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Falun Gong or Falun Dafa is a spiritual practice founded in China by Li Hongzhi （李洪志） in 1992. It has five sets of meditation exercises and seeks to develop practitioners' hearts and character according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance (真，善，忍）articulated in the main books Falun Gong （法輪功）and Zhuan Falun （轉法輪）. The teachings deal with issues such as "cultivation of virtue and character", "moral standards for different levels", and "salvation of all sentient beings." The books have been translated into over 40 languages.

According to Professor David Ownby, Falun Gong emerged from a wider qigong movement, at the end of the "qigong boom" on the 1990s, and understands itself in terms of a centuries-old tradition of "cultivation practice" (修煉 xiūliàn). Sinologist Professor Barend ter Haar states that it is a distinctly new form of Chinese religious movement shaped by the Maoist revolution. Another sinologist, Benjamin Penny, concurs, noting that while it is a "qigong cultivation system", the heavy emphasis on morality makes it appear to be a religion. Penny regards Falun Gong as one of the most important phenomena to emerge in China in the 1990s. The Encyclopedia Britannica characterises Falun Gong as "controversial."

In April 1999, 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners staged a silent protest at the Chinese Communist Party headquarters, Zhongnanhai, against beatings and arrests in Tianjin. Two months later, the Chinese government banned and began to crack down on the practice, including a large-scale propaganda campaign. Since 1999, reports of torture, illegal imprisonment, forced labour, and psychiatric abuses have been widespread. According to an US Department of State report, Falun Gong comprise 66% of all reported torture cases in China, and at least half of the labour camp population.

The number of practitioners is not known: a 1998 figure from the Chinese government suggests there were 70 million practitioners in China at that time; Falun Gong claims 100 million practitioners in more than 80 countries.

Beliefs and teachings

Falun Gong was introduced to the public by Li Hongzhi　(李洪志) in Changchun, China, in 1992. Its teachings cover spiritual, religious, mystical, and metaphysical topics. Falun Gong is an introductory book that discusses qigong, introduces the principles and provides illustrations and explanations of the exercises.

The main body of teachings is articulated in the core book Zhuan Falun (轉法輪), published in late 1994. According to the texts, Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa) is a complete system of mind-body "cultivation practice" (修煉). Truthfulness (Zhen 真), Compassion (Shan 善), Forbearance (Ren 忍) is regarded as the fundamental characteristic of the cosmos—an omnipresent nature that permeates and encompasses everything from the most miniscule particles to the most gigantic cosmic bodies. In the process of cultivation, the practitioner is supposed to assimilate himself or herself to these qualities by letting go of attachments and misaligned notions, thus returning to what is original and true. In Zhuan Falun, Li Hongzhi says, "As a practitioner, if you assimilate yourself to this characteristic, you are one that has attained the Tao—it's just such a simple principle."

The content of Li Hongzhi's books include commentaries on questions discussed in China's qigong community for ages. According to David Ownby, Li saw the qigong movement as "rife with false teachings and greedy and fraudulent 'masters'" and set out to rectify it. Li understood himself and Falun Gong as part of a "centuries-old tradition of cultivation," and in his texts would often attack those who taught "incorrect, deviant, or heterodox ways." Qigong scholar David Palmer says Li "redefined his method as having entirely different objectives from qigong: the purpose of practice should neither be physical health nor the development of Extraordinary Powers, but to purify one's heart and attain spiritual salvation... Falun Gong no longer presented itself as a qigong method but as the Great Law or Dharma (Fa) of the universe.".

Falun Gong draws on oriental mysticism and traditional Chinese medicine, criticizes self-imposed limits of modern science, and views traditional Chinese science as an entirely different, yet equally valid knowledge system. Concomitantly, says Yuezhi Zhao, professor in the University of California, it borrows the language of modern science in representing its cosmic laws. "Falun gong is not conceptualized as a religious faith; on the contrary, its practitioners, which include doctorate holders from prestigious American universities, see it as 'a new form of science.'"

Theoretical background

Qigong (or ch'i kung) refers to a wide variety of traditional "cultivation" practices that involve movement and/or regulated breathing designed to be therapeutic. Qigong is practiced for health maintenance purposes, as a therapeutic intervention, as a medical profession, a spiritual path, or a component of Chinese martial arts.

According to Xu Jian, the discourse on qigong theory broadly divides into "naturalist" and "supernaturalist" schools. The "naturalist" discourse involves scientific research on qigong and understands it within a modern, empirical framework, while the "supernaturalist" discourse is situated within a revival of nationalistic traditional beliefs and values, and understands qigong as psychosomatic and metaphysical. Xu says, "Each strives to establish its own order of power and knowledge, its own 'truth' about the 'reality' of qigong, although they differ drastically in their explanation of many of its phenomena."

