Shi Yongxin

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Shi Yongxin ( Chinese  释永信 , Shi term for a Buddhist monk in China , Yong forever, always , xin trust, reliable ; * 1965 in Yingshang , Anhui Province ) is the 30th enthroned abbot of the Shaolin Temple . He is also active as a politician and a member of the Chinese National People's Congress .

General

The Shaolin Temple on Songshan

Yongxin was inducted into the Shaolin Temple in 1981 at the age of 16 and belongs to the 33rd generation of Shaolin monks. His foster father was the then abbot of the temple, Grand Master Xing Zheng. At the age of 22, he was elected chairman of the Shaolin Temple Self-Government Committee and was then the youngest leading Buddhist monk in China. In 1999, at the age of 34, he was elected abbot of the Shaolin Temple, which was founded in AD 495 by the Indian monk Batuo. Through Yongxin's efforts, the temple and Shaolin culture have become increasingly popular both inside and outside of China. Yongxin belongs to a new generation of religious leaders in the People's Republic of China who were born after the Cultural Revolution . In 2000, he was voted one of China's 100 Leaders by the official Chinese media who could influence the country's future in the 21st century. The Chinese leadership attaches great importance to accompanying the abbot on state visits abroad. He met numerous personalities from politics, business, culture, religion and sport.

The abbot is relatively controversial in China . Among other things, he made a name for himself in 2001 when he had the Shaolin Village demolished, a collection of martial arts schools and other shops in the immediate vicinity of the temple, which however had no or only loose connections to the temple. This was done with the consent of the Chinese government, but against the wishes of many of the owners. The owners of most martial arts schools were compensated by land in nearby Dengfeng and only one state Wushu school remained. Today, the main targets of public criticism are Shi Yongxin's extreme commercialization of the Shaolin Temple and Shaolin culture and his compliance with the state government in Beijing.

In 2015, an investigation was launched against him. An anonymous informer made serious allegations: Shi Yongxin was once flown out of the monastery for embezzlement, led a double life with two ID cards and had several children. The religious authorities opened an investigation because the " reputation of Chinese Buddhism " was in danger.

Political functions

In 1993, Yongxin was elected to the "Political Conference for Coordination of Henan Province". He is a member of the China National People's Deputies Congress and President of the Henan Province Buddhist Association. He is also a member of the Chinese National Youth Association.

Commitment to Shaolin culture

For Shaolin culture are of Chan - Buddhism , the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Shaolin Kung Fu , which together form an organic system. The decisive factor is Chan Buddhism, which is the "soul" of Shaolin culture. Shi Yongxin actively encourages the Shaolin Temple to exchange ideas with other countries. He opened temples in the USA, England and the Shaolin Temple in Berlin in Germany . The Berlin temple is the first offshoot of the mother temple in Germany, which was founded by Rainer Deyhle on behalf of Shi Yongxin. He inaugurated it personally in 2002 and officially appointed Shi Yong Chuan as abbot of the German Shaolin Temple in November 2004. Yongxin also established the first official contact between Buddhists from Taiwan and the People's Republic of China in over 40 years in June 1993 . He continues to pursue active international understanding. In 2006 he founded the Shaolin Foundation, which has already supported orphans and is involved in building wells, and the Shaolin Academy for Painting and Calligraphy. Yongxin is involved in the publication of numerous books and illustrated books on the culture and history of Shaolin. He also initiated the renovation and partial rebuilding of the temple and numerous pagodas.

Trips abroad

In 1999 he was received by Queen Elizabeth II in London. In 2001 he met the then Federal Minister of Finance, Hans Eichel, in Berlin. In March 2003 he was a member of the delegation of the then President of the National People's Congress of China, Li Peng, on a visit to Japan. He visited the California Legislature House in March 2004 at the invitation of President Yu Yinliang. The Legislature House declared March 21st to be “Shaolin Temple Day”. Since then, Shaolin has been celebrated annually in California. In November 2004 the abbot accompanied the Chinese president, party and military chief Hu Jintao on his state visit to South America. At the invitation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter , Yongxin was the guest of honor at the 2006 World Cup final and the World Cup closing ceremony in Berlin . There he met the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel , the Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder . On August 8, 2006, he visited Australia and met Prime Minister John Howard . On November 10, 2006 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the United States Sports Academy / USA . In April 2007 the Abbot attended the 8th Annual Laureus World Sports Awards in Barcelona, ​​Spain. There was also a meeting with the Spanish King Juan Carlos I.

Famous visitors to Shaolin Temple

  • Reception of the Russian Defense Minister Ivanov together with the Chinese Defense Minister Chao Gangchuan
  • 2004 Jiang Zemin , former president and party leader of China.
  • On March 22, 2006, Russian President Putin visited the Shaolin Temple.
  • On August 9, 2007, Shi Yongxin was visited by IOC President Jacques Rogge in the Shaolin Temple in China.

Honors

2005 awarded him United States Sports Academy in Daphne the honorary doctorate .

literature

English

German

  • Sabine Kress, Felix Kurz: "The Shaolin Monks", 2012 Edition Braus, Berlin, ISBN 9783862280322
  • Egger, Zwick, Shi Yong Chuan, Knoll: More energy through Shaolin-Qi Gong , ISBN 3-211-33549-8 , Springer: Vienna, New York

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Bernard Faure, Chan Insights and Oversights
  2. ↑ A monk with a penchant for shameless commerce
  3. ↑ Shaolin Center in Charlottenburg, appointment of Shi Yong Chuan as abbot Archived copy ( Memento from March 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Frankfurter Rundschau, A monk in the stadium, July 7, 2006
  5. ↑ Nowra site favored for kung-fu temple, 8/2006
  6. ↑ Homepage Shaolin Temple Germany
  7. ↑ Shaolin Abbot talks about Russian President Putin's visit ( Renmin Ribao website , March 31, 2006)
  8. ↑ Official homepage of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 ( Memento from November 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ^ Honorary Doctorates. In: ussa.edu. United States Sports Academy, archived from the original on May 4, 2014 ; accessed on May 4, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Shi, Yongxin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 释永信 (Chinese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese monk, abbot of the Shaolin Temple and the highest Buddhist dignitary in China
DATE OF BIRTH 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Yingshang , Anhui Province