A Yunnan court has rejected a woman’s claim to over 4 million RMB left by her late father, a former Buddhist monk and abbot, to his former temple. The court ruled that the money was meant as a donation to Lingzhao Temple, and should not be given to the daughter.
Zhang Yiyun, 35, filed a lawsuit against Lingzhao Temple Buddhist Management Committee in January this year, demanding the money. Zhang’s father, Shi Yongxiu, divorced his wife and became a Buddhist monk in 1979, when his daughter was two years old. Shi was abbot of Lingzhao from March 2003 until he was murdered on the night of January 26th, 2010.
On Shi’s death, the temple management found that the abbot had 4 million RMB deposited in various bank accounts. Zhang tried straight up asking the temple for the money but, unsurprisingly, was rebuffed, leading to the lawsuit.