At the center of the debate is whether and how qigong can bring forth "supernormal abilities" (teyi gongneng 特異功能). "The psychosomatic discourse emphasizes the inexplicable power of qigong and relishes its occult workings, whereas the rational discourse strives to demystify many of its phenomena and to situate it strictly in the knowledge of modern science."

The Chinese government has generally tried to encourage qigong as a science and discourage religious or supernatural elements. However, the category of science in China tends to include things that are generally not considered scientific in the West, including qigong and traditional Chinese medicine.

David Aikman says that unlike in America, where many may believe that qigong is a socially neutral, subjective, New Age-style concept incapable of scientific proof, much of China's scientific establishment believes in the existence of qi. He contends that controlled experiments by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the late 1970s and early 1980s concluded that qi, when emitted by a qigong expert, "actually constitutes measurable infrared electromagnetic waves and causes chemical changes in static water through mental concentration."

Theories about the cultivation of elixir (dan), "placement of the mysterious pass" (xuanguan shewei), among others, are also found in ancient Chinese texts such as The Book of Elixir (Dan Jing), Daoist Canon (Tao Zang) and Guide to Nature and Longevity (Xingming Guizhi). Falun Gong's teachings tap into a wide array of phenomena and cultural heritage that has been debated for ages. However, the definitions of many of the terms used differ somewhat from Buddhist and Daoist traditions. Francesco Sisci says that Falun Gong "re-elaborated old, well-known Taoist and Buddhist routines, used the old vocabulary that people found familiar, and revamped them in a simple, persuasive way."

Li Hongzhi states in Falun Buddha Fa Lecture in Europe:

"Since the time Dafa was made public, I have unveiled some inexplicable phenomena in qigong as well as things that hadn’t been explained in the qigong community. But... the reason why so many people are studying Dafa... because our Fa can truly enable people to Consummate, truly save people, and allow you to truly ascend to high levels in the process of cultivation. Whether it’s your realm of mind or the physical quality of your body, the Fa truly enables you to reach the standards of different levels."

Qigong and beyond

In the 1990s there was a qigong upsurge with attendant state suspicion. Montreal scholar David Ownby, and journalist Ian Johnson in his book Wild Grass, both offer this boom as historical context for the rise of Falun Gong.

The content of Li Hongzhi's books include commentaries on questions that have been raised in China's qigong community. According to Ownby, Li saw the qigong movement as “rife with false teachings and greedy and fraudulent 'masters'” and set out to rectify it. Li understood himself and Falun Gong as part of a “centuries-old tradition of cultivation,” and in his texts would often attack those who teach “incorrect, deviant, or heterodox ways.”

Falun Gong originally surfaced in the institutional field of alternative Chinese science, a field "insulated from the spaces formally acknowledged as institutionalized science in Western countries" Johnson described how “Falun Gong positions itself as a kind of Über-science, something that is modern but even better than modern.”

Johnson suggests that while initially Falun Gong laid emphasis on health benefits, over time “the philosophical teachings of Truth, Goodness and Forbearance began to take on more importance.” He writes that in the context of Falun Gong, these principles require people to live “upright lives.” A traditional morality—what Ownby calls “popular fundamentalism,” a supposed return to moral values that numerous Chinese “feel have been lost in the rush to modernisation.”

Li sought to develop a greater history, theory and meaning behind cultivation. Ownby delineates the following discourses: the suffering body which holds the possibility of freedom from illness and physical suffering; limitless human potential where physical transformation is chiefly effected by moral practice; and exile and return concerning world creation, degeneration, and salvation/renewal. Johnson describes Falun Gong as “the next logical step in qigong's development”, writing that “while firmly stating that Falun Gong was not a religion, Master Li drew on traditional religions for terminology and symbols.” The term “Falun” means Dharma Wheel, or Wheel of Law, a traditional Buddhist concept. The imagery used includes Buddhist swastikas and Taoist t'ai chi (yin-yang) symbols. Andrew P. Kipnis said that qigong may seem to be religious to laymen in the West because it deals with spiritual matters. As many Falun Gong concepts can be traced to Buddhism and Taoism, it may seem even more like a religion to the outsider.

Early history

According to the biography which appeared as an appendix to Zhuan Falun, Li Hongzhi had been taught ways of "cultivation practice" (xiulian) by several Masters of the Dao and Buddhist schools of thought from a very young age. This biography says that he was trained by Quan Jue, the 10th Heir to the Great Law of the Buddha School, at age four. He was then trained by a Taoist master at age eight. This master left him at age twelve, and he was then trained by a master of the Great Way School with the Taoist alias of True Taoist, who came from the Changbai Mountains.

