National

Regional

Taiwan, HK, Macao

Special Coverage

Focus

Society

Profiles

Luxury cassock cloaks luster of famed Shaolin Temple

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-09 15:38

ZHENGZHOU -- The abbot of China's famed Shaolin Temple has caused another stir by accepting the gift of a luxury cassock on Monday -- after the monastery was criticized for its installation of lavish restrooms worth 430,000 dollars and the acceptance of an extravagant four-wheel-drive vehicle from the local government.

Shaolin Temple Abbot Shi Yongxin poses with the certificate of a luxury cassock, which was given to him as a gift by a silk company, in Songshan, Henan province, June 7, 2009. [CFP]

The cassock, with traditional Buddhist patterns such as lotus and sacred vases woven in gold thread, was given to Shi Yongxin, the country's most controversial monk, by a private brocade company in the eastern Nanjing City, where the "dragon robes", garments for ancient China's emperors, were usually manufactured.

Related readings:  10 Shaolin monks sent to Yunnan  Shaolin Temple in HK 'will boost tourism'  Shaolin Temple launches on-line shop amid controversy  Luxurious toilets debut in Shaolin Temple  Shaolin Temple not to go public, abbot says

Although the company did not reveal how much is the cassock worth, Zhang Hongbao, the cassock's designer, said the gold thread alone had cost 50,000 yuan (7,300 US dollars).

"I started designing it in 2005, four years after Shi asked me to make such a cassock for him," Zhang was quoted as saying by the local Yangtze Evening News newspaper.

But Shi said the cassock was only a gift and he never asked for it.

"It's not specially tailored for the abbot," he told Xinhua on Monday. "It's just a gift and Shaolin did not spend a nickle on it."

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 Next Page