Temple sued by daughter of monk

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When a man dies, his daughter has the right to inherit his property under current laws in China. But if the father is a monk, things do not seem to be as simple.

Xin Yingheng, whose monastic name is Shi Yong-xiu, became a monk after his divorce in 1979 and was later elected abbot of Lingzhao Temple in Yuxi city, Yunnan province.

In 2010, two young men killed him during a robbery. He was 63. After his death, it was discovered that he had more than 3 million yuan ($476,000) in his bank account.

His daughter, Zhang Yiyun, 36, came forward to claim the funds as the monk's only heir. But the temple declined her request, saying that monks' possessions come from the temple and therefore should return to it.

According to principles and usual practice in the Buddhist religious tradition, a monk has no relationship with his former family, including economic rights and duties, said Zhang Heyun, the temple's management committee director.

"He was in charge of all the public donations to our temple when he was abbot," Zhang said. "He didn't know how to save or transfer money in banks, so all donations were saved in his personal bank account.

"This money cannot be called an inheritance because it doesn't belong to him as an individual. It belongs to the temple."

Not having achieved any progress over the past two years, Zhang Yiyun filed a lawsuit against the temple in Yuxi Intermediate People's Court on Jan 16. In her statement, she said that because her father was still a citizen of this country, she had the right of inheritance.

"It's a civil case, so meditation out of court will be the first and main solution," said Wu Guozhong, head of the court's publicity department. He said no judgment was released on Tuesday. "We'll reach a conclusion in the next week," he said.

But the management committee of the temple said: "We haven't received any mediation from the court yet and will not accept any of it. The money belongs to the temple and will be used for renovation projects in the temple, as the abbot wanted."

The daughter could not be reached for comment.

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.