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Falun Gong (Traditional Chinese: 法輪功, Simplified Chinese: 法轮功, literally "Practice of the Wheel of Law") or Falun Dafa (Traditional Chinese: 法輪大法, Simplified Chinese: 法轮大法, lit. "Great Law of the Wheel of Law") is a controversial Chinese religious practice with influences from Buddhism and Taoism, which purports to improve the mind, body and spirit. The government of the People's Republic of China, concerned by the group's ability to organize, claims it is an evil cult spreading superstition and malicious fallacies to deceive people. Whether Falun Gong is a harmless spiritual movement or a manipulative cult has been the subject of much debate. The former head of the government of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Zemin, used his power to condemn the group using the state controlled media. As CNN's Willy Lam reported a Communist Party veteran providing his analysis: "By unleashing a Mao-style movement , Jiang is forcing senior cadres to pledge allegiance to his line. This will boost Jiang's authority-and may give him enough momentum to enable him to dictate events at the pivotal 16th Communist Party congress next year."

The Falun Dafa Information Center, a representative organization for Falun Gong, has stated that more than 1,000 deaths have been verified in police or government custody due to the government's crackdown on the practice.

Origins and beliefs

Falun Dafa was introduced to the general public in 1992 by Li Hongzhi (now residing in Brooklyn, New York), and grew very swiftly in popularity not only in China but worldwide. It was popularised widely under the PRC government's supervision for 7 years. An estimate of the PRC government presented in 1998 on the public television (state owned) in Shanghai mentioned that in mainland China alone the number of practitioners were approx. 70-100 million.

The three basic moral principles of Falun Gong are: Zhen, Shan and Ren, which translate approximately as 'Truthfulness, Benevolence or Compassion, and Forbearance or Tolerance'. It is through focusing on these qualities that Falun Gong practitioners develop their xinxing (moral character) which then purportedly gives the potential to develop high levels of 功, gōng, (which Falun Gong practitioners use to mean "energy," in Mandarin Chinese can means "merit" or "achievement" and by extension, it is usually part of compound terms describing a disciplined regimen). Practitioners of Falun Gong also make the controversial claim that gōng possesses healing properties and that 氣 qì (which means "breath") only lets a person feel better transiently. See qigong and kung fu.

Central to Falun Gong are five sets of exercises that are intended to help in purification of the body. Falun Gong practitioners believe that illnesses are the result of bad karmas, and by becoming a practitioner, a falun (wheel of dharma or chakra) is installed into his/her lower abdomen; constantly turning, the falun eliminates the bad karmas.

Falun Gong also teaches a form of conservative morality. Homosexuality is frowned upon, and the killing of lives are forbidden (although Falun Gong does not explicitly require its practitioners to become vegetarians). Some observers believe that Falun Gong has gained such popularity because it fills a void of morality within the increasingly materialistic Chinese society.

All exercises are taught free of charge by other Falun Gong practitioners and are detailed in Li's books, which may also be found free of charge on their websites.

Crackdown

During the first years of the introduction of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi was granted several awards by Chinese governmental organisations to encourage him to continue promoting what was then considered a wholesome practice. From 1992 to 1994 he lectured regularly all over the country in important Chinese cities before large audiences. The practice was then further spread widely in mainland China for 7 years mainly by word of mouth and through the internet.

In July 1999 the government decided to put a stop to its popularity and the practice of Falun Gong has been persecuted in mainland China ever since. On June 10, 1999, the government established the "6-10" office, an extra-constitutional body, to facilitate the crackdown. Most political analysts believe that this was the direct result of events that occurred in April 1999. In Tianjin, as a result of a critical article in a local paper written by a member of the Chinese Academy of Science, about a thousand Falun Gong practitioners went to the newspaper office demanding rectification. Some practitioners were arrested and were, according to reports, beaten by the police. Several days later, for 12 hours on April 25, about 10,000 people gathered at the Central Appeal Office at Foyou street, outside Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of Chinese Communist Government and lined up along a 2 km stretch. Premier Zhu Rongji met with some representatives of the practitioners and promised to resolve the situation within three days. Despite the fact that the practitioners dispersed peacefully after they received words that Zhu Rongji has agreed to their requests, it was widely reported by the Chinese media that Li's ability to allegedly organize a protest in the heart of the Chinese Communist Party is said to have alarmed many senior leaders, particularly Jiang Zemin.

