Mahogany furniture is in great demand in China. The bulk of these luxury items are sold by attractive live streamers. Categorically, I have nothing against using eye candy to sell furniture or anything for that matter. Even though I won’t buy anything from these pretty live streamers, my taste is obviously very different from those who watch Wang Lei’s live streams. Any relationship that comes out of such transactions be it platonic or friendship with benefits, is not for me to judge either. The following is a cautionary tale.
Madam Cai was an influencer from Fujian Province who sold mahogany furniture through live-streaming. In 2020, she received an order worth 1M yuan from a stranger. The very next year, after Covid restrictions were lifted, Madam Cai’s preferred customer invited her to Chengdu to meet up with him. Eager for more sales, Madam Cai travelled to Sichuan Province and discovered to her surprise that the buyer of 1M yuan’s worth of mahogany furniture is actually a monk and the abbot of a temple in Sichuan to boot.
The abbot hinted to future orders and wanted some favours in return. Thus, the monk changed out his robes and the two of them checked into a hotel in Chengdu. After Madam Cai returned to Fujian, her husband Mr Qian discovered that his wife had slept with someone on her trip to Chengdu. After thorough investigations, he found out that the man who cuckolded him was the abbot of a famous temple in Sichuan.
Instead of blowing his top and divorcing his wife, Mr Qian hatched a devious plot. Once again, there are only things you can’t imagine. Nothing that they can’t do. Mr Qian asked his wife to arrange for a rendezvous with the abbot in Chengdu. Inside the hotel room, he installed a hidden camera and captured footage of his wife’s bedroom antics with the abbot. He then confronted the abbot, showed him the video and blackmailed him for 1M yuan on top of the 1M yuan for the mahogany furniture. The abbot paid up and the matter was settled.
Fast forward to July 2023. Mr Qian decided to milk the abbot for more money. He travelled to Sichuan, contacted one of the abbot’s disciples and lured him out. This time, he asked for 3.3M yuan. Strangely, the abbot requested to meet Madam Cai and discuss the matter in her presence. Madam Cai travelled to Chengdu and the three of them negotiated. I believe it must have looked more like a secret society meeting than that of a zen master with his disciples.
After much haggling, Mr Qian settled for 3.2M. Interestingly, Mr Qian was asked to sign a document promising never to ask the abbot for money again. 699k was paid to Mr Qian in cash. Another 500k was transferred to his account. The remaining amount would be paid in annual installments of 100k. After the meeting, the abbot called the police. Mr Qian and his wife were both arrested in Chengdu, probably just as the abbot had planned.
Appearing in court, the couple was only charged for extorting 3.3M. Even though they were charged for making an obscene video, the 2 M paid earlier was considered payment for furniture and a settlement fee. Which means that if the couple had used a legal means to entrap the abbot, any money demanded from the abbot will not be considered blackmail or extortion.
While the mainstream media was focused almost entirely on the couple, netizens questioned the wealth and morality of a religious leader, buying luxury items and hooking up with influencers for sex. I remember when I was travelling in Sichuan when I stayed at a temple that was operating a guesthouse on its grounds. In the daytime, when visitors arrived, the monks would be chanting and explaining the artwork and architecture. Once the tourists had left, the monks would watch videos and play mahjong. Some even went home to their wives and children.
Make no mistake, there are strict rules that the monks have to follow, but these rules pertain to nationalism and communist party interests and have nothing to do with Buddhism. Temples that are tourist destinations earn a lot of money. In the past, these institutions were reduced to empty shells. They are now cash cows. As long as the monks apportion their earnings to the government and pledge loyalty to the party, they can pretty much just put on a show during visiting hours and throw their precepts out of the window once the doors are closed. In fact, religious leaders are encouraged to just pay lip service to their religion and just focus on the business side of things.
According to some sources, earnings from very popular sites like Shaolin temple’s entrance fees could reach half a billion yuan a year. 70% of that goes to the government and 30% goes to the maintenance of the temple. On top of that, temples receive donations from devotees. The total earnings of these supposedly nonprofit organisations are astronomical. It’s not difficult to imagine that someone in authority could decide how the funds are distributed and direct the flow into his inner circle.
Of course, China is not the only place where religious corruption takes place. It even occurs in Singapore but let’s face it. China’s potential for devotees is enormous and our crooked monks are way below the level reached by those in China.
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