Shaolin Temple to become Buddhist Disneyland

I wrote about the commercialization of Buddhism in China in this previous post.

One of the central characters in this drama is the Venerable Shi Yongxin [釋永信], the charismatic abbot of the Shaolin Temple [少林寺]. From China Daily (via The Buddhist Channel):

The Shaolin Temple, widely considered the birthplace of Chinese Kungfu, has frequently been in the spotlight following some headline-grabbing events, such as the super-girl-style Kungfu Competition, a luxury sports car awarded to the temple, and the latest Wushu festival, with Shi Yongxin, the abbot, at the core of it.

"Super Girl" [超女] is China's version of pop idol singing contests such as American Idol. In the Shaolin version, called "Star of Chinese Kung-Fu" [中國功夫之星], the competitors don't sing, but rather demonstrate their martial arts skills. The winner receives a contract to star in a television show about the Shaolin Temple.

A picture of the luxury sports car mentioned above accompanied this previous article at China Daily about the abbot:


Anyway, the article continues:

Shi was admitted to the Shaolin Temple in 1981, when the temple was in a stark recession with only a dozen monks living on 28 mu (about 1.86 hectares) of farmland. He began to act as abbot in 1987 at 22, five years after the internationally acclaimed martial arts movie 'Shaolin Temple', starring Hong Kong movie king Jet Li, which put Shaolin Kungfu as well as the temple in the international spotlight.

So, he was admitted to the temple at age 16, and 6 years later, he had become the abbot. He seems like quite the ambitious fellow!

Ever since his inauguration, Shi has stressed the importance of cultural exchange with foreign countries, and has carried out a series of reforms to expand the influence of the temple, securing international renown for the temple and making it a pillar of the tourism industry in Dengfeng where it is located.

In spite of his success in gaining unprecedented attention for the Shaolin Temple, people are questioning whether the temple remains a holy place of Zen Buddhism or has become a commercialized tourist site, and whether the abbot is hero for his reforms or a temple CEO stinking with money. [...]

When Shi took over the temple as abbot 20 years ago, it was a little-known ancient temple. Today, the temple has under its flag a special liaison office, a temple affairs office, a website, and two commercially-run companies, and the abbot is often hailed as the 'CEO' of Shaolin Temple. [...]

I would hardly call Shaolin "a little-known ancient temple". It was certainly well-known 20 years ago among people of East Asian cultural background, as well as martial arts aficionados. And long before Jet Li's movie "Shaolin Temple", it was made famous in the West by the television series starring David Carradine.

Back in 1993, Shi Yongxin took a ham manufacturer to court for promoting the ham under the brand "Shaolin," which he claimed constituted a trademark infringement. It was the first case on brand rights in China's religious circles. [...]

Hmmm... ham. (Homer-Simpson-drool.)

Many suspect such commercial aspirations will disturb the tranquility of the temple. Shi, however, believed such establishment is a result of the interplay between business and brand, likening Shaolin Temple to the American Disneyland, which is a brand as well as a business.

But should the Shaolin Temple be likened to Disneyland, rather than, for example, St. Peter's Basilica? In other words, is it primarily a tourist attraction, or a religious site?

南無阿彌陀佛