaurant. He was totally blown away. He came up to me and said "You shouldn't be eating a burger. You should be eating soup or something." Mind you, this was back when I was teaching kids Bak Sil Lum for Wing Lam - I had been to Shaolin, shaved my head once, but let it all grow back and wasn't living a monkish lifestyle by any means. You're totally right, richard sloan, monks can't go to the supermarket, unless they're buying soup. I'd love a bowl of ital stew right about now....

richard sloan

09-22-2006, 10:03 PM

lol, no mannish water?

that reminds me of a time I went to the road for a quick cup of soup, from a bobo dred named priest- took a friend of mine with me and he tastes the soup and says to the ras, hmm....this is pretty good but it needs salt...you got any salt?

I was like, you basically just asked a jew for a buttered milk coated steak.

GeneChing

08-21-2009, 10:21 AM

FYI, 13,000,000,000 yuan = $1,902,726,701.96 USD at today's market rates.

Shaolin Kung Fu to create 13 bln yuan? (http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6735853.html)
15:46, August 21, 2009

Early in the 1980s, people around the world recognized Shaolin Kung Fu through the film "Shaolin Temple". Perhaps within 10 years, the birth place of Shaolin Kung Fu, Dengfeng City in Henan Province will earn the same global fame as Shaolin Kung Fu did.

Dengfeng is famous for martial arts, with an abundant accumulation of cultural and historic centers for Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. In 2004, Songshan Mountain, where Shaolin Temple is located, was crowned as a "World Geologic Park" by UNESCO.

At the moment, Dengfeng is drawing up a blueprint for its development over next ten years. It aims to gain international fame as a cultural tourist city by mainly promoting Shaolin Kung Fu to the world.

According to the plan, in 2010, Dengfeng will primarily turn into an international city of Kung Fu, receiving 7 million tourists every year. The total tourism revenue is expected to reach 4.3 billion yuan, amounting to 16.5% of local GDP.

In 2015, the international city of Kung Fu will be complete. It will receive 10 million tourists every year and create 13.1 billion yuan revenue which amounts to 23.5% of local GDP.

In 2020, the Kung Fu industry will become a leading economic driving force. The city will not only explore but also preserve the natural, cultural and historical heritage.

In the next 10 years, Dengfeng will establish a top-ranking martial arts performance company, build up the biggest Kung Fu training base, create newspapers and magazines of Kung Fu and set up Kung Fu filming base and an anime city of Shaolin Kung Fu.

Currently, "Shaolin" as a brand is gaining increasing popularity and value. 62 Kung Fu schools in Dengfeng in recent years have received over 800 million yuan investment.

GeneChing

09-01-2009, 10:16 AM

...more about Henan.

Lt. Gov. Bill Halter went to China. He brought back a letter. (http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2009/08/mr_postman.aspx)
HALTER NEWS RELEASE

LITTLE ROCK (August 31, 2009) -- Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter today announced that the state of Arkansas and China’s most populous province, Henan Province, have signed a letter of intent to promote common business interests and generate trade and investment opportunities.

Halter and Feng Yongchen, director-general of the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Henan Province, signed English and Chinese versions of the letter while Halter was in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, China, on Friday as part of an economic development mission arranged by the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA).

“Government officials I met with during our two days in Zhengzhou repeatedly expressed their excitement about formalizing a commercial relationship and developing a cultural exchange with Arkansas,” Halter said. “I am pleased to return with a document that reflects their interest and enthusiasm. This is an exciting opportunity for Arkansas, especially our farmers and businesses.”

The letter of intent establishing a “friendly-exchange relationship” between Henan Province and the state of Arkansas reads, in part:
“The two sides will carry out, based on principles of equality and mutual benefit, exchanges and cooperation of various forms in the fields of economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education, sports, health and qualified personnel … to promote common development.

“Regular contacts shall be maintained between the leaders of both governments and relevant departments of both sides to facilitate consultations on the issues of exchanges and cooperation as well as matters of common concern.”

China is Arkansas’ third-largest export market, behind Canada and Mexico. Currently, China effectively bans imports of U.S. rice and Arkansas-based poultry. Halter encouraged Chinese removal of these trade restrictions last week in discussions with China’s vice minister of foreign affairs, the assistant minister of commerce and Henan Province Party Secretary Xu Guangchun.

“Secretary Xu expressed great enthusiasm about deepening business relationships with Arkansas,” Halter said.

Located in east-central China, Henan is China’s largest province by population, with 100 million residents. If Henan were a country, it would be the world’s 12th largest behind Mexico.

Henan has long been a political, economic and cultural base in China as well as the pivot point of transportation in all directions for a country of more than 1.3 billion people. Historically, more than 20 dynasties initially established or later moved their capitals to Henan Province. Of China's 8 major ancient capitals, 4 are located there. The province also is home Shaolin Temple, a 5th century Buddhist monastery best known to the Western world for its association with Chinese martial arts, including Shaolin Kung Fu.

Signs of Henan’s vigorous economy are evident in its capital of Zhengzhou, where ongoing construction of modern buildings and new roads, is giving this city of 7.5 million people a virtual facelift.

“The amount of new construction in Zhengzhou is tremendous,” Halter said of what he witnessed during his visit. “With $2 billion in additional construction planned over the next two years, they are, in essence, building a new city next to the old one.”

Early during the China trip, Halter met with representatives of Yuan Associates, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s consulting firm in Beijing, which asked for his assistance in expanding market opportunities for Arkansas products in the world’s largest consumer market and strengthening Arkansas’ ties with China.

“While there are terrific market opportunities for Arkansas products, there are two markets that are closed to Arkansas exports currently,” Halter said. “The first is poultry products produced in Arkansas, which are currently banned in the Chinese market due to a concern about avian flu; the second product that is not imported into China from Arkansas is Arkansas-produced rice.”

Halter also visited a Wal-Mart Supercenter in China’s capital city as well as commercial and cultural sites in and around Beijing and Zhengzhou

GeneChing

09-15-2009, 09:42 AM

Shaolin has sent representative troupes to many temples across China, but this is the first I've heard of them taking over one (or four). I haven't chased down the original source story yet, so I'll remain a little skeptical.

Shaolin monks take over Yunnan temples (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200909/20090915/article_413910.htm)
By Chen Qian | 2009-9-15

VISITORS to four temples in southwest China's Yunnan Province will soon experience Shaolin kung fu after the famous Shaolin temple has taken over their management.

The four 2,000-year-old temples in Guandu District of Kunming, the capital, will open to the public in the name of Guandu Shaolin Temple free from tomorrow, reported Website e.kunming.cn.

The 1,500-year-old Shaolin temple took over the day-to-day management of the four Kunming temples from November 24 last year under a trusteeship agreement over the next 20 years.

"Cultural tourism will surely be boosted by the fame of Shaolin temple," said Dou Weibao, the commissioner of ethnic and religious affairs in Guandu District.

Currently there are 46 monks in the Guandu temples and more than 80 people from Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces are studying martial arts there.

The 5-yuan (75 US cents) admission fee for the four temples was scrapped to encourage more visitors, according to the report.

Shaolin temple in Henan Province is famous for its association with Chinese martial arts. Shi Yongxin, the abbot of Shaolin temple, denied the trusteeship model was too commercial although the action has received plenty of online criticism.

GeneChing

09-17-2009, 04:52 PM

The Guandu Shaolin Temples

Rebranded Shaolin temples open today (http://gokunming.com/en/blog/item/1134/rebranded_shaolin_temples_open_today)
Wednesday, 16th September 2009
Chris

Today four temples in Kunming's Guandu district officially reopened under management by Shaolin Temple, the temple where kung fu is believed to have originated. The temples have been rebranded as "Guandu Shaolin Temples" according to a Shanghai Daily report.

Shaolin Temple abbot Shi Yongxin (释永信) signed a trusteeship agreement last November with Kunming's Guandu district government to take over management of four ancient temples in Guandu: Miaozhan Temple (妙湛寺), Tuzhu Temple (土主庙), Fading Temple (法定寺), and Guanyin Temple (观音寺).

Under the agreement, Shaolin Temple will operate the temples for 20 years. At present there are 46 Shaolin monks in the Guandu temples, which are now free to the public. Admission had formerly been five yuan.

In exchange for taking over management duties at the four temples, Shaolin Temple will receive all profits generated by the temples via sales of religious paraphernalia, religious texts and any donations made by visitors. Shaolin would also get all the money generated by ticket sales should it reinstate entry fees.

Shaolin Temple to take over management at four Kunming temples (http://gokunming.com/en/blog/item/746/shaolin_temple_to_take_over_management_at_four_kun ming_temples)
Wednesday, 26th November 2008
Chris

Shaolin Temple (少林寺), the famed temple in Henan province where kung fu is said to have been invented, is going into the temple management business, starting in Kunming.

The temple's abbot Shi Yongxin (释永信) signed an agreement earlier this week with Kunming's Guandu district to take over management of four ancient temples in Kunming: Miaozhan Temple (妙湛寺), Tuzhu Temple (土主庙), Fading Temple (法定寺), and Guanyin Temple (观音寺).

According to Kunming media reports, this new 'Yunnan Shaolin' is expected to serve as a platform through which the temple will transmit 'Shaolin Culture' to South and Southeast Asia. Ten monks from Shaolin Temple will be dispatched to the four Kunming temples, where they will manage business with the goal of attracting tourists.

The reported terms of the 20-year agreement between Shaolin Temple and the Guandu district are for Shaolin to take over management of the four Kunming temples in exchange for all the profits generated by the temples via ticket sales, sales of religious paraphernalia, religious texts and any donations made by visitors.

Eric Mu at Danwei explains that Shaolin's Shi is facing growing criticism for his business-oriented approach to running the temple.

Shi Yongxin said that the influence of the Shaolin brand will give a significant boost to the popularity of these temples. He denied that the takeover was part of expansion plans at his own temple, as well as the charge that he is running the temple like a chain store.

Earlier this year, Shaolin was criticized for opening an online store selling a variety of Shaolin-related products, including a book priced at 9,999 yuan that purportedly contained the temple's kung fu and medicinal secrets.

GeneChing

12-17-2009, 10:28 AM

How does the PRC stock market work, I wonder?

Local government denies listing plan for Shaolin Temple (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/17/content_12663851.htm)
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-17 22:10:22

ZHENGZHOU, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese local government on Thursday denied reports that it was trying to have the world-famous Shaolin Temple listed in the stock market in two years.

The government of Dengfeng, Henan Province, admitted in a statement that it was negotiating with China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation (HKCTS) on cooperation in tourism of Songshan Mountain, home to the Shaolin Temple, but said "no formal contract has been inked yet."

"Sixteen cultural relics of national and provincial levels, including the Shaolin Temple, in the area will not be managed by the new joint venture," the statement said.

According to the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post, the Dengfeng city government has signed a framework agreement with the Hong Kong-based company to establish a joint venture with 100 million yuan (14.7 million U.S. dollars), which was to manage the tourism-related assets of the 1,500-year-old temple.

The newspaper said that the HKCTS would take a 51-percent stake and the venture is to be listed in 2011.

The report sparked criticism on the Dengfeng government, as critics say it is selling state assets at a low price and the agreement would hurt the feelings of Shaolin monks and religious people.

"We are against being listed and this attitude will never change," said Qian Daliang, head of the intellectual property and intangible assets management center of Shaolin Temple, who often acts as spokesman for Shaolin's abbot Shi Yongxin.

In an interview with Xinhua, Qian noted that Shaolin Temple and Shaolin culture belonged to all the people and "should be enjoyed by all, thus whether to be listed should be decided by the public instead of the local authorities."

Shaolin, which has become a household name around the world, has developed business operations such as kungfu shows, film production and online sales under the leadership of Shi Yongxin.

Shi Yongxin has also earned himself the nickname the "CEO monk" since he officially took over as abbot in 1999.

However, he had repeatedly pledged that "Shaolin Temple was not an enterprise, its value was beyond measurement, and it is never to be listed."

He has submitted proposals several times to the national legislature, suggesting the exemption of entrance fees at religious tourist attractions to promote cultural protection.

The Shaolin Temple, built 1500 years ago during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, is famous for Buddhist teaching and Chinese martial arts, particularly Shaolin kungfu.

Shaolin temple of kung-fu monks to sell shares in China (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8417844.stm)

Shaolin monks are famous around the world

The ancient Shaolin temple - famous for its fighting kung-fu monks - will soon be a part of the stock market.

The government body responsible for the 1,500-year-old temple's tourism will be part of a joint-venture to sell shares in Hong Kong or China.

The share sale could raise up to 1bn yuan ($146.4m).

The deal calls for China Travel Service to invest 100m yuan towards a venture under the Shaolin name that will handle services such as ticket sales.

The deal would also include the cable car, cinemas, hotels and tourist bus services in Dengfeng, in the Chinese province of Henan, where the temple is based.

The temple's abbot, Shi Yongxin, took over in the 1990s and has aggressively promoted the Shaolin brand, acting as executive producer in martial arts films based on the temple and upgrading temple facilities for tourists.

Buddhist monk eyes opening kung fu world (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/buddhist_monk_eyes_opening_kung_XIOt5jKAjB04GCBDOW dylJ)
By PAUL THARP
Last Updated: 4:42 AM, December 17, 2009
Posted: 1:48 AM, December 17, 2009

The sacred temple where kung fu was born some 1,500 years ago to spawn centuries of undefeated masters is at last surrendering to the almighty buck.

Critics were kicking and screaming in outrage yesterday over plans to sell stock in the ancient monastery and turn it into a garish tourist attraction to cash in on the sport's popularity.

The kung fu amusement park would feature bikini-clad beauty pageants, Las Vegas-styled martial-arts shows, souvenir shops and posh hotels.

The controversial plan to convert the storied Shaolin Temple -- in a picturesque mountain town in the Henan Province -- is said to be the main priority of the temple's current monk, Shi Yongxin.

Sources said the so-called "CEO of Shaolin Temple" is partnering with the state-run tourist agency, China Travel Services.

The martial-arts shrine would likely become involved in kung fu films, which have made an international comeback recently with a new generation of kung fu stars and improved film production in China and Hong Kong.

The monk got the idea to go Hollywood after seeing 1.6 million tourists pack into the remote temple's grounds last year on pilgrimages, paying about $23 a ticket just to see a half-hour, smack-down kung fu exhibition.

Critics said the squat, 44-year-old monk, who's headed the temple for a decade, has regularly been allowing profiteers and promoters to turn kung fu and Zen Buddhism into crassly commercial projects to raise much-needed capital for rebuilding the ancient buildings and to develop other temples.

Despite his nickname, Shi says he's not interested in making big profits but only wanted to raise the public profile of Zen Buddhism and its kung fu disciplines.

"I'm not a businessman," he told the Times of London. "I don't hold shares."

Recently, a hacker broke into the temple's Web site to post a fake apology from Shi for corrupting the temple and its principles.

Shi said he isn't planning to take legal action over the damaging stunt.

"As monks, we should focus only on our Buddhist disciplines. We are not excited about filing lawsuits."

Shaolin Temple ticketing venture plans listing (http://business.globaltimes.cn/industries/2009-12/492610.html)
* Source: Global Times
* [17:12 December 17 2009]

A joint venture which would be authorized to sell Shaolin Temple tickets may be publicly listed on the Hong Kong or Shanghai market, according to media reports Wednesday.

The reports said Dengfeng municipal government of Henan province, where the temple is located, signed a framework agreement with China Travel Service (HK) on October 21 to establish a joint venture named Dengfeng Songshan Shaolin Culture and Travel Company.

According to the agreement, the two sides will invest 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) in the new joint venture which will go public on the Hong Kong or Shanghai bourse by 2011.

The Hong Kong travel company will hold a 51 percent stake in the venture and the Dengfeng government holding the remaining 49 percent of the company that will sells tickets to Shaolin Temple and nearby sites.

The venture would regulate all ticket sales, hotels, cable cars, movie theaters, and tourism at the temple and the agreement will be effective for 40 years.

But the temple part of the complex was not involved in the negotiation process since the government did not inform the people at the temple.

"The government did not inform the Shaolin Temple part know the agreement, because we haven't announced the operation to the public yet," said Cui Shiying, the head of the Dongfeng city party committee's publicity department.

The possible listing of Shaolin Temple led to an array of opinions.

Hong Liang, travel economist from China Galaxy Securities, pointed out that if the income from tickets sells does not belong to Shaolin Temple, it will be a great challenge for its further development since the income from admission tickets makes up the majority of the temple's income.

"Although the temple has some derived industries like martial arts school, but the incomes from these are just a small part," he said.

Executive director of China NPO Network Shang Yusheng pointed out that the listing of the temple's assets have some issues that need to be clarified, such as the temple property.

Hong also said that Shaolin Temple should be a national asset, not of Shaolin Temple itself or of the local government, and the local government does not have the right to make the decision on its own.

He added that the local government's plans could result in a negative perception of the temple, the 1,500-year-old shrine where kung fu was born, and the spiritual home of some of China's most formidable martial art exponents.

Ticket sales at Shaolin Temple average 150 million yuan annually.

Cui responded Thursday that the media reports of the "temple listing" is a misunderstanding of the issue. "The agreement we negotiated with the travel company is an overall cooperation project of the whole Songshang area, and Shaolin Temple is just one site in the area," he said, but did not disclose other details.

Agencies and Li Na contributed to the story

solo1

12-17-2009, 10:36 AM

SHANGHAI - The famed fighting monks of China's Shaolin Temple next plan to tackle modern finance.

The local government entity in charge of managing the 1,500-year-old Buddhist temple's tourism-related assets has agreed to cooperate with China Travel Service, a spokeswoman for the state-owned company said.

News reports said the venture would seek to raise up to 1 billion yuan ($146.4 million) by listing shares on either a mainland or Hong Kong index.

The Dongfeng government in central Henan province where the temple is located confirmed it was negotiating with China Travel Service on tourism cooperation but denied reports of a stock offering.

"We are against being listed and this attitude will never change," Qian Daliang, head of the intellectual property and intangible assets management center of Shaolin Temple, told the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

China Travel Service (Holdings) Ltd., based in Hong Kong, did not comment on the report of a possible listing. It would issue an announcement later, said the company's spokeswoman, who gave only her surname, Zhang.

Shaolin, its monks and their distinctive form of kung fu have developed into a lucrative business enterprise, raising controversy among some who disapprove of the commercialism of the temple's business-savvy abbot, Shi Yongxin.

Since taking over as abbot in the 1990s, Shi has moved aggressively to promote and protect the Shaolin brand, threatening to sue companies that use the temple's name or image without permission and serving as executive producer for martial arts films centered on the temple.

He also has sought to upgrade temple facilities — installing lavish visitor restrooms equipped with uniformed cleaners and TVs that brought still more criticism.

The Shanghai-based newspaper Oriental Morning Post and other reports said the temple itself was not part of the negotiations between Dengfeng and China Travel Service.

That deal calls for China Travel Service to invest 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) for a 51 percent stake in a venture under the Shaolin brand name that will handle sale of admission tickets, operate its cable car, cinemas, hotels and tourist bus services in Dengfeng, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported.

___
from CNBC this morning

wenshu

12-17-2009, 10:38 AM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/6831187/Shaolin-Temples-kung-fu-monks-prepare-IPO.html

I think this is absolutely awesome. Best sell out ever.

More for Yong Xin's detractors to get heated about.

I find it somewhat amusing that people get bent out of shape when Shaolin Si doesn't conform to their misguided expectations of what a modern temple should and shouldn't be.

Arguments about the wealth of Shaolin Si having been going on for centuries.

Using global profile to spread the traditional culture of 禪武 is ultimately a good thing.

It is not for me to begrudge anyone for making money.

I don't practice in order to argue politics.

xcakid

12-17-2009, 10:42 AM

The always forget the link. Geez :D
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34458535/for/cnbc/

David Jamieson

12-17-2009, 12:42 PM

The Vatican makes waaaaaay more than that!

They are in the Billions.

Millions is a lark. The pope walks around in solid gold bling.

Don't see no one getting peed at that.

weird world.

GeneChing

12-18-2009, 01:05 PM

At Monastery, Plans to Go Public (http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/at-monastery-plans-to-go-public/)
December 18, 2009, 4:29 am

The flying monks of Shaolin may soon learn how to float, as well.

The holding company set to run the tourism-related assets of the Shaolin Temple may go public next year, The Oriental Morning Post, a Shanghai daily, reported Thursday.

Dengfeng’s municipal government in Henan province, where the temple is located, has inked a deal with China Travel Service HK, a Hong Kong travel company, to invest 100 million renminbi ($14.64 million) to create the holding company under the Shaolin name, the newspaper said.

The venture would seek to raise 800 million to 1 billion renminbi through several channels, including an I.P.O., the newspaper said, according to China Daily.

The Shaolin Temple, historic center of Chinese Buddhism and kungfu, is run by the abbot Shi Yongxin, known as the “C.E.O. monk” because he earned an M.B.A. and is said to run the temple more like a business than a monastery.

And on the BBC...

Shaolin Temple denies flotation report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8420194.stm)

Shaolin monks are famous around the world

The ancient Shaolin temple - famous for its fighting kung-fu monks - has denied a report that it is planning to list on the stock exchange.

The government body responsible for the 1,500-year-old temple's tourism said it was "absolutely untrue".

However, the Dengfeng government said it was in talks with China Travel Service about a new tourism joint venture in the Songhan mountains.

China Travel confirmed the talks but said it was too soon to comment.

Many have criticised the commercialisation of the temple and the shrine's martial artist monks had opposed any share-listing plans.

The temple's abbot, Shi Yongxin, took over in the 1990s and has aggressively promoted the Shaolin brand, acting as executive producer in martial arts films based on the temple and upgrading temple facilities for tourists.

Google lists nearly 90 news articles on this. I think the Abbot is proving himself to be a master of viral marketing. ;)

GeneChing

12-28-2009, 11:05 AM

...that Abbot Yongxin is becoming a brilliant manipulator of web news. ;)

Company refutes rumors of managing Shaolin Temple (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/28/content_9236989.htm)
By Zhao Chunzhe (chinadaily.com.cn)

The opening ceremony for the "Dengfeng Songshan Shaolin Culture and Travel Company" was held on Sunday. The new company will manage all tourism near the famous Shaolin Temple on Songshan Mountain in Henan, chinanews.cn reported. However, it will not manage the Shaolin temple itself.

"The company will manage the Dengfeng Songshan scenic spot, not included the Shaolin Temple. The tickets of the Shaolin Temple won't change," said Xu Muhan, the vice president of the Dengfeng Songshan Shaolin Culture and Travel Company.

The Dengfeng municipal government of Henan province and the Hong Kong-based China Travel Service Group (CTS) have jointly invested in the company, which is worth a total of 100 million yuan ($14.6 million). The government will hold 49 percent of the company's stock, while CTS owns the remaining 51 percent.

The abbot of Shaolin Temple did not attend the ceremony of the company, although there was a seat with his name on it.

New company set up to promote Shaolin culture, tourism (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/27/content_12712482.htm)
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-27 23:44:21

ZHENGZHOU, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A new company was set up Sunday to promote the culture of the world-famous Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan Province and the tourism of Songshan Mountain, home to the 1,500-year-old temple.

The CTS (Dengfeng) Songshan Shaolin Culture Tourism Co. Ltd. was established as a joint venture between the Dengfeng Songshan Shaolin Culture Tourism Group Co. Ltd., which is owned by the Dengfeng city government in Henan, and the Hong Kong-based China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Limited, a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation (HKCTS).

The Hong Kong company takes a 51-percent stake and the Dengfeng company holds 49 percent of the new joint venture, which has a registered capital of 100 million yuan (14.7 million U.S. dollars).

"In the next 10 years, we will greatly promote the tourism of the Songshan Mountain scenic spot, improve the infrastructure and upgrade the services," said Bo Baohua, board chairman of the new company, at an inauguration ceremony held in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan.

"Meanwhile, we will greatly promote the Shaolin kungfu and culture," he said.

CONTROVERSY ENDED

The new joint venture had come under spotlight as earlier reports said the government of Dengfeng, where the Shaolin Temple lies, was trying to have the religious place listed in the stock market.

The reports had sparked criticism on the Dengfeng government, as critics say it was selling state assets at a low price and the agreement would hurt the feelings of Shaolin monks and religious people.

But the Dengfeng government had denied the reports in a statement earlier this month, saying "16 cultural relics of national and provincial levels, including the Shaolin Temple, in the area will not be managed by the new joint venture".

Xu Muhan, vice general manager of the HKCTS, also refuted the reports Sunday.

"The shares that our company holds are of the Songshan Mountain scenic spot, which does not include the Shaolin Temple," he told reporters.

"Meanwhile, HKCTS itself is a state-owned company, so such an issue does not exist about selling state assets at a low price," he said.

"In addition, we will protect the cultural heritage and religious places in tourism development," he added.

The Shaolin Temple, built 1500 years ago during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, is famous for Buddhist teaching and Chinese martial arts, particularly Shaolin kungfu.

Shaolin, which has become a household name around the world, has developed business operations such as kungfu shows, film production and online sales under the leadership of Shi Yongxin.

Shi Yongxin has also earned himself the nickname the "CEO monk" since he officially took over as abbot in 1999.

However, he had repeatedly pledged that "Shaolin Temple was not an enterprise, its value was beyond measurement, and it is never to be listed."

He has submitted proposals several times to the national legislature, suggesting the exemption of entrance fees at religious tourist attractions to promote cultural protection.

Shi was absent from Sunday's inauguration ceremony, although he had been invited by the organizer.

Dengfeng Launches JV to Promote Songshan Mountains Tourism (http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2751797/)
Mon. December 28, 2009; Posted: 06:46 AM

DENGFENG, Dec 28, 2009 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) -- CVIWF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The municipal government of Dengfeng, Henan Province, is scheduled to inaugurate a tourism joint venture with China Travel International Investment

Hong Kong Limited (SEHK: 0308) for the promotion of the scenic spots in Songshan Mountains, home to the time-honored Shaolin Temple, on December 27, 2009.

With a registered capital of CNY 100 million, Shaolin Culture and Tourism Co., Ltd. (transliterated), will be 51% owned by the Hong Kong-based company and 49% taken by the municipal government of Dengfeng, according to a framework agreement the two sides entered earlier.

The newborn company is about to manage and popularize the sparkling scenic spots in the Songshan Mountains in accordance with the local regulations, said Zheng Fulin, mayor of Dengfeng, noting that infrastructure in the scenic spots are excluded from the venture.

Shaolin Culture and Tourism will raise CNY 800 million-CNY 1 billion over the following three years for scenic spot infrastructure construction and cultural tourism project development to beef up the core competitiveness of the Songshan Mountains in and out of the country, according to Mr. Zheng, without giving details.

"The ticket price of the scenic spots including the Shaolin Temple will stay unchanged after the joint venture starts operation," said Mr. Zheng, "the formation of the venture will neither impact the cultural relics protection nor change the religious activities in the historic places here."

Revenue from the scenic spots is expected to increase sharply as more tourists will come in the future, predicted Mr. Zheng, adding that the venture will leave the existing management measures unchanged. Currently, ticket sales from the Shaolin Temple alone stands at CNY 150 million a year.

"There is no possibility for the Shaolin Temple to go public as reported since it is a cultural relics instead of an entity," said Xu Muhan, general manager for the Hong Kong-listed company, explaining that only a joint-stock company will have a chance to get listed on the stock market.

There were widespread reports that the Shaolin Temple was gearing up for a listing on the stock market, striking worries about a possible negative perception of the 1,500-year-old Buddhist shrine where the Chinese kung fu was born.

The temple has nothing to do with the newly established company, according to Huang Kun, legal consultant for the Shaolin Temple, echoing Mr. Xu. Nevertheless, the monastery, considered as the spiritual home of China's most formidable martial art exponents, has gone very far as a vehicle that market observers said had raked in handsomely from a series of commercial activities.

(USD 1 = CNY 6.83)

chusauli

12-28-2009, 03:46 PM

Welcome to New China's Capitalism...let's not forget the abbot was appointed by the government of China.

TenTigers

12-28-2009, 03:57 PM

"Despite his nickname, Shi says he's not interested in making big profits but only wanted to raise the public profile of Zen Buddhism and its kung fu disciplines.
__________________________________________________ ______________

yeah,
and McDonald's only wants to raise the public profile of gourmet cuisine.:rolleyes:

GeneChing

12-30-2009, 10:23 AM

This article almost distills the last few posts on this thread, except maybe my last one...:rolleyes:

Shaolin Temple aims for IPO in 2011 (http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/284688)
By Wang Fangqing.
Dec 30, 2009

A recent story revealed a draft of an agreement regarding listing a Shaolin Temple in Hong Kong and it's stirred a major debate in China.

The draft, made between China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Ltd and the local government of Dengfeng, Henan Province, says the two sides will spend 100 million yuan ($14.6 million USD) to set up a joint venture which will be listed in Hong Kong in 2011, reports People's Daily.

Without any permission from the temple, the local government agrees to authorize the JV to sell the Shaolin ticket, which generates an annual income as high as 150 million yuan ($21.9 million USD).

Cui Shiying, spokesman for the Dengfeng government, admitted that Shaolin Temple isn't involved in the draft because "we (the two sides) haven't reached the final decision."

Qian Daliang, general manager of intellectual property and intangible assets management center of Shaolin Temple, told Chinese media that the temple's fate should not be decided by a local government.

"Shaolin Temple is public asset belonging to the whole country, not the temple or the local government... the whole deal should have been openly discussed by experts and the public," he said.

Shaolin Temple has been a hot topic in China recently thanks to the current principal abbot Shi Yongxin. In October, he told Chinese media that he was going to establish a Taiwan branch of the temple in the near future.

Last year, he set up four chain temples in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, to strengthen the tie with followers in South Eastern Asia. People started to worry that Shi would turned the temple into another McDonald's, but he denied the claim, adding it would never happen.

Dengfeng And CTS Set Up Chinese Travel JV (http://www.chinahospitalitynews.com/en/2009/12/30/14629-dengfeng-and-cts-set-up-chinese-travel-jv/)
December 30, 2009

Dengfeng Songshan Shaolin Cultural Tourism Group, which is wholly-owned by the Dengfeng government, and CTS subsidiary, China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Limited, have jointly set up a joint venture — CTS (Dengfeng) Songshan Shaolin Cultural Tourism Company.

The new company has a registered capital of CNY100 million, of which CTII owns 51% of the shares and Dengfeng owns 49%.

According to Bo Baohua, the chairman of the company, the JV will focus on develop three major areas. First, improving the management and service of Songshan Scenic Spot; second, making the annual growth for tourist numbers of the spot reach 20% by leveraging the advantages of CTS and cooperating with tourism enterprises in Henan province; third, making a three-year investment and development plan to create a tourism industrial chain and to make Songshan a multi-functional and comprehensive destination.

Dengfeng government and CTS state that their cooperation will adhere to the principles of "moderate development, rational utilization, and strengthening the protection of natural and human resources in the Songshan Scenic Spot".

It is reported that the JV is not involved with the famous Shaolin Temple.

GeneChing

12-30-2009, 12:16 PM

It's a game of 'he said, Shi said' ;)

The Shaolin Temple story (http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/china-eye/2009_12_31/The_Shaolin_Temple_story.html)
Travel & Leisure
31 December 2009

The time line on the Shaolin Temple share transaction suggests that there was some change of mind somewhere along the line.

First CTS (Dengfeng) Songshan Shaolin Culture Tourism. was set up as a joint venture between the Dengfeng Songshan Shaolin Culture Tourism Group, which is owned by the Dengfeng city government in Henan, and the Hong Kong-based China Travel International Investment Hong Kong, a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation (HKCTS).

The Hong Kong company took a 51% stake and the Dengfeng company took 49% of the new joint venture, which has a registered capital of $14.7 million.

The original story was the government of Dengfeng, where the Shaolin Temple lies, was trying to have the religious place listed in the stock market.

This was sort of initially denied by Bo Baohua, board chairman of the new company, at an inauguration ceremony held in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan said, "In the next 10 years, we will greatly promote the tourism of the Songshan Mountain scenic spot, improve the infrastructure and upgrade the services. Meanwhile, we will greatly promote the Shaolin kungfu and culture."

Still the thought was that this was inappropriate behaviour and would hurt the feelings of Shaolin monks and religious people.

The Dengfeng government was quick to deny this saying "16 cultural relics of national and provincial levels, including the Shaolin Temple, in the area will not be managed by the new joint venture".

The Shaolin Temple, built 1500 years ago during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, is famous for Buddhist teaching and Chinese martial arts, particularly Shaolin kungfu.

Shi Yongxin officially took over as abbot in 1999 and earned himself the nickname the "CEO monk". He is seen with his computer in our illustration on the right.

Shaolin, which has become a household name around the world, has developed business operations such as kungfu shows, film production and online sales under the leadership of Shi Yongxin.

China View reports he has submitted proposals several times to the national legislature, suggesting the exemption of entrance fees at religious tourist attractions to promote cultural protection.

http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/uploadimages/2009/12/shi-yongxin-shaolin-temple-abbot-using-computer.jpg

GeneChing

12-31-2009, 10:49 AM

* December 31, 2009, 6:16 AM ET
What, If Anything, Is Being Sold at Shaolin? (http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/12/31/what-if-anything-is-being-sold-at-shaolin/)

Controversy has arisen again over Shaolin Temple, about a month after the temple’s Web site came under attack by hackers angry at its commercialization.

This time, a tourism venture that uses the Shaolin name is in focus , though it’s not clear to what extent the temple itself is involved, and the abbot and the monks of Shaolin recently released a statement, hand-written on red poster paper that appears to denounce the venture.

The background: In the past week, the government of Dengfeng city in Henan province, where the 1,500-year-old Shaolin temple is located, launched a joint venture with the Hong Kong-listed China Travel International Investment, a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation. The focus of the new firm - CTS (Dengfeng) Songshan Shaolin Culture Tourism Co. – is to promote the Shaolin culture and tourism to Songshan Mountain, according to the statement of the Dengfeng government.

The financial terms of the deal are murky. China Travel International Investment indicates in a statement filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange that the company is taking a 51% stake in the venture, which is registered with a capital of 100 million yuan (around $14.7 million), while the Dengfeng government will hold the remaining 49% through a local tourism development arm in exchange for injecting some assets it manages in the Songshan scenic area to the JV.

Chinese state media has reported that the new JV firm plans an initial public offering in 2011. The IPO plan has drawn much media attention since it became known.

It’s not clear from these statements, however, what the asset portion of Dongfeng’s investment consists of. Chinese media have reported that it includes Dengfeng’s rights to charge admission at Shaolin. The temple’s annual ticket revenue has been as much as 150 million yuan.

Administrators of Shaolin Temple said they have no idea of most details in the deal that the local government has inked, but one administrator said the agreement has “hurt the brand and management rights of Shaolin Temple.” He said ticket sales is the temple’s most important source of revenue, and that currently the temple keeps 30% of ticket sales, while the local government takes the remaining 70%, which in a good year would translate to around 105 million yuan – well above Dongfeng’s asset injection into the venture, valued at 49 million yuan.

The Shaolin administrator said he doesn’t know how the government’s new business will affect the temple’s arrangement with Dongfeng over ticket sales.

News of the venture has led to widespread public concern about the destiny of Shaolin Temple, and also of potential undervaluation of the temple’s assets. The critics also argued that as Shaolin Temple is part of China’s cultural heritage, the local government shouldn’t make unilateral decisions without consulting with the temple or hearing public opinions.

In response to the public outcry, the Dengfeng government published a couple of statements clarifying that the proposed joint venture would not include the assets of the 16 preserved cultural and historic sites in the area, including Shaolin Temple. They also denied that it had sacrificed the interest of Shaolin Temple. The materials provided by the local government for Chinese media also showed that Shi Yongxin, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, met with executives of the Hong Kong company in October, indicating that the abbot was aware of the government plan. Recent Chinese media reports had quoted the abbot as saying that he didn’t know of the government program and that the IPO plan goes against the spirit of Buddhism.

Shortly after the Dengfeng government unveiled the new JV business, the abbot and the Shaolin monks said they have been deeply worried by the government decision. Their tough-worded statement said, “All monks here are humbly holding incense and praying to all Buddha to protect the complete legacy of the thousands of years of history of Shaolin Temple, to save the heritage of Shaolin Temple from being dismantled and divided, to prevent the Shaolin temple from setting a precedent example for all temples across the country.

Chinese media have also published a statement of a Zhengzhou-based law firm on behalf of Shaolin Temple that said all tangible and intangible assets of the temple should be protected by Chinese religious laws. The statement suggested that Shaolin Temple’s ticket revenues, which are tax exempt due to the government support for religious sites, shouldn’t be treated as business assets.

A survey on Sina.com showed that 93% of the 7,129 participants were against the deal because “Shaolin Temple, a religious place, should not be involved in too many commercial practices.”

Many Chinese Internet users were ironizing about the commercialization of religious culture in their own ways.

“In 2011, the temple won’t need to broadcast Buddhism songs any more. [They] can put up a big screen showing the daily stock charts. Worshippers can also chat about the stock market when praying,” wrote the blogger Li Zhiqi, “In 2011, Shaolin Temple won’t be alone. The temples big and small in different places will all plan IPOs.”

– Ellen Zhu

And in China Daily

Shaolin Temple not to go public: abbot (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/31/content_9253765.htm)
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-31 22:21

ZHENGZHOU - The abbot of China's famed Shaolin Temple said here Thursday that the temple will not be listed in the stock market.

In addition, Shaolin Temple will not become a shareholder or join in the business operation of the newly established tourism company in Dengfeng City of Henan Province, where the temple lies, Shi Yongxin said at a press conference.

The legal rights and interests of Shaolin Temple had been well protected according to Chinese laws of religious affairs and will not be affected by the new firm, he said.

Shi made the remarks four days after a joint venture was established between the Dengfeng city government and the Hong Kong-based China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Limited, a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation (HKCTS).

The new company had come under spotlight as earlier reports said the government of Dengfeng was trying to have the religious place listed in the stock market.

The rumors had sparked criticism on the Dengfeng government, as critics say the agreement would hurt the feelings of Shaolin monks and religious people.

Both the Dengfeng government and a senior HKCTS official had denied the reports earlier this month, saying the Shaolin Temple will not be managed by the new joint venture.

Shi said at the press conference that he welcomed HKCTS to do business in Dengfeng, but reaffirmed that Shaolin Temple will never participate in commercial operation of the joint venture as its core functions are to organize religious activities to meet the demand of religious followers.

The Shaolin Temple, built 1500 years ago during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, is famous for Buddhist teaching and Chinese martial arts, particularly Shaolin kungfu.

Shaolin, which has become a household name around the world, has developed business operations such as kungfu shows, film production and online sales under the leadership of Shi Yongxin.

Songshan

01-03-2010, 04:16 PM

The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kung-fu-monk-fights-his-critics-1855403.html)
January 2 2010

Kung fu monk fights his critics

The head of the fabled Shaolin monastery has been accused of selling out heritage for commercial gain, reports Clifford Coonan

January 2 2010

The Shaolin monastery is the birthplace of an ancient, elegant fighting code, where fists of fury and the way of the dragon have for thousands of years peacefully coexisted alongside calm Buddhist meditation.

But the temple, built in AD495 as a place of contemplation and discipline, is now a thriving tourist destination and multinational business venture, run by a monk who has won the respect of many for his business sense and canny marketing skills.

Purists and critics say, however, that he is an overly commercial opportunist. The latest controversial business venture of the "CEO of Shaolin" – as the temple's abbot, Shi Yongxin, is known – is a foray into modern tourism and finance. The local government of Dengfeng city has linked up with the state-owned China Travel Service to launch a travel venture using the Shaolin name. The new company aims to promote the Shaolin culture and tourism to Songshan Mountain.

The Shaolin temple is widely regarded as the birthplace of Shaolin kung fu. Shi Yongxin took over as abbot in 1999 and has divided opinion on whether he is selling out the temple's ancient heritage. "The Shaolin temple is the cradle of kung fu, which brings with it the great responsibility of promoting kung fu," the abbot has stated in defence of his business ventures.

The portly 44-year-old does not look like a kung fu star but, as anyone who has seen Kung Fu Panda knows, appearances are deceptive when it comes to martial-arts skills and, in this yellow-robed monk's case, commercial nous.

Mr Shi was roundly criticised a couple of years ago for accepting a brand-new luxury car for his services to the local tourist industry. In November, a hacker replaced the Shaolin website's front page with a fake letter of remorse in Shi's name. In it he was accused, yet again, of selling out.

On Thursday, the abbot, who is also deputy director of the Buddhist Association of China, was back on the defensive after reports suggested that the temple would go public. He denied that Shaolin would become a shareholder in the new tourism company which will seek to list in 2011 in either Hong Kong or on the Chinese mainland. The core remit of the temple, said the monk, was to "organise religious activities to meet the demand of religious followers".

The Shaolin monastery features in scores of martial-arts films in both Hong Kong and the mainland. But outside China it is best known as the setting for the 1970s television show Kung Fu in which Kwai Chang Caine or "Grasshopper", played by the late American actor David Carradine, studied the lessons taught to him by Master Po and Master Kan.

As with most of China's monasteries, Shaolin was badly damaged and then closed down during the Cultural Revolution, a decade of ideological frenzy between 1966 and 1976 when many ancient temples and artefacts were destroyed. Its resurgence since then has been remarkable, although it is not quite what many might expect a Buddhist temple to be.

Whatever his critics say, it is undeniable that Mr Shi has done much to popularise the town. It has more than 80 martial arts clubs and schools with a total of 60,000 students. Last year the temple had 1.6 million visitors who paid 100 yuan (£9) each to come to see it and watch the spectacular kung fu show. Among past tourists was the then Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who in March 2006 became the first foreign leader to visit the temple.

Thanks to the abbot's canny marketing, the temple's list of commercial achievements would put any theme park to shame. Last year, the monastery was the setting for the launch of the latest kung fu epic, the £18m blockbuster Shaolin. It stars the Hong Kong movie legends Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and Nicholas Tse, as well as the rising mainland star Fan Bingbing, and it will be directed by Hong Kong's Benny Chan. Filling out the cast will be stars including Wu Jing and Yu Shaoqun, and thousands of Shaolin disciples from the temple.

In another sign of the Shaolin monks' growing financial sophistication, the media wing of the temple, the China Songshan Shaolin Temple Culture Communication Centre, will team up with Hong Kong's Emperor Motion Pictures, and the Chinese production companies China Film Group, Huayi Brothers and Beijing Silver Moon Productions. This is a high-profile production, and the tie-up shows just how careful the abbot is about protecting the brand.

"We felt that it was important not to rush into a film project just for the sake of making another film," he said. "It has taken us a long time to find the right partners who had all the right elements for something as monumental as this."

Four years ago, the temple hosted the K-Star Global Chinese Kung Fu Star TV competition, which put 108 martial artists through their paces and offered the winners a shot at stardom. The martial-arts enthusiasts were ranked by virtue, kung fu ability and artistry. In June 2008, the Shaolin monastery launched its own website, allowing martial-arts enthusiasts to buy such items as a pair of Shaolin slippers, kung fu tea towels and T-shirts, chopsticks and bowls for those delicate balancing movements, while a kung fu manual for around £90 gives you the lowdown on the five fighting styles of the Shaolin warrior: tiger, leopard, snake, dragon and crane.

Shaolin may be a place of spiritual contemplation but it is now also one of commercial genius.

BM2

01-04-2010, 07:12 AM

Man, Gene, wow, is there anybody you don't know? That's crazy.

Man, I guess Gene could be the seven degrees of seperation from every person on the earth!

GeneChing

01-04-2010, 10:52 AM

...and Shaolin is getting so big, I can hardly keep track.

Here's something of AFP

Shaolin temple will not go public: state media (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h9-7Ffy4NyIDB40HRjYH0d4Kzp8g)

(AFP) – 3 days ago

BEIJING — The abbot of China's ancient Shaolin temple -- famous for its kungfu monks -- has refuted reports that the monastery will go public as part of a travel joint venture, the state Xinhua news agency said.

Shi Yongxin -- known as the "CEO of Shaolin" for aggressively pursuing commercial ventures since taking over as abbot a decade ago -- also said the temple would not be a shareholder in the new firm created to promote tourism.

The temple's core functions are to "organise religious activities to meet the demand of religious followers," Xinhua quoted Shi as saying at a press conference in central Henan province, in a report issued late Thursday.

The abbot added that the temple's "legal rights and interests" would not be affected by the creation of the new tourism firm.

Shi's remarks came days after the Dengfeng city government and a Hong Kong-based subsidiary of the state-owned China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corp. launched a tourism joint venture using the Shaolin name.

Earlier reports had suggested that the joint venture would handle ticket sales and operate buses servicing the temple -- effectively taking the temple public -- and would seek to list in either Hong Kong or on the mainland in 2011.

The Shaolin temple, which was established in 495 AD, is known as the birthplace of Zen Buddhism.

Shi -- who has developed commercial ventures such as kungfu shows, film production and online merchandise sales since taking over the temple -- has been repeatedly criticised for his perceived pursuit of money.

In a recent interview with AFP, he defended his efforts as a way to boost the temple's profile, not pure commercialisation.

"Believers have demands, and we must satisfy and serve them to the best of our ability -- it's a service that provides faith products," he said of the temple's online sales.

Songshan

01-04-2010, 10:17 PM

Gene,

Do you have sources that comment about these articles inside shaolin? Any idea on what appears to be the general consensus inside Shaolin? Are they for this or against these "proposed ideas"? I don't see any articles where they talk to those that live in or around the Shaolin area to get that insight.

richard sloan

01-08-2010, 04:11 PM

It's a game of 'he said, Shi said' ;)

ouch lol

________________________________

GeneChing

01-28-2010, 10:28 AM

This came up on my newsfeed this morning.

Shaolin Temple - Guandu old town (http://gokunming.com/en/listings/item/sha_32395/)
官渡古镇少林寺
Guandu Nan Lu, inside Guandu old town, Kunming
昆明市官渡南路,官渡古镇内
Categories: Temples
Former Miaozhan Temple, under Shaolin Temple management until late 2029, free admission

Reviews

*
chris
Yesterday
A pleasant enough temple managed by friendly Shaolin monks. Needs more spontaneous kung fu brawls.

The temple is nestled in the back of Guandu old town, which makes for a nice afternoon out of the city center, although it is surrounded by lots of "new" fake old shopfronts.

Just take the 46 bus to the Guandu Dong Lu stop (官渡东路站) and you're pretty much there... a cab from the city center runs around 35 yuan.

David Jamieson

01-28-2010, 02:09 PM

This is the state of shaolin today:
http://gokunming.com/images/gallery/large/372.jpg

:p

GeneChing

02-11-2010, 10:31 AM

Back when I was first going to Shaolin, videogame parlors were huge. That was before the relocation, when there were a ton of kids in the valley with nothing to do after kung fu class but play videogames.

Georgia Firm in $22 million Gaming Deal With China's Shaolin Temple (http://www.globalatlanta.com/article/23736/)
Trevor Williams
Atlanta - 02.11.10

An Atlanta gaming company has won a $22 million deal to produce at least four martial arts video games for China's famed Shaolin Temple over 12 years.

Entertainment Arts Research Inc. signed a license agreement with officials at the Buddhist monastery in China's Henan province Feb. 8. The deal includes the development of a virtual world and console video games. It is expected to create 50 jobs in Georgia.

The Shaolin Temple, established in the Henan mountains during the fifth century, has long been known for kung fu, a Chinese form of martial arts. Its warrior monks have been featured in many movies. The Entertainment Arts project is the temple's first foray into virtual media and game development, according to a Georgia Department of Economic Development news release.

Production on the first game will begin March 1, and the finished product is scheduled to launch in December. Electronic Arts Research will produce all Shaolin digital games and will maintain exclusive distribution rights everywhere except in a few Asian nations.

Company officials credited Georgia's entertainment incentives for helping attract the investment.

"This is a project that could have gone to many other places, so I’m glad the availability of the state’s incentives gave us a competitive edge, and that EARI and Georgia will be a part of the temple’s continuing contributions to global culture,” said Joseph Saulter, CEO and founder of Entertainment Arts Research.

Under the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act passed last year, the state offers a 20 percent tax credit for qualified entertainment projects, with an additional 10 percent credit for projects that embed a Georgia logo in the title menu or credits.

Georgia's burgeoning video game industry is comprised of more than 60 companies employing more than 1,600 people. International gaming companies including France's Metaboli and Iceland's CCP Games have set up shop in the state, according to the release.

uki

02-11-2010, 10:55 AM

i find it hard to believe that members of the shaolin order would find themselves impoverished by any means... furthermore i do not believe that there are any shaolin at the so-called "shaolin temples" in china today. beings true to the order would never be subject to an outside ruling authority, especially one as oppressive and sinister as the PRC. shaolin has dispersed long ago from china... no longer are they incarnated there, nor do they dwell there, this was to protect the order from ultimate extinction. :)

GeneChing

03-05-2010, 10:34 AM

I did bring this up with the Abbot in my most recent interview with him. It will be in the upcoming Shaolin Special 2010 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=996565). You'll have to pick that up to see how he answered me. ;)

Again, abbot refutes listing plan of Shaolin (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010npc/2010-03/05/content_9543895.htm)
By Cui Jia and Zuo Likun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-03-05 12:55

Shi Yongxin, the abbot of China's famous Shaolin Temple, reiterated Friday on the sidelines of a national congress in Beijing that his temple will not be listed in the stock market.

Shi, who holds an MBA degree and speaks fluent English, said the temple will neither become a shareholder nor join in the business operations of a newly established tourism company in Dengfeng City, Henan province, where the temple is located

On December 27, a joint-venture tourism firm was established by the Dengfeng city government and China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Ltd., a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation.

At a press conference in December, shortly after the venture's launch, Shi said the legal rights and interests of the Shaolin Temple have been well-protected under Chinese laws concerning religious affairs, and will not be affected by the new company.

GeneChing

05-03-2010, 01:50 PM

Haihui tower - hadn't heard about this one. The abbot didn't mention this to me in our interview for our 2010 Shaolin Special (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=892).

Shaolin abbot: Underground funeral palace not for sale (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/02/content_9801893.htm)
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-02 11:26

ZHENGZHOU: The abbot of Temple in central China's Henan Province said the newly built underground funeral parlor is for monks' ashes only and not for sale, after suspicions arose online claiming the parlor would be used for profit.

Shi Yongxin, the abbot, said it is Buddhist tradition to store monks' ashes underground under a tower.

"The parlor was built to store the ashes of our temple's more than 200 monks. We will not sell it for money," Shi said.

Dengfeng Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau approved the construction of the parlor in 2008. But the tower, Haihui Tower, has yet to be built as Shi is still trying to get approval from the bureau.

According to Buddhist tradition, upon death, only accomplished monks may have their own tower and parlor while common monks share one, Shi explained.

Located in the western part of Shaolin Temple, the parlor consists of five caves and has an area of about 100 square meters.

Shi has been criticized for commercializing Shaolin Temple by running it for profit. Recently, netizens posted online comments accusing Shi of building the parlor to sell.

The Shaolin Temple, built in 495 during Northern Wei (386-534) of Northern and Souther Dynasties( 386-589), is famous for Buddhist teaching and Chinese martial arts, particularly Shaolin kungfu. The temple, which has become a household name around the world, has developed business operations such as kungfu shows, film production and online sales under the leadership of Shi Yongxin.

GeneChing

11-23-2010, 10:50 AM

The times they are a changin'. Why I remember when we had to hike to Shaolin in deep snow, and then cut off our arm just to get in... ;)

High-speed Rail Transports Zhengzhou into Future (http://english.cri.cn/6909/2010/11/23/2021s606450.htm)
2010-11-23 08:44:23 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Zhangxu

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2010/11/23/0dd110f2ee8243e8826e2cc3e8f1093f.jpg
Tourists crowd Shaolin Temple in Zhengzhou of central China's Henan province on Oct. 18, 2010. Because of the convenient high-speed rail, which travels up to 350 km/h, the number of foreign and domestic tourists to the historic city of Zhengzhou has increased sharply. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Zhang Xu]

Special: High-speed Railways in China
by Zhang Xu

Central China's new Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed railway has brought with it great changes. One of the areas that has most benefited is Henan province's capital city of Zhengzhou. Tourism, transport and trade here are all on the up.

Zhang Jianhui, deputy mayor of Henan province's capital city Zhengzhou, says the new high speed rail track linking his city with Xi'an has been of great benefit to the local tourist industry.

"Due to our limited transport connections of the past, there used to be an old saying: Visit Xi'an, bypass Henan. But now because of the convenient high-speed rail, which travels up to 350 km/h, the number of foreign and domestic tourists to the historic city of Zhengzhou has increased sharply."

Zhengzhou is part of a traditional transport artery where the north-south Beijing-Guangzhou railway and the east-west Lanzhou-Lianyungang railway cross. Nearly all trains to Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an pass through Zhengzhou.

To cater for this new high speed revolution, Zhengzhou is now constructing a huge state of the art train station. The five-storey station covering 400 thousand square meters is designed to handle over 7,000 passengers per hour at its busiest.

Yang Song is general director of the new station.

"At present 80% of the tracks at the station's base have been completed. The station will begin trial operation in July 2011, and officially come into use by the end of 2011."

Zhang says that transport is Zhengzhou's biggest economic advantage and that the development of high-speed rail in China means the city will become one of China's key transport hubs in the future.

"In the future, the high-speed railways will not only link Lanzhou, Xuzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou, but also Chongqing, Taiyuan, Jinan and Hefei. Then it will take less than two hours to travel to Henan's surrounding big cities."

Zhang also hopes the ambitious transport plans will boost the logistics sector as well as big industry.

He says the municipal government will set up an economic circle around the new station including bus stations, hotels, convention centers, shops and more.

The director of the new station explains that the new high speed trains will help release cargo pressure of the old railway network. Zhang adds that the city also plans to build freight distribution centers around the city's outskirts.

"Through the freight distribution centers, we want to expand Zhengzhou's transport capability in order to adapt to the rapid development of logistics. This will drive Zhengzhou��s economic development."

Like the millions of passengers already using China's high speed rail network, it seems Zhengzhou is on the move.

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2010/11/23/f72b87cb150a49129dde0c3f543d8f46.jpg
The photo taken on Oct. 19, 2010 shows the construction site of Zhengzhou East Railway Station in Zhengzhou of central China's Henan province. The high-speed railway station will begin trial operation in July 2011, and officially come into use by the end of 2011. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Zhang Xu]

GeneChing

01-10-2011, 10:56 AM

China's Shaolin Temple builds business empire (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iJNALbSErdJ61tJP6YuIDi4iK72w?docId=CNG.bdeb9 0bf6dc184d4f45595f0fb34db37.4e1)
(AFP) – 12 hours ago

BEIJING — China's famed Shaolin Temple has set up over 40 companies overseas as it hopes to spread Buddhist-inspired martial arts around the globe, state press reported.

But the announcement of a vast business plan to send the temple's famed warrior monks abroad has been met with criticism over the commercialisation of Buddhism, the Global Times said on Monday.

"We currently operate over 40 companies in cities across the world, such as Berlin and London," the paper quoted Shi Yongxin, the temple's abbot, as saying at a Beijing culture forum.

"The Shaolin Temple is also participating in the operation of some other companies related to the same industry," he said, adding that the companies have bought land and property overseas.

Shi, the first Chinese monk to earn a master's degree in business administration, denied the businesses were profit-motivated, insisting that the temple was fulfilling an overseas infatuation with "Shaolin culture", it said.

The temple, which was established in 495 AD, is known as the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and Chinese kung fu.

Shaolin warrior monks have held legendary status for centuries throughout Asia, while over the last 50 years films and television have spread their reputation worldwide.

Besides teaching martial arts around the world, the Shaolin centres also include Zen meditation workshops and Chinese language training, Shi said.

The temple has nearly 130 martial arts clubs in the United States alone, while Shaolin monks are already capable of teaching in English, German and Spanish, he said.

Shi, known as the "CEO of Shaolin" since taking over the temple a decade ago, has developed commercial ventures such as kung fu shows, film production and online merchandise sales.

Last year he denied the temple planned to participate in an initial public offering with a Hong Kong travel company, while a Beijing court turned down an application to put a Shaolin trademark on consumer goods like instant noodles.

Shi's business efforts have been widely criticised as a naked attempt to commercialise Buddhism, the report said.

"To many people, a temple is a reclusive place outside the bustles of the material world," but "when a monk like Shi travels frequently by plane to promote his businesses, secular society cannot keep up," the paper said in an editorial.

"While spreading ideas has been the traditional theme of most religions, Shaolin's ventures abroad also help China spread its traditional culture and thinking, and gain more understanding through a civil channel."
I would love to see a list of the Shaolin 40. Maybe it's on the Global Times article. I'll look for that later - I've got a full plate today and won't have the time to surf newsfeeds like usual.

GeneChing

01-10-2011, 12:45 PM

The Global Times article...just couldn't resist.

Shaolin Temple spreading wings (http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2011-01/610579.html)
* Source: Global Times
* [08:24 January 10 2011]
By Deng Jingyin

The top monk at Shaolin Temple in Henan Province revealed Saturday that the world famous site has opened some 40 businesses throughout the world, and has bought land and property overseas, news that generated a debate about whether the Buddhist institution is over-commercializing a popular icon in Chinese culture.

"We currently operate over 40 companies in cities across the world, such as Berlin and London. Meanwhile, Shaolin Temple is also participating in the operation of some other companies related to the same industry," Shi Yongxin, the temple's abbot, said at the 8th cultural industry forum at Peking University Saturday.

Shi said Shaolin's current focus is to grow overseas and monks are spreading Shaolin culture in English, German as well as Spanish around the world, Beijing News reported.

The news had again ignited growing concerns over whether the traditional culture should be commercialized.

The temple is the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and Chinese kung fu.

However, the leader denied that their overseas expansion plans is motivated by profit and emphasized such move is to spread the Shaolin culture.

"Foreign countries attach more importance to the spread of Buddhism compared with China, that's why we place extra emphasis on other countries these years," Qian Da-liang, head of the Intellectual Property and Intangible Assets Management Center at Shaolin Temple, told the Global Times.

Qian refused to disclose the temple's income from overseas activities to the Global Times.

Shaolin Temple is prohibited from profit making in China. Nearly 70 percent of the temple's income is submitted to the local government while the rest is for operational cost.

Zheng Weiwei, 23, who studied in the UK, told the Global Times that she feels that Shaolin's overseas activities are profit-driven.

She also cast doubts over the effectiveness of such commercial behavior, saying that if Shaolin fails to spread domestically, it would be hard to spread the true culture overseas.

Shaolin Temple receives nearly 2 million visitors every year, including 150,000 overseas visitors. About 60 martial arts schools opened near the temple with 60,000 students, according to Shi.

Chen Qijia, from the religion research office at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times Sunday that Shaolin businesses and property overseas could be seen as commercializing the religion.

"Buddhism allows spreading its doctrines in secular ways," Chen said. "I think as long as they insist on what should be in a religion, commercialization is just a form."
I just interviewed the Abbot. I wish I had this piece of info as I would have integrated it into our interview.

Here's more:

Abbot defends foreign ventures (http://www.china.org.cn/business/2011-01/10/content_21705497.htm)
Shanghai Daily, January 10, 2011

http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20110110/0011111fa1560e94dd9004.jpg
A photo of Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan Province.

The controversial abbot of Shaolin Temple says he will continue to concentrate on the overseas market even after the world famous temple has opened more than 40 centers around the world to teach foreigners kung fu and Zen Buddhism.

"Only if the temple grows stronger abroad will it have a bigger influence at home," Shi Yongxin, the temple's 30th abbot, told a cultural industry forum at Peking University over the weekend.

Shi said the ancient temple in central China's Henan Province came up with a convenient foreign development method - firstly renting houses to teach kung fu and then using the tuition fees to buy the premises.

"We almost do not need money, but only need to send out young monks (as trainers), rent a local house, decorate it and then start enrollment," he said.

The abbot said the temple did not aim to make money but to promote the Shaolin culture around the world.

Since taking up his post in 1999, the abbot's commercial activities - opening pharmacies, kung fu schools and online stores - have come under fire, with critics saying a temple should not engage in so many money-generating and publicity-gaining activities.

But Shi said he is determined to continue with commercial development to revitalize the 1,500-year-old temple and conserve its rich Buddhist and cultural heritage.

The temple had set up "culture centers" in cities such as London and Berlin where monks could teach in foreign languages, the abbot told the forum.

He said each center could enrol more than 1,000 students every year, mostly adults curious about kung fu and Zen.

Shi goes to some centers once every two years to test foreign students on kung fu.

The centers also taught the Chinese language and lifestyles of monks to introduce Shaolin culture to foreigners.

"I hope other temples in China can also send monks to world cities, because it has become an ideal way to promote Buddhism across the world," Shi said.

The temple also sends monks to perform kung fu shows around the world.

Shi said more than 400 martial monks performed abroad last year. They performed in 56 cities in 29 countries in the past three years and won many prizes.

GeneChing

01-11-2011, 10:31 AM

One thing I'll say about the Abbot. He knows how to get viral traffic.

The business of culture (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-01/11/c_13685473.htm)
English.news.cn 2011-01-11 13:42:42
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-01/11/13685473_11n.gif
Monk Yongxin at the forum. (Photo: Global Times)

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- You can tell a new decade has truly arrived when experts and insiders from every field are busy making plans and ambitious predictions for the bright future of their industries. Indeed, in such a rapidly developing country as China, everything seems to have a good future in the next 10 years.

Such is now also the case for "cultural industries": A number of talents, including government officials, scholars and experts from fields such as film, animation, music and publishing, gathered over the weekend to talk about their interpretations and expectations for the prospects of cultural industries in the new decade.

Held at Peking University (PKU), the two-day forum organized by the Institute for Cultural Industries, PKU, was ambitiously entitled Prospects for 2020: A New Decade of Chinese Cultural Industries, which itself signified confident expectations in the future of Chinese culture.

The institute was founded in 2002 with the authorization of the Ministry of Culture, and was the research base for innovation and development of national cultural industries; therefore, any outcome it reaches, whether the conclusion of a research project, a book published, or forum like this held, means something in terms of advising the government and guiding public attention.

Basic opinions from participants, officials and experts, even company CEOs, were generally the same: The new decade will be essential, critical and promising for the development of cultural industries in China, and the government and individual companies need to work together to grasp the opportunities.

Ye Lang, director of the institute, said at the opening ceremony on Saturday morning that with global economic growth as the premise, cultural business had had the chance to flourish over the past decade, since they entered the new millennium.

"With this momentum, the next 10 years should be a golden period for the development of every aspect of cultural industries in China. I personally am confident in the general environment," Ye told the Global Times after his speech at the forum.

"Cultural industries" was never officially a term before July 2009, when the Cultural Industry Promotion Plan was issued by the State Council–it is now already a buzzword among cultural circles such as film, animation, publishing and even the intangible cultural heritages.

Culture and art, especially in the case of publishing, were something strictly related to political direction, which was seldom open to the market since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and there was previously no way to link culture with something like "industry".

However, over the last few years, things began changing dramatically. With a series of plans and regulations issued by the central government, it seems that there has never been such a good time facing the cultural industries in China.

And there are "going out" strategies being applied to almost all cultural fields, which means the country isn't just satisfied with the economic achievements it had made, or the hundreds of Confucius Institutes opened all over the world. What it now needs is all-round cultural influence on an international scale.

Even the ancient Shaolin Temple is ambitious in joining the new wave, with Monk Yongxin, current abbot of the Temple invited to give a speech at the forum. He said that the Shaolin Temple is making efforts to broaden its world influence, with monks helping local people better understand Buddhism in China.

"We are so glad that it is the best of times for the Shaolin Temple to do something overseas, as China has already got widespread attention," Yongxin told the Global Times during the forum. "Like other contemporary art and culture, we need to help foreigners know us, and we have achieved a lot in this."

But there are challenges ahead, as many experts also pointed out at the forum.

Both the "going out" strategy and the development of culture face tricky problems, especially in terms of quality. While seemingly prosperous in quantity of output, according to director Ye, innovation is something urgently needed in industries, such as animation and film. "Equipment and hardware are very crucial in such a digitalized world, but innovation in ideas and content, which we are now lacking in all fields of art and culture, are even more important."

Also, a "healthy spiritual content" need to be nurtured while pursuing commercial success, he added, explaining "culture is anyway a special industry, with the particular ability of cultivating the youth."

Shaolin commercialized to spread Chinese culture (http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/observer/2011-01/610550.html)
* Source: Global Times
* [08:16 January 10 2011]

Shaolin Temple, the legendary home of Chinese kung fu, has made headlines in the past few years. Whenever it did so, controversy followed along with accusations about "over-commercialization," or skepticism over abbot Shi Yongxin's attempts to "sell" the famous Buddhist holy land.

At a cultural industry forum at Peking University on Saturday, Shi announced that Shaolin has opened more than 40 companies abroad, in cities like Berlin and London.

Besides, it now has close to 130 martial arts clubs in the US, where monks teach local people meditation, kung fu and Chinese.

The news attracted no fewer eyeballs than before, and many commented in a sarcastic manner.

To many people, a temple is a reclusive place outside the bustles of the material world. Monks ring the bell and pray every day and they live on donations of visitors who show up to ask a favor of the Buddha.

When a monk like Shi travels frequently by plane and promote his businesses, secular society cannot keep up.

He established Warrior Monks Group to perform in 1989. He set up Henan Shaolinsi Television Co in 1997 and Shaolin Temple Industrial Development Company in 1998. His was the first Buddhist temple to open a website.

In addition, the Shaolin Temple has organized many performances abroad. They have performed in 50 cities around 29 countries in less than three years, according to Shi.

It was reported that each year the Shaolin Temple earn more than 100 million yuan ($15 million) from temple tickets sales, the sale of Shaolin products online and the performance of its monks.

The local government in Henan gets even more from the tourism industry mainly due to Shaolin.

In this material society, we should not be so surprised with changes at the 1,500-year-old temple. The development of religion also needs financial support.

The environment in which the Shaolin Temple operates is evolving. It has to adapt to the new environment to avoid being eliminated or marginalized.

It is no problem for the facility to use its advantages to explore ways to sustain and develop.

And we might not raise eyebrows at going global either.

While spreading ideas has been the traditional theme of most religions, Shaolin's ventures abroad also help China spread its traditional culture and thinking, and gain more understanding through a civil channel.

This channel may work better than 100 advertisements to convey a rosier image of China.130 martial arts clubs in the US? How did they get that number? A Google search?

Shaolin Wookie

01-11-2011, 10:11 PM

sha0lin1

01-12-2011, 07:33 AM

Jaysus.....

Shaolin and the State. It's a ****ed shame. What's funny is that the native-Chinese practitioners of the art that I've studied under in the US always have the most close-minded attitudes towards the spread of the art, and protect it like it is a scarce resource--intellectual property, copyright--the whole 9 yards. That's why I've always preferred learning MA from American-born martial artists. The dissemination of the art at large in Capitalist America often gives Shaolin a bad rep, but it gives the Shaolin arts the chance to grow unimpeded in a free cultural market that isn't still hung up on medieval prejudices.

I've always seen Shaolin (and maybe Buddhism, as well) as a kind of parasitic religious entity, being such that it often takes grant from governments, emperors, etc. That money doesn't come from honest enterprise, if you take my meaning--it comes from taxation, appropriation, and plunder. And Shaolin has rarely had the backbone to stand up and fend for itself, it seems. Every grant, every edict, every protectionist scheme, and every refurbishing of Shaolin is the direct result of a regime that preys upon the Chinese populace.

Whadya say? Anarcho-Shaolin-Capitalism?

Interesting take on the article. However, Shaolin Si is now making it's money from honest enterprise, that is where the controversey is arising from. They are not getting financial support solely from the government. Personally, I think the abbott is heading in the right direction. He is securing Shaolin Temple's future and bringing Shaolin to the world. Many of us in the U.S. owe him a great deal of gratitude for sending the monks to the U.S. to spread true Shaolin. So that other schools that call themeselves Shaolin can be seen for what they are, parasites using the name of Shaolin for their own gain. Through out history most religious entities are parasitic, including Christianity.

GeneChing

01-12-2011, 11:10 AM

Shaolin viral makes it to India.

The Zen business of marketing kung fu (http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/report_the-zen-business-of-marketing-kung-fu_1493317)
Published: Wednesday, Jan 12, 2011, 2:02 IST

The famed Shaolin temple in China, where Zen Buddhism had originated, has decided to open 40 centres to meet the rising demand for kung fu and, by a stretch, for Zen Buddhism. The man who is spearheading the expansion programme is the abbot of the temple. Interestingly, in the ostensibly atheistic communist China, there is outrage that Zen Buddhism is being commercialised. The abbot has rebutted the criticism saying that there was no profit motive, and it was just a design to meet the kung fu desires of people spread across the world.

There is plenty of irony embedded in all this, but this could be turned into a delightful Zen koan, the pithy riddle that carries contradiction as the kernel of its truth. Business is good as long as it is not meant to generate profits, which is indeed crass. At a more mundane level, all that it means is that even as China is under the deluge of change, the esoteric Buddhist temple is also being swept by it. And it also meets with the essential Buddhist tenet that change is the only permanent thing. The Shaolin cult’s market success is then no anomaly.

GeneChing

03-02-2011, 10:44 AM

I visited Mission San Jose (http://www.missionsanjose.org/) last Sunday. Any Californian knows the impact of the missions on our state. I wonder if the venture was considered commercial back then, because it clearly was.

Spiritual ambition (http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2011-03/628980.html)
* Source: Global Times
* [08:44 March 02 2011]

http://www.globaltimes.cn/attachment/110302/6fd990529a.jpg
Two monks perform Chinese kungfu at the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Henan Province, for visitors. The Shaolin Temple will promote Buddhism more aggressively this year. Photo: CFP

By Liu Chang

Monks and spiritual leaders at the legendary Shaolin Temple in Henan Province are working hard this year to promote Buddhism not only in China but across the world.

Li Hongwei, a provincial spokesman, said Friday that Henan's major goal this year is to raise the number of Shaolin temples, Taiji schools and Confucius schools overseas in order to enhance the international influence of Chinese culture, Henan-based Dongfang Jinbao Newspaper reported.

While it's not the first time the temple has made efforts to go global, the temple has taken aggressive steps to do so in recent years.

Qian Daliang, manager of the Shaolin Intangible Assets Management Center, told the Global Times that they are making appropriate plans, but refused to share details.

The comments from Henan's government came after Shi Yongxin, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, told participants at a January 8 cultural forum in Beijing that monks around the world need a temple to practice their specific lifestyles and religious beliefs, and suggested that the government could include Chinese religions into its overseas strategy.

The temple's plans have not been free of controversy. Some critics say the abbot is commercializing the temple while others say it's the right way to promote Chinese culture.

There are 40 Shaolin cultural centers around the world and there's a Shaolin Association in every continent, according to Shi.

The temple has dispatched Buddhist masters and kungfu masters to teach students overseas. They focus on Buddhist practices and meditation, Shaolin kungfu, and the Chinese language.

"We try to assimilate into the local communities, and blend our lifestyle with the local lifestyle," said Shi.

"Each center will have hundreds to thousands of students each year. The number multiplies as time goes by," Shi said. "That is how we promote Shaolin culture."

Global reputation

The temple, which has history of 1,500 years, sits at the foot of the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng. Its popularity skyrocketed after the 1982 film Shaolin Temple with Jet Li was released around the world.

In addition to overseas cultural centers, monks routinely stage performances around the world.

Shi said there were more than 300 Shaolin monks who performed abroad in 2008 and 2009. Last year, more than 400 performed overseas. Over the last three years, Shaolin's monks performed in 56 cities in 29 countries and regions.

"We do not participate in commercial activities. We perform in cultural events," said Shi. "We have been to the Sydney Opera House, the Lincoln Center, the Grand Theatre in Frankfurt, and the Arts Center in Portugal."

Foreign audiences enjoy the Chinese martial arts and Shi said that the temple has won prizes for its performances.

Recently, monks performed during a "China Week" event organized by the Ministry of Culture in Israel. The Shaolin kungfu was the most popular event for Israelis, the Xinhua News Agency reported earlier.

Shi said more than 100,000 foreigners visit the temple each year and many stay to learn Chinese kungfu.

Spiritual business

The new cultural centers and overseas activities have been with the allegations the temple is too commercialized.

Shi responded by saying all profits are used to help charities, promote Chinese Buddhism, and protect the heritage of traditional culture.

"We do these things to promote Buddhism. Both the process and the purpose matter, so we focus on promoting Buddhism in a way that the majority is willing to accept and participate in," Shi wrote in his book, Shaolin in my eyes.

Cui Wei, a researcher at the Buddhism Academy of China, told the Global Times that the Shaolin Temple is both the promoter of Chinese kungfu and Chinese Buddhism.

"The overseas growth of Chinese Buddhism is still very limited. We have no official missionary monks and no officially funded temples, but the cultural centers launched by Shaolin Temple are a good way to promote Chinese Buddhism," Cui said.

However, Cui said most foreigners identify Shaolin with kungfu, instead of its Buddhist traditions. "I believe that is because Shaolin kungfu is more visual compared to Buddhism, and is easier to learn and understand," said Cui. "But we should not ignore the Buddhist nature of Shaolin Temple."

Sifu Bok Se Teung

03-25-2011, 11:14 AM

Sad to see so many people being hoodwinked by communist snake oil.

bawang

03-26-2011, 06:13 AM

communist dont hoodwink people. chinese people hoodwink themselves. nobody wants to learn real kung fu so shaolin isnt teaching it.

r.(shaolin)

04-08-2011, 09:12 PM

Sad to see so many people being hoodwinked by communist snake oil.

Yes, however a few brave souls do speak out. The Walmarts of the world and the PRC power brokers rather not hear people like Wei Wei. A real warrior.
r.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2010/mar/18/ai-weiwei-turbine-hall-tate?intcmp=239

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/jul/06/art.china

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/world/asia/04museum.html?ref=asia

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/world/asia/04china.html?ref=asia

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/asia/31china.html?ref=asia

GeneChing

05-02-2011, 09:25 AM

What new buildings?

Shaolin abbot expresses concern over new buildings near temple (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2011-04/30/c_13852978.htm)
English.news.cn 2011-04-30 12:28:42

ZHENGZHOU, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Abbot of world cultural heritage Shaolin Temple said Saturday that his temple has nothing to do with the buildings being constructed outside the temple and emphasized that any new constructions around the temple should be harmonious with Shaolin culture and architectural style.

"The area around Shaolin Temple is also part of the protected heritage site. We don't want to see new buildings ruin the overall environment of Shaolin Temple," said Abbot Shi Yongxin.

Illegal buildings around Shaolin Temple have attracted public attention after local media reported that some temporary facilities were set up outside the temple and a construction site was established just 200 meters from the temple.

Shi said Shaolin Temple did not construct those buildings. "If new buildings around Shaolin Temple were really needed, they must be approved by the authorities and built according to law so as to ensure that they are harmonious with Shaolin culture and Shaolin architectural style."

The building being built near Shaolin Temple was a canteen of the Shaolin Temple Scenic Spot Administration Bureau. The construction had been suspended pending government approval, said a spokesman for the bureau.

Other illegal facilities would be torn down, he added.

"No unapproved buildings shall be allowed in the vicinity of Shaolin Temple," said Guo Lei, head of the heritage preservation bureau of Zhengzhou City in central China's Henan Province, which administers the Shaolin Temple scenic spot.

Shaolin Temple, famous for Buddhist teaching and Chinese martial arts, was enlisted as world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2010.

sha0lin1

05-03-2011, 06:38 AM

Well I guess I will let you know, I am going back in June.

GeneChing

07-05-2011, 03:19 PM

Click for video report

Cashing in on Kung Fu (http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia-pacific/2011/07/20117564512945857.html)
China's Shaolin Temple opens training centres abroad as martial art form finds many takers.
Last Modified: 05 Jul 2011 07:05

For centuries, Kung Fu fighters have honed their skills at China's Shaolin Temple, but tourism and commercial training camps now dominate the country's martial arts landscape.

Many people are now attracted to the original Kung Fu temple for both reasons.

"People started coming in droves in the 1980s, and now about two million people visit us every year," Shaolin Temple's Shi Yongxin told Al Jazeera.

The temple has trained fighters for centuries, but it has more recently opened 40 training branches overseas, and plans to create a new Kung Fu franchise model.

Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan reports from China.
Tagou at 30,000 now? Really?

GeneChing

07-18-2011, 10:29 AM

Not from Al Jazeera, from other Chinese monks...

Temples of change (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/17/content_12917865.htm)
Updated: 2011-07-17 10:12
By Cang Wei (China Daily)

No longer cloistered, Buddhist monasteries now house thriving communities that develop in tandem with the rest of secular China. Cang Wei visits two leading temples and talks to the abbots.

It's not easy becoming a Buddhist monk. To gain admission into the Lingyin Monastery at Hangzhou's scenic West Lake, a would-be monk needs to complete four years of seminary studies. Graduation still does not guarantee him a place. He would have to go through a rigorous selection process that includes having a glowing testimonial from the seminary, which will then qualify him for a preliminary interview with senior monks.

Temples of change

Master Guangquan, abbot of Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple, thinks the best way to spread Buddhism is through a softer, cultural approach. [Provided to China Daily]
But if he does gain admission, he would be part of a slowly growing community facing daily challenges and changes.

According to Master Shuguang, who heads the Qixia Temple in East China's Jiangsu province, there are more than 2,100 temples in the country and about 250,000 monks, including 70,000 who are ethnic Han and 130,000 Tibetan Buddhist monks.

Almost all the temples have been built or renovated within the last 30 years, says Shuguang. From the 1950s until the late '70s, monks in the temples were either sentenced to prison or forced to return to secular life. Temples were demolished or used as warehouses and schools.

"There was no religion in China at the time," Shuguang says.

The turning point came in 1978, when the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward policies that once again legalized religion.

Temples in the country were gradually restored in the 1980s, and many Buddhist seminaries were established to nurture a new generation of Buddhist monks and believers.

In today's monasteries, living conditions are much improved. Vegetables of all kinds are sent to the temples regularly and Buddhist robes distributed every year. In fact, life can be so good that some traditions have had to change.

"Cooks in Qixia Temple now make food without oil to prevent fatty liver and other health problems," says Shuguang with a smile.