Falun Gong was introduced to the public by Li Hongzhi on May 13, 1992, in Changchun, Jilin. Invited by qigong organizations from each area, Li traveled to almost all major cities in China from 1992 to 1994 to teach the practice. For the first few years of spreading Falun Gong, Li was granted several awards by Chinese governmental organizations to encourage him to continue promoting what was then considered to be a wholesome practice. University of Montreal scholar David Ownby noted that neither Li nor Falun Gong were particularly controversial in the beginning. Li became an "instant star of the qigong movement," with his practice method celebrated at the Beijing Oriental Health Expos of both 1992 and 1993. Falun Gong was welcomed into the Scientific Qigong Research Association, which sponsored and helped organise many of Li's activities between 1992 and 1994, including the 54 large-scale lectures given throughout China in most major cities to a total audience of 20,000. The scale of the activities was unprecedented at that time.

After teaching publicly in Changchun, Li began to make his ideas more widely accessible and affordable, charging less than other qigong systems for lectures, tapes, and books. On 4 January 1995 Zhuan Falun, the main book on Falun Gong, was published and became a best-seller in China. Before 1999, people learned Falun Gong by word of mouth, and it was usually practiced in the morning in parks like many other forms of exercise in China. It attracted many retired persons, factory workers, farmers, state enterprise managers, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, and students.

In 1994 Falun Gong was taught at the Chinese consulate in New York, as part of the Party's "cultural propaganda to the West" alongside Chinese silk craft and cooking. The consulate at that time also set up Falun Gong clubs at MIT and Columbia University which are active to this day. Starting in 1995, Li himself taught the practice outside of China, chairing a series of conferences at the Chinese embassy in Paris.

The Economist asserts that much of Falun Gong's success in the 1990s was due to claims that it could heal without costly medicine, as many citizens had lost medical benefits and services due to changing economic conditions. Some in China maintained that Falun Gong was the most popular qigong practice in the country, and that many professors from Peking University practised the exercises every day on the campus grounds until the crackdown in 1999.

Ideological and social context

Zhao opines that Falun Gong's spread in China in the 1990s "reflected the profound contradictions of the Communist Party's technocratic-oriented modernization drive." Falun Gong's rise, she says, was responding to the deep and widespread ideological and identity crises that followed the 1989 suppression of an elite-led prodemocracy movement. In the early 1990s Deng called for an end to debates about the political and social meaning of the economic reforms, urging the populace to participate in commercialism and the pursuit of material wealth. Falun Gong, in contrast, writes Zhao, "insisted on the search for meaning and called for a radical transcendence of materialism in both the mundane and philosophical senses."

Falun Gong taken in this context is a Chinese manifestation of "a worldwide backlash against capitalist modernity and a testimony to the importance of meaning..." Though it is grounded in Chinese cultural traditions and responds to unique post-1989 Chinese realities, Zhao says it also addresses universal concerns, "asking humanity to take a 'fresh look' at itself and re-examine its dominant value system. It is partly for this reason that Falun Gong appeals to some non-Chinese people in the West."

She says that while Chinese authorities condemn Falun Gong as having "fallen prey to premodern superstitions," Zhao says that the practice actually "articulates a mixture of premodern, modern, and postmodern sensibilities." She says it has established a 'resistance identity', resisting prevailing pursuits of wealth, power, scientific rationality, "and indeed, the entire value system associated with the project of modernization... Li Hongzhi addresses precisely the actors and aspects of subjectivity bruised by the ruthless march of Chinese modernity... and provides an alternative meaning system within which individuals can come to terms with their experience. The multiple unfolding struggles over this resistance identity match, both in speed and intensity, the wider social transformation in China."

In a reversal from the 1989 outpouring of desire for political participation, many Chinese turned to Falun Gong precisely because they saw it as "an apolitical response to their individual and social concerns. By focusing on self-cultivation and individual moral salvation, and by urging its members to take lightly or give up 'attachments' to the desires, ambitions, and sentimentality that ordinarily rule modern human life, Falun Gong is reactive, defensive, and politically conservative." Zhao regards the discipline as a form of religious fundamentalism, and is subsequently not "a purveyor of 'a social project'". Yet, she says, it has turned out to be "the most politicized and highly mobilized form of social contestation in post-1989 China." No other disenfranchised social group has staged a mass protest near Zhongnanhai, she says. And while the post-Mao Chinese state attempted to avert ideological struggles, "it ended up having to wage a Maoist-style ideological campaign against the movement. Such is the dialectic of China's 'economic' reforms."

