Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement centered entirely around the teachings of its founder and leader, China-born Li Hongzhi. It emerged on the public radar in the Spring of 1992 in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, and was classified as a system of qigong identifying with the Buddhist tradition. Li claimed to have both supernatural powers, such as the ability to prevent illness and eternal youth, and promised that others could attain supernatural powers and eternal youth by following his teachings. Falun Gong initially enjoyed official sanction and support from Chinese government agencies, and the practice grew quickly on account of the simplicity of its exercise movements, impact on health, the absence of fees or formal membership, and moral and philosophical teachings.
In the mid-1990s, however, Falun Gong became estranged from the state-run qigong associations, leading to a gradual escalation of tensions with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities that culminated in the Spring of 1999. Following a protest of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners near the Zhongnanhai government compound on 25 April 1999 to request official recognition, then-CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin ordered that Falun Gong be crushed. A campaign of propaganda, imprisonment, and suppression followed.
Falun Gong practitioners have responded to the campaign with protests on Tiananmen Square, the creation of their own media companies overseas, international lawsuits targeting Chinese officials, and the establishment of a network of underground publishing sites to produce literature on the practice within China. Falun Gong has emerged as a prominent voice for an end to one-party rule in China.
Timeline of major events
Before 1992 Although qigong-like practices have a long history, the modern qigong movement traces its origins only to the late 1940s and 1950s. At that time, CCP cadres began pursuing qigong as a means of improving health, and regarded it as a category of traditional Chinese medicine. With official support from the party-state, qigong grew steadily in popularity, particularly in the period following the Cultural Revolution. The state-run China Qigong Scientific Research Society was established in 1985 to administer and oversee qigong practice across the country. Thousands of qigong disciplines emerged, some of them headed by "grandmasters" with millions of adherents.David Palmer. Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007Zhu Xiaoyang and Benjamin Penny (ed.), "The Qigong Boom," Chinese Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 27, No. 1 (1994)
From his youth, Li Hongzhi claims to have been tutored by a variety of Buddhist and Daoist masters, who, according to his spiritual biography, imparted to him the practice methods and moral philosophy that would come to be known as Falun Gong.Benjamin Penny, "The Life and Times of Li Hongzhi: Falun Gong and Religious Biography," The China Quarterly, Vol. 175 (2003), pp. 643–661. Hosted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Available at Cambridge University Databases. Available at JSTOR.
7 July 1952 – Founder Li Hongzhi is born. 1955 – According to his spiritual biography, Li begins learning under the tutelage of master Quan Je, a tenth-generation master of Buddhist cultivation who imparts to Li the principles of Zhen, Shan, Ren (truth, compassion, forbearance). The instruction lasts eight years. 1963 – According to his spiritual biography, Daoist master Baji Zhenren begins training Li in Daoist martial arts disciplines and physical skills training. 1970 – Li begins working at a military horse farm in northeast China, and in 1972 works as a trumpet player with a division of the provincial forestry police. 1972 – Li continues his spiritual training under the instruction of a master Zhen Daozhi, who imparts methods of internal cultivation. According to Li's spiritual biography, his training in this period mostly took place under the cover of night, possibly due to the political environment of the Cultural Revolution. 1974 – Li's biography states that he begins studying the instruction of a female Buddhist master. Throughout the next several years, Li continued his studies and observations of spiritual cultivation systems. Early 1980s – Having had his middle and high school education interrupted by the Cultural Revolution, Li completes his high school education via correspondence courses. 1984 – According to his spiritual biography, Li creates Falun Gong with his masters as a more accessible version of Falun Fofa, based on other qigong. Mid-1980s – Li begins studying and observing a variety of other qigong disciplines, apparently in preparation for establishing and publicizing his own qigong system. 1985 – Chinese authorities create a national organization to oversee the great variety of qigong disciplines that were proliferating across the country. The China Qigong Scientific Research Society was established in 1985 and convened its first meeting in Beijing in 1986. The organization counted among its leadership several eminent members and former members of the Politburo and National People's Congress, as well as former ministers of health and education.Benjamin Penny, Qigong boom, pp. 13–20. 1989 – Li begins private instruction of Falun Gong to select students.Benjamin Penny, The Religion of Falun Gong, (University of Chicago Press, 2012.Zeng, Jennifer. Witnessing history: one Chinese woman's fight for freedom, Soho Press, 2006, pp. 329–335
1992–1995
Falun Gong was publicly founded in the Spring of 1992, toward the end of China's qigong fever, a period which saw the proliferation of thousands of disciplines. Li Hongzhi and his Falun Gong became an "instant star" of the qigong movement, and were welcomed into the government-administered China Qigong Scientific Research Society (CQRS).David Ownby, "The Falun Gong in the New World," European Journal of East Asian Studies, Sep 2003, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p. 306 From 1992 to 1994, Li traveled throughout China giving 54 lecture seminars on the practice and beliefs of Falun Gong. Seminars typically lasted 8–10 days, and attracted as many as 6,000 participants per class.Danny Schechter, Falun Gong's Challenge to China: Spiritual Practice of "Evil Cult"? (New York: Akashic Books, 2000), pp. 42. The practice grew rapidly based on its purported efficacy in improving health and its moral and philosophical elements, which were more developed than those of other qigong schools.Scott Lowe, Chinese and InternationalContexts for the Rise of Falun Gong. Nova Religio 6 (2 April 2003)
1992 – On 13 May, Li begins public teaching of Falun Gong at the No. 5 Middle School in Changchun, Jilin Province, lecturing to a crowd of several hundred.Noah Porter, "Falun Gong in the United States: An Ethnographic Study," 2003, p. 70 The seminar ran for nine days at a cost of 30 Yuan per person. 1992 – In September, Falun Gong is recognized as a qigong branch under the administration of the state-run China Qigong Scientific Research Society (CQRS).David Ownby, "The Falun Gong in the New World," European Journal of East Asian Studies, Sep 2003, