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少林寺的大和尚出事了
Shaolin Temple's CEO Monk Sentenced to 24 Years
HSK 2 Chinese listening practice. The Shi Yongxin verdict explained — the CEO Monk of Shaolin Temple, his 24-year sentence, four charges totaling nearly 300 million yuan, and the long-standing rumors about his private life.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 6 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 12 key vocabulary words such as 新闻、公司、觉得 and walks through 6 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
说一个新闻。
Let me tell you a news story.
这个新闻很大。
This news is huge.
中国很多人在看。
A lot of people in China are watching.
外国也有人在看。
There are also people abroad watching.
新闻说：少林寺的大和尚，要去坐牢了。
The news says: the great abbot of Shaolin Temple is going to prison.
他要坐二十四年。
He has to serve twenty-four years.
还要给三百五十万的罚款。
He also has to pay a 3.5-million-yuan fine.
听到这个新闻，很多人不相信。
When people heard this news, many didn't believe it.
他们说：怎么会？
They said: how could it be?
我们先说一下，少林寺是什么。
Let me first say what Shaolin Temple is.
少林寺是中国的一个老寺庙。
Shaolin Temple is an old monastery in China.
寺庙就是和尚住的地方。
A monastery is a place where monks live.
少林寺在河南。
Shaolin Temple is in Henan.
有一千五百多年了。
It's over fifteen hundred years old.
非常老。
Very old.
也非常有名。
Also very famous.
全世界都知道。
The whole world knows it.
为什么有名呢？
Why is it famous?
因为这里的和尚会功夫。
Because the monks here practice kung fu.
少林功夫，全世界都知道。
"Shaolin kung fu" — the whole world has heard of it.
有很多电影都是说少林寺的。
Many movies are about Shaolin Temple.
有很多外国人来这里学功夫。
Many foreigners come here to learn kung fu.
现在我们说这个大和尚。
Now let's talk about this great abbot.
他的名字叫释永信。
His name is Shi Yongxin.
他从一九九九年开始，做少林寺的大和尚。
Starting in 1999, he became the great abbot of Shaolin Temple.
做了快三十年。
He served for almost thirty years.
他很会做生意。
He was very good at doing business.
很多人叫他"CEO 和尚"。
A lot of people called him the "CEO Monk."
就是说，他像一个公司的老板。
Meaning, he was like the boss of a company.
他不只是一个和尚。
He wasn't just a monk.
他还是少林寺的老板。
He was also the boss of Shaolin Temple.
他做了什么呢？
What did he do?
他让少林寺有了很多公司。
He set up many companies under Shaolin Temple.
也有很多商店。
There were also many shops.
他卖少林寺的吃的。
He sold Shaolin Temple food.
他卖少林寺的衣服。
He sold Shaolin Temple clothes.
他还卖少林寺的小东西。
He also sold Shaolin Temple little things.
什么都有少林寺的名字。
Everything had the Shaolin Temple name on it.
门票也很贵。
Tickets were also very expensive.
二零一七年，门票就卖了三亿五千万。
In 2017, ticket sales reached 350 million.
你想想，三亿五千万。
Think about it — 350 million.
是很多很多的钱。
That's a lot of money.
二零一九年，去少林寺的人，有四百多万。
In 2019, over 4 million people came to Shaolin Temple.
那一年，少林寺一共赚了十二亿。
That year, Shaolin Temple earned a total of 1.2 billion.
释永信让少林寺非常有钱。
Shi Yongxin made Shaolin Temple extremely rich.
他还让少林寺去世界各地表演功夫。
He also had Shaolin Temple perform kung fu all around the world.
所以他很有名。
So he became very famous.
有的人说他好。
Some people said he was good.
有的人说他不好。
Some people said he wasn't good.
说他好的人觉得：他让少林寺被全世界知道。
Those who said he was good felt: he made Shaolin Temple known to the whole world.
说他不好的人觉得：他把寺庙变成了一个公司。
Those who said he wasn't good felt: he turned the temple into a company.
这样不对。
That's not right.
但是不管怎么说，他做了很多年的大和尚。
But either way, he was the great abbot for many years.
没有人能动他。
Nobody could touch him.
直到去年。
Until last year.
二零二五年七月，少林寺自己发了一个消息。
In July 2025, Shaolin Temple itself put out a notice.
消息说：释永信有问题。
The notice said: Shi Yongxin has problems.
他用寺里的钱。
He used the temple's money.
他还有别的问题。
He also had other problems.
他和很多女人有关系。
He had relationships with many women.
和尚不可以这样。
Monks aren't supposed to do that.
和尚还有自己的小孩。
He even had his own children.
这个消息一出来，全中国都在看。
As soon as the notice came out, all of China was watching.
大家都问：是真的吗？
Everyone was asking: is it real?
后来证明，是真的。
Later it was proven to be real.
警察开始查他。
The police started investigating.
查了几个月。
They investigated for several months.
今年五月，他去了法院。
This past May, he went to court.
今年五月二十九号，法院给了结果。
On May 29 of this year, the court announced its decision.
法院说他有四个罪。
The court said he had four offenses.
第一个，他拿了寺里的钱，自己用。
The first: he took the temple's money and used it himself.
这个叫"职务侵占"。
This is called "occupational embezzlement."
他拿了多少呢？
How much did he take?
一亿三千一百多万。
Over 131 million.
第二个，他借了寺里的钱，自己用，很久不还。
The second: he borrowed the temple's money and used it himself, without returning it for a long time.
这个叫"挪用资金"。
This is called "misappropriation of funds."
他用了多少呢？
How much did he use?
一亿五千一百多万。
Over 151 million.
第三个，他收了别人的钱，给别人办事。
The third: he took other people's money to help them with things.
这个叫"受贿"。
This is called "bribe-taking."
他收了多少呢？
How much did he take?
一千一百多万。
Over 11.6 million.
第四个，他给国家的人送钱，为了自己。
The fourth: he gave money to government officials, for his own benefit.
这个叫"行贿"。
This is called "bribery."
他送了多少呢？
How much did he give?
五百六十多万。
Over 5.6 million.
全部加起来，差不多三亿。
Adding it all together, it's almost 300 million.
三亿，是非常多的钱。
300 million is a huge amount of money.
法院说：你要坐牢二十四年。
The court said: you have to serve twenty-four years in prison.
你还要给三百五十万。
You also have to pay 3.5 million.
释永信听了，没有说什么。
Shi Yongxin heard this and didn't say much.
他说：我不上诉。
He said: I won't appeal.
就是说，他不要再打官司了。
Meaning, he won't fight the verdict.
他接受这个结果。
He accepts the result.
法院也说：你不是和尚了。
The court also said: you aren't a monk anymore.
你的法名"释永信"，不能再用。
Your monastic name "Shi Yongxin" can no longer be used.
你以后就叫刘应成。
From now on you will be Liu Yingcheng.
刘应成是他出家以前的名字。
Liu Yingcheng is his name before he became a monk.
听这个新闻，我觉得很复杂。
Listening to this news, I feel things are complicated.
一方面，他做的事是真的不对。
On one hand, what he did is genuinely wrong.
钱是寺里的，不是他的。
The money was the temple's, not his.
他用寺里的钱过自己的好日子。
He used the temple's money to live his own good life.
他还做了和尚不可以做的事。
He also did things monks can't do.
这是事实。
That's a fact.
另一方面，他做了三十年。
On the other hand, he served for thirty years.
没有人查他。
Nobody investigated him.
为什么现在才查？
Why is it being investigated only now?
为什么是现在？
Why now?
这些问题，我们不知道。
These questions, we don't know.
但是我们可以想一下。
But we can think about them.
我想问你一个问题。
I want to ask you a question.
你有没有过这样的事？
Have you ever had this kind of experience?
你以前很相信一个人。
You used to really trust someone.
后来你发现，他不是你以为的那个人。
Later you discovered they aren't who you thought they were.
你那时候，是什么感觉？
At that time, how did you feel?
你后来，还相信别的人吗？
Did you still trust other people after that?
慢慢想一想。
Think about it slowly.
HSK 2 noun. 看新闻 = to watch the news. Throughout the script, this story is framed as a 新闻.
HSK 2 noun. 他让少林寺有了很多公司 = he set up many companies under Shaolin Temple. Measure word: 家.
HSK 2 verb. Used to express an opinion or feeling, followed by a clause.
HSK 2 noun. The script uses it for 他和很多女人有关系 = he had relationships with many women.
HSK 1 noun. The script uses it for 他让少林寺有了很多公司，也有很多商店 = he set up many companies and many shops.
HSK 1 noun. Central topic word. 寺里的钱 = the temple's money.
Beyond HSK 1-2. The central religious noun in this story. Shi Yongxin lost his monk status as part of the verdict.
Beyond HSK 1-2. 他去了法院 = he went to court. The court that handed down the verdict was 河南省新乡市中级人民法院.
HSK 3, beyond the HSK 1-2 target. 表演功夫 = to perform kung fu. Shaolin sent its monks to perform around the world.
HSK 3, beyond the HSK 1-2 target. 他和很多女人有关系 = he had relationships with many women. Can also mean general connection or association.
HSK 3, beyond the HSK 1-2 target. 他接受这个结果 = he accepts the result. Used when describing why Shi Yongxin won't appeal.
Beyond HSK 1-2. Literally 门 (gate) + 票 (ticket). 2017 年，门票就卖了三亿五千万 = in 2017 tickets alone brought in 350 million.
* beyond level超纲词
因为... + 所以...
The most common cause-and-effect structure in Chinese. Both clauses are kept, unlike English which usually drops one.
为什么这么有名？
因为这里的和尚会功夫。
因为美国的生活有点难，所以他们觉得很累。
Subject + 让 + Object + Verb
让 means 'to let / cause / make'. The structure marks causation — A makes B do something, or A causes B to be a certain way.
他让少林寺有了很多公司。
他让少林寺非常有钱。
他还让少林寺去世界各地表演功夫。
Subject + 觉得 + Clause
Use 觉得 to introduce an opinion or feeling. Followed by a complete clause, not just an adjective.
说他好的人觉得：他让少林寺被全世界知道。
他们觉得：这是不对的。
听这个新闻，我觉得很复杂。
Subject + 跟 + Person + 有关系
跟 = with, 有关系 = have a relationship. The fixed structure for talking about social or romantic relationships between people.
他长期跟好几个女人有关系。
他跟很多大人物有关系。
Subject + 还 + Verb
还 = also / still / additionally. Goes before the verb to add another action or to mark continuing state.
他还要给三百五十万的罚款。
他还做了和尚不可以做的事。
他还让少林寺去世界各地表演功夫。
了 after a verb marks a completed action. Often translated as past tense in English.
法院给他判了。
门票就卖了三亿五千万。
他去了法院。