Mount Emei rejects faux master's story

The management of Mount Emei Wushu Research Insitute has issued a statement that the practice of Taoism was extinct on the mountain for hundreds of years, raising further questions about Wang Lin's story, The Beijing Times reported Wednesday.

A screenshot of Wang Lin from a media interview.

The statement said: "There were no so-called Taoist enlightened masters."

Wang had claimed he gained his extraordinary powers from a Taoist enlightened master on Emei Mountain in Southwest China's Sichuan province from seven years old.

The statement issued by the research institute on emeiwushu.net said no one from martial art - related institutes based on Emei Mountain knows Wang Lin.

The statement requests Wang to tell the specific location and time of his exercise on Emei in his boyhood, and people who can testify this experience. Wang once claimed that the Taoist temple he was at was demolished.

China's top managing body of Chinese medical therapists has also launched an investigation into Wang Lin, a self-claimed celebrity martial arts master who remains under spotlight amid claims of fraud.

The State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which oversees Chinese medical therapists, said it will seriously punish Wang if any illegal medical practices are found in the joint investigation with National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Wang has been exposed for malpractices including taking bribes, faking medical experience and cheating disciples for money.

On Tuesday Wang's trial over a property dispute with a former disciple opened in East China's city of Nanchang.