SHANGHAI - The most famous Buddhist temple in China has come out against a widely circulated claim that its well-known abbot, Shi Yongxin, has a mistress, a child and a fortune of at least $3 billion in overseas bank accounts.

The Shaolin Temple, in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, published a statement on its website on Thursday saying that recent "rumors" surrounding Shi Yongxin are groundless, "viciously fabricated" slander.

The statement was issued after heated discussions arose among netizens across the country about whether those allegations are based on fact.

"The online rumors not only seriously harm the abbot's reputation, but also bring tremendous damage to the image of Shaolin as well as its monks.

"We will turn to law enforcement authorities and take legal measures, and we will invite religious authorities to investigate (the rumors), and then they can tell the truth about Shi and the temple to the public," it said.

The statement gave a telephone number and e-mail address for the public to report solid evidence refuting the rumor, and it offered a 50,000 yuan ($7,836) reward to the person who exposes the identity of the "rumormonger".

"We haven't received reports from the public with evidence and reliable sources disproving the rumor since we issued the statement," said Zhang Junchang of the temple affair's office.

The rumor was spread among netizens by a Web blog post that said Shi had a mistress surnamed Li, who is a graduate of Peking University, and a child living in Germany, as well as luxurious villas in Germany and the United States, along with huge savings in his overseas accounts.

"I don't really believe that Shi, a well-known abbot, would be involved in such things, although the detailed information about his mistress and overseas properties seemed very accurate and reliable," said a micro-blogger going by the name of Nantanxiaoyu.

This is not the first time Shi has been the target of sexual allegations. Previously, it was rumored that he was arrested for soliciting prostitutes in May, a claim that was also denied by the temple.

"The rumors about Shi could be seen as public doubt of the morality of the Shaolin Temple, especially since Shi introduced commercial methods of running the temple, which possibly make it look like an business to some people outside of it," said Liao Shengqing, head of the communication department in Fudan University.

Liao added that a mechanism should be set up to monitor and control online chatrooms to make the public aware when information is mendacious.

Earlier reports have suggested that the Shaolin Temple has developed profitable businesses such as kungfu shows, film production and online sales under the business-minded Shi, who has been crowned "China's CEO monk".

Shi, born Liu Yingcheng in 1965 in East China's Anhui province, became the abbot of the temple in 1999.

He has undergone continuous criticism alleging he commercialized the temple and ran it like a business and advertised it.

Local police have begun to investigate the temple's complaint to authorities, Henan media reported on Friday.