A court in Yunnan province has rejected a woman's claim over 4 million yuan ($634,100) left by her deceased father, a former Buddhist monk and abbot of Lingzhao Temple.

The court ruled on Monday that the money was meant as a donation to the temple and not to be given to Zhang Yiyun, 35.

Zhang, of Yuxi, Yunnan province, brought a lawsuit against Lingzhao Temple Buddhist Management Committee on Jan 16, demanding the money.

Zhang's father, Shi Yongxiu, formerly named Xin Yingheng, was born in 1947. He divorced his wife and became a monk in a Buddhist temple in Kunming, capital of the province, in 1979, when his daughter was just two years old. In March 2003, Shi became the abbot of Lingzhao Temple in Yuxi and was killed by two people on the night of Jan 26, 2010.

According to Shi's ex-wife, the abbot was a devout Buddhist before their daughter was born and gave her the name Zhang after being told that his surname, Xin, would bring disaster to her life.

On Shi's death the management of Lingzhao Temple found he had 4 million yuan deposited in several bank accounts

Zhang brought her lawsuit against the temple after asking for the money and being refused.