Guangdong Shaoguan authorities recently released a video stating that three nuns reciting scriptures near the South Temple are “non-religious religious personnel.” The three individuals later released a video claiming that they are genuine nuns who have not taken a single penny from anyone, while the monks in the temple who are involved in activities such as drinking, gambling, and deceiving are considered true monks in the eyes of the Communist Party. The nuns directly accused the Communist Party of deceiving the people and claimed that there is no place for them to be buried.
According to information released by the overseas platform account Daniel Fang on December 12, on December 3, the official WeChat video account “Shaoguan Voices” of the Shaoguan City Government in Guangdong released a video stating: “Recently, three disguised personnel recited scriptures near the South Temple. Upon investigation, all three are non-religious personnel engaging in illegal religious activities.”
On December 11, three Bhikkhunis involved in the South Temple incident recorded a video detailing the facts and accusing the Communist Party.
Public records show that the Miaozhan Temple is located within the Guandu Ancient Town in the southeast outskirts of Kunming, Yunnan Province.
In the video, one of the three nuns in the middle first explained that they are the three Bhikkhunis who appeared in the official video. They left Miaozhan Temple on foot to seek alms and have not taken a single penny from the public, only receiving a few meals. “If we had taken a single penny from someone, I would have violated my precepts, and I would broadcast a self-blaming suicide apology here. The three of us would all apologize in this manner.”
The nun said, “These officials of your Communist Party dare to call us fake monks, while the so-called real monks in the square drive us away, insult us… I ask this real monk, can you say you have never taken any money? Can you say you haven’t violated your precepts? … Haven’t you deceived anyone? We see you dividing money every day in the temple.”
The nun continued, “Why don’t we stay in your temple? Because it’s too dirty, really too dirty… You haven’t told a single truth until now. You, these big kings, have ruled China for nearly a hundred years, lying every day to deceive your own people. Is this the tragedy of China? The tragedy of the world, right? It’s all because of your Communist Party’s behavior, cheating and deceiving. Is this appropriate? You are still ruling China, still deceiving the people, I ask the presidents of your country, the so-called heads of the Communist Party Central Committee, are you not ashamed to say these words? Aren’t you all heartless? You should have no place to be buried.”
The nun stated that those so-called real monks engage in drinking, gambling, and deceit in the temple, just like the Communist Party. “You have no difference between living and dying, continuously doing evil and harming the Chinese people. I’m telling you, you’re provoking us, and we’re not afraid of death.”
The netizen who published the above information stated that the three Bhikkhunis have not taken a single penny from anyone. If anyone can prove that these three Bhikkhunis have taken money from others, they are willing to commit suicide! They dare to say this! Are those so-called monks who drink, gamble, and deceive truly monks? Are there no women in the temple? How much have they eaten? Drank? How much money have they taken?
Netizens have various opinions:
– Old Zhang from “Baoputang Shiwa”: “Even the Han Buddhist monks and nuns who pursue peace have been forced to curse the Communist Party. The Communist Party is probably full of evil and on the verge of collapse soon.”
– News Hunting: “Those monks who drink, gamble, deceive, and steal, the so-called monks holding Communist Party permits, aren’t they the Communist Party’s own people? There isn’t a single piece of true information in the official news of (Communist) China, haha.”
– Chinarebels 2024: “Since ancient times, when chaste nuns and monks rebel, the dynasty is just one step away from destruction.”
– Lawyer Tan Yongpei: “This is what a true citizen looks like.”
– Isaac Chiang from Wisdom and Insight: “You can tell that the following (officially released) video is pieced together. They deliberately framed them.”
The religious sector under the rule of the Communist Party is also part of the Communist Party’s officialdom, and scandals in the Buddhist community continue to emerge.
In 2011 and 2015, Shi Yongxin, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Buddhist Association and Chairman of the Henan Buddhist Association, was accused of having dual household registrations, maintaining several mistresses, and having illegitimate children with nuns.
In 2018, then Chairman of the Chinese Buddhist Association, Shi Xuecheng, was exposed for sexually assaulting multiple female disciples.
In 2023, the scandal of Shi Zhaojie, a member of the Sichuan Provincial CPPCC, former Vice Chairman of the Provincial Buddhist Association, and abbot of the Shixiang Temple in Pujiang County, Chengdu, was widely discussed online. Shi Zhaojie engaged in inappropriate relationships with female anchor Cai, which led to her husband Qian extorting more than three million RMB.
In November 2023, Wei Gang, abbot of the Dean Zen Temple in Taonan, Jilin Province, was sentenced. Wei Gang was exposed for profiting from multiple temples he controlled, and for enticing 14 women.
In June of this year, a woman in mainland China exposed the sexual misconduct of Abbot Bao Changjiang of Liaoning Bible Temple online.
Commentator Xia Xiaoqiang once stated that after the Communist Party came to power, it forcefully destroyed China’s traditional culture and religious beliefs, brainwashing the people with atheistic propaganda, leading many to stop believing in God altogether. This is why they dare to “forge gods,” turning religious venues into places for economic development and profiteering.
Chen Weijian, editor-in-chief of Beijing Spring, previously told Epoch Times, “Currently, the temples are in chaos. 99% of the monks are fake monks because these temples are all controlled by the Communist Party’s religious affairs bureau. Inside, there are political monks, economic monks, whose way of life is no different from the corrupt officials of the Communist Party, indulging in food, drink, leisure, and women.”
All religious venues in China are controlled by the various major religious associations held by the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party, which not only study the Party’s religious policies and convey its directives but also publicly support the Party’s crackdown on folk religious groups, becoming accomplices.