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Falun Gong

Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Dafa, or the Great Law of the Wheel of Dharma, on 13 May 1992 (Li's 41st birthday as claimed) at the fifth Middle School in Changchun, Jilin. From 1992 to 1994 he traveled throughout China, giving lectures and teaching Falun Gong exercises; His following grew rapidly. Li's success was largely linked to the huge popularity enjoyed by qigong in the late 1980s and early 1990s under Deng Xiaoping's social liberalization. He differentiated Falun Gong by prioritising "accessibility to the public" and moral content, away from esoteric notions often found in other Qigong systems.

Falun Gong's teachings are compiled from Li's lectures, and he holds definitional power in the Falun Gong belief system. Li was also critical of alternative systems within the Qigong movement, stating it was "rife with false teachings and greedy and fraudulent 'masters'" and set out to rectify it. Li said that Falun Gong was a part of a "centuries-old tradition of cultivation", and in his texts would often attack those who taught "incorrect, deviant, or heterodox ways". Li differentiated Falun Gong from other movements in Qigong by emphasizing moral values aimed to "purify one's heart and attain spiritual salvation". rather than what he saw as undue emphasis on physical health and the development of supernatural powers.

Ian Johnson points out that during the greatest period of Falun Gong book sales in China, Li Hongzhi never received any royalties because all publications were bootleg. Li's success also had a large part to do with people seeking effective alternative medicine treatments at a time when China's health care system was struggling desperately to meet demand. As the Master of the Falun Gong cultivation system, Li claimed to "purify the students' bodies" and "unblock their main and collateral channels" and in doing so "remove the root of their disease", if they were ill. He also reputedly planted a Falun or "law wheel" in the abdomen of each student, and other "energy mechanisms" in other parts of their bodies. Li also described how his "Law bodies" will protect each practitioner and how he "clear up the students' house and places of practice and then put a covering of safety'".

According to Falun Gong groups, Li's early success was recognized at the 1992 and 1993 Beijing Oriental Health Expos. At the first of these events, the fair’s organizer remarked that Falun Gong and Li "received the most praise at the fair, and achieved very good therapeutic results". The event helped cement Li’s popularity in the qigong world, and journalistic reports of Falun Gong’s healing powers spread. The following year, Li was made a member of the organizing committee of the Beijing Health Expo, and won several awards and commendations at the event.

In this era, Li developed a positive rapport with the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). In 1993, he provided treatment for 100 police officers who had been injured on the job, earning praise from an organization under the MPS. Li gave lectures at the Public Security University in Beijing in 1994, and contributed proceeds from the seminars to a foundation for injured police officers. The publishing ceremony for Li’s seminal book, Zhuan Falun, was held in the auditorium of the Ministry of Public Security in January 1995.

Life abroad

In 1995, Li declared that he had finished teaching Falun Gong in China, and began spreading the practice abroad. His first stop in March 1995 was to the Chinese embassy in Paris, France, where he had been invited to teach the practice. This was followed by seminars in Sweden. Between 1995 and 1999, Li gave lectures in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, and Singapore. Falun Gong associations and clubs began appearing in Europe, North America and Australia, with activities centered mainly on university campuses.

In 1996, the city of Houston named Li as an honorary citizen and goodwill ambassador for his "unselfish public service for the benefit and welfare of mankind".

On 25 April 1999, about 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered near the central appeals office to demand an end to the escalating harassment against the movement, and request the release of the Tianjin practitioners. According to Benjamin Penny, practitioners sought redress from the leadership of the country by going to them and, "albeit very quietly and politely, making it clear that they would not be treated so shabbily."

After the event, Li received more measures of recognition from North American municipalities. In May 1999, Li was welcomed to Toronto with greetings from the Mayor of Toronto and the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and in the two months that followed also received recognition from the cities of Chicago and San Jose.

Li Hongzhi moved to the United States in 1996 with his wife and daughter, and in 1998 became a U.S. permanent resident, settling in New York.

On 10 May 1999, Li gave an interview with Time, during which he stated that "human moral values are no longer good" and reiterated Falun Gong's differentiation from other qigong groups. He also expounded on the "Dharma-ending period" and claimed the existence of aliens were corrupting human beings. He avoided questions about his personal background, stating, "I don't wish to talk about myself at a higher level. People wouldn't understand it."

On 29 July 1999, after Falun Gong was banned, the Chinese government leveled a series of charges against Li, including the charge of "disturbing public order", and issued a wanted circular for his arrest. At that time, Li Hongzhi was living in the United States. The Chinese government's request to Interpol for his arrest was rejected on the grounds that the request was a matter "of a political or religious character" and lacked information on any "ordinary law crime he would have committed" The Chinese government also revoked his passport, preventing him from traveling internationally.