The monks in Lingyin Temple also enjoy five dishes and a soup every day for lunch and dinner, its abbot Guangquan tells us. Lingyin is the temple with the strict entry requirements, on top of the basic conditions of being above 18 years old and having no physical or mental disabilities.

To gain entry into any temple, a novice has to submit a formal application and live in the temple for about two years practicing and studying Buddhism. He will only be ordained if he still wants to join the order after this.

Although there is a steady number of applications, Guangquan feels there has been no significant increase in monks, novices or believers coming to the temple.

About 3 million people visited the Ling-yin monastery last year, but no one can say for sure how many are true devotees, he says.

The better economy and resulting living conditions may actually be deterrents, and China's one-child policy has directly affected the number of men becoming monks.

While China had 2 to 3 million monks during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the current number is only a small fraction of that.

Charlatans masquerading as monks blemish the image of Buddhism, Shuguang says. They swindle people using the name of religion and he feels official measures must be strengthened to discipline these delinquents.

Guangquan thinks Buddhism needs to invest more active effort to spread the faith, and he thinks it pales in comparison to Christianity in this aspect. That is why he feels that "instead of waiting in temples, Buddhists should exercise more initiative to provide the people with moral support."

Some Chinese temples have indeed started exploring more aggressive methods, but not all approve of their efforts.

In Central China's Henan province, the world famous Shaolin Temple often makes headlines in the local media because of its "over-commercialization". Under the leadership of its controversial abbot Shi Yongxin, the temple has even set up its own companies, following the social entrepreneurship route.

The abbot also established eight Shaolin temples abroad.

Even within the Buddhist community, opinions are divided. Where head monk Shuguang firmly supports the Shaolin abbot, who he describes as "aggressive and courageous", Lingyin's Guangquan shows a more conservative attitude.

"As a pioneer in the reform of Buddhism in China, the Shaolin abbot can become either a model of courage or be blamed in future," Guangquan hedges.

Under Guangquan's guidance, Lingyin Temple has a totally different approach to the spread of Buddhist teachings. Monks at Lingyin invite believers to their temple to enjoy tea and music. They distribute free food to people in the city on festive days, and once a year, the monks take to the streets with bowls in hand in an annual walk through town to receive alms.

"We are making an effort to spread Buddhism through a cultural approach," the abbot says. "We know Buddhism in China needs innovation, but to date, there is no clear, cohesive direction." And that will be one more item on their daily prayer list.

GeneChing

07-26-2011, 09:20 AM

I only clipped the Shaolin portion. Click the link for the entire article.

Getting Away: Guandu Old Town.... (http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/2338/getting_away_guandu_old_town)

The center of Guandu Old Town is the Vajra Pagoda (金刚塔), which is reputed to have been built more than five centuries ago in 1457. Over the years, the pagoda sank into the soft ground, until it was raised 2.6 meters in 2001. Today the perpendicular tunnels within the pagoda are popular places to escape the midday sun.

On the west side of the plaza that surrounds the Vajra Pagoda are two Bai-style pagodas. Just beyond these pagodas is Miaozhan Temple (妙湛寺), a pleasant Buddhist compound that, like the handful of other temples in Guandu, is open to the public.

http://www.gokunming.com/images/blog/4343.jpg
Guandu Shaolin Temple - the original Miaozhan Temple sign is still partially visible

Since 2009, Miaozhan Temple has been known as Guandu Shaolin Temple (官渡少林寺), taking its name from the legendary Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province, where kung fu is believed to have originated. In 2009 Shaolin temple took over management of Miaozhan Temple – and three nearby temples – for a period of 20 years.

This temple management takeover attracted its share of criticism for commercializing Buddhism, but on a recent visit we found that Guandu Shaolin Temple felt more cared-for than when it was Miaozhan Temple.

http://www.gokunming.com/images/blog/4344.jpg
A courtyard inside Guandu Shaolin Temple

We sat down for a cup of tea and a chat with Yan Bei (延贝), the head monk from the Shaolin delegation, who told us that we could study kung fu for US$500 per week or US$10,000 per year, not including room and board. Not cheap, but probably worth it for martial arts enthusiasts who would rather learn Shaolin kung fu in sunny Yunnan than crowded and polluted Henan.

http://www.gokunming.com/images/blog/4345.jpg
Hopefully these aren't from Dianchi

Outside the temple's south wall is a lively little market selling daily necessities to locals, trinkets to tourists and spicy stir-fried snails to anyone brave enough to eat them.

Next door to Guandu Shaolin Temple is another old temple, Fading Temple (法定寺), which is a bit smaller but has fewer visitors, making it quite peaceful. Strolling from tiny courtyard to tiny courtyard, we could only hear the sound of birds, chatting and an old man strumming a four-stringed sixian nearby. The city was slowly retreating from our consciousness.

LFJ

07-26-2011, 11:02 AM

We sat down for a cup of tea and a chat with Yan Bei (延贝), the head monk from the Shaolin delegation, who told us that we could study kung fu for US$500 per week or US$10,000 per year, not including room and board.

Why does this not surprise me? Per week?? :rolleyes:

"Yan" guys are everywhere now. Nothing but Yan. Yongxin has really made sure he rules over Shaolin for generations to come.

Sometimes I'm so ashamed of all this...

GeneChing

07-27-2011, 09:57 AM

This article is slanted.

Bank loan to return temple to former glory (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2011-07/27/content_12996640.htm)
Updated: 2011-07-27 22:29

Graffiti by visitors tarnishes the walls of the Shaolin temple at Songshan, near Zhengzhou city in Henan province. A loan agreement worth 100 million yuan was signed between the temple and the Bank of China Henan branch on July 27, 2011, to enable the temple's renovation. Temple authorities have pledged to repay the loan within three years using money made from admission charges for visitors to the temple. [Photo/Xinhua]

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20110727/0023ae5d6dc00f9a1eb11e.jpg
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20110727/0023ae5d6dc00f9a205720.jpg
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20110727/0023ae5d6dc00f9a209b21.jpg
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20110727/0023ae5d6dc00f9a217122.jpg

The story implies that Shaolin has been trashed by graffiti, and while there is some graffiti, as is a casualty of any Chinese tourist site, it's not out of control. Actually, the Abbot has told me personally that his aspiration is to return Shaolin Temple to its highest glory. According to him, during periods in the Ming and Qing, the temple was ten times the size of what it is today. That's ambitious.

GeneChing

08-01-2011, 09:44 AM

I haven't been there in several years, but all the reports I get imply that it's in better shape than ever. But still, after several million tourists, I can imagine decline. Would anyone who has been there lately like to chime in on this?

Shaolin Restores Kung Fu Glory with Loan (http://english.cri.cn/6909/2011/07/30/2741s651055.htm)
2011-07-30 17:30:01 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Yu
By Tom McGregor of China-World Affairs Column

When I was a child, one of my first memories was of watching kung fu films, which was my initial introduction to China and its culture. Some could argue that kung fu movies offer a false image of the country, but let's face it, without the commercialization of kung fu culture, far fewer people in the West would have taken an interest in China and that includes myself.

The strongest promoters of the Chinese kung fu myth have been the Buddhist monks of the Shaolin Temple, located in Song Shan, near Zhengzhou city, Henan province in central China. The temple's abbot, Shi Yongxin, has successfully utilized the monk's kung fu reputation to lure more people into following Buddhism and the Chinese martial arts.

The Shaolin Temple has become ingrained as an icon of Chinese pop culture. The monastery is featured in many movies, TV shows and TV documentaries. The temple is one of China's top tourist attractions, attracting approximately 2 million visitors annually. Media outlets reporting on the Shaolin Temple often show photos of monks dressed in light gray robes, standing upside down on just one finger in outstanding poses, or demonstrating other mesmerizing feats of martial arts.

Shaolin monks also maintain their devout spirituality through deep meditation, performing Buddhist rituals and obeying a strict religious code of conduct.

Meanwhile, facilities at the Shaolin Temple have fallen into a state of disrepair, which means that the costs for complete renovation would amount to at least 100 million yuan. But the monks have found a solution.

The Xinhua News Agency reports, "The Shaolin Temple, the ancient Chinese monastery famed for its Buddhist traditions and kung fu, signed an agreement worth 100 million yuan with the Henan branch of the Bank of China on Wednesday, to help restore the temple buildings to their former glory."

Completing renovations would boost tourism, since Chinese martial arts have become popular all over the globe, ever since the late kung fu action hero, Bruce Lee, starred in Hollywood blockbuster films in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many teachers and students of martial arts draw much of their inspiration from the Shaolin Temple, while many of them organize trips to the monastery. Actually, the temple can enhance China's 'soft power' diplomacy and provides a more intriguing picture of the nation.

Although Abbot Shi Yongxin faces a great deal of criticism for commercializing the temple, he's bringing global attention to Chinese culture. Many famous Hollywood actors and American superstar athletes have visited the Shaolin Temple to learn from the kung fu monks. Chinese actor Jackie Chan has starred in a number of movies featuring the Shaolin Temple. Former world-champion heavyweight boxer, Evander Holyfield, recently returned from a visit to the monastery. He boasted of training with the Shaolin monks during interviews with American sports reporters.

China's kung fu image does seem overly-hyped, but there's a saying, "don't bite the hand that feeds you." Many overseas tourists, who flock to the Shaolin Temple, spend money when they dine at local restaurants, sleep at nearby hotels and motels and shop at regional stores. While purchasing goods and services they add to sales tax revenues, which benefits the country as a whole.

Instead of criticizing the commercialization of the Shaolin Temple, China should encourage people from all over the world to visit the tourist hotspot.

Nevertheless, there's more to the Shaolin Temple than kung fu. The official website emphasizes that the influence of Buddhism prevails at the monastery. The home page provides more details about its Buddhist faith than its kung fu affiliation. Shaolin monks are actively involved in charitable activities according to a statement on its website:

"The Shaolin Charitable Foundation was founded in February 1994 �� The foundation conducted poverty and disaster relief for Project Hope, establishing Shaolin Charity House to care for thousands of orphans; regularly providing assistance for underprivileged children to go to school; drilling deep wells for villages in need of water resources; delivering food to impoverished ethnic minority villages; supplying medical facilities to the indigent rural hospitals; organizing volunteer medical teams touring the province to provide care and treatment to the needy; providing financial assistance to academic organizations; and contributing relief funds and materials to flood disaster areas."

Shaolin monks help children in need and aid the nation during large-scale crises. Accordingly, the 100 million yuan Bank of China loan for the complete renovation of the Shaolin temple comes at an opportune time, which will guarantee more tourism dollars flowing into China for many years to come. China's legendary kung fu image may not please everyone, but it does please all followers of Chinese martial arts who dream about visiting the Shaolin Temple at some point in their lives.

Tom McGregor is a China Radio International columnist

LFJ

08-01-2011, 09:34 PM

Last year I noticed a lot of spray paint graffiti (Chinese) on the pagoda at the top of the hill behind Zhongyuemiao, the Daoist Monastery at the edge of Dengfeng.

At Shaolinsi there wasn't any such graffiti, but many scratches on things as shown in one of those pictures. Nothing terrible though, and at least no Western graffiti. It was all Chinese.

sha0lin1

08-02-2011, 06:39 AM

I thought that it was in better shape this time than when I was there two years ago. All the construction that was going on behind Talin was completed and it looked really nice. I did not see much graffitti, but there was some, chinese scratched into the paint, nothing another paint job couldn't fix.

GeneChing

08-03-2011, 09:18 AM

Wait.....what? :confused:

China's kung fu town aims to build international martial arts conglomerate (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-08/03/c_131027423.htm)
English.news.cn 2011-08-03 18:12:28

ZHENGZHOU, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's kung fu town of Dengfeng, where the famed Shaolin Temple is located, aims to merge its kungfu schools into a martial arts conglomerate able to provide top-rated shows and training for the overseas market, a local official said Wednesday.

The authorities will propose mergers of small and poorly-run kung fu schools while raising the registration requirements for opening new schools, said Wang Songwei, head of the martial arts administration of Dengfeng in central Henan Province.

Wang said the number of kung fu schools in Dengfeng will be halved to fewer than 20, but the number of students will be doubled to 100,000 by 2015.

China's kung fu schools usually enroll young kids and adolescents from the countryside, providing them education with a focus on martial arts training. Top students take the sport as a profession by competing in martial arts contests and participating in shows staged at various events, including the Beijing Olympics and the Shanghai World Expo.

Graduates of the kung fu schools can get recommendations to enter the military and police. They can also easily join the country's booming private security guard companies.

The development of kung fu schools has helped Dengfeng reap profits from shows and tourism.

But these schools have started to complain of a drop in the enrollment due to the dwindling population of rural kids and the easier access to standard education. Many schools are forced to offer high school courses to prepare the students for college.

Wang said the kung fu schools will increasingly focus on intellectual subjects and not only physical education. "We don't want our students to be masculine but simple-minded martial arts masters," he said.

The official did not elaborate on plans of the martial arts conglomerate but said such a trend of development would enable kung fu shows to expand on the overseas market. No figures of investment were disclosed.

Kung fu gained its popularity in the world through the successful screening of mainland and Hong Kong kung fu movies beginning in the 1970s. The global enthusiasm put the 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple, cradle of Shaolin kung fu, on the world map.

The temple itself has developed profitable business operations such as kung fu shows, film production and online sales under the business-minded abbot Shi Yongxin, who has been crowned China's "CEO monk."

bawang

08-04-2011, 02:50 PM

my cousins works as a bank teller in china and one of those factory school bodyguards died trying to use kung fu on a robber with a knife.

those dengfeng schools prey on kung fu dreams of children, and turn them into a nightmare. they dont promote traditional culture nor are they relevant in modern china at all.

GeneChing

08-31-2011, 09:09 AM

Shaolin shareholders: China tourism IPOs face difficult journey (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/31/us-china-tourism-ipo-idUSTRE77U11I20110831)
By Soo Ai Peng
SHANGHAI | Wed Aug 31, 2011 3:19am EDT

(Reuters) - A failed listing attempt by the operator of an ancient Chinese water town has reignited a kind of Buddhist versus capitalist debate over the merits of marrying cherished cultural and natural heritage icons with profit-minded capital markets.

The operator of Wuzhen, dubbed the "Venice of China" and located in Zhejiang province, earlier this month scrapped its plan to list shares in Hong Kong due to a lack of government support. The failure may deal a blow to similar plans by other tourism site companies, including the famed Shaolin Buddhist Temple of kung-fu fame.

Many other Chinese tourism attractions, including the Shaolin Temple, have been reported to be planning to list, but the failure by China CYTS Tours Holdings (600138.SS) to spin off Wuzhen Tourism Development Co serves as a reminder of the tough fight these firms face.

"It's been made clear since 2008 that listings of important tourism sites, unless they are backed by solid investment plans to develop the sites, are not encouraged," said Chen Chong, an analyst at Founder Securities in Beijing.

Assets linked to Shaolin Temple are housed under HKCTS (Dengfeng) Songshan Shaolin Cultural Tourism Ltd, a joint venture between Dengfeng city and the HKCTS Group, China's largest travel group.

The local government of Dengfeng city, where the Buddhist institution is located, owns 49 percent of the joint venture and the HKCTS Group owns the remainder.

Reports about Shaolin Temple planning a listing sparked a public outcry two years ago when they surfaced. Many Chinese are concerned that the Shaolin Temple, which has become a high-profile commercial entity in recent years, is becoming overly money-minded.

HOT INDUSTRY

With tourism a hot investment theme in China, it's little wonder tourism companies are eager to sell shares.

The asset management arm of Edmond De Rothschild Group, owned by the Rothschild family, said on Tuesday it bought more than 5 percent of China CYTS Tours and plans to increase that stake over the next 12 months. Its Wuzhen subsidiary counts China-focused private equity firm IDG among its investors.

"The tourism industry is a sunrise industry. It's a pillar sector under the government's five-year development plan," said Chen.

China's tourism industry is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years as per capita income climbs and as the government promotes domestic consumption to support economic growth.

The tourism sector is forecast to grow at an annual rate of about 10 percent over the next five years. Total revenue from the tourism sector will reach 1.9 trillion yuan in 2015, up from 1.15 trillion yuan in 2010, official Chinese media have reported.

The listing of companies linked to world famous Chinese sites is not new in the country's three-decade-old capital markets.

Shanghai-listed Huangshan Tourism Development Co (600054.SS), for example, sells admission to Huangshan, or the Yellow Mountain, a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site in the southern Chinese province of Anhui.

The sale of admission tickets to the famed Emei Mountain in southwest China is also an important source of income for Shenzhen-listed Emei Shan Tourism Co (000888.SZ).

While some argue against the listing of cultural and natural assets, others say such funding could help pay for conservation and protection projects.

(Editing by Kazunori Takada and Matt Driskill)

Martial art schools face declining business (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-08/31/content_13328874.htm)
Updated: 2011-08-31 17:17
By Wang Qingyun (chinadaily.com.cn)

Martial art schools are losing luster in Anhui province and Dengfeng city of Central China's Henan province, China Comment reported.

According to the management center of martial art and boxing, in the late 1990s there were more than 200 martial art schools in Anhui. In recent years, however, the number has shrunk to less than 60.

In Dengfeng, the city where the Shaolin Temple is located, the number of martial art schools has decreased from more than 100 in the early 2000s to 48.

Tang Shanzhong, head of the social activity department of the management center of martial art and boxing, said martial art schools usually do not enroll enough students because parents tend to send their children to academic schools where they learn more knowledge.

What's more, national policies to relieve the financial burden of studying allow more rural children to study in average schools, Tang said.

Gloomy employment prospects are another cause for the decline, according to China Comment. While many graduates became security guards or martial art trainers, some ended up as members of mafia-style organizations.I feel this is actually a far more complicated issue than these short news pieces reveal - interesting nonetheless.

Matthew

08-31-2011, 05:04 PM

I haven't been there in several years, but all the reports I get imply that it's in better shape than ever. But still, after several million tourists, I can imagine decline.

The surplus of wealth at the Shaolin Temple has been a common theme of recent "jokes" if you will by some Chinese. As far as monetary income goes- it may not always be what farmers report it at (Or for that case, Gong Fu Schools as well..) Also there are a lot of very poor areas where the general feeling is more contented than others. From my travels in Tibet, I met countless smiling souls. Most of which were monetarily worth less to the Chinese government than the dirt they prayed on!

Enjoy the Site here for a somewhat fun perspective on Shaolin's monetary successes:

You can google translate this if you can't read chinese : See the difference between Shaolin Temple and another Buddhist temple in China- the Great Compassion Temple. (http://www.bbker.com/D90659.html)

This link may work for a direct translation from google services (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbker.com%2FD90659.html)

Great Compassion Temple- walking and begging (as they don't accept money)
http://www.bbker.com/img/F126081910.jpg

Shaolin Temple - Winning awards from the Government and businesses
http://www.bbker.com/img/F301222637.jpg

Obviously there are reasons that Shaolin temple has been of great interest to the recent Chinese government and I'm not posting these in question the practice of those at the temple itself. I'm posting it to have a comical look from an outsiders perspective.

GeneChing

09-09-2011, 10:06 AM

Interesting interview on an interesting platform.

September 9, 2011 5:17 pm
Lunch with the FT: Shi Yongxin (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/4dece80a-d93a-11e0-884e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1XTWjd0AK)
By Jamil Anderlini

The abbot of Shaolin Temple, labelled as the ‘CEO monk’ by the Chinese media, talks about balancing business and Buddhism

With my iPod headphones plugged in, the abbot of Shaolin keeps his expression perfectly neutral as his eardrums are assailed by the thumping beats of the Wu-Tang Clan.

“I don’t get it,” says Shi Yongxin in his heavily accented Mandarin, after politely listening to the pioneering 1990s rappers from the New York borough of Staten Island who, in homage to kung fu movies of the 1970s, described themselves as coming “straight from the slums of Shaolin”.

We’re sitting in the restaurant of the Shaolin Temple, a Unesco world heritage site nestled in a wooded valley in the shadow of Mount Song in China’s central Henan province. This small monastery is the 1,500-year-old cradle of Zen Buddhism and the spiritual home of kung fu, where for centuries the temple’s monks have practised martial arts so they can uphold justice in society and cultivate their own search for enlightenment. Outside in the warm sunshine, tourists wander the temple grounds and watch incredible displays of strength and acrobatic kung fu, performed at regular intervals by the world-famous fighting monks.

It’s hard to imagine a place less compatible with the violent tirades of one of hip-hop’s greatest ensembles. But I’m trying to explain to his eminence that, even though he is unaware of the Wu-Tang Clan, many people who came of age in the west in the 1990s first heard about his temple from songs such as “Shaolin Worldwide”, and lyrics such as:

The Jedi, only use the Force if ya force me

Shaolin What? Don’t get it f**ked up and cross me

Rappers gettin’ stuck for actin’ stuck up and flossy

“People tell a lot of tall tales about the Shaolin Temple,” the abbot says with the composed demeanour of the deeply religious. “They are not familiar with and don’t represent the real history of Shaolin, the Shaolin culture or the inherited essence of Shaolin.”

If this sounds accurate in the case of RZA, Ghostface Killah, Ol’ Dirty ******* and the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan, it is also a criticism that many in China have levelled against the abbot himself. The 46-year-old is a highly controversial figure. Since he became, in 1999, only the 30th monk in the temple’s long history to be ordained a full abbot, he has faced relentless attacks for accepting expensive gifts and for commercialising the ancient temple. For those who denounce him through the Chinese internet, the abbot’s initiatives are a sad reflection of society’s crude materialism in a country where, in the past few decades, the crumbling of communist ideology and the rush for wealth have left a spiritual and moral vacuum.

Buddhism is the dominant religion in China, with as many as 300m believers across the country. Like other forms of Buddhism, Zen emphasises letting go of worldly cares and working towards enlightenment through meditation and practice of the Buddha’s teachings, which include a ban on harming any sentient beings. As its home, and the centrepiece of many kung fu novels and films, the Shaolin Temple has become an integral part of Chinese popular culture. In fact, it is probably one of the most famous global brands to have come out of China in any industry, thanks in no small part to the abbot, whom Chinese media have dubbed the “CEO monk”.

The temple’s business ventures include investments in its famous globetrotting kung fu performance troupes, renting out the Shaolin name for films, cartoons and stage productions, and an early stage investment in a possible line of traditional Chinese medicines. It has also sent monks to set up more than 40 Shaolin kung fu and meditation centres in countries across North America, Europe and elsewhere, but the abbot says these and most of Shaolin’s other “cultural activities” barely break even. Instead, he says, the vast majority of the temple’s “few dozen million renminbi” in annual income comes from tickets sold to the roughly 2m tourists that visit the site every year. The temple keeps 30 per cent of the ticket revenues and hands 70 per cent over to the local government.

The temple has registered its trademark across the world in an attempt to stop people from using its name to promote concepts that do not fit with its Buddhist precepts. But the main battleground is in China, where intellectual property protections are weak and companies making everything from soft drinks and chopsticks to electrical machinery and buses have appropriated the Shaolin brand. Even liquor producers and makers of pork sausages have taken the name, despite the fact that strict Zen Buddhism prohibits the consumption of meat and alcohol.

The overwhelming number of infringements and the weak protection offered by China’s justice system mean it is simply not worth going after every offender, but the abbot is optimistic that things will change for the better eventually. “Now if we are to engage in a lawsuit to protect our rights, we will have to spend a lot of money and time and the result will not necessarily be satisfactory,” he says. “Once Chinese citizens are like western citizens, in an environment where the awareness of law is firm, people will naturally abandon using the name of Shaolin Temple.” I’m struck by how similar his vocabulary is to that of a typical Chinese chief executive.

Nevertheless, he explains, the creation in 1998 of the Henan Shaolin Temple Industrial Development Company, saw the temple become the first Chinese religious group to register a trademark for its name, “We’re using legal and commercial means to protect our intellectual property, protect our brand and protect our own inheritance,” he says.

The temple has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since it was established in the fifth century and, following the communist victory in 1949 all of its surrounding farmland was confiscated and redistributed among the masses, leaving the monks with no way to feed themselves. In the disastrous cultural revolution of 1966-1976, the monks who remained at the temple were beaten, persecuted and forced to disperse, but when the terror ended some returned and set about reviving their traditions, including the practice of kung fu.

Since his arrival at the temple in 1981, aged 16, the abbot has dedicated his life to its restoration and revival. I get the feeling he has had to make many compromises in order to protect and promote his monastery and its heritage. But, as he points out, the Vatican is a multinational corporation with its own bank, and Shaolin’s annual income doesn’t even put it in the top 100 on the list of richest temples in China.

“We don’t have much savings in the bank but there is a lot of grain stored in the barn, enough for two years, so if there is a disaster in society the Shaolin Temple could hold out for two years or so,” he adds. It is an astonishing insight into the historical legacy that has forced him to hone his business skills.

The menu for our lunch has been arranged by the temple’s veteran chef, and as our waiters arrive with the first dish – a delicate selection of vegetarian morsels called “three treasures to welcome guests”, made from baked bran, pickled radish and dried tofu – the abbot’s phone rings and he reaches into his flowing crimson gown to retrieve a buzzing Samsung mobile. He politely dismisses the person on the other end of the line and I notice his immaculately manicured fingernails and also that his earlobes are unusually large, a physical trait that in China is said to indicate competence and bring good fortune and riches.

As the bowls keep coming, the abbot is careful to point out that he normally eats very plain food. In fact, that morning I had been allowed to attend dawn prayers and join him and his monks for a hearty meal of rice porridge, vegetables and steamed buns, served by trainee monks who couldn’t have been more than 10 years old. At that meal, the abbot sat with the others on wooden benches in silence as they scoffed down their food in less than 15 minutes.

Having spotted his phone, I decide now is the time to ask him about his penchant for gadgets and expensive gifts, including a Volkswagen SUV and an iPad he is often seen using in public. “The Volkswagen is worth less than Rmb 1m [£98,000] and it was given to me by the local government because we have brought them a lot of profits,” he tells me with only the slightest hint of exasperation breaking through his Zen composure. “We attract a lot of visitors and students so the government awarded me a car to encourage me to do a better job.”

