China shuts down temples on sacred Buddhist site Mount Wutai

[Ensapa]

Yay for China! 

China shuts down temples on sacred Buddhist site Mount Wutai
AFP, February 17, 2013

Mt. Wutai, China -- CHINA has shut down two temples on a sacred Buddhist mountain and arrested six people after fake monks reportedly deceived tourists into donating money.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the Mount Wutai Administration Bureau closed two of the mountain's dozens of temples and revoked their business licenses on Friday.

It says the six people were arrested over illegal funding and that the temples had reportedly hired fake monks to con tourists into buying expensive incense and paying unreasonable amounts of money for ceremonies.

Last year, the government's religious affairs office called on local authorities to ban profiteering related to religious activity and told them not to allow religious venues to be run as business ventures.

Mount Wutai is on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

[bambi]

Thank you the news! Its good that the China authorities stepped up and took the correct measures and stopped those people giving Buddhism a bad name. I wasn't very sure of Mount Wutai so I did a search and found that there are soooo many temples there. No wonder so many people are taking advantage! Thank you China for doing something right! Have a look at the list!

Mount Wutai

Mount Wutai is a holy site in Tibetan Buddhism, and devotional sites to both Tibetan Buddhism and Han Buddhism have coexisted for centuries in Mount Wutai.

Mount Wutai is home to some of the oldest existent wooden buildings in China that have survived since the era of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). This includes the main hall of Nanchan Temple and the East Hall of Foguang Temple, built in 782 and 857, respectively. They were discovered in 1937 and 1938 by a team of architectural historians including the prominent early 20th century historian Liang Sicheng. The architectural designs of these buildings have since been studied by leading sinologists and experts in traditional Chinese architecture, such as Nancy Steinhardt. Steinhardt classified these buildings according to the hall types featured in the Yingzao Fashi Chinese building manual written in the 12th century.

In 2008, there were complaints from local residents that in preparation for Mount Wutai's bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, they were forced from their homes and relocated away from their livelihoods.

Major Temples

Nanshan Temple is a large temple in Mount Wutai, first built in the Yuan Dynasty. The whole temple comprises seven terraces, divided into three parts. The lower three terraces are named Jile Temple; the middle terrace is called Shande Hall; the upper three terraces are named Youguo Temple. Other major temples include Xiantong Temple, Tayuan Temple and Pusading Temple.

Other important temples inside Mount Wutai include: Shouning Temple, Bishan Temple, Puhua Temple, Dailuo Ding, Qixian Temple, Shifang Tang, Shuxiang Temple, Guangzong Temple, Yuanzhao Temple, Guanyin Dong, Longquan Temple, Luomuhou Temple, Jinge Temple, Zhenhai Temple, Wanfo Ge, Guanhai Temple, Zhulin Temple, Jifu Temple, Gufo Temple, etc.

Outer Mount Wutai temples include: Yanqing Temple, Nanchan Temple, Mimi Temple, Foguang Temple, Yanshan Temple, Zunsheng Temple, Guangji Temple, etc.

[Tenzin K]

The Chinese government has strict controls on religion, with temples, churches and mosques run by state-controlled groups. Even so, religion is booming, along with tourism, giving some places a chance to cash in.

It’s so sad to see such news. People would take advantage pretend to be a sangha member.  Such a holy ordained being  being polluted by the irresponsible and selfish people. Because of such people temple being close. How big the impact that causes people unable to pay homage to the Buddha.

Mount Wutai was added to Unesco's World Heritage List in 2009. It is known for its five flat peaks and a cultural landscape with 41 monasteries, including the highest surviving timber building of the Tang dynasty.

[Ensapa]

This is a very promising step for China indeed because it means that China is taking Buddhism seriously now... in the past, during Deng Xiaoping's time, they would only care for temples and religious places for the profit they could bring in. Temples became collection points for money. The abbots became CEOs who taught about how to maximize profit But now the policy has changed where the temples should be - focus on spirituality and not on profits. This is a very welcome step by China and in due time, they will no longer see the need to control religions that focus on spirituality and strip the politics out of them (for the safety of the state in case anyone uses it as a tool to control the people). China is going the right way for sure, and this is due to the fact that they openly allow the practice of Dorje Shugden in Tibet and promotes him.

[Positive Change]

It says the six people were arrested over illegal funding and that the temples had reportedly hired fake monks to con tourists into buying expensive incense and paying unreasonable amounts of money for ceremonies.

This does not sound positive at all if you ask me. The fact that the newsbreak mentions that the temple themselves have purportedly "hired" fake monks throws a very bad light on a Buddhist establishment, a temple at that!

We really do not need the bad publicity in this degenerate age. Over here in Europe, the news of the Pope "resigning" is sending shock waves in Christendom and the religious/spiritual arenas. More negative furore over misappropriation of religious/spiritual establishments will cast more doubts into unstable minds.

It is truly devastating news for legitimate religious establishments as it makes it more difficult to raise funds for worthy causes as they would need to further convince and ensure potential sponsors.

On another note, I cannot begin to fathom the negative karma that is associated with the persons committing the offence in the name of the sangha... terrible!

[brian]

This proves China is real serious to curb the on going scams of fake monks running around seeking donation from innocent public visitors. This also indicates the willingness and seriousness to promote Buddhism across the country and by imposing strong enforcements to ensure Buddhism's name will not be tarnished by some cheats here. This will be good for the growth of Buddhism in China and when this happens, Dorje Shugden's practise will grow too! Rejoice!

[Jessie Fong]

The Bureau did the right thing -- temples should not hire fake monks!

A temple is a sacred holy place where people come to find solace (so to speak), not to be deceived by unscrupulous people taking advantage of them.  Temples should be taken to task for such scams.  These people are just cashing in the increasing number of tourists, with Mount Wutai listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Any religious / spiritual body should be taken to task for the deceit, less honest people will lose their trust/faith in religion.

[rossoneri]

Is good to know that China is taking the issue of fake monks seriously as i find this is getting serious here. Many tourist who go to Mt. Wutai may be and may not be spiritual knowledgable to tell the difference between monks and the fake ones.

Apparently, China’s experience with fake monks is much more widespread than some may imagine. Some may say cheating tourists out of a few extra dollars is not a big deal, and may even be common in especially tourist-heavy areas like Mount Wutai, but the problem of the fake monks is also that they have turned physically dangerous in the past.

In 2010, a face-off between local officials in northern China and a group of over 150 fake monks made national headlines. According to a report by The Guardian, the monks stormed a police station in Baotou city, Inner Mongolia, demanding the release of 31 already detained fake monks. The 31 were involved in a lengthy car chase earlier that week after attacking a toll booth and attempting to escape by bus.

Government officials dispatched 500 officers to control the attack on the police station. The fake monks were determined to be an organized gang of poor migrant workers and farmers who paid organizers for membership in the fake monk "mafia." The group would use their disguise as monks to make money by selling bogus cure-all medicine pastes, and falsely claiming to be from the much-admired Shaolin temple, famous for producing top-tier martial arts athletes.

Some incidents of the Chinese peddling monks have even been reported in Thailand, another Asian country with a significant Buddhist community.

Though tourists may be unsuspecting of fake monks, local authorities are aware of the extortion occurring in the areas where real monks can be found, and plan on keeping a close eye on further suspicious behavior.