1999 and after in mainland China

In April 1999, physicist He Zuoxiu published an article in the Tianjin College of Education’s Youth Reader magazine, entitled “I Do Not Agree with Youth Practicing qigong,” and criticised Falun Gong . Practitioners found his treatment of Falun Gong unfair and gathered to protest the article. Police were allegedly called, and then beat and arrested a number of them. On April 25, Falun Gong practitioners lined the streets near Zhongnanhai in silence, seeking legal recognition and protection of the practice in light of the alleged beatings and arrests in Tianjin.

The ban

On 20 July 1999, following seven years of rapid growth of the practice within mainland China;, the government of the People's Republic of China issued a statement banning Falun Gong:

China today banned the Research Society of Falun Dafa and the Falun Gong organization under its control after deeming them to be illegal.

In its decision on this matter issued today, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that according to investigations, the Research Society of Falun Dafa had not been registered according to law and had been engaged in illegal activities, advocating superstition and spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances, and jeopardizing social stability.

The decision said that therefore, in accordance with the Regulations on the Registration and Management of Mass Organizations, the Research Society of Falun Dafa and the Falun Gong organization under its control are held to be illegal and are therefore banned.

Xinhua further declared that Falun Gong was a highly organised political group "opposed to the Communist Party of China and the central government, preaches idealism, theism and feudal superstition". It attempted a distinction between "ordinary core members" and the leaders, which it referred to as "a small number of behind-the-scenes plotters and organizers who harbor political intentions". It struck a warning-bell against some important Party and government officials who were practitioners. Xinhua also affirmed that "the so-called 'truth, kindness and forbearance' principle preached by Li has nothing in common with the socialist ethical and cultural progress we are striving to achieve."

Li Hongzhi responded with a "Brief Statement of Mine" on July 22:

Falun Gong is simply a popular qigong activity. It does not have any particular organization, let alone any political objectives. We have never been involved in any anti-government activities. I am a cultivator myself, and I have never been destined to be involved in political power. I am just teaching people how to practice cultivation. If one wants to practice qigong well, he/she must be a person of high moral standards...

We are not against the government now, nor will we be in the future. Other people may treat us badly, but we do not treat others badly, nor do we treat people as enemies.

We are calling for all governments, international organizations, and people of goodwill worldwide to extend their support and assistance to us in order to resolve the present crisis that is taking place in China.

The persecution

A nationwide crackdown ensued with the exception of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. In late 1999 legislation was created to outlaw "heterodox religions," and applied to Falun Gong retroactively.

According to some reports, every aspect of society was mobilized against Falun Gong, including the media apparatus, police force, army, education system, families, and workplaces. An extra-constitutional body, the "6-10 Office" was created to "oversee the terror campaign," which was allegedly driven by large-scale propaganda through television, newspapers, radio and internet. Families and workplaces were urged to cooperate with the government's position on Falun Gong, while practitioners themselves were subject to various severe coercive measures to have them recant. Amnesty International declares the persecution to be politically motivated and a restriction of fundamental freedoms.

Protests in Beijing were frequent for the first few years following the 1999 edict, though they have largely been silenced since. Practitioners' presence in mainland China has become more low-profile, as they opt for alternative methods of informing about the public persecution, such as through overnight letterbox drops of CD-ROMs. They have occasionally hacked into state television channels to broadcast their material, with harsh repercussions. Practitioners are also globally active in appealing to governments, media and the people of their respective countries about the situation in China.

There are particular concerns over reports of torture, illegal imprisonment including forced labour, and psychiatric abuses. Falun Gong related cases comprise 66% of all reported torture cases in China, and at least half of the labour camp population. Since 2006, Falun Gong has alleged systematic organ harvesting from living practitioners, and an investigation led by two Canadian parliamentarians, David Kilgour and David Matas, has lent support to the claims. Kilgour, former Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific, commented "It is simply inescapable that this is going on", and Matas claimed that their evidence "has not been refuted". Kilgour and Matas's conclusions are corroborated by two other independent investigations, by Dr. Kirk Allison, associate director of the program in human rights and medicine at the University of Minnesota, and European Parliament Vice President Edward McMillan-Scott, however the United States Congressional Research Service regarded them as inconsistent with the findings of other investigations, relying largely on logical inferences. The Christian Science Monitor states that the report's evidence, although circumstantial, is persuasive, and criticises China for a lack of openness in investigating the claims.