By April 2001, Mr. Li Hongzhi had received over 340 awards and proclamations from Australia, Canada, China (before crackdown), Japan, Russia, and the U.S. in recognition of the extraordinary contributions to people's spiritual and physical health, and to freedom of belief in the world. These include certificates of recognition from several governmental bodies in the United States – including Honorary Citizenship awarded by The State of Georgia and city of Atlanta. On 14 March 2001, The Freedom House bestowed Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong with an International Religious Freedom Award for the advancement of religious and spiritual freedom at a ceremony in the United States Senate. In the same year, Li was ranked the most powerful communicator in Asia by Asiaweek magazine "for his power to inspire, to mobilize people and to spook Beijing". He was nominated for the 2001 Sakharov Prize by over 25 members of European Parliament, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 and 2001, and in 2013 was ranked by Foreign Policy Magazine as one of the 500 most powerful people in the world.

Main publications

• Falun Gong. Considered an introductory exposition of the principles of Falun Gong and the traditional Chinese concept of cultivation practice, along with descriptions of the exercises of Falun Gong. First published in April 1993.
• Nine Day Lectures on Falun Dafa. From 1992 to 1994, Li Hongzhi presented his teachings across China, the contents of which were ultimately edited and compiled into the book Zhuan Falun. The teachings entailed a one- to two-hour lecture on each of 8 to 10 consecutive days. Exercise instruction was offered thereafter. The final of these lecture series, delivered in Guangzhou, China, in 1994, were recorded live and they form a central part of Falun Gong's teachings.
• Zhuan Falun-Turning the Law Wheel. Considered the central and most comprehensive exposition of the teachings of Falun Gong. First published in January 1995.
• Hong Yin - Grand Verses. A collection of short poems written by Li, often touching upon issues pertinent to the traditional Chinese concept of cultivation practice.
• Lectures and Writings. Transcripts of Lectures delivered by Li and articles periodically published by him also form a central part of Falun Gong's teachings.

References

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference PennyB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ David Ownby, "The Falun Gong in the New World," European Journal of East Asian Studies, September 2003, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p 306
3. ^ Porter, Noah, Falun Gong in the United States: An Ethnographic Study, Universal-Publishers, 2003, p. 192. Also available as a Master's thesis: Archived 2005-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
4. Ownby, David, "A History for Falun Gong: Popular Religion and the Chinese State Since the Ming Dynasty", Nova Religio, Vol. ,pp. 223–243
5. ^ David Palmer, Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China (2007), Columbia University Press
6. Johnson, Ian. Wild Grass: three stories of change in modern China. Pantheon books. 2004. pp 23–229
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference ownbyfuture was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ Chan, Cheris Shun-ching (2004). "The Falun Gong in China: A Sociological Perspective". The China Quarterly, 179 , pp 665–683
9. Benjamin Penny, The Past, Present, and Future of Falun Gong, Lecture given at the National Library of Australia, 2001.
10. Melinda Liu, 'Echoes of '89', Newsweek, 1 August 1999.
11. "TIME: Interview with Li Hongzhi". TIME. 10 May 1999. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
12. ^ Interpol will not arrest sect leader, BBC News, 3 August 1999
13. "Li Hongzhi Is Wanted". Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America. 29 July 1999.
14. "Wanted: Li Hongzhi". Xinhua News Agency (via BBC World Monitoring). 29 July 1999.
15. " class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/committees/afet/20011002/444750EN.pdf Report of Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy, European Parliament
16. http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/recognition.html" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/recognition.html List of awards. Clearwisdom]
17. ^ Danny Schechter, Falun Gong's Challenge to China: Spiritual Practice or Evil Cult?, Akashic books: New York, 2001
18. Asian Political News, " class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_2001_May_28/ai_75259079 Asiaweek names Falun Gong founder top communicator, 28 May 2001, accessed 22 May '08
19. "CM\444750EN.doc PE 302.019 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HUMAN RIGHTS, COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY, NOTICE TO MEMBERS No 14/2001" (PDF). European Parliament.
20. "The FP Power Map: The 500 most powerful people on the planet". Foreign Policy. May–June 2013.

External links

• Falun Gong web site

Interviews

• William Dowell (10 May 1999). "Interview with Li Hongzhi". TIME.
• "Interview with Li Hongzhi in Sydney, Australia". 2 May 1999.
• Anthony Spaeth (2 August 1999). "Interview: Li Hongzhi "I am just a very ordinary man"". TIMEasia.com.
• Jonathan S. Landreth and J.S. Greenberg (8 August 1999). "Eye of the Storm". New York Times Magazine.
• "NTDTV Press Release: Summary of the Exclusive Interview with Mr. Li Hongzhi, Founder of Falun Gong". clearharmony.net. 25 January 2004.

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