Other factors may include the claim that the number of Falun Gong practitioners (100 million worldwide, including 70 million inside China, according to Falun Gong sources) is larger than membership of the Communist Party of China (about 60 million people). Others claim that there were practitioners amongst high officials of the government and that several high ranking army officers had embraced the practice as well and that this was a cause of grave concern for others in power.

The PRC government claimed that Falun Gong is an evil cult. There are many reports allegedly claiming that some believers hurt or kill themselves after reading the books by Li Hongzhi. Some scientists in China claim that there is no scientific evidence to show Falun Gong is beneficial for health. A frequent argument made by Chinese scientists is that followers avoid, by practice, most conventional medicine.

The writings of Falun Gong implicitly states that practitioners should not get involved in politics, and that killing is absolutely prohibited. Thus a cultivator, one who follows Falun Gong's teachings in guidance for his/her cultivation will not behave as the Communist party claims. In China however the government blocked access to the internet, and blocked information by burning and destroying Falun Gong's books and materials, leaving the public susceptible to the systematic propaganda.

The campaign of government criticism begun in 1999 was considered by most observers to be largely ineffectual until January 2001, when persons claiming to be Falun Gong practitioners, among them a thirteen-year old child, allegedly doused themselves with gasoline and set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square. Gruesome videos of the incident were widely broadcast on Chinese state television, as were interviews with the thirteen-year old who was horribly burned and whose mother did not survive the incident.

Falun Gong practitioners strongly denied that the persons could have been actual Falun Gong practitioners, since killing, especially in the form of suicide, is strictly forbidden by the principles of Falun Gong. In addition, some people have suggested that the incident was either a hoax or staged, pointing out several strange inconsistencies that is present on the video footage of the incident broadcasted by Xinhua News Agency. Independent, third-party investigations continue to be denied by the PRC government. Many people compare this incident to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Observers believe that the incident helped turn public opinion in China against the group and has had the effect of helping the government in intensifying its crackdown.

Some claim that today Falun Gong is no longer influential in mainland China and that only outside of China are there still many believers. It is impossible to accurately determine the number of practitioners in mainland China, due to government efforts to suppress information on its existence.

The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has been regarded in a West as a major international human rights issue. In 2000, Ian Johnson of the Wall Street Journal investigated the reports of abuse, and published a series of investigative articles that won him the Pulitzer Prize the following year. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center (FDI), there are, as of 2004, 955 verified cases of death of Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China, which it claims were tortured to death. The report also states that hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained, with more than 100,000 sentenced to forced labor camps. Moreover, there are more than 30,000 documented cases of persecution. The Communist Chinese Government does not deny detaining Falun Gong practitioners, but insists that they died from hunger strikes and refusals to seek medical treatments.

As of January, 2004, 16 lawsuits in 12 countries have been filed around the world charging the former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and several other senior officials with genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity, for their roles in the persecution of Falun Gong in mainland China.

The practise of Falun Gong is currently present in more than 60 countries across the world.

References

• Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun: The Complete Teachings of Falun Gong (Yih Chyun, Fair Winds Press edition 2001) ISBN 1931412537
• Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong (Law Wheel Qigong) (Yih Chyun, 1993)
• Li Hongzhi, Essentials for Further Advancement (Yih Chyun, 2000?)
• Danny Schechter, Falun Gong's Challenge to China (Akashic Books, 2000) hardback ISBN 1888451130, paperback ISBN 1888451270

External links

• Falun Dafa official website
• Falun Dafa Information Center
• In Memory Memorial website for practitioners deads under persecution updated with their stories
• Skeptic's Dictionary - entry on Falun Gong
• Apologetics Index - entry on Falun Gong
• Rick Ross entry on Falun Gong by professional cult watcher
• Chinese Embassy in the USA: Outlawing Falun Gong Cult
• World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG)
• about the arrest of U.S. Citizen Charles Lee
• article in party-controlled chinese newspaper against Falun Gong
• Friends of Falun Gong
• Ian Johnson's articles on the Falun Gong crisis
• article in party-controlled chinese newspaper against Falun Gong
• TIMEasia.com feature on Falun Gong

• New religious movements