GeneChing

09-09-2011, 10:07 AM

He says the iPad and other gadgets are all gifts from devotees but that he tries to use such things until they are broken and unusable before replacing them. “I’m not doing what I do for other people but for society, for the masses; it’s not for me personally or for the local government but if there is a need in society or among the ordinary folk, then I should do what I can.”
Samadhi restaurant

Shaolin Temple,Henan Province, China

‘Three treasures to welcome guests’: with bran, pickled radish and shredded dried tofu

‘Vegetarian shark fin soup’: with pumpkin and bean flour noodles

‘Rose salad roll’: spring rolls with melon, radish and vegetarian ham

‘Floating fragrance in a Buddhist pot’: with cabbage and tofu

‘Blossoming smile of enlightenment’: with fried eggplants, tofu, vegetables

’Buddha jumps over the wall with Zen in his heart’: oily soup with ginseng, mushrooms, wolfberry

Set menu price: approx £80 per person

(After negotiations that lasted almost an hour, I was allowed to pay the bill, as per the rules of the Lunch with the FT. This was a breach of Chinese etiquette but the transgression was eventually forgiven)

We tuck into a dish of cabbage and shredded dried tofu with the delightful name of “floating fragrance in a Buddhist pot” but I notice that the abbot is hardly touching his food. The mention of his dealings with the local government is an illustration of the difficult relationship in China between organised religion and the officially atheist ruling Communist party. The Chinese government only recognises five official religions – Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism – and requires that these be organised into institutions supervised by “patriotic associations”, in turn supervised by the State Administration for Religious Affairs and the Communist party’s United Front department.

Other world religions, such as Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism or Baha’i, are not recognised by Beijing, and nor are countless underground Catholic and Protestant “house churches”. The government tends to tolerate much of this “unofficial” religious activity as long as it is a private matter, but any hint of political organisation will bring a crackdown.

The Shaolin abbot doesn’t need to worry about this. He has been a member of the National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, since 1998 and vice-chairman of the official Buddhist Association of China since 2002. Ordinarily, the abbot and other senior monks at the temple will decide who can be ordained as a monk and the temple will then register them with the provincial religious affairs bureau. But the position of abbot must be directly authorised by the religious affairs authorities, almost all of whom are atheist Communist party members.

I ask his eminence why he thinks he was chosen and his answer is simple: “Because I am obedient. I’m willing to donate myself and serve the people.” To “serve the people” is a traditional communist slogan that regularly trips off the tongue of party bureaucrats. He explains that this subservience of religion to the state has always existed in China and in many other countries as well. “Throughout history it is the same: religion must respect the emperor, respect the government. If a religion doesn’t respect the government, it will have difficulty surviving,” he says. “We have to rely on the government to publicise and promote us. The government has a lot of power and it’s difficult to promote ourselves without it.”

There he goes again, speaking like an executive from a global marketing firm.

As the waiters place a fried eggplant and tofu dish called “blossoming smile of enlightenment” in front of us, I ask him how he responds to the critics who say he is too fond of mixing the sacred and the profane.

“Our aim is to promote Buddhist culture, to baptise human souls and purify people’s minds,” the abbot says. “What we have done so far [in terms of commercialisation] is actually quite conservative because we don’t want to get too mixed up in the affairs of society or over-exploit Shaolin Temple.” He describes how a proposal in 2009 by the local government to list the temple on a domestic or international stock exchange was abandoned after he and the other monks voiced strong objections.

On the abbot’s instructions, the flow of dishes has slowed and most of his plates have been cleared without him tasting more than a spoonful or two. Throughout our lunch it feels as if he is trying to convince me that he is not the materialistic villain he is often portrayed as in China. More than once he mentions the fact that he and each of his monks live a plain existence, normally surviving on just Rmb 7 (70p) per day.

His explanation of the pressures he faces in a modern Chinese society is, however, persuasive. “We hope we can improve the bad atmosphere of modern society through the influence of the Shaolin Temple; over the years we have seen society pollute the earth and overexploit resources and people’s desires continuously grow,” he says. “We wish everyone could lead a simple life like us monks and not chase after famous brands and luxury lifestyles in the way the awful nouveau riche in our country do.”

One of the last dishes is laid in front of us and the abbot breaks into a beatific smile in appreciation at the irony of its name. It is a vegetarian version of “Buddha jumps over the wall”, an oily soup that usually includes meat and seafood and is supposed to taste so good that it can tempt even devout monks to jump the monastery wall and renounce their monastic vows.

“See, that shows you how open and sympathetic Chinese Buddhism is,” he says. “In other cultures or religions, if somebody used this kind of name for such a sacrilegious dish there would be a huge fight.”

Coming from a religion where monks who have sworn not to harm sentient beings wield swords and practise cracking skulls with their fists, this too is persuasive. For the abbot, temporal dealings – including business – appear merely a necessary diversion on the path towards enlightenment.

Jamil Anderlini is the FT’s Beijing bureau chief

To see a video of the Shaolin Temple and the abbot, go to www.ft.com/shaolin

Timeline: A brief history of the Shaolin Temple

AD495 Shaolin Temple (literally “temple in the forests of Shaoshi mountain”) is built by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty as a place for the Indian monk Batuo to live, translate Buddhist scriptures and preach to his followers.

AD618-907 A band of 13 Shaolin monks is reputed to have saved the life of the future Tang dynasty Emperor Li Shimin. When Li took power, he showered favours, land and wealth on the temple and it experienced a golden age.

1368-1644 During the Ming dynasty, the temple houses more than 3,000 monks. It declines under the Manchurian Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

1928 Chinese warlord Shi Yousan attacks the temple and a fire rages for 40 days, destroying nearly all relics and records. Despite having been looted, burned and destroyed many times over the centuries, the temple has only been abandoned – briefly – in the seventh and tenth centuries.

1950s-1970s The temple’s lands are seized during the communist land redistributions and most monks driven away. During the cultural revolution that follows, the handful of monks who remain are beaten and persecuted or forced to renounce their vows.

1981 Shi Yongxin, born Liu Yingcheng, arrives at the Shaolin Temple to train as a monk.

1987 Begins running the temple after the previous abbot’s death. In 1998, he is selected as a representative to the National People’s Congress, China’s rubberstamp parliament.

1999 Ordained as the temple’s abbot.

There's a video too.

Putting the cash into Kung Fu (http://video.ft.com/v/1151366388001/Putting-the-cash-into-Kung-Fu)
4:10 AM Jamil Anderlini, the FT's Beijing bureau chief, visits the Shaolin temple in central Hunan and meets the chief abbot, also known as the CEO monk. (3m 44sec)
Credits:
Produced and filmed by Ben Marino

GeneChing

09-12-2011, 09:24 AM

Shaolin Temple abbot clueless about Wu Tang Clan (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-rice-bowl/shaolin-temple-abbot-clueless-about-wu-tang-clan)
Shaolin abbot on hip-hop pioneers: "I don't get it."
Patrick WinnSeptember 12, 2011 00:30

Perhaps the biggest promoters of China's Shaolin Temple in the U.S. -- hip-hop luminaries Wu Tang Clan -- are baffling to the temple's current abbot.

"I don't get it," said abbot Shi Yongxin, asked to sample Wu Tang through the headphones of the Financial Times' Beijing bureau chief. The journalist elicited the abbot's reaction for a profile on the temple and its rampant pop culture appeal.

If you don't get it either, here's a primer.

Wu Tang is a hip-hop group that came out of New York's Staten Island in the early 1990s. Without Wu Tang, millions of Americans would have never heard the word "Shaolin." As the Financial Times notes, Shaolin "has become part of modern global culture like almost nothing else from modern Chinese society."

The temple first snuck into popular culture via old Kung Fu flicks as its monks have trained in martial arts for centuries.

From these grainy, 1970s films, the myth of Shaolin snuck into American hip-hop via the Wu Tang Clan. Their lyrics are marked by impenetrable slang, drug-dealing street tales and ideology from an all-black Islamic sect called the Five Percent Nation. All of this is filtered through their obsession with Kung Fu flicks and littered with references to Shaolin.

It's hardly surprising that Shi Yongxin, a 46-year-old abbot who has lived at a temple since his teens, doesn't "get it."

But the Wu-Tang Clan, having released multiple platinum-selling albums, are largely responsible for American awareness of Shaolin. Or at least a mythologized, distorted version of Shaolin filtered through Hong Kong cinema.

Perhaps the abbot has more in common with his hip-hop progeny than it appears.

Since Shi Yongxin started commercializing the temple through performance troupes, and licensing its name out to cartoons and movies, he has faced repeated accusations that cash rules everything around him.
Of course, as we all know, RZA visited Shaolin with Shi Yanming in '99. We all know this because it's in my book (http://www.amazon.com/Shaolin-Trips-Gene-Ching/dp/1424308976/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276188031&sr=1-1). ;)

GeneChing

09-12-2011, 09:28 AM

...although this is in the wake of Shaolin the movie (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54940), I think...:confused:

Why the kung-fu monks are losing their religion (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/why-the-kungfu-monks-are-losing-their-religion-2353184.html)
The Buddhists of Shaolin gave the world its most deadly martial art. But now their gift has become a curse, writes Clifford Coonan
Monday, 12 September 2011

Young men spring through the air, performing elegant punches and kicks; others bound across the dirt, swords flashing through the misty air. An ancient tree has dozens of small dents, made by "finger punches" of warrior monks over the centuries.

This is the Shaolin temple complex, in the mountains of central China, where kung fu was born 1,500 years ago. Now a place of pilgrimage for martial arts enthusiasts and Zen Buddhists, thousands of young people come to study kung fu, or wushu as it is known in China, in schools around the temple.

The commercial success of the temple is obvious, even if some of the sights are jarring – the telephone kiosks with Buddhas on top, for example. It has some monks shaking their heads and fearing that its spiritual peace is threatened. One monk said he was leaving after decades at the temple to be a hermit in the mountains of eastern China.

"There are internal conflicts here, and it's complicated. When I came here it was very shabby, and it has improved a lot. But I don't think this is a place for religion anymore," he says.

Many others are inspired by the Shaolin tradition. Kung fu is the epitome of martial arts, and practitioners say other fighting arts including karate originated from kung fu. There are more than a million learners of kung fu around the world and many centres of Shaolin culture globally.

For the 60,000 young would-be kung fu stars kicking and punching away at the schools around the temple, Shaolin kung fu offers a way out of poverty. Wu Zhiqiang, 17, comes from near the Henan capital of Zhengzhou. He has been in Shaolin for four years and is one of 4,000 students at his school. "I've been practising since 5am," he says, still brandishing a spear at lunchtime. "We practise outside in the morning, then study in the classroom. My aim is to go to physical education college in Zhengzhou. But some of my friends want to be coaches. And of course some of us want to be in the movies."

Kung fu owes its existence to an Indian monk, Bodhi Dharma, who began to preach Zen Buddhism in the temple and started its martial arts tradition. The Shaolin style was expanded over the years from 72 basic fighting movements to 170 moves, divided into five styles named after the animal that the movements were supposed to resemble: Tiger, Leopard, Snake, Dragon and Crane.

But has its popularity made it too commercial and and too disconnected from its roots? Qian Daliang, general manager of the Henan Shaolin Temple Development Company, said not. "Our aim is to protect Shaolin, and maintain the real Shaolin," he says. "We have a good name but people here and overseas use the name to make money and in some cases ruin the name of Shaolin. We have to protect ourselves, and our intellectual property." The temples' 228 brick pagodas survived the Cultural Revolution, when Red Guards marauded across China destroying religious sites. Their status as burial sites saved the 1,200-year-old Pagoda Forest, which has featured in many kung fu epics, and is part of what attracts the thousands of tourists to Shaolin. But they were not untainted by the Red Guard fervour. The monks in Shaolin were forced to drink alcohol and eat meat by the Red Guards. They remember this still, and they have a saying: "Alcohol and meat only pass through your digestive system, but Buddha is within."

Reform and the opening up in China has seen a revival in the temple's fortunes, thanks to the interest in martial arts movies during the 1970s. A building at the very back of the complex was used in The Shaolin Temple, in 1982, which featured Jet Li.

The latest, Shaolin, which features Hong Kong heartthrob Andy Lau and action hero Jackie Chan, is released on DVD today in Britain.

"Like many of my peers starting out in the film industry in the early 1980s, I was influenced and inspired by the original Shaolin Temple," says its director, Benny Chan. "I mean, wow, there was Jet Li executing the most perfect of 360-degree roundhouse kicks in mid-air. It was both stunning and riveting. Don't forget The Shaolin Temple was made before China opened up – it was such a rarity."

The abbot of the monastery, Shi Yongxin, a farmer's son from nearby Anhui, has been credited as the architect of Shaolin's revival since taking over in 1999. He is known for his business-minded approach to transforming the temple and promoting Buddhism throughout the world over the past two decades.

Since 1986, he has led Shaolin monk delegations across China and abroad to perform Shaolin martial arts shows, registering the trademark of the names "Shaolin" and "Shaolin Temple" in 1994.

He has also sparked controversy, demanding an official apology from an online commentator who dared to say its monks had once been beaten in unarmed combat by Japanese ninja warriors. He has also been criticised for accepting the gift of a luxury sports car from the authorities, and many monks did not like the decision to host its own martial arts reality TV show. But Mr Qian insists the temple needs its commercial activities to ensure its survival. "The Shaolin monastery has had its ups and downs. At one point there were over 2,000 monks here, but after the Cultural Revolution, there were only 15 monks left. But the spirit of Shaolin never stops, and that's what we are aiming to continuously deliver," said Mr Qian.

GeneChing

09-21-2011, 09:54 AM

SA Time: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 6:57:49 PM
Kung fu fighting (http://www.iol.co.za/travel/world/asia/kung-fu-fighting-1.1141461)
September 20 2011 at 09:44pm
By Clifford Coonan

Young men spring through the air, performing elegant punches and kicks; others bound across the dirt, swords flashing through the misty air. An ancient tree has dozens of small dents, made by “finger punches” of warrior monks over the centuries.

This is the Shaolin temple complex, in the mountains of central China, where kung fu was born 1 500 years ago. Now a place of pilgrimage for martial arts enthusiasts and Zen Buddhists, thousands of young people come to study kung fu, or wushu as it is known in China, in schools around the temple.

The commercial success of the temple is obvious, even if some of the sights are jarring – the telephone kiosks with Buddhas on top, for example.

It has some monks shaking their heads and fearing that its spiritual peace is threatened. One monk said he was leaving after decades at the temple to be a hermit in the mountains of eastern China.

“When I came here it was very shabby, and it has improved a lot. But I don’t think this is a place for religion anymore,” he says.

Many others are inspired by the Shaolin tradition. Kung fu is the epitome of martial arts, and practitioners say other fighting arts, including karate, originated from kung fu. There are more than a million learners of kung fu around the world and many centres of Shaolin culture globally.

For the 60 000 young would-be kung fu stars kicking and punching away at the schools around the temple, Shaolin kung fu offers a way out of poverty.

Wu Zhiqiang, 17, comes from near the Henan capital of Zhengzhou. He has been in Shaolin for four years and is one of 4 000 students at his school.

“I’ve been practising since 5am,” he says. “We practise outside in the morning, then study in the classroom. My aim is to go to physical education college in Zhengzhou. But some of my friends want to be coaches. And of course some want to be in the movies.”

Kung fu owes its existence to an Indian monk, Bodhi Dharma, who began to preach Zen Buddhism in the temple and started its martial arts tradition. The Shaolin style was expanded over the years from 72 basic fighting movements to 170 moves, divided into five styles named after the animals the movements were supposed to resemble: tiger, leopard, snake, dragon and crane.

But has its popularity made it too disconnected from its roots?

Qian Daliang, general manager of the Henan Shaolin Temple Development Company, said no. “Our aim is to maintain the real Shaolin. We have a good name, but people here and overseas use the name to make money and in some cases ruin the name of Shaolin. We have to protect intellectual property.”

The temples’ 228 brick pagodas survived the Cultural Revolution, when Red Guards marauded across China, destroying religious sites. Their status as burial sites saved the 1 200-year-old Pagoda Forest, which has featured in many kung fu epics, and is part of what attracts the thousands of tourists to Shaolin.

But they were not untainted by the Red Guard fervour. Red Guards forced the monks in Shaolin to drink alcohol and eat meat. They remember this, and have a saying: “Alcohol and meat only pass through your digestive system, but Buddha is within.”

Reform and the opening up in China has seen a revival in the temple’s fortunes, thanks to the interest in martial arts movies.

A building at the back of the complex was used in The Shaolin Temple, in 1982, which featured Jet Li. The latest, Shaolin, which features Hong Kong heart-throb Andy Lau and Jackie Chan, is being released on DVD in Britain.

“Like many of my peers starting out in the film industry in the early 1980s, I was inspired by the original Shaolin Temple,” says its director, Benny Chan.

“I mean, wow, there was Jet Li executing the most perfect of 360-degree roundhouse kicks in mid-air. It was stunning. Don’t forget The Shaolin Temple was made before China opened up – it was such a rarity.”

The abbot of the monastery, Shi Yongxin, a farmer’s son, has been credited as the architect of Shaolin’s revival since taking over in 1999. He is known for his business-minded approach to transforming the temple and promoting Buddhism.

Since 1986, he has led Shaolin monk delegations across China and abroad to perform martial arts shows, registering the trademarks “Shaolin” and “Shaolin Temple” in 1994.

He has also sparked controversy, demanding an official apology from an online commentator who dared to say its monks had once been beaten in unarmed combat by Japanese ninja warriors. And he has been criticised for accepting the gift of a luxury sports car from the authorities, while many monks did not like the decision to host a martial arts reality TV show.

But Qian insists the temple needs its commercial activities to ensure its survival.

“At one point there were more than 2 000 monks here. After the Cultural Revolution, there were only 15 left. But the spirit of Shaolin never stops, and that’s what we aim to deliver.” – The Independent
60,000 now? That seems high.

GeneChing

11-16-2011, 05:59 PM

2.896 billion yuan = 456,458,345.09 USD

Zhongyuan Expressway Plans 2.9B Yuan Investment (http://www.capitalvue.com/home/CE-news/inset/@10063/post/4301493)
Wednesday 2011-11-16 11:15
Publisher: CapitalVue

November 16 -- Expressway operator Henan Zhongyuan Expressway (600020) plans to invest 2.896 billion yuan to construct a highway connecting Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport and Shaolin Temple in Henan province, reports yicai.com, citing a company filing.

The expressway covers a total length of 39.25 kilometers. Construction will start at the end of 2011, and is expected to take 36 months.

The investment is pending the approval of the related government departments.

Upon completion, the expressway will be operated by Zhongyuan Expressway.

The toll collection period will not be longer than 30 years. Henan Zhongyuan Expressway estimates the internal rate of return of this investment to hit 9.11 percent.

GeneChing

01-30-2012, 10:19 AM

National Quality Ranking Committee of Tourist Attractions - didn't know that China even had such a thing. :rolleyes:

Shaolin Temple risks losing rating (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/china/2012-01/30/content_14507156.htm)
Updated: 2012-01-30 17:45
(chinadaily.com.cn)

The Shaolin Temple scenic spot is facing the risk of losing its top-class rating after an undercover inquiry organized by China’s National Tourism Administration, the Oriental Outlook - a weekly magazine - reported on Monday.

The scenic site, best known for the Shaolin Temple, which has been recognized as the origin of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Chinese kungfu, was found to have poor management and failed to meet the criteria of national 5A class tourist attractions, China’s top rating for scenic spots, in terms of service, quality and environment.

The National Quality Ranking Committee of Tourist Attractions issued a notice on Dec 4, 2011 requiring the scenic spot to launch and complete an overhaul of its operations before the end of March 2012.

It will lose its 5A rating if it still cannot meet the criteria after the overhaul, according to the notice.

The Shaolin Temple scenic spot was rated by the National Tourism Administration as a national 5A class tourist attraction in May 2007. It is the first time it faces the risk of losing its 5A class.

The local tourism administration has been ordered to address the problems urgently and properly.

enoajnin

01-30-2012, 11:47 AM

I wonder what the problems with the facility were that might make it lose it's rating.

GeneChing

01-31-2012, 10:11 AM

More fallout from this announcement

Shaolin's Embarrassment of Riches (http://www.eeo.com.cn/ens/2012/0131/220077.shtml)
2012-01-31 14:59

Summary：Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Kung Fu, now attracts 1.5 million visitors a year, but its popularity has created tension between its Buddhist abbot and local party officials.

By Liu Jinsong (刘金松)
Nation, page 9
Issue No. 549, Dec 19, 2011
Translated by Zhu Na
Original Article: [Chinese]

http://upload.eeo.com.cn/2012/0131/1327998753192.jpg
Russia's former President Vladimir Putin watches a matrial arts display at Shaolin alongside the temple's leader Abbot Shi in 2006.

Shaolin Temple and the local government in Henan have been working together for years to build a profitable brand around the fifth-century monastery whose monks were among the earliest masters of Kung Fu.

Their efforts have helped make the temple famous worldwide, drawing 1.5 million tourists to Shaolin each year, as well supporting the surrounding area. However, the government and the monks are now at loggerheads about what to do with the profits.

With each visitor paying 100 yuan, ticket sales raise 150 million yuan a year, but the temple gets just 30 percent of this, with the remainder divided between the local government and its corporate partner.

As well as admissions fees from tourists visiting the temple, the community of Dengfeng also benefits from the students who study at the nearby martial arts schools and spend around 500 million yuan a year. There are another 200 businesses in the area generating some 100 million yuan from the sale of martial arts equipment, teaching aids and souvenirs.

When it comes to ticket sales, it’s not the temple that is in control.

“How many tickets were sold in the end? And how many people get free tickets? They [the site managers] have the final say. How much we are given depends on them,” the temple's leader, Abbot Shi Yongxin, has said.

When officials from the temple ask the site managers about the publicly announced visitor statistics, they’re told that those figures are overestimates, published for propaganda purposes.

Outside the temple, each attraction belongs to a different interest group. For example, Songshan (嵩山) Shaolin Temple Martial Arts Training Centre, where tourists watch the Shaolin Kong Fu show, belongs to the Henan Province Tourism Bureau, as does a nearby Buddhist style hotel.

Opposite the temple are the Buddhist Living Quarters (十方禅院), home to 500 Arhats. Tourists wanting to pass through must pay 10 yuan, which goes to the project’s investors, the commerce bureau of Dengfeng County and Zhengshou City Salt Company.

Nearby, the Kung Fu schools charge 10,000 yuan to 16,000 yuan a year for full-time students, and $30 for foreigners who want to spend a day improving their footwork and upper-body techniques.

Shaolin Temple is a registered trademark, but the abbot has resisted calls to protect the name from being used by others.

“Running martial arts training schools is also a way of promoting Shaolin culture, we cannot stop their business,” says Shi.

In fact, with the temple’s reputation already damaged by its commercialization, the abbot might simply be afraid that enforcing the rights to the Shaolin name would open the temple up to accusations of acting like a monopoly.

After the Shaolin site was renovated in 2000, unhappy villagers besieged the temple and local government departments received reports that Abbot Shi had been using prostitutes. The abbot complained of a campaign to blacken his name, and officials visited the temple to investigate.

In the early stage of Shaolin’s development as a tourist site, the temple and the local government cooperated together closely. However, commercial success has driven a wedge between the two sides, with Abbot Shi seeking to use the temple’s wealth to promote its Buddhist values while the government tries to expand the commercialization. For one side, the temple is just a driver for the local tourist industry, for the other it’s a Buddhist shrine.

These conflicting priorities have produced some curious scenes, such as the occasion when competing beauty queens toured the temple in bikinis, while the monks, on Abbot Shi’s orders, were banned from observing. To make up for the reclusive monks, the organizers of the contest invited in some martial arts students with shaven heads and got them to greet the bikinied models by the temple gate.

There are also peculiarities in the relative status of the abbot and his partners in the local government.

Early in the site’s development, Shi would have to wait a day in the local government office before being granted an audience with an official, but when Vladimir Putin visited in 2006, top province officials were in the second row while Shi and Putin, who was then Russian president, were sitting side by side.

The clearest divergence between Shi and the cadres came when the abbot wanted to stop charging visitors to enter the temple. The local government had been looking forward to a windfall from listing its Shaolin tourist operations on the stock market, and the mainstay of that business was the income from ticket sales. The abbot blocked the IPO, but the government insisted that the temple keep charging visitors 100 yuan to see inside the temple.

Shaolin told to clean up its image (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2012-01/31/content_14510672.htm)
Updated: 2012-01-31 10:43
By An Baijie and Xiang Mingchao (China Daily)

ZHENGZHOU - China's most famous Buddhist temple, the Shaolin Temple, could become better known for messiness and poor service.

An investigation of the five-star tourist spot found piles of garbage, disorderly service and traffic paralyzed by roadside venders and dealers, according to a report by tourism authorities.

Zheng Shumin, director of the publicity department of the Shaolin Temple, confirmed to China Daily on Monday that the temple is cooperating with the local government to rectify the problems.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20120131/0013729e451810919b0117.jpg
Shaolin Temple Abbot Shi Yongxin poses with the certificate of a luxury cassock, which was given to him as a gift by a silk company, in Songshan, Henan province, June 7, 2009. [Photo/CFP]

The temple, in Zhengzhou, Henan province, must fix the problems before March or lose its five-star level, Zheng said.

During a visit in October, the National Tourism Association discovered problems with equipment, order and services which do not meet the requirements of a five-star level tourism zone, according to a report in Oriental Outlook, a magazine run by the Xinhua News Agency.

The investigation team found vehicles parked in a disorderly fashion, unlicensed taxis, salespersons chasing tourists with souvenirs, and many people dressed like monks doing fortune-telling business or promoting products.

Inside, the temple was too crowded due to a lack of tourist flow control, and the places selling food were disorganized, said the report.

The report also said the tourist area was too small and badly managed, and the medical center is short of supplies.

Management of the temple has been carried out by China Travel Service (Hong Kong) since late 2009. Oriental Outlook quoted two staff members of CTS as saying the company has not invested sufficient money to promote management of the temple.

More than 300 trees in the temple have died of drought since the company refused to invest in irrigation, a staff member of CTS told Oriental Outlook.

Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, admitted that there were some problems including dirt, mess and forcing tourists to buy products in places around the temple. He said management should be improved, according to the Oriental Outlook report.

Qian Guoping, general manager of the Dengfeng branch of the CTS, refused to comment to China Daily on Monday.

