History of Falun Gong
At the height of the Cultural
Revolution, Mao Zedong had it banned due to its links to ancient Chinese
religion, but the ban was removed when a lab claimed to have found qigong
energy (life energy). In the 1970s, the Chinese government began promoting qigong,
a series of exercises designed to improve physical and spiritual health, to
promote traditional Chinese medicine. From the late 1970s to the 1990s,
millions of Chinese were drawn to qigong due to the purported health benefits,
which resulted in many qigong organizations, magazines and much more.
In 1992, Li Hongzhi
founded Falun Gong/Falun Dafa, which means discipline of the Dharma wheel. Li
promised to install purifying wheels in the bodies of his followers to free
them from all physical issues.
The government
initially welcomed Falun Gong due to its core values of honesty, compassion and
forbearance. It also filled the spiritual vacuum left by the Cultural Revolution,
which resulted in Falun Dafa gaining upward of 100 million followers by the end
of 1998. This all changed when state-run media began criticizing Falun Gong, which
lead to 20,000+ practitioners peacefully protesting at the Zhongnanhai
Leadership Compound in Beijing. The size of the protest surprised Chinese
leadership and resulted in them banning the movement, even going so far as
calling it a “heretical cult”.
China was not initially
successful in suppressing the movement due to Falun Gong practitioners moving
to the United States and Canada. Falun Gong practitioners told Western media
that China was threatening their religious freedom. The Western media dropped
coverage on the persecution of Falun Gong because the Chinese government claimed
that Falun Gong was a cult and they claimed that members immolated themselves
in Tiananmen Square in 2001.
Beliefs of Falun Dafa
Falun Gong
heavily draws from both Buddhism and Taoism, much like Buddhism, Falun Gong
teaches that desire is the source of all suffering and attachments prevent
practitioners from ending the reincarnation cycle. Falun Gong states that everyone
accumulates karma and virtue throughout their lifetime, the ratio of virtue to
karma will decide their next life.
To improve
upon the ratio of virtue and karma, practitioners must increase their levels of Xinxing, which is the relinquishing of all immoral thoughts and it includes the
3 cosmic qualities of Zhen (Truth), Shan (Compassion) and Ren (Forbearance/Tolerance).
According to Ian Adam’s “The Theories and Practices of Li Hongzhi: Power of
the Wheel the Falun Gong Revolution, he writes that Ren is very similar to
the Christian value of charity, except Falun Gong practitioners are complete pacifists;
they would not fight even in the direst circumstances.
From
Taoism, Falun Dafa took the idea of inner alchemy, which focuses on the
cultivation of Qi energy; this can be achieved by meditating and self-improvement,
which results in accumulation of gong energy. Cultivation of gong energy leads
to communion with spirits that will advise you, though Li Hongzhi warns
that some of these spirits are evil.
Persecution of Falun Gong
Since the turn
of the century, the Chinese government has been relentlessly persecuting Falun
Dafa, a 2006 report from the UN reported that 2/3 of Chinese torture cases were
Falun Dafa practitioners. The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has also been
documented by the following: Amnesty International, the U.S State Department, The
Human Rights Watch, The U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom, and
other NGOs.
The
Chinese Communist government fears anything that removes the people’s allegiance
to the CCP, and they believe the diversity of thought is a threat to the communist
regime. As a result, Falun Gong beliefs and practices are the most censored
terms on China’s intranet.
Moreover,
the Chinese government openly admits that they use the organs of executed
criminals for organ donations; Falun Gong practitioners are also a source of
many of these organs, though there is still a gap between organ donations vs.
total transplants
Swoon Films: The Persecution of Falun Gong
Conclusion
All in all,
Falun Dafa was founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992. The CCP welcomed its presence until
the 1999 protest, which scared the Communist Party into persecuting and
smearing Falun Dafa. Falun Gong draws heavily from Buddhism and Taoism and practitioners
are pacifists until death. Finally, because Falun Dafa offers ideas that are different
from that of the Chinese Communist Party, Falun Gong has become one of the most
censored terms on the Chinese intranet and the government is currently using
them for unethical organ transplants.
Works Cited
Ownby, David. “Falun Gong.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc., 25 May 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/Falun-Gong.
Stenudd, Stefan. What Is
Qi Energy?, Qi Energy Exercises,
www.qienergyexercises.com/what-is-qi-energy.htm.
“The Theories and Practices of Li
Hongzhi.” Power of the Wheel the Falun
Gong Revolution, by Ian Adams et al., Stoddart, 2001, pp. 75–115.
“WHAT IS FALUN GONG?” Faluninfo, Falun Dafa Info Center,
faluninfo.net/what-is-falun-gong-2/.
“What Is Falun Gong?” GotQuestions.org,
GotQuestions.org, 28 June 2017, www.gotquestions.org/Falun-Gong.html.
Winter, Max. “Falun Gong (Spiritual
Movement).” Research Starters,
Ebscohost, 2019, eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=92aaeb47-b47f-47d8-ad5e-237ede651e1a%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNwaWQmY3VzdGlkPXM5MDU4NTU1JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=87321420&db=ers.
United States. Cong. Committee-
Executive Commission on China Falun Gong
in China: Review and Update 112th
Cong. 2nd sess. Washington: GPO, 2013
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