The U.S. House of Representatives accused China of unlawful harassment of United States citizens and residents who practice Falun Gong, and passed a resolution unanimously calling on the Chinese government to "cease its persecution and harassment of Falun Gong practitioners in the United States." Practitioners also draw attention to their plight by demonstrating the meditation exercises, distributing flyers, displaying banners, initiating lawsuits, demonstrating outside Chinese consulates around the world, and organising other public events such as lavish travelling Chinese New Year shows.

Suspected reasons

A World Journal article suggested that certain high-level Party officials had wanted to crack down on the practice for several years, but lacked sufficient pretext until this time. Jiang Zemin is often considered to have been largely personally responsible for the final decision, both by Falun Gong and academics. Cited possible motives include personal jealously of Li Hongzhi, anger, ideological struggle,, the nature of Communist Party rule and a perceived challenge to it.

Outside mainland China

Since the 1999 government clamp-down on Falun Gong, activities abroad directing attention to the Human Rights situation in China have increased dramatically. Falun Gong's lobbying has particularly raised its profile in the United States. Falun Dafa practitioners and human rights activists in cities around the world have organised protest events to draw attention to the plight of practitioners in China.

The situation of Falun Gong and its practitioners has been regarded by some Western governments as a major international human rights issue. The PRC government is accused by Falun Gong and many human rights groups of violating the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), also ratified by the People's Republic of China. In July 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives accused China of unlawful harassment of United States citizens and residents who practice Falun Gong, and passed a resolution, unanimously by 420:0, calling on China to "cease its persecution and harassment of Falun Gong practitioners in the United States".

Academic attention

Falun Gong has been represented in different ways by researchers, media, and in other public fora. While the late psychologist Margaret Singer derided it as a "cult," Edelman and Richardson say this has no "empirical verification or general acceptance in the scientific community," and is merely a label that has been conveniently used to persecute the practice. Quebec Superior court Justice Rousseau declared Falun Gong "controversial" in a 2005 decision. Livia Kohn, Professor of Religion and East Asian Studies at Boston University and a scholar in Daoism, has praised it as having "a high success rate in creating friendlier people, more harmonious social environments, and greater health and vitality."

Some scholars such as Benjamin Penny of the Australian National University have given detailed treatments of Chinese Buddhist publications and what they have written on Falun Gong, while others such as Susan Palmer, David Ownby and PhD student Noah Porter, have made ethnographic studies of Falun Gong as it is currently transmitted and practiced in the United States. James Tong has written about the development of the campaign to persecute the practice in Mainland China, also analysing the use of the Communist states' media apparatus in its portrayal of Falun Gong as a well-financed organisation.

Scholarly research on Falun Gong and its place in contemporary society has been approached from different angles. David Ownby, for example, has analysed Falun Gong from a historical Chinese perspective as well as commented on his personal experience of meeting modern Falun Gong practitioners. Ownby has also speculated on Falun Gong as a cultural renewal of ancient Chinese cultivation forms starting in the Ming dynasty. Stephen Chan has written about Falun Gong's relationship to Buddhism and other qigong, as well as commenting on deeper reasons behind the persecution in Mainland China. Barend ter Haar argues that Falun Gong and the persecution cannot be understood outside the context of recent Chinese history.

References

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5. Haar, Barend ter, "Evaluation and Further References".
6. ^ Benjamin Penny, The Past, Present, and Future of Falun Gong, 2001, accessed 16/3/08
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63. Haar, Barend ter. Falun Gong: Evaluation and Further References

Further reading

• David Ownby, Falun Gong and the Future of China (Oxford University Press, 2008) ISBN 978-0-19-532905-6
• Maria Hsia Chang, Falun Gong: The End of Days (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2004) ISBN 0-300-10227-5
• Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong (Law Wheel qigong) (1993)
• Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun (translated in English in 2000)
• Danny Schechter, Falun Gong's Challenge to China (Akashic Books, 2000) hardback ISBN 1-888451-13-0, paperback ISBN 1-888451-27-0

External links

Falun Gong sites

• FalunDafa.org
• FalunInfo.net
• Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group

Critical sites

• Condemn Falun Gong Cult — a series of anti-Falun Gong articles in the state-run Xinhua
• Falungong Part 1: From Sport to Suicide, Francesco Sisci, Asia Times, January 27, 2001

Other sites

• Articles on the Falun Gong, Pulitzer Prize winner Ian Johnson, Wall Street Journal, 2001
• Falun Gong: Cult or Culture?, Produced by Chris Bullock, Radio National, 22 April 2001
• Center for Studies on New Religions press archives
• Carrying a Torch for China, Ethan Gutmann, The Weekly Standard, 21 April 2008

• Falun Gong
• Culture of the People's Republic of China
• Religion in the People's Republic of China
• Society of the People's Republic of China
• Branches of Buddhism