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ZHENGZHOU, CHINA: In the near future, gongfu pilgrims will no longer have to journey to the famed Shaolin Temple in China's central Henan Province to study its renowned martial art.
Instead, the training is to be franchised and introduced in new locations in Yunnan Province, in the south of China, reported Xinhua.
Venerable Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the 1,500- year-old Shaolin Temple, has announced that his temple will introduce a "trusteeship" system at four Yunnan temples that involves the "integration of Zen Buddhism and martial arts". Each temple has considerable history behind it and is 2,000 years old.
Shaolin monks will be dispatched to these sites as teachers. In exchange, all revenue earned through donations, tourism, and the sale of religious items will accrue to Shaolin Temple.
Just like with a commercial franchising agreement, there is a "contract period": The trusteeship period will be about 20 years.
Venerable Shi noted that the plan would also benefit the four temples.
"Our management model centres on culture, martial arts, education, charity and Zen Buddhism.
We hope these will help promote the popularity of the four temples," he was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Venerable Shi has been called, sometimes unkindly, "the CEO monk" - on account of his willingness to run his famous temple as a business concern.
Under his regime, Shaolin Temple has ventured into movie production and gongfu shows.
Earlier this year, the temple was slammed for starting an online store to peddle a range of Shaolin-related products, including a book that supposedly revealed gongfu and medicinal secrets.
The latest commercialisation has drawn a flood of harsh criticism online.
"The temple has been degraded to a company," a netizen from Henan charged.
But Venerable Shi responded that the move was made "at the invitation of officials in Yunnan".
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