Buddhist monk in Hunan convicted of bigamy, embezzlement
Lee Hsing-tong and Staff Reporter 2012-11-20 08:46
A temple in Shanxi province undergoes renovations. (Photo/Xinhua)
A Buddhist monk in China has been sentenced to six years in prison on charges of bigamy and embezzlement, our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily reports.
Master Yuantong, born Zhang Kai, married a woman surnamed Yang in October 2007 when he was the abbot of Tian Lai Temple in Hunan province. The union gave them a daughter.
Strictly speaking, Buddhist monks are forbidden to marry and must remain celibate, though the situation can be somewhat more complicated in China due to the state's heavy hand in all areas of civil society, including religion.
In august 2009, Zhang cohabited with another woman, surnamed Chen, marrying her and throwing a sumptious banquet to mark the occasion. A local official served as a witness for this second union. This second woman gave Zhang another daughter.
A month later, police seized Zhang after hearing charges from Yang, his first and only legal wife, as permitted under Chinese law. Judicial investigations were soon directed toward his financial affairs.
Investigations suggest that the then Tian Lai Temple abbot doubled as the head of the city of Loudi's Buddhist association. At the same time, Zhang was also the abbot for the Gu Tian Wang Temple. He created a company, the Loudi Kaiyuan trading company which retained a "management cooperation agreement" with the Tian Lai Temple, while the association had a "loan agreement" with Gu Tian Wang Temple.
According to the police, the trading company invested 4,680,000 yuan (US$750,000) in the two temples, but Zhang kept 940,000 yuan (US$150,600) for himself to invest in another temple known as Ti Mu Temple. It is believed Zhang owns 70% of Ti Mu Temple's shares.
In response to the allegations, Zhang said it was simply "internal financial adjustment" within the Buddhist community. Yet the court ruled that the money transfer was intended to benefit the monk himself.
Zhang was born in 1967 in northern China's Jilin province. He graduated from a vocational school at 18, and for 10 years worked for a radio equipment factory and then a fire extinguisher factory. He was ordained Master Yuantong at the Qie Lan Temple in 1996 and became abbot for the Gu Tian Wang Temple in Loudi city in September 1999.
