Misplaced Pages

Li Hongzhi: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 04:25, 25 August 2006 view sourceFnhddzs (talk | contribs)1,964 edits NPOV← Previous edit Revision as of 04:30, 25 August 2006 view source Fnhddzs (talk | contribs)1,964 editsNo edit summaryNext edit →
Line 1: Line 1:
{{RFMF|Falun Gong|13:47, 8 August 2006 (UTC)}} {{RFMF|Falun Gong|13:47, 8 August 2006 (UTC)}}
] ]
'''Li Hongzhi''' ({{zh-cp|c=李洪志|p=Lǐ Hóngzhì}}) family name is Li. Ethnicity Han Chinese, speaks Mandarin, he is the founder of ''] also called '', a system of mind-body cultivation. '''Li Hongzhi''' ({{zh-cp|c=李洪志|p=Lǐ Hóngzhì}}) family name is Li. Ethnicity Han Chinese, speaks Mandarin, he is the founder of ''] also called '', a system of mind-body cultivation.



Revision as of 04:30, 25 August 2006

Template:RFMF

File:LiHongzhiInterview high.jpg
A 1993 Interview of Mr. Li Hongzhi.

Li Hongzhi (Chinese: 李洪志; pinyin: Lǐ Hóngzhì) family name is Li. Ethnicity Han Chinese, speaks Mandarin, he is the founder of Falun Gong also called Falun Dafa, a system of mind-body cultivation.

The date of his birth is disputed. According to the Falun Gong “Li was born into an ordinary intellectual's family in the city of Gongzhuling, Jilin Province, China, on May 13 (the eighth day of the fourth month by China lunar calendar), 1951.” . But the Chinese government, after the onset of the Persecution of Falun Gong claimed that he was born on July 7, 1952; he “changed his date of birth to make it coincide with the birthday of Sakyamuni".

File:FalunDafaJourney93-99.jpg
Two of the 54 lecture series Mr. Li Hongzhi gave in nearly 20 cities throughout China.
File:FalunGeneva lecture.gif
Li Hongzhi lecturing on Falun Dafa in United Nations General Assembly Hall, Geneva

According to Pureinsight, a Falun Dafa website, Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Dafa on May 13, 1992 at the fifth Middle school in Changchun City, China. From 1992 to 1994, on receiving invitations from State Qi Gong Organizations in each Area, Li travelled accross China, giving more than 54 lecture series and teaching the Falun Gong exercises. Since then the practice was spread by word of mouth and by practitioners volunarily. Li continues to give lectures at Falun Gong conferences outside of China today.

As practitioners started spreading the system, Li Hongzhi stipulated that promoting the Falun Gong could never be done for fame and money, practitioners must not accept any fee, donation or gift in return of their voluntary promotion of the practice.

According to the New York Times 1998 government estimates pointed toward 70 million practitioners in China.

As practitioners started spreading the system, Li Hongzhi stipulated that promoting the Falun Gong could never be done for fame and money, practitioners must not accept any fee, donation or gift in return of their voluntary promotion of the practice.


Biography

The webite Clearwisdom.net, introduces the Li Hongzhi as: "Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced the practice of Falun Gong to the general public in China in 1992. He then taught the practice publicly for two years in China, after which the practice continued to grow primarily by word-of-mouth. In keeping with Chinese tradition, Mr. Li is often respectfully referred to as "Master" or "Teacher." He is not accorded special treatment, nor does he accept money or donations from students of Falun Gong. He has ensured that the practice be available to all people, and without any terms or conditions. For his contributions to humanity he has been given over 400 honors and awards, and is a two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee."

A biography, written by a journalist, appeared as an appendix to the Falun Dafa text Zhuan Falun. According to the biography, Li Hongzhi had been taught Xiulian or ways of Cultivation Practice by several Masters of the Dao School and the Buddha School from a very young age.

Awards and Recognition

File:AtlantaHonouraryCitizenProclamation.jpg
Mayor of Atlanta proclaims Li Hongzhi an Honourary Citizen.

At the Asian health expo of 1992 and 1993 in Beijing, Falun Gong is successively nominated as the "Star Qigong". According to Falun, Li Hongzhi received "The Award for Advancing Boundary Science" and "Qigong Master most Acclaimed by the Masses" at the Oriental Health Expo, Beijing in 1993.

In September 1999, Li was awarded honorary citizenship of the city by the Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.

Li Hongzhi was nominated for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize by nearly 600 professors and government officials from 21 countries. Mr. Li was also nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2001 by 28 members of the European Parliament, but failed to make the shortlist.


Relations with Chinese authorities

On July 29, 1999, after the onset of The Persecution of Falun Gong, the CCP issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Li Hongzhi. A request for arrest warrant was also sent to Interpol, and his passport was revoked, preventing him from traveling internationally. Interpol apparently rejected the warrant, on the grounds that it would violate Article Three of the organization's constitution, which forbids Interpol from intervening in "matters of a political, religious, military or racial character".

In China, Li's name remains blacklisted by the Great Firewall of China, and some Falun Gong practitioners are held in prisons or Laogai (forced labor camps). Under pressure some of them have denounced him as part of their "re-education" process.

Disputes

Birthdate

In 1999, after the persecution against Falun Gong was launched, the Chinese authorities alleged Li fraudulently changed his birth date: Li claims that he was born on May 13, 1951, however, Chinese authorities allege that his actual birthdate was July 7, 1952, and that he changed it so as to be the same as Buddhism's founder Sakyamuni.

In an interview with Time magazine, Li asserts that he merely corrected his birth data which was confused during the Cultural Revolution, and has not drawn particular significance to it, claiming to be "just a very ordinary man".

Wall Street Journal Article

According to a Wall Street Journal report "American Dream Finds Chinese Spiritual Leader," on November 1, 1999, Li was offered a house in New York for $293,500 in 1998 shortly after immigrating to the US, then was offered another for $580,000 in New Jersey in 1999. John Sun, a wealthy New York Falun Gong practitioner,pointed out in a letter to the editor of Wall Street Journal that he bought the house in Li’s wife’s name as an attempt to offer it as a gift, but Mr. and Mrs. Li firmly refused to accept the house.


References

  1. "Governmental Awards and Recognition of Falun Dafa". Falundafa Clearwisdom.net. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. "Nobel Peace Prize deadline looms". CNN. January 30, 2001.
  3. "Statement by Francis Wurtz MEP, on the 2001 Sakharov Prize selection". Confederal Group of the European United Left. 18 October, 2001. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. "Li Honzhi is Wanted". China-Embassy.org. June 29, 1999.
  5. "I am just a very ordinary man". Time Magazine. August 2, 1999.
  6. "Letters from Falun Gong practitioners to Wall Street Journal". Falundafa Clearwisdom.net. November 17, 1999.


External links

{{subst:#if:Li, Hongzhi|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default =  births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default = 

}}

Categories: