释永信被传正在接受调查 Mystery deepens over China's scandal hit Shi Yongxin

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

上周末，中国嵩山少林寺方丈释永信未能出席在泰国举行的一个佛教会议，这令外界猜测，在数周耸人听闻的指控后，他正接受调查。释永信把这个少林功夫的发源地变成了一个庞大的商业帝国。

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

长着一张圆脸、披着黄色袈裟的释永信，被一名前少林寺弟子指控育有多名私生子并挪用公款。

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

中国媒体广泛报道了这些指控，这是围绕这位穿梭于世界各地的少林寺住持一系列争议事件的最新一例，他大胆提出将这个具有历史意义的寺庙商业化，用于旅游、武术和文化用途，这让他成为中国最著名的佛教徒，而且把少林寺变成了中国最知名的品牌。

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

少林寺一位姓马的负责外联的僧侣否认释永信正接受调查。记者未能立即联系到释永信置评。

Religious activity in China is managed by government bureaucracies, and the revenue-generating potential of popular temples that survived several decades of Communist upheaval is often combined with suspicion over their potential influence.

中国的宗教活动由政府部门管理，在几十年政治动荡中幸存下来的知名寺庙的创收潜力，经常与围绕它们的潜在影响力猜测联系在一起。

Abbot Shi enjoyed the blessing of the authorities and was a member of the National People’s Congress and vice-chairman of the state-backed Buddhist Association of China.

释永信曾受到政府的恩宠，他是人大代表，担任由政府支持的中国佛教协会(Buddhist Association of China)的副会长。

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

中国佛教协会在其网站上表示，针对释永信的指控“关乎少林寺乃至中国佛教的形象和声誉”。据中国媒体一份未得到证实的报道，国家宗教事务局(State Administration of Religious Affairs)上周要求地方宗教局对这些指控展开调查。该局的一名官员表示：“我们正对此进行调查。”

Abbot Shi has survived earlier controversies, including the 2009 plan to list the temple on the stock market that was widely derided in China. He later blamed the local government for the plan.

释永信未受到早先争议的影响，包括2009年的少林寺上市计划，该计划在中国遭到普遍嘲笑。他随后将该计划归咎于当地政府。

Earlier this year, he travelled to Australia to present a $3.8m cheque to purchase land for a $380m kung fu theme park, hotel, golf course and property development.

今年早些时候，他曾访问澳大利亚，递交一张价值380万美元的支票，为一个价值3.8亿美元的功夫主题公园、酒店、高尔夫球场和房地产开发项目购地。