The temple's publicity chief Zheng said the temple is the victim of the company's poor management.

"For the temple and the monks here, what we do care about is the protection of the religious culture, not the commercial profits," Zheng said. "It is the CTS that should be responsible for the poor management of the temple."

ShaolinDiva

01-31-2012, 10:53 AM

To much of the Shaolin Temple's defense of business management- they simply lack business management skills. I will have to say if they truly were raised since they were kids within the temple, they do lack many things. Especially Business management 101 class for sure. It is a monastary, first and foremost. and its in China.

They were always told what to do , how to do, what time to rise, when to eat, what time to meditate, how long to meditate , when to recite buddhist scriptures, etc. From what I have experienced , the monks are all very good people just trying but they simply don't really know "business". Notice that within all the authentic Shaolin temples out there, the biggest and most recurring theme is the buddhism . Secondly will be kung fu and thirdly will be the Qigong health.

But then they are all men! ha! :D I'm just sayin'........

GeneChing

02-02-2012, 10:32 AM

There's a gallery of five photos if you follow the link. I didn't bother to cut&paste them here.

Shaolin Temple denies responsibility for poor tourism order (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/7718302.html)
(Xinhua)
16:59, February 02, 2012

Edited and translated by Ye Xin, People's Daily Online

The National Commission on scenic quality rating has recently ordered Henan Songshan Shaolin Scenic Area to rectify and improve its environment and tourism orders within a time limit. Shaolin Temple confirmed the above information, but claimed that the temple is not responsible for the rectification crisis.

The Songshan Shaolin Scenic Area, located in Dengfeng county, central China's Henan Province, has a total area of 2.8 square kilometers. Since 2009, China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Limited has been running the scenic area. However, as a venue for religious activities, the assets of Shaolin Temple are not within the company's scope of business.

GeneChing

02-06-2012, 10:14 AM

Shaolin Temple visitors drop after rating warning (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-02/06/content_14546185.htm)
Updated: 2012-02-06 16:17
(chinadaily.com.cn)

The number of visitors to the famous Shaolin Temple during Spring Festival decreased by 41.8 percent from the same period last year, Dahe newspaper reported.

The decline of the popular tourist attraction in Henan province over the seven day holiday period comes after it was warned it could lose its top rating for poor service and maintenance.

The scenic spot received some 61,000 people during the holiday. The ticket revenue fell 13.7 percent from the same period last year.

The National Quality Ranking Committee of Tourist Attractions requires the temple to complete an overhaul by the end of March 2012. It will lose its top rating if it fails to meet the criteria by that date. A 41.8% decrease is pretty significant.

sha0lin1

02-07-2012, 06:49 AM

A 41.8% decrease is pretty significant.

Yeah, but a little more peaceful without a lot of tourists around. Makes you wonder what they will do to get that rating back. Maybe the rollercoaster simulator will come back.

mawali

02-07-2012, 08:06 AM

Other than lacking Business 101 skills, there is still too much nandu performance type criteria along with too frequent changes in all types of forms. Nothing is traditional anymore and the packaging of Shaolin is becoming too absurd e.g. Shaolin Haemorrhoid Cream, Shaolin Handy WIpes, Shaolin Baking Powder, and people may becomming too weird with the propaganda of government mandated tools to keep people spending money as opposed to training good people with bona fide interest.

It is still good source of training for the present competition world market in wushu so they might as well milk it while the illusion is there. The coming economic depression will figure into how this will affect various sectors of the market!

GeneChing

02-07-2012, 10:18 AM

mawali, I doubt the influx of modern wushu at Shaolin has much to do with the drop. Most of the tourists that visit Shaolin are just tourists. They aren't there to train. The don't study kung fu at all. There's a higher percentage of foreigners that go to train kung fu, but the bulk of the tourists are from China and they're just there to be tourists.

Here's our student and tourist stats from our 2011 Shaolin Special (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=955).
Number of Registered Martial Arts Schools: 50
Population of Full-Time Martial Arts Students: 60,000
Number of Domestic Tourists per year: 1,400,000
Number of Foreign Tourists per year: 10,000
Number of Foreigners training in Dengfeng per year: 3000
Number of Foreigners training in Dengfeng for more than one month per year: 1000

There's a six photo gallery if you follow the link below.

Shaolin Temple visitor number drops in C China's Henan Province (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7722093.html)
(Xinhua)
13:54, February 07, 2012
Staff members of the Shaolin Temple are left idle outside a scenic spot at the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 31, 2012. The number of visitors to the famous Shaolin Temple during the Spring Festival starting from Jan. 23 decreased by 41.8 percent and the ticket revenue fell 13.7 percent from the same period of last year, according to statistics from the Dengfeng Tourism Administration. The decline of the popular tourist attraction in Henan Province in the seven day holiday period came after it was warned it could lose its top rating for poor services and maintenance. The National Quality Ranking Committee of Tourist Attractions requires the temple to complete an overhaul by the end of March 2012. (Xinhua/Wang Song)

sha0lin1

02-08-2012, 06:11 AM

mawali

02-08-2012, 08:12 AM

sha0lin1

02-09-2012, 06:19 AM

My former teachers, who were born in China have stated that this has been going on for some time, e.g. trademark borrowing, tourist 'traps', school rivalry on who has the 'better' teachers based on loyalty to the Party within the capitalist agenda, etc.

Shaolin has some excellent teachers but they are the exception! One of my earlier teachers claimed to have studied at Shaolin and when he left he stated that the change was drastic when he returned some years later.

As a former competitor, it is well known that many so called tradtional forms has been altered for the sake of gymnastic nandu and performance criteria!

I have trained there a few times and I can tell you that traditional is very much alive and well in Shaolin, without nandu mixed in. Performance is for performance, when traditional is done it is not done in that manner. Before you make statements like the one you made earlier, you should be absolutely certain of what you are saying. Too many people make assumptions about Shaolin whithout ever having been there to know what is really going on. Not trying to dis your former teachers or anything, but a lot of people will say things about Shaolin in order to make themselves or their own schools look better.

mawali

02-09-2012, 07:45 AM

Too many people make assumptions about Shaolin whithout ever having been there to know what is really going on. Not trying to dis your former teachers or anything, but a lot of people will say things about Shaolin in order to make themselves or their own schools look better.

No problem! My teachers were of the highest regard without having to disparage anyone. Thought, word and deed are on its own merit.

GeneChing

03-06-2012, 10:18 AM

...but the first comment by 'cheer' certainly sounds like our bawang. :eek:

Shaolin Temple to expand overseas (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012npc/2012-03/06/content_14769569.htm)
Updated: 2012-03-06 14:31
By Zhao Yinan (chinadaily.com.cn)

China's most renowned Buddhist attraction, Shaolin Temple, is planning to open overseas branches "when conditions mature", according to the director of the temple.

Shi Yongxin, current abbot of the Shaolin Temple and deputy chairman of China's Buddhism Association, said that more than 1,000 overseas visitors per year stay at the temple to practice Buddhism and Chinese kungfu, and the number has been on the rise.

Another 200,000 foreign believers come to Shaolin every year for sightseeing, said Shi, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress.

GeneChing

03-14-2012, 09:18 AM

I have a new interview with the Abbot in our next issue. It's our Shaolin Special 2012. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63156)

Shaolin abbot proposes heritage protection (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-03/14/content_14827134.htm)
Updated: 2012-03-14 07:03
(Xinhua)

BEIJING - The abbot of the Shaolin Temple has proposed protecting Buddhist heritage, but declined to comment on the fate of his commercially-run temple while attending the ongoing annual parliamentary session in Beijing.

Shi Yongxin, the high-profile monastery head of the birthplace of kungfu and a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), has shown reticence during this year's national meeting, shunning throngs of microphone-wielding reporters outside the Great Hall of People and their sporadic ambushes along his route.

Shi's proposals this year included enhancing legal protection on Mount Songshan in Central China's Henan province, where Shaolin is seated, banning sales and contractions of Buddhist temples, opening more religious sites to the public and promoting religious medicines.

"Some Buddhist temples in China have been sold to non-clerical people, who made profits by charging worshippers. It has hurt the feelings of Buddhist followers," said Shi.

Shi also called for legal protection on Mount Songshan, the newly-listed world heritage site, whose natural environment is now subject to damaging overmining and rampant tourist activities.

But Shi did not comment on Shaolin's recent failure to pass an inspection by the tourist watchdog due to flawed management.

A national committee on tourist site assessment recently issued a circular demanding that the temple overhaul its "chaotic operation" or forfeit its rating as a five-A tourist site. The circular said the temple had been overrun by vendors and rip-off businesses.

It was the latest scandal to hit the abbot, who has vigorously pushed the temple into movie-making and commercial kungfu shows, actions that have drawn criticism for alleged over-commercialization of the temple.

GeneChing

03-26-2012, 09:22 AM

Monks guide temple toward a new image (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-03/26/content_14908932.htm)
Updated: 2012-03-26 07:43
By An Baijie in Dengfeng, Henan (China Daily)

As the old saying goes, "Change comes from within."

It is a message that is being embraced at the Shaolin Temple, where resident monks are striving to improve the holy site's image after a storm of criticism last year.

Since February, at least 20 monks at China's most famous Buddhist monastery have been working as free guides for tourists.

Among them are graduates from Buddhist colleges, and each one has received two weeks of training, said Zheng Shumin, the temple's publicity director.

"It's an honor to introduce the temple's glorious history to visitors," Yan Xin, a monk in his 20s, said on March 17.

He had already led two groups that afternoon, during which he interpreted ancient poems engraved in stone tablets, and told stories about the many calligraphy and painting works.

"I practice martial arts every day and keep in good physical shape, so I don't feel tired," he said.

The free tour guide service was set up after a public relations crisis in December, when the temple was criticized by the National Tourism Association for its poor conditions and services.

The association said its inspectors had found disorderly parking facilities, an abundance of over-bearing souvenir sellers, as well as many people dressed like monks offering fortune-telling services or products.

After the criticism, People's Daily reported that police in Dengfeng had detained more than 63 people for violating tourism regulations, while four employees of the Shaolin Temple were dismissed. Ten tourist guides were also suspended.

However, Zheng said that the new guide service simply extended the temple's practice of asking monks to lead groups when important figures visited or during major Buddhism events.

Yang Chaofei, a college student who was led by Yan, said his guide had made his trip unforgettable.

"The monks are very patient, and their introductions always enlighten me because I believe in the Buddhist religion," he said. "It was a totally different feeling compared with the guides used by most commercial tourism companies."

Yang said the service had improved his impression of the Shaolin Temple, adding that he believes it will "shorten the distance between the monks and the public".

Despite praise from visitors, some remained skeptical that the guide service was really free, largely due to the fact that in the past they had encountered people dressed like monks who were trying to charge fees.

"The monks say the service is free, but I'm afraid they will charge us at the end of the tour, or try to get us to buy souvenirs," said Ren Juan, 43, who was visiting with her friends.

"We don't want to ruin the experience by having conflicts with monks."

A public bus driver who did not want to be identified said the number of complaints from tourists and city residents about the Shaolin Temple have greatly reduced since the warning from the tourism authorities.

"Compared with the past, the Shaolin Temple appears to have developed a completely different image in recent months," he said. "The city government has kept a close watch for any illegal or disorderly activity." This seems like a good idea, but it opens the door so wide for scam artist fake monks.

GeneChing

03-29-2012, 11:58 AM

Abbot blesses German solar power development.

Wirsol Opens Beijing Office, Plans PV Projects in China (http://www.solarnovus.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4619:wirsol-opens-beijing-office-plans-pv-projects-in-china&catid=37:business-news&Itemid=241)
29 March 2012

German solar project developer Wirsol and Chinese module manufacturer Suntech will develop large solar power stations for the Qinghai province, the two companies announced today at the opening of Wirsol Solar Technology Beijing.

In the photovoltaic sector, the Chinese market offers a state-guaranteed feed-in tariff of 12 cents/kWh (€).

His Holiness Shi Yongxin, from the abbot of the legendary Shaolin Temple of Henan, sanctified the new Beijing office. Guests also included the former Ambassadors Yang Chengxu, Hu Benyao and Wang Yanyi. The German General Consulate sent Dr. Peter Kreutzberger, the head of the Economic Service and the Speaker for the Environment, Energy and Climate.

GeneChing

04-16-2012, 09:34 AM

4 more photos if you follow the link.

Shaolin Temple protects ancient pagodas (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2012-04/16/content_15060119.htm)
Updated: 2012-04-16 15:17
Shaolin Temple protects ancient pagodas
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20120416/f46d04f57b0f10f603de30.jpg
Photo taken on March 15, 2012 shows the fences built to protect the Buddhist pagodas in the famous Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng city, central China's Henan province. As one of the recent renovation projects, fences were built between the pagodas in Shaolin Temple to protect them from damages of tourists. There are 230 pagodas in Shaolin Temple.[Photo/Xinhua]

Crosshandz

04-16-2012, 11:24 AM

4 more photos if you follow the link.

Looks terrible. If they wanted to put up fences they could've at least chosen some better looking materials. Awful.

charliegreens

04-16-2012, 11:38 AM

I can totally understand this. When I was there two years ago, someone let his kid crap between the Pagoda's. Totally disrespectful!

wenshu

04-16-2012, 12:35 PM

someone let his kid crap between the Pagoda's.

I miss China.

David Jamieson

04-16-2012, 01:05 PM

I can totally understand this. When I was there two years ago, someone let his kid crap between the Pagoda's. Totally disrespectful!

uh... Welcome to China?
http://i.imgur.com/pzRXJ.png

GeneChing

04-16-2012, 01:25 PM

I just came back from lunch at the local dive Chinese place. Now I'm having Zhengzhou flashbacks.

RenDaHai

04-16-2012, 04:12 PM

When you've been here a long time you realise unfortunately it's not just the kids.......

Went past the pagoda forest a few days ago and saw these. They look hideous, but at the same time, you can get some nice views of the forest without people standing everywhere.

It is probably a good idea since all the pagodas have writing scratched into them from Chinese tourists. But I would have chosen a better looking fence.

Wish I had filmed some forms there while I had the chance.....

GeneChing

04-16-2012, 05:37 PM

When you've been here a long time you realise unfortunately it's not just the kids........
I was partying in Zhengzhou once, in their little night club district. I was standing on the sidewalk of this major busy intersection and I hear this gush ans splatter in the gutter right next to where I was. I look over to see this woman who just hiked up her qipao, copped a squat, and took a big ol' **** all over. I had to jump to get away from standing downstream. I remember glaring at her and her looking back at me with this vacant 'what?' expression. The surreal thing was that she was smoking hot. Ahhhh, China. ;)

breeze

04-17-2012, 08:36 AM

Wait a while and the fences will look like the pagodas.

Now maybe Gene can tell us where all the temple's riches go ...?

yss

GeneChing

04-17-2012, 09:12 AM

Why would I even know that?

:rolleyes:

breeze

04-17-2012, 01:16 PM

HMPF!

I was just curious .... - Since you know a lot. And since my master never really tells me ...

Btw, the German solar company WIRSOL AG sponsored the book "Die Shaolin Mönche" that i tried to introduce in the topic "New Shaolin book", probably that's also reason for Shi Yongxin's sanctifying the Beijing office. It's a nice book anyway, showing what Shaolin temple also is.
But i guess the solar equipment behind the Meditation-hall in the temple (under "Alternative Energie" on: http://shaolin-reflection.blogspot.de/search?updated-max=2012-04-05T11:18:00%2B02:00&max-results=1) is from another company, since it is there already a couple of years.

yss

GeneChing

04-17-2012, 02:02 PM

Just a glance at the archived news on this thread gives us an inkling of how complex the financials of Shaolin Temple is now. There are so many different influences there - numerous government bodies that oversee Temple business, private companies and schools are invested, and then there's the funding of reconstruction and new construction, and the charitable gestures. Following the money trail there just makes my head spin. I do know for certain the the temple proper only gets a portion of all the income. Various government bureaus that oversee the temple take out a hefty sum. An actual study of the economics of Shaolin would be a fascinating read, but I can't even imagine how one might go about researching such a thing.

GeneChing

05-21-2012, 09:26 AM

Henan mulls maglev for Shaolin (http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-05/21/content_15350671.htm)
Updated: 2012-05-21 20:25
By An Baijie (chinadaily.com.cn)

China's largest train manufacturer is talking with officials about the possibility of building a magnetic levitation railway for tourists to Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province, according to a local newspaper.

China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation Ltd, a listed State-owned enterprise, believes the project is a fit for Shaolin Temple, China's most famous Buddhist temple, said Zhao Xiaogang, chairman of the board of the train manufacturer, in an interview with Dahe Daily.

"The low-speed magnetic levitation railway could run at a speed of 80 to 100 kilometers per hour, with low noise, which is very suitable for the tourism resort," Zhao was quoted as saying. "We noticed that it is about 3 km from the bus station to the temple, and we are going to test the local environment to see whether we can build the project as soon as possible."

The low-speed magnetic levitation, or maglev, railway costs much less than its high-speed counterpart, Zhao said.

Zhao promoted the idea of a low-speed maglev railway in talks with Guo Gengmao, governor of Henan province, on May 18.

There are currently no maglev railways in business in China, and the Shaolin Temple would be the first tourism resort to introduce such a project if the negotiation goes smoothly, Dahe Daily reported.

The newspaper did not say whether the provincial governor has given it the green light or not. China Daily could not obtain confirmation of the project's status from the provincial government before press time.

Sun Chunxia, an employee from the publicity department of the CTS Star, which runs tourism operations at the Shaolin Temple, told China Daily on May 21 that the project is still being considered, and no final decision has been reached at the moment. I'm not sure I'd feel safe on a PRC Maglev.

GeneChing

05-23-2012, 10:50 AM

...and who knows what else under the table. ;)

This is follow-up on the National Quality Ranking Committee of Tourist Attractions issue. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1154891#post1154891)

There are more pix of tourists at Shaolin if you follow the link.

Shaolin Temple improves management, service (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/7824170.html)
(Xinhua)
08:21, May 23, 2012

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201205/23/F201205230821442612718645.jpg
A new warning sign of the slippery surface is set on a stone bridge near the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, May 21, 2012. Shaolin has passed the reexamination by the country's tourist watchdog and kept its rating as a five-A tourist site earlier this month. A national committee on tourist site assessment at the end of last year issued a circular demanding that the temple overhaul its "chaotic operation" or forfeit its rating as a five-A tourist site. The circular said the temple had been overrun by vendors and rip-off businesses. Now Shaolin has improved a lot in its management and service and more tourists came to visit Shaolin these days. (Xinhua/Wang Song)

RenDaHai

05-23-2012, 04:34 PM

@Shaolin Maglev...

That is ridiculous..... Its a pleasant mile walk from the main gate to Shaolin. Years ago it was filled with thousands of people practising wushu and really had the shaolin feeling. Now it is just lined with bamboo. Never the less it is a pleasant walk, to build a Maglev here is so absolutely unnecessary.

Now they are in the process of building a new road directly from the airport to Shaolin. (The stupid decision to build ZhengZhous airport completely in the middle of nowhere, 45 mins from ZZ means they need a lot of new roads for it) They are bulldozing a route along the edge of dengfeng.

Their are soooo Many fingers in Shaolins pie these days.......I really don't think Shaolin even sees a fraction of the profits.

They have changed all the rules of access for this new 5 star rating. It is much harder for anyone from the local area to get into Shaolin now (without paying), and the cost of owning a small stall has been raised. There are no longer Year passes and everything is controlled by some HongKong company.

On a side note, I went on the Maglev in Shanghai before... It was awesome, it hits a peak of 431km per hour. It feels like an airplane taking off. But the last thing the Shaolin area needs is a monorail. That will look hideous.

GeneChing

05-29-2012, 09:24 AM

This is an overview of several stories we've been following here; The platform is interesting.

Trouble at the temple
Everybody was kung fu fighting (http://www.economist.com/node/21555947)
Shaolin temple takes a hit

May 26th 2012 | DENGFENG | from the print edition
http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/290-width/images/print-edition/20120526_CNP002_0.jpg
Shi Yongxin, the CEO?

AS THE sun rises over the foothills of Mount Song, thousands of young martial artists are kicking, punching and spinning spears and swords in unison on a huge open parade ground. They have flocked here to train at Shaolin temple, the birthplace of Shaolin kung fu.

The parade-ground scene is timeless, but the surrounding temple is not. In December it failed its examination by China’s National Tourism Association, after inspectors condemned the poor conditions of the sprawling temple complex and the abundance of pushy touts and dodgy fortune-tellers.

Such hangers-on have arrived as part of the commercialisation of the Shaolin brand, tirelessly promoted since the 1990s by the temple’s abbot, Shi Yongxin (pictured). Mr Shi is known in the Chinese media as “the CEO monk”. He has rented out the Shaolin name for films, reality-television shows and computer games, and approved an online store selling Shaolin kung fu manuals for 9,999 yuan ($1,600). Many Chinese believe he leads too lavish a life for a holy man. In 2009, the temple’s website was hacked twice. In one instance a fake apology letter from the abbot was posted on the site, listing his alleged misdeeds. In the other, a message was scrawled saying “Shaolin evildoer Shi Yongxin, go to hell”.

The temple last year twice issued statements rejecting unspecified rumours about Mr Shi that had spread widely in Chinese media and online. In its second statement in October, the temple even announced it was setting up a hotline offering a reward of 50,000 yuan for information leading to the source of the rumours. But as the temple feared in its statements, the damage to its reputation had already been done. The number of visitors during the Chinese new year holiday in January this year, traditionally high season for tourists, fell by nearly half.

Then on May 16th, after spending millions of yuan sprucing up the temple, Shaolin passed the tourism board’s re-examination, and so was able to retain its five-star scenic-spot status. Abbot Shi remained bullish: “The Shaolin scenic spot’s problems are mostly caused by the intervention of the government,” he said after the announcement. “I hope to return Shaolin temple to a peaceful religious environment.”

Restoring such an environment may not be so easy. Just days later, Chinese media reported that discussions were under way about building a magnetic-levitation train around Shaolin, in order to boost tourism.

GeneChing

06-06-2012, 09:07 AM

Govt against listing temples on stock market (http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-06/06/content_15476956.htm)
Updated: 2012-06-06 07:08
(Xinhua)

SHANGHAI - China's State Administration for Religious Affairs is against plans to list temples on the stock markets by some local governments, a top official said Tuesday.

Listing the temples on the stock exchanges harms the legal rights and damages the image of the religious community. It also harms the feelings of the believers, said Liu Wei, a deputy department director of the administration.

Temples are the sites for believers to carry out religious activities and are non-profit organizations. There is no precedent in the world to list the temples on the stock market, Liu said at a meeting in Shanghai.

Developing the economy should have its limits and should not cross the moral lines, he said.

Many of Chinese Buddhist and Tao temples have long been tourist sites and sources of revenues for local governments, which have a strong desire to make the temples more attractive and more lucrative. Listing in Shanghai or Hong Kong is a natural choice for them.

Famen Temple, dubbed as the ancestor of pagoda temples in northwest China's Shaanxi province, was expected to be listed in Hong Kong in 2013. The Baoji municipal government postponed the plan at the end of April as the second phase of the expansion project had not started construction.

Shaolin Temple, China's most famous Buddhist temple in central Henan province, was also pushed to be listed on the stock market at the end of 2009 to attract more investment and tourists. The plan was aborted due to pressure from the Buddhist abbot Shi Yongxin and religious authorities.

China currently has about 139,000 religious sites. Of them 33,000 are Buddhist temples, 9,000 Tao temples, 35,000 mosques, 6,000 Catholic churches and 56,000 Christian churches. Now those are some interesting stats. I never realized there were so many Christian churches in China.

Thou shalt not launch IPOs, China tells temples (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/06/us-china-temples-idUSBRE8550A520120606)
SHANGHAI | Wed Jun 6, 2012 4:22am EDT

(Reuters) - Buddhist and Taoist temples have no right to go public and list shares on stock exchanges, a Chinese official was quoted in state media as saying of an issue that seems to have touched a nerve with the officially atheist government.

The listing of companies linked to world famous Chinese heritage sites is not new in the country's three-decade-old capital markets, but attempts to list at least one religious site have apparently crossed a line.

Schemes to promote tourism via temples, or even for temples to band together and go public to raise funds, were wrong, Xinhua news agency quoted Liu Wei, an official with the State Administration of Religious Affairs, on Wednesday as saying.

Such plans "violate the legitimate rights of religious circles, damage the image of religion and hurt the feelings of the majority of religious people", he said in remarks at a conference on the management of religious sites.

Reports about the Shaolin Temple, famous for its kung-fu monks, planning a listing sparked a public outcry three years ago when they surfaced. Many Chinese are concerned that the Shaolin Temple, which has become a high-profile commercial entity in recent years, is becoming overly money-minded.

Shanghai-listed Huangshan Tourism Development Co, for example, sells admission to Huangshan, or the Yellow Mountain, a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site in the southern Chinese province of Anhui.

And the sale of admission tickets to the famed Emei Mountain in southwest China is also an important source of income for Shenzhen-listed Emei Shan Tourism Co.

China's Communist-run government is officially atheist but the state recognizes Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, and tolerates religious activity within boundaries.

Matthew

06-06-2012, 05:59 PM

This is an overview of several stories we've been following here; The platform is interesting.

His getup, awards he wins, chariots he is carried atop, publicity, cooperation with officials, selling of Shaolin name as a brand, shipping of monks overseas to do performances (including non- Wu performances), among other publicly visible associations do lend heavy credence to that articles 'commercialization of shaolin' and selling out of it's tradition in place of popular tourism and government relations theme

It heavily contrasts with the conditions of most other temples I've seen in China- possibly with the exception of the jingan shanghai temple which is said to be making profit greater than many of the business in Shanghai (which is China's economic center).. although it is just a rumor.

Matt

bawang

06-06-2012, 06:10 PM

i think shaolin's martial spirit was lost after the burning.

in 1920s shaolin temple had monk soldiers who trained rifles and dressed in western military uniform. the ideal of chanwu was very real. the spirit of shaolin was to fight and kill in harmony with buddhism.

shaolin monks always adapted to the times and used conventional weapons and tactics of the time, and were a real fighting force. thats why it is dead, both physically and spiritually.

monkey mind

06-08-2012, 07:20 PM

shaolin monks always adapted to the times and used conventional weapons and tactics of the time, and were a real fighting force. thats why it is dead, both physically and spiritually.

Aren't globalization & commercialization among the most powerful weapons & tactics of our time? By that standard Shaolin seems to be successfully maintaining the old approach. If you can fight & kill in harmony with Buddhism (a big if), then why can't you market & sell in harmony with Buddhism?

GeneChing

06-12-2012, 08:26 AM

Workers overhaul a pagoda at Pagoda Forest of Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, central China's Henan Province, June 9, 2012. (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-06/10/c_131642633.htm) The Pagoda Forest, a part of the world heritage "the Chinese Historic Monuments of Dengfeng," refers to 239 stone or brick pagodas built from 791 AD during the Tang Dynasty through the dynasties of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing and two ones built in recent years. (Xinhua/Zhu Xiang)
I wouldn't even have posted this if it wasn't for the June 9, 2012 date (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61402). ;)

bawang

06-12-2012, 08:22 PM

Aren't globalization & commercialization among the most powerful weapons & tactics of our time? By that standard Shaolin seems to be successfully maintaining the old approach. If you can fight & kill in harmony with Buddhism (a big if), then why can't you market & sell in harmony with Buddhism?

fighting is used to protect the country and people, commercialization is used for personal gain and exploitation.

fighting is done out of love for the country and people, marketing and selling is done out of love for yourself.

David Jamieson

06-13-2012, 05:15 AM

There has been global economic warfare going on since the fall of the wall in Berlin and ultimately the collapse of Communism in the USSR. First the EEC hacked at it, then the Dollar of the west and it fell. Now it is Dollars vs Euros and the euros are not fairing well.

Eventually, the EEC will fall to total division again and regular kinetic warfare will begin at some point when one country presses on another too hard and the people fall into hardship and a tyrant rises with an iron fist.

Not certain how many times it will happen or when, but there is definitely a pattern that emerged long ago.

Be happy you are where strength resides in abundance. :)
For this lifetime anyway.

GeneChing

07-30-2012, 10:26 AM

Mr. Buddhism Inc.: Shaolin Temple’s Shi Yongxin (http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/07/29/mr-buddhism-inc-shaolin-temple-s-shi-yongxin.html)
Jul 30, 2012 1:00 AM EDT
Shi Yongxin has turned Shaolin into a thriving brand.

The Shaolin monastery—the birthplace of kung fu, immortalized by scores of martial-arts movies and the adulation of the Wu-Tang Clan—is run by the Abbot Shi Yongxin, a portly apparatchik with a flair for the spectacular. Since his appointment to the post in 1999, the abbot has built Shaolin into a multibillion-dollar brand, sending disciples to perform in Las Vegas and attracting more than 2 million visitors in 2010. Henry Kissinger and Vladimir Putin have visited (in 2005 and 2006, respectively). Shaquille O’Neal dropped by in 2009 and wrote in his blog that the trip made him feel “Buddha Blessed.”

Shi straddles many of China’s dichotomies: the sacred and the profane, the modern and the ancient, the party and the people. He is a portrait of success in modern China, standing at the intersection of the Communist Party’s control of both business and religion. Some see him as a brilliant visionary keeping the martial-arts tradition alive; others claim he’s a party huckster who has accepted millions in “gifts” and makes money by charging up to $14,000 for the right to burn incense in the sacred grounds of the temple. Shi has denied these allegations, but he continues to inspire both vitriol and adulation. In 2009 Shaolin’s website was hacked to display the message “Shaolin evildoer Shi Yongxin, go to hell.” Last March, as a delegate to China’s rubber-stamp Parliament, Shi made news by showing up in yellow robes, holding an iPad.

In an interview with Newsweek last year, Shi revealed little of the worldly touches that his detractors say dominate his thinking. Instead, he described himself as a simple monk carrying out his duty to enlighten the world about the compassion and harmony of Shaolin. “Us monks in temple, it’s like being in a family,” he said in his office, which was inordinately chilly despite the warm May day outside. “It’s all provided. Food, clothes, places to live. Every month we just get 200 to 400 renminbi [$30–$60] of pocket money. All of the bigger things, like cars, belong to the group. We basically don’t have personal possessions.”

The Shaolin temple was first built in A.D. 495 in central China and soon developed into a major pilgrimage site. Legend has it that the monk Bodhidharma founded the Zen school of Buddhism in the mountains near Shaolin, crossing a river on a reed and spending nine years facing a wall in silent contemplation. Shaolin now sits at the center of an ecosystem of tens of thousands of martial-arts students and monks. “There’s nothing here I don’t like,” says Shi Yanti, a monk in his late 20s who has been at the temple for 10 years. “The city with the cars is very chaotic.”

The temple also houses Americans; Niki Sligar, from Las Vegas, spent more than seven years training there. “The foreigners who come here, they want to believe the fantasy and legend, but there’s a guy on every corner trying to sell you beads. It’s very commercial and getting more so by the day,” she said.
Shaolin

Others echo the sentiment that the temple may be skewing toward the profane. “Shaolin is a source of pride [for China], but it’s not a source of religious epiphany,” says Gareth Fisher, an expert on Chinese Buddhism at Syracuse University.

In 2009 the temple contemplated an IPO, a bold move for a natural treasure, yet the abbot says he does not see himself as a businessman. “Shaolin is just a temple; I’ve never thought about how to link it up with branding,” he said. On a trip to the U.S. for the 2011 Shaolin Summit of North America, he visited New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. “I fly economy. I’m used to it,” he said peacefully. Despite widespread reporting in the Chinese media that Shi has an M.B.A., including a 2010 interview with the Guangzhou Daily where he was quoted saying, “I studied for an M.B.A. in order to assimilate some good modern enterprise management techniques into the management of the temple,” Shi said that the reports were false. “That’s what they say online,” he said.

In a country where grassroots opinion plays a surprisingly large role in unseating public figures, Shi has had to deal with rumors about his alleged worldliness. One of the most pernicious claims is that Shi was caught visiting prostitutes in May 2011, and that a temple spokesman had claimed Shi met the women in order to enlighten them. About the scandal, Shi said, “it’s impossible for someone who’s been a monk for decades to have this thing happen.” Wang Yumin, a former travel agent who runs the temple’s foreign-affairs office, said the prostitution rumors were “delusional,” adding, “According to Buddhism, people who speak delusions will get their reckoning.”

Shi grew up in a little farming village in the poor province of Anhui, his martial-arts talents apparent from a young age. He joined the temple in his teens and quickly rose through the ranks, directing the temple’s management committee by age 22 and leading the monks on a martial-arts tour throughout China two years later. In the early 1990s, he became a local government representative; he stresses that he is not a party member because “party members can’t have religion,” but that on a whole, his people are “very approving of government policies.”

His temple, like all legal religious organizations in China, is overseen by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA). “Every year we have meetings with the provincial government and representatives from different religious groups, and everyone is very satisfied with the government’s policy towards religion,” Shi said. After the prostitute rumors, SARA released a statement: “We seriously condemn the rumor since it was not only defamation of Shi himself, but also harmed the image of the famous shrine and even the reputation of Chinese Buddhism.”

In October 2011 a second claim emerged, apparently from a former Shaolin disciple, that the abbot had a mistress and a child living in Germany, as well as a whopping $3 billion stashed away in a foreign bank. The temple called the allegations “pie-in-the-sky, fabricated, maliciously invented slander,” and online discussion of the mistress was censored in the Chinese media. In October, Shaolin offered a reward of almost $8,000 to help find the rumor’s source.

The abbot is probably the only nondissident Chinese who receives better press in English than in Mandarin. “What would the world look like politically and morally if nearly everyone adopted the Shaolin Kung Fu lifestyle?” asked martial artist Stacey Nemour in a particularly glowing Huffington Post interview with the abbot in June 2011. “The world would be more beautiful,” responds Shi. “The world would be more peaceful, more perfect.”

In China, netizens are inundated with tales of officials earning salaries of $1,000 a month (a relatively hefty sum in the country), sending their kids to expensive boarding schools abroad, and buying luxury apartments for their mistresses. So Chinese journalists tend to either marvel at or view skeptically the idea that Shi is someone who has access to so much power but says he is immune to its lures. Coupled with Shi’s emergence as a public figure, but not one high enough in the government to be fully protected, it’s led to ongoing fascination and rumormongering about the abbot among China’s newspapers and netizens. “We don’t like receiving media interviews,” the abbot said. “I find them annoying. They raise a lot of boring questions.” When interviewed, Shi would rather talk about Buddhism. “The goal of kung fu is to build peace,” he said. “After you learn Shaolin kung fu, [you know] it’s about defense. First defend and then attack.”

Isaac Stone Fish, a former member of Newsweek’s Beijing bureau, is an associate editor at Foreign Policy magazine in Washington, D.C.
Amusing piece. I wonder if the author really talked to Niki, Stacey and the Abbot, or if the quotes were just plucked from blogs and such.

r.(shaolin)

08-01-2012, 09:12 AM

Interesting point by Fish on the Shaolin brand.
Shi Yongxin and Shaolin are useful to the Chinese government in that they present a portrait of success in modern China - a poster child standing at the intersection of Communist Party business interests, politics and religion.

GeneChing

08-16-2012, 09:39 AM

But it is relevant.

New generation emerges at Shaolin Temple (http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-08/16/content_15679496.htm)
Updated: 2012-08-16 06:52
(Xinhua)

ZHENGZHOU - Tourists visiting the Shaolin Temple in Central China's Henan province were amazed to see Master Yanpei fix a crashed computer in just under two minutes.

Master Yanpei, 29, a 2005 computer science graduate from Chongqing University, became an acolyte in 2006 at the 1,500-year-old Buddhist temple after becoming disillusioned with his previous place of employment.

With support from Abbot Shi Yongxin, he went to the Buddhist Academy of China to further his study of Buddhism theory in 2007. Now he is a personal assistant to the abbot and a potential candidate to take up his mantle.

"I learned knowledge from college and gained an understanding of life from the Buddhist academy," he said. "The combination creates wisdom."

Master Yanti, a 28-year-old monk studying at the temple, has fused his own studies of Buddhism and martial arts with more disparate fields, such as psychology and English.

The man started his martial arts studies at the age of 16, leaving his school for the Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese kungfu, just two years later. Yanti became a formal "fighting monk" in 2004, demonstrating his skills in countries around the world before returning to his studies.

Yanti studied at Nanjing University and Buddhist College Singapore in 2008 and 2009, respectively, supplanting his study of Buddhist theory with classes on calligraphy and sociology.

"Overseas study allows me to teach the essence of Chinese Buddhism to our western trainees, "he said.

He now teaches martial arts to 20 Italians who came to the temple after applying at the Shaolin Culture Center in Italy.

The Shaolin Temple has more than 40 overseas culture centers, mainly in Europe and the United States. The centers, as well as the practice of sending its monks to study foreign languages and religious theories, is just another way in which the temple has attempted to expand its reach globally.

"Training the monks is a tradition of Shaolin Temple," said 47-year-old Abbot Shi Yongxin.

"Overseas training is good for the inheritance and development of Buddhism in a globalized world," Shi said.

Only by broadening their knowledge and vision can Buddhists communicate well with their followers, he said.

Shi said more than 40 Shaolin monks are currently pursuing degrees at institutes of higher education both home and abroad, adding that every monk who wishes to study can be sponsored.

More than half of the temple's 300 registered monks were born after 1980. The younger monks are more educated and more likely to embrace the modern world, Shi said.

Master Yanzheng, a 27-year-old monk who dropped out of an economics program at Anhui Normal University in 2001, might be the temple's most studious monk. After studying for five years at Buddhist College Singapore, he was able to achieve a high score on his IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam. He plans to go to the University of Hong Kong to complete a master's degree in religion.

"The era of sitting in meditation by the light of an oil lamp has gone. We need to keep pace with the times," said Yanzheng, iPhone in hand.

Yanzheng opened a Facebook account in 2006 in Singapore and his own Chinese microblogging account last year.

"The Internet is a good tool with which to disseminate Buddhism," he said.

"If we are not well educated and do not know what's going on in the world, how can we preach to our followers?" he said.

Shaolin monks sent overseas for study (http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-08/15/content_26238718.htm)
Shanghai Daily, August 15, 2012

The time-honored Shaolin Temple, home of Chinese kung fu and Zen Buddhism, is sending an increasing number of promising youngsters to study abroad as part of an education plan.

Nearly half of the total 300 monks in the historic complex in central China's Henan Province are "post 80s," meaning those born after 1980, and many of them have studied in overseas Buddhist institutions and universities, said its abbot, Shi Yongxin.

The monks with overseas experience have a good command of foreign languages and get used to a modern lifestyle involving social networking, which enables them to reach more and more foreign followers, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.

The ancient temple spends several hundred thousand yuan on fostering monks per year, Shi said.

The 28-year-old monk identified as Yanti entered Nanjing University in 2008 to learn religion and philosophy and studied another two years in Singapore.

Another monk, Yanzheng, 27, was instructed in Singapore for six years and then chose the well-regarded Hong Kong University to pursue his study.

"My campus life is the same as many other ordinary students in additional to adhering to the Buddhist disciplines. I also learn university compulsory courses involving psychology, sociology and management," Yanzheng said.

He joined social networks in 2006 and opened his account on Weibo last year.

"The overseas experience broadens my vision and helps me to understand the Buddhism in a modern way," he added.

The old but energetic temple is teaching hundreds of foreign followers martial arts and Zen during this summer holidays and thousands last year. Yanti was among monks able to communicate with them in English.

He shouted "quickly" and "this side" in English recently when guiding the movements of the foreigners, Xinhua said.

Shi, the temple's 30th abbot, has been criticized for vigorously promoting commercial development of the ancient temple.

He initiated the opening of a Shaolin pharmacy, and monks have visited many countries for kung fu shows. His innovations, however, promoted the temple and hundreds of thousands of foreigners learned Shaolin martial arts around the world, Xinhua said.

GeneChing

09-28-2012, 10:04 AM

The Price of Faith: Chinese Buddhist Sites Plan IPOs (http://world.time.com/2012/09/27/the-price-of-faith-chinese-buddhist-sites-plan-ipos/)
China’s four most sacred Buddhist mountains are hatching plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange.
By Chengcheng Jiang / Beijing | September 27, 2012 | 2

In China today, there’s little that money can’t buy — even when it comes to faith. Many of the country’s most popular Buddhist sites are chock-full of cure-all tonics and overpriced incense. For the most part, people seem happy, or at least willing, to oblige. That changed this summer, though, when it emerged that China’s four most sacred Buddhist mountains were hatching plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange.

In July, Mount Putuo Tourism Development Co. announced it would attempt to raise 7.5 billion yuan in a 2014 initial public offering. The company operates the tourist facilities at Putuo Shan, located on an island 20 miles (32 km) off Shanghai. Chinese state media quoted representatives of Wutai Shan in Shanxi province and Jiuhua Shan in Anhui province as saying they too had plans to raise funds on the capital markets. The fourth of China’s sacred mountains, Emei Shan in Sichuan province, completed a public listing in Shenzhen in 1997, under the incredibly auspicious ticker symbol “888.”

The IPO plans have not played well. The four mountains are revered by Chinese Buddhists as the earthly homes of four bodhisattvas — holy people who have attained enlightenment but have returned to earth to help others attain nirvana. Now, though, they have become symbols of commercial excess, with critics charging that they have crossed an invisible spiritual line. “Does Buddha Love Money Too?” asked a provincial newspaper in Hunan. “Buddhist Mountain IPOs Bring Shame,” screamed a headline in the National Business Daily. “These temples are sacred places, they shouldn’t be listed, it goes against the idea of religion,” Jiang Zhaoyong, a well-known social commentator and former editor of a Hong Kong newspaper, says. “This is a spiritual thing — how can you measure that with money?”

The officials who run the sites disagree. They emphasize that hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists visit the sites every year and argue that the listings are necessary to maintain the mountains and develop facilities for visitors. Indeed, in an interview with the Shanghai-based Dongfang Daily, the head of the Putuo Shan tourism office said that the funds raised through the IPO would be used to improve accommodation, transportation and restaurants on Putuo island and nearby areas.

The strategy is not entirely new. Perhaps the most infamous ecclesiastical entrepreneur in China is the abbot of Shaolin Temple, spiritual home of Zen Buddhism and site of the world-famous martial-arts school. Since Shi Yongxin, the youngest abbot in the history of the temple, took charge in 1999 he has launched several ambitious moneymaking ventures, including a Hollywood-style movie based, very loosely, on the history of the temple, a franchise operation to license the Shaolin name to other temples, and an online store selling, among other things, a book called The Secret of Shaolin Martial Arts. The book retails for $1,500.

Critics see such revenue-generating ventures as gateways to religious commercialism, even corruption. On a recent visit to Putuo Shan, Li Chengpeng, a top social commentator in China, was accosted by groups of fortune-telling monks looking for money. “I got up at 4 a.m. to visit the Puji Temple on the mountain and ran into a group of shaven-headed monks dressed in traditional cassocks who jumped on me, telling me ‘You should do some good deeds to ensure a prosperous future,’” Li recalls. He says his offer of 200 yuan was rebuffed. “They demanded 400 [yuan] instead. Later I realized they are all cheats. Real monks are all in their morning classes at that hour. How could they be walking around and asking for alms?”

And it’s not just a couple of crooks, Li contends. He sees religious IPOs as just another example of the national obsession with gaining wealth. “How can you tell when a generation is in trouble?” he asks. “It’s when its religion, its priests, its temples and its churches are all for hiding their faith in order to achieve ulterior motives.” Liu Wei, deputy director of the No. 1 Division at the State Administration for Religious Affairs, said at a press conference earlier this summer that temples should operate as nonprofit organizations, serving the religious needs of the public. “Looking at other countries in the world, there are no other examples of religious sites listing publicly,” he said. “There have to be boundaries in the development of a market economy.”

Nonetheless, business is booming. Emei Shan’s share price has risen 17% since the start of the year, and analysts are feeling optimistic. “Since a rising of ticket price is very likely, and the Chengdu–Mt. Emei Express Railway is going to be put into operation in 2013, we are confident about [Emei Shan’s] growth in 2013–2014,” Haitong Securities’ analyst Lin Zhouyong wrote in a recent report. It seems that despite the moral outrage, investors have faith.

To be fair:
"Hollywood-style movie based, very loosely, on the history of the temple" = Shaolin (2011) (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54940), which he only blessed - it wasn't his project. It was the cover story (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=959) for our 2011 Shaolin Special (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=955).

"a franchise operation to license the Shaolin name to other temples" = the franchises were discussed earlier in this thread, starting here (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=959060#post959060).

"an online store selling, among other things, a book called The Secret of Shaolin Martial Arts. The book retails for $1,500." This one I'm not sure about. Is it the United States Sports Academy (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41141) book? That wasn't $1500, but Shaolin is 1500 years old and perhaps that got confused.

GeneChing

10-24-2012, 02:14 PM

No more religious profiteering! It's banned. :rolleyes:

State bans local govts from religious profiteering (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7988432.html)
By Sun Xiaobo and Yang Jingjie (Global Times)
08:25, October 24, 2012

The State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) has banned local authorities from farming out Buddhist and Taoist temples to enterprises and individuals, or listing religious sites in the stock market, in the wake of a public backlash against the commercialization of such sites.

In a joint statement published on its website Monday, the SARA and nine other government departments said that some local governments, enterprises and individuals had built new religious sites for profit, hired fake monks to hold illegal religious activities and collect endowments, and had also tricked or forced visitors into giving them money.

"These practices violated China's religious policies and regulations, disturbed the order of religious activities and damaged the image of religious circles as well as believers' feelings," it said.

A local government in Henan Province tried to push the Shaolin Temple, a famous Buddhist site, to be listed on the stock market at the end of 2009. The plan was aborted due to pressure from religious authorities, according to Xinhua.

Tickets for the Shaolin Temple are priced at 100 yuan ($16), and the site earns more than 130 million yuan ($20.8 million) a year, according to media reports.

Local governments are banned from participating in or supporting any equity investment or joint investment conducted by enterprises or individuals at religious sites, the SARA statement said Monday.

The SARA did not respond to Global Times' inquiries about the new policy.

"Although it's questionable whether such a document can stop the trend of religious sites going public, moves like this still make perfect sense," Cheng Gongrang, a professor at Nanjing University who has been following the issue, told the Global Times.

GeneChing

04-05-2013, 10:32 AM

We've discussed the Guandu temples in this thread previously. Now we're reporting on them, and from one of our own forum members here. See Shaolin in Spring City Guandu Shaolin Temples in Kunming By Daniel Chase in our Shaolin Special 2013 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1088).

mawali

04-05-2013, 10:41 AM

Great news! Shaolin Economics
/ Trademark Name/ Public Recognition
/ IPO / Brand / Marketplace Skills / It all positive as long as the prime skillset is there. At least, if the brand (name) doesn't sell, there is still computer repair, landscaping or something in the works. Australia is still a great place as a second home:D

ShaolinDan

04-07-2013, 08:24 PM

WOOT!! My first professional publication. Excited to see it! :D

GeneChing

07-22-2013, 08:41 AM

More on the hidden camera story here. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1239666#post1239666)

Kung Fu revenue fighting
Global Times | 2013-7-22 0:13:01
By Zhang Xiaobo

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2011/d38ac168-25f8-4df6-88bb-a597304b1f97.jpeg
The abbot of Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin (right), gives a statue of Buddha to a foreign student during a graduation ceremony at the Shaolin Temple at Mount Songshan in Dengfeng, Central China's Henan Province, on July 3. Photo: IC

The abbot of Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin (right), gives a statue of Buddha to a foreign student during a graduation ceremony at the Shaolin Temple at Mount Songshan in Dengfeng, Central China's Henan Province, on July 3. Photo: IC

Claims a hidden camera had been placed in the room of Shi Yongxin, the abbot of China's famous Shaolin Temple, have set the online community on fire in recent days, but that has proven to be almost insignificant when compared to the drawn-out commercial dispute that has enveloped the temple, resulting in men storming the ticket offices this month to seize control of sales.

A monk, who didn't reveal his name, denied the claims of hidden cameras on Wednesday. "Hidden cameras were never found in the temple. We have never heard of such a thing," he told the Global Times.

However, he did admit that the temple is not the quiet sanctuary many imagine and that a protracted struggle between the temple, the local government and corporate partners is damaging the sacred site, which is a massive source of revenue for the local government.

"Famous temples and governments always try to achieve mutually beneficial situations, however, it is not easy to find a fair way to distribute the profits between the two," Zhang Shangzheng, a tourism professor at Anhui University, told the Global Times Sunday.

Triangle of fury

The management committee of the Songshan Shaolin Temple Scenic Area and the Shaolin Temple made an agreement to divide the revenue from ticket sales, which states that 30 percent of the ticket revenue belongs to the temple, while the rest goes to the government.

However, the profits aren't always carved up this way. Abbot Shi Yongxin pointed out that the money received by the Shaolin Temple is less than the agreement stipulates, because the government controls all sales.

"We are not in charge of selling entrance tickets. So we are unlikely to know how many tickets are sold or what kind of tourists can enter for free. It all depends on the government," Shi Yongxin said in earlier media reports, adding that 70 percent of the income is set aside for temple construction, including the attached temples, 20 percent is to cover the costs of the monks' living expenses, and 10 percent is for charity.

"All that we can do to verify the amount of tickets sold is to count how many tourists enter the temple yard. That is the only way for us to know whether they are lying to us or not," the anonymous monk said.

The commercial situation faced by the temple was muddied by a 2009 agreement between a local government-owned tour company and the China Travel Service Hong Kong Ltd (CTS) to form a joint venture.

CTS is a powerful State-owned travel agency and owns a 51 percent share of the joint venture, which controls ticket sales for the scenic area.

According to the agreement, the ticket sales for the scenic area are regulated by the company. In return, CTS guaranteed at a press conference that it would invest up to 1 billion yuan into the construction of infrastructure at the scenic area over a three-year period.

Relationship goes sour

In October 2011, experts from the National Quality Ranking Committee of Tourist Attractions inspected the Songshan scenic area. They were dissatisfied with the conditions there and warned they would consider downgrading the rating of the area if it was not improved.

This was regarded as humiliating by the Dengfeng government, and it threatened the relationship between the CTS joint venture and the government, according to a Thursday report by the Dahe Daily.

The scenic area management committee also accused CTS of not actually planning to invest in the area as they had promised, and said the financial situation was getting worse.

"These situations involving debt often happen after the government relinquishes control over ticket sales," the monk told the Global Times.

"Some of the joint venture companies don't want to invest any more if they find the input-output ratio is too low, so they change their mind and choose to stop further investment. And that disappoints the government and ultimately the situation doesn't improve," Zhang told the Global Times.

The conflict finally exploded on July 1, when the scenic area management committee sent workers to forcibly seize control of the ticket office. The move succeeded on the first day, but was stopped by the upper administrative department on the second, according to the Dahe Daily.

"Usually, governments don't have enough resources to develop scenic areas, so they try to cooperate with some mature tour companies to obtain benefits and lower the risks. It seems like a wise choice, but they forget the potential danger when they choose a tour company at random," Zhang said.

Fighting for cash

The Shaolin Temple, which was established in 495 during the period of Northern Dynasties (386-581), is well known for the Shaolin style of kung fu. Its fame then shot to stratospheric levels after the 1982 kung fu classic Shaolin Temple.

"The Shaolin Temple saw its first batch of tourists in the early 1980s and the number rises every year," the monk told the Global Times. He said the temple now attracts over 1 million tourists per year, bringing in more than 100 million yuan ($16 million) annually in ticket sales.

Neither the temple nor the local government is willing to give up their slice of the profits.

"In some circumstances, it is hard for the temple to obtain the revenue even if they follow the government's calculations. The government of the Songshan scenic area owes the temple a large sum of ticket sales revenue. That is not surprising. It has been an open secret for years," a journalist from the Dahe Daily, who declined to be named, told the Global Times Thursday.

The large debt eventually resulted in wages being paid late for workers at the temple, which finally led to a protest.

"Many monks went to the Dengfeng government, which supervises the Songshan scenic area, to petition them in 2011. And it worked. They returned some of the money to us. But still, they have owed us over 30 million yuan since 2009," the monk told the Global Times, adding that the debt might have been caused by too much construction, evidenced by the many unfinished buildings around the site.

Liu Shaowei, a press official from the management committee, refused to comment on the matter to the Global Times.

"Temples rarely sue in these kinds of cases as most of them don't want to destroy the relationship with the local government," Zhang said.

GeneChing

08-07-2013, 10:05 AM

The Shaolin Soap Opera (http://www.eeo.com.cn/ens/2013/0805/247876.shtml)
2013-08-05 11:41

Summary：Three years ago China National Travel Service took control of the Shaolin temple with promises of greater investment. But the investment never materialized, and now the UNESCO World Heritage Site is plagued with conflict and scandals.

http://upload.eeo.com.cn/2013/0805/1375673876944.jpg

By Liu Jinsong (刘金松)
July 16, 2013
Economic Observer Online
Translated by Laura Lin
Original article: [Chinese]

Three years ago, the local government of Dengfeng City in central Henan Province ceded their controlling stake in the “Shaolin Monastery Scenic Area” to China National Travel Service (CTS). The price was very low in order to attract greater investment, and the CTS vowed to carry out several major construction projects around the ancient site, the birthplace of Chan (Zen) Buddhism and symbol of Chinese marital arts.

But as time has passed — with CTS pocketing huge profits via the monastery — the projects it promised have never come to fruition. On July 1, the Dengfeng government finally and forcibly took over control of the entrance to the scenic area. But just one day later, thanks to the intervention of higher authorities in Beijing, CTS had reclaimed managerial rights over the site.

This is but the latest plot twist in the ongoing Shaolin soap opera. Since this famous monastery was declared a national scenic location (and UNESCO World Heritage Site), and became a for-profit entity, all parties that have anything to do with the temple want a slice of the money-making pie. In the name of discovering Kung Fu stars, martial arts matches are organized; beauty pageant candidates appear, in bikinis, at the sacred monastery to attract extra media coverage; new businesses everyday use the holy name as their brand, including Shaolin Automobile and Shaolin Hotel.

Protesting Monks

Of course, the local government and the monastery remain the greatest beneficiaries of this ready source of revenue, the Shaolin itself. Ticket sales of all attractions around the temple make up the considerable sum of 150 million yuan (about $25 million) annually, allocated at 70 percent and 30 percent respectively.

But conflicts exist even between the two biggest winners in this free-for-all. Shi Yongxin, the Shaolin abbot, once complained to a newspaper, “We are the passive party of the ticket sales and take whatever the local authority deigns to give to us. As to how many tickets are really sold, we don't have a say.”

Seeking outstanding payments from the Dengfeng government, Shaolin monks once even petitioned at 2 a.m. in front of Henan Provincial Government\'s doorway. “Monks are there to chant their scriptures,” one official retorted. “What do they want so much money for!?"

There are also moochers who exploit the monastery, which was founded in the 5th century. These freeloaders include operators of kung fu shows and matches, hotel owners, crooks who build fake shrines nearby for “incense money” donations, or even fortune tellers pretending to be monks.

Many even regard the abbot as a businessman-at-heart. When he appeared at the monastery's gate to receive the kneeling homage of the hundreds of foreign disciples of kung fu from America, the local crowd applauded with admiration: “Yongxin has got the goods!”

Buddhist Divo

Naturally, fame and wealth also bring trouble. A while ago, one rumor was circulating that Shi Yongxin was accused of possessing tens of billions in savings as well as having a young female student from Beijing University as his girlfriend. Several cameras were discovered in Shi's bedroom, and certain Shaolin staffers believe that the spying devices were installed because the monastery had managed to halt a hotel project.

In addition to the direct financial interests, Shi's frequent media coverage has also been the source of local jealousy and disharmony. Some government officials say privately that he is self-centered and pompous, and always winds up standing in the middle whenever group photos are taken with VIP visitors, including the first time a head of state, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, paid a visit to the temple to watch a kung fu demonstration.

The birthplace of Zen seems incapable of learning its own ancient lessons about inner peace.

Let's see now - here are some related threads:
UNESCO (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36571)
Cameras in the Abbot's bedroom (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1239666#post1239666)
bikinis & shaolin (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48518)

Hebrew Hammer

08-15-2013, 05:25 PM

Gene,
I checked out the new Shaolin school down the street, the one I msg'd you about and it seems the Monk understands economics quite well. When discussing training fees, it would be $300+ per month to train no contract, unless I signed a three year contract which dues would then be in the $130-150 range. Wow...

Who signs a three year contract? That was similar to the numbers I saw at White Tiger Kung Fu.

Wonder what the rates would be in China for a local to train at Shaolin?

breeze

09-14-2014, 03:28 AM

Let's see now - here are some related threads:
UNESCO (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36571)
Cameras in the Abbot's bedroom (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1239666#post1239666)
bikinis & shaolin (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48518)

The birthplace of Zen seems incapable of learning its own ancient lessons about inner peace.

Birthplace of Zen? Own ancient lessons about inner peace? 9105

GeneChing

09-18-2014, 09:17 AM

Perhaps it's the upcoming festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67839-3rd-Shaolin-Cultural-Festival-Chinese-Zodiac-amp-Treasure-Exhibition-2014) that's generating buzz. Or perhaps that's just more of the buzz.

Shaolin Temple sues govt for $3m in delayed ticket earnings (http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2014/09-18/135119.shtml)
2014-09-18 14:36 Ecns.cn Web Editor: Qian Ruisha

http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2014/09-18/U579P886T1D135119F12DT20140918145851.jpg
File photo of the Pagoda Forest, a scenic spot inside Shaolin Temple. (Photo: CNS)

(ECNS) – Shaolin Temple is suing the local tourism office for nearly 50 million yuan ($3 million) in delayed ticket dividends and over 2 million yuan ($323,000) of default fine.

Shaolin Temple, built over 1,500 years ago in Dengfeng, Henan province, is China's best-known Buddhist monastery and the birthplace of kung fu. The time-honored temple welcomes well over 1.5 million visitors each year, charging 100 yuan ($16) for each full price entry.

In December 2009, the temple struck a deal with the local scenic area management committee over management of its ticket income. According to the deal, Shaolin Temple gets 30 yuan ($5) of each 100 yuan ticket, which the committee pays the temple every month.

However, the temple says that from November 2011 to October 2013, it did not receive full payments. According to the temple's statistics, the committee owes a total of 49.7 million yuan, plus a penalty of 2.32 million yuan.

But the committee says it has a different method of calculation, arguing that even though the full ticket price is 100 yuan, certain groups of people are charged half price, or not at all.

"Some visitors enter the temple for free. In these cases we don't get a single penny. How do we give money to the temple?" said a person on the committee.

It's not the first time the two parties have gotten into a dispute over money.

In 2005, the temple reported to the Zhengzhou government about delayed ticket dividends from the committee. By 2011 it was still unsettled, and multiple local governments stepped in. At last, the Dengfeng municipal government offered the temple 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) and settled the debt incurred from 2005 to 2010.

ShaolinDan

09-18-2014, 11:30 AM

Better check their math on that one... 50 million Yuan is more like $8 million. :)

GeneChing

09-19-2014, 08:32 AM

Dang. Now I have to do the math.

Let's see now, themoneyconverter.com (http://themoneyconverter.com) gives me $8.15 mill. WTH? Clearly they should hire us as financial consultants, ShaolinDan. ;)

Shaolin Temple sues county tourism office, says owed $10.32 million in ticket sales (http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/shaolin-temple-sues-county-tourism-office-says-owed-1032-million-ticket-sa)
Published on Sep 19, 2014 3:51 PM

ZHENGZHOU, CHINA - China's famed Shaolin Temple is making headlines again, this time for suing the local tourism office for nearly 50 million yuan (S$10.32 million) in owed ticket receipts.

Built over 1,500 years ago in Dengfeng county in the central province of Henan, Shaolin is China's best-known Buddhist monastery and the birthplace of gongfu.

In December 2009, the temple's abbot Shi Yongxin signed a deal with Dengfeng county's Songshan scenic area management committee to manage its ticketing income, Chinese media reported. Under the deal, Shaolin was to get 30 yuan for each 100-yuan admission ticket to its compound sold by the committee. The latter was obliged to pay the temple its cut every month and was also responsible for costs.

However, the temple, which sees over 1.5 million visitors each year, claims that it did not receive full payment from the committee between November 2011 and October 2013, China News Service reported Friday. The temple says the arrears amounted to a total of 49.7 million yuan, plus a late-payment penalty of 2.32 million yuan, according to the report.

GeneChing

09-26-2014, 09:26 AM

Can I call this revenue dispute 'ticketgate'? I know the -gate suffix doesn't have much meaning outside of the U.S. but that name amuses the heck out of me. ;)

Shaolin Temple kicks out at administration over ticket revenue (http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140926000020&cid=1103)
Xinhua
2014-09-26
10:29 (GMT+8)

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/newsphoto/2014-09-26/450/C718X0185H_2014%E8%B3%87%E6%96%99%E7%85%A7%E7%89%8 7_N71_copy1.JPG
Tourists waiting to enter Shaolin Temple, July 18. (Photo/Xinhua)

A legal showdown between a renowned Buddhist temple in central China and its administration agency hit the headlines as the two battle over ticket revenue distribution for the tourist site.

On Wednesday, Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily reported that a group of monks staged a small demonstration on Saturday at Shaolin Temple in Henan province, renowned as the home of Chinese kung fu, demanding to know the whereabouts of money from ticket sales, which is managed by the administration committee of Songshan Shaolin Scenic Spot where the temple is located.

The demonstration came almost a year after the temple sued the committee for failing to give a portion of ticket revenue to the temple. According to a contract signed by both parties in late 2009, for each 100-yuan (US$16.30) ticket sold, 30 yuan (US$4.89) should be reserved for the temple.

The committee failed to give almost 50 million yuan (US$8.1 million) worth of ticket money to the temple between January 2011 and October 2013, according to the lawsuit files. They demanded the money as well as a penalty of more than 2 million yuan (US$326,000).

An official from the committee denied the request and reportedly told the newspaper that "monks don't need that much money anyway," fueling a wave of debate on the internet.

On microblog Sina Weibo, a post about the case has been forwarded more than 3,000 times, with many users unleashing a flurry of scathing comments.

"Why do officials need that much money anyway?" said one, mocking the official's comment.

"Why not just open the temple to the public free of charge? This way it would solve your quandary," read another.

Shi Yongxin, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, told Xinhua that their financial staff had taken pains to ask for the money from the committee multiple times, but were constantly ignored.

"They have violated the interests of the monks in Shaolin Temple, and I believe the court will give us justice," Shi said.

The high-profile monk, who has courted controversy himself for developing money-spinning business operations such as kung fu shows, said that the ticket money is necessary for the temple's maintenance, the monks' daily expenses, and occasionally in Buddhist rituals. He said the committee's actions have seriously affected their activities.

The Zhengzhou Intermediate People's Court has been trying to help the two sides reach an agreement, but a disciple of Shi said that efforts have not been successful or they wouldn't have filed the lawsuit in the first place.

The committee is standing their ground, saying the ticket fare problem is largely a result of different understandings of the contract clauses.

A staff with the committee told Xinhua that the temple counts the ticket fares on the actual number of visitors, but a good number of visitors tour the site with discounts or free of charge.

According to official statistics, from January 2011 to October 2013, at least 670,000 visitors toured the site free of charge, while 840,000 people bought half-priced tickets.

"If we are not getting money from these tourists, how do you expect us to give you money?" said the staff, who requested anonymity.

The lawsuit is currently proceeding, and the court will open a trial and announce a verdict should reconciliation efforts fail.

The administration committee of Songshan Shaolin Scenic Spot was formed in 1984, and has been designated in charge of the Shaolin Temple since. Over the years, the committee has been involved in several disputes with the temple over ticket revenue. In 2011, the Dengfeng city government allocated 15 million yuan (US$2.4 million) to the temple to ease tensions.

In recent years, China has seen a host of cases that have strained the relationship between government agencies and Buddhist temples.

In June, the Xihu district of Nanchang in Jiangxi combined three small temples into a big one to make way for a housing development, forcing monks and nuns to live together.

In 2013, the Famen Temple in Shaanxi province refused visitors in protest after the operating company of the temple built walls at the mountain gate without the temple's permission.

GeneChing

06-25-2015, 08:56 AM

Zen and the art of moneymaking (http://www.economist.com/news/china/21656215-local-officials-make-packet-religion-self-denial-zen-and-art-moneymaking)
Local officials make a packet from a religion of self-denial
Jun 27th 2015 | SANYA

http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/290-width/images/print-edition/20150627_CNP002_0.jpg
Enlighten your wallets here

THE white steel lady overlooking the South China Sea has three heads, three bodies and toenails bigger than human heads. Guanyin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, stands atop a temple on a man-made islet, each of her heads facing a different way. Her public-relations staff call the six-year task of putting her there, in the resort town of Sanya on tropical Hainan island, “the number one statue-project in China”. The structure’s height, at 108 metres, was intended to be auspicious: Buddhists consider the number sacred.

Good fortune was certainly on the minds of local officials when they approved the project, in which the local government has a share. It was intended to be a money-spinner. It costs 60 yuan ($9.66) just to get in the lift that whisks visitors up to pray at those giant feet. That is on top of 126 yuan to enter the Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone with its Auspicious Garden, Temple of 33 Guanyins and colourful Dharma Door of Non-Duality with its 94,000 portals. Guanyin is clearly not intended as a magnet for the faithful who have given up worldly possessions. Visitors are gouged without compassion, even having to pay for tassels “blessed” by souvenir salespeople. Gift stores are everywhere, selling knick-knacks such as prayer beads and Buddhist statuary. For visitors who want to sleep in the presence of Guanyin, a room at the site’s hotel can cost more than $280.

Cheni Foo, a tourist from Copenhagen, surveys the goddess from a boardwalk connecting the islet with the shore. She wrinkles her nose and says she has seen enough. “For me, it’s a little bit too fake. It’s built for the purpose of tourists.” Ms Foo is right. Buddhism is big business in China. In the 1980s the government, which once preached the evils of faith in anything but the Communist Party, began loosening restrictions on the building or restoration of temples—most of which had been damaged or destroyed by Maoist mobs during the Cultural Revolution. New shrines sprang up everywhere, most of them small and discreet. In recent years, however, domestic tourism has boomed, as has curiosity about once-banned religions. Local officials have smelled a moneymaking opportunity.
Advertisement

In 2008 China completed what was described as the world’s biggest statue—the 128-metre Spring Temple Buddha in the central province of Henan. The company that built Hong Kong’s 34-metre-tall Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island and Sanya’s Guanyin has been working on erecting ten more mega-Buddhas around the country. The government in Gansu province, in the north-west, hopes to create a theme park linking the historic Mogao Caves in Dunhuang (home to remarkably unscathed thousand-year-old Buddhist frescoes) with the sand dunes of a nearby tourist attraction. It wants to sprinkle the desert strip with fake temples and folk villages.

China’s Buddhism business is also going global. The faith’s most famous commercial site, Shaolin Temple in Henan, which is renowned for its kung fu-trained monks, plans to build a $297m, 500-bed hotel complex and temple—including a martial-arts academy and a 27-hole golf course—in Australia. Tibetan Buddhist temples have been more reserved, however. The government still treats those as highly sensitive religious sites. Chinese and foreign tourists are drawn to them as well—but the complexes are kept under close observation by security cameras and plainclothes police.

Even in non-Tibetan areas of China, some Buddhists are riled by the commercialisation of their faith. At Famen Temple in the northern province of Shaanxi, which houses a finger-bone relic of Buddha, monks protested in 2009 against both an increase in entrance fees and the construction of a wall that would have restricted their access to their temple’s door, says Francesca Tarocco of New York University. Last year seven monasteries in Jizu Shan in the south-western province of Yunnan reportedly closed their gates to visitors, incensed that a developer wanted to charge an entrance fee. “Religion is for practice. It’s not for show,” says Xue Yu, a former monk who is now director of Buddhist Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

While many tourists are dazzled by the glitz and mystique of China’s ersatz temples, some carp about extortionate prices. Visitors to the Guanyin statue in Sanya, however, are allowed one small concession by the park’s operators: incense joss-sticks are free.

I almost posted this on Shaolin-Temple-OZ (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?64712-Shaolin-Temple-OZ) but figured this would be better.

GeneChing

05-09-2017, 08:06 AM

A lot of odd peripheral discussions are coming out of That MMA vs Taiji Fight Everyones Talking About (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70253-That-MMA-vs-Taiji-Fight-Everyones-Talking-About)
including Economic State of Shaolin Temple today (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42957-Economic-State-of-Shaolin-Temple-today). I'm delighted to see that it has opened up some discussions. Even though many of them are pretty shallow, discussion is good.

See what I did there? ;)

Clear business models hard to establish due to lack of uniform standards in traditional martial arts (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1046071.shtml)
Source:Global Times Published: 2017/5/9 19:03:39

Fighting for profits

On April 28, a video emerged showing 37-year-old former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Xu Xiaodong knocking out self-proclaimed tai chi master Wei Lei in about 20 seconds. The video quickly went viral on Sina Weibo. Later, Xu proclaimed that he had exposed what he called "fake martial artists." The video has drawn attention to the state of traditional Chinese martial arts. The Beijing News reported on Friday that Shaolin Temple, the famous birthplace of one of China's martial arts, has broadened its business interests beyond teaching martial arts into martial arts performances, tourism and medicine. Other traditional Chinese martial arts have tried to follow its example, but have had less success. Given the early stage of the development of traditional Chinese martial arts, industry experts said that there are no clear business models for martial arts at present.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2017/2017-05-09/d905e03c-0685-4f94-83b2-348e211d4fc0.jpeg
A man practices kung fu at Shaolin Temple in Central China's Henan Province in November 2016. Photo: CFP

China may be home to one of the most famous names in martial arts, but the people behind the country's traditional martial arts have had trouble turning their disciplines into profitable businesses.

Among China's traditional martial art schools, Shaolin Temple has had the most success in developing its brand of kung fu into a profitable business. The temple, nested on Songshan Mountain in Central China's Henan Province, is involved in an array of businesses such as martial arts education and performances.

Although there are at least 13,968 companies in China with the word "Shaolin" in their names, Shaolin Temple has only invested in four of them, with an accumulated investment of 8.51 million yuan ($1.23 million), The Beijing News reported on Friday.

Of the four companies, Shaolin Temple Culture Communication (Dengfeng) Co, with registered capital of 1 million yuan, develops and operates films, TV programs, theatrical performances and video games, the report said.

Another company, Shaolin Yaoju Co, sells medicine, according to Shaolin Temple's website.

The temple's core platform is Shaolin Intangible Assets Management Co. Established in 1988, the company focuses on protecting Shaolin Temple's brand and trademarks.

In 2014, the company's deputy general manager Yuan Mingzhu said that the temple has registered more than 200 trademarks in dozens of countries and regions, The Beijing News reported. In total, Shaolin Temple owns 475 trademarks and its brand is its primary source of income.

Other styles of Chinese martial arts, such as Emei and Wudang, haven't fared as well. Experts said it is hard to turn them into businesses because the forms lack uniform standards.

The first Emei school opened when Wang Jian, former president of the China Emei Kung Fu Research Association, set up Leshan Giant Buddha Martial Arts School in 1993, the Beijing News report said. The school has since become the largest martial arts school in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

In 2008, Wang established Emei Martial Arts Culture Communication Co, which hosts martial arts performances and sells crafts, among other businesses.

In 2012, Wang told news media that the combined cost of the school and the company was about 6 million yuan a year and the total profit was 2 million yuan in 2011.

In July 2016, the local regulator accused the company of "abnormal operation" for failing to release its 2015 financial report on time, according to The Beijing News.

Wudang is less involved in business.

"*Wudang has *developed slowly over the years, mainly due to systematic problems and the Taoist belief in avoiding fame or fortune," Zhong Yunlong, the former abbot of Purple Heaven Palace, the main Taoist temple at Wudan Mountain, once said in an interview, according to The Beijing News.

No clear business model

It's too early to make a business out of traditional Chinese martial arts, considering their diversity, said Zhang Jiayuan, partner at Beijing-based Ransenhuizhi Investment Fund Management Co.

"Thanks to government incentives, investment in the country's sports industry has grown in recent years, though its scale remains below international levels," Zhang said. "In addition, given that the martial arts industry remains in an early stage of development, no clear, concrete business model has emerged."

The traditional model for a martial arts business is to open schools and charge students to learn the discipline, The Beijing News reported.

However, these schools don't have a large profit margin, said an employee of Xu's Battle Club, a school started by former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Xu Xiaodong.

"These schools have to pay for rent, instructors and utilities, while their only income comes from charging for classes," the employee told The Beijing News.

Schools for other martial arts have come up with other ways to make money. Taekwondo schools charge for classes, uniforms and level tests, according to The Beijing News. They also accept a wide range of students and have a diverse group of practitioners.

Given that there are no uniform standards among China's various martial arts, it is hard to form standard competition principles like the ones established in taekwondo, Zhang said.

Although many MMA fighters can earn tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan from each fight, they have to share the income with their agents and teams, The Beijing News said, citing an industry expert. In addition, most match hosts still lose money due to the limited audience.

However, in the process of exploring business models for Chinese traditional martial arts, a new model that integrates martial arts and tourism and culture has been gaining attention.

For example, Wu Xianfeng, director of the management committee of the Wudang Mountain special zone in Central China's Hubei Province, said the zone will step up efforts to boost tourism by integrating Taoist culture, Wudang martial arts, healthcare and the Internet, the domestic news portal people.com.cn reported on April 28.

Sports tourism is the fastest-*growing segment of the global tourism industry, the China Sports Daily reported on Monday, citing World Tourism Organization. China has great potential, given that the country's sports tourism market represents around 5 percent of the domestic market, compared with 20 percent in foreign countries, it noted.

This story is based on a report by The Beijing News.

GeneChing

09-13-2017, 09:02 AM

Didn't quite know where to post this. Here will do.

The Big Picture: Shaolin survival (https://www.ecns.cn/2017/09-13/273436.shtml)
1 2017-09-13 13:48 CGTN Editor: Mo Hong'e ECNS

https://www.ecns.cn/2017/09-13/U470P886T1D273436F12DT20170913134811.jpg
Master Shi Yanzhuang teaches Chang Tianci Shaolin Kung Fu. (Photo/CGTN)

*China's urbanization drive started decades ago when 80 percent of the population lived in the countryside. Today, China has more than 160 cities with a population of a million and above. And the country's urban population accounts for more than half of its total.

CGTN correspondent Han Bin went to Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan Province. There, he found urbanization is changing that once isolated place.

The morning call to prayer rings at 4 o'clock every day. It's part of life at Shaolin Temple. For thousands of years, the ritual has never changed. The temple is the spiritual and physical home for the warrior monks who practice Kung Fu.

17 year-old Chang Tianci has been seeking the martial arts since he was 6. He's been following Master Shi Yanzhuang, the head of the warriors at Shaolin. He says Kung Fu is a state of achieving the pinnacle of skills. He's found himself through the practice.

Shi Yanzhuang, head of warrior monks introduced that practicing Kung Fu is a unique way of life that is under challenges from urbanization.

In regard to the temple's booming tourism, Master Shi Yanzhuang said that it is a noble merit to enable more people to accept such physical and spiritual cultivation achieved by the ancestors. "I don't see anything wrong with its opening up to tourism. Precious gifts should be shared by all," he said.

Shaolin Temple is letting the outside world in. Today, it's a tourist spot with Kung Fu as the big show. Gone are the days the monks practiced in isolated mountains. In modern China, growth is the concept everywhere. Ancient temples can be a big business.

Some people have criticized the Shaolin Temple of being too commercialized. But the monks there have different perspectives.

"Without urbanization, Shaolin Temple would still be unknown to the outside world. I think there's nothing wrong with the so-called commercialization, as it helps promote the temple," said Chang Tianci.

"We can't refuse urbanization. We have to accept the reality of what's happened and what's to come. The only thing that doesn't change is change itself," said Shi Yanzhuang.

Yet, how to remain true to its spirit and traditions in the face of growing urbanization is a challenge facing all masters and monks.

GeneChing

04-08-2022, 11:25 AM

SOURCE / COMPANIES
Company backed by Shaolin Temple bids for land worth of $71million (https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202204/1258739.shtml)
By Global Times
Published: Apr 07, 2022 05:40 PM Updated: Apr 07, 2022 05:37 PM

Shaolin monks practice martial arts at Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, July 8, 2021. Located on the Songshan Mountain, Shaolin Temple is the birthplace for Shaolin Martial Arts. (Photo: Xinhua) (https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2021/2021-07-20/6c197568-e052-41f5-af49-842cbfa5c429.jpeg)
Shaolin monks practice martial arts at Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, July 8, 2021. Located on the Songshan Mountain, Shaolin Temple is the birthplace for Shaolin Martial Arts. (Photo: Xinhua)

A company backed by Shaolin Temple, a renowned temple in central China, has reportedly won a land auction with a bid of 452 million yuan ($71million) on Wednesday.

The land, about 38,200 square meters in Zhengdong New District is zoned for retail, catering and hotel development was acquired by Henan Tiesong Digital Technology Co.

According to company information searching platform Tianyancha, Tiesong Technology was established on March 22 with two major shareholders -- Henan Tietou Comprehensive Development Co and Henan Yuanhan Industry Co.

Shaolin Intangible Assets Management Center, an agency afflicted with Shaolin Temple, holds 70 percent equity of Yuanhan Industry.

A representative from Shaolin Temple said that he is not familiar with the land acquisition in response to an inquiry from the Global Times on Thursday.

According to Shaolin temple's official website, the Shaolin Intangible Assets Management Center was established in 1998 with a mission to ensure the preservation and sustainable development of the brand of “Shaolin”. The company mainly carries on the effective protection to Shaolin Temple's trademark, brand and other intangible assets.

Shi Yongxin, current abbot of the Shaolin Temple holds an 80 per cent share of the Shaolin Intangible Assets Management Center, according to Tianyancha.

Due to the special status of Shaolin Temple its land acquisition has attracted much attention however from the perspective of business operation there are no restrictions on similar organizations when it comes to acquiring land, Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday.

“It can be seen that Shaolin Temple is actively expanding in cultural and tourism sector which is also conducive to build a richer cultural tourism industry in the area,” Yan said.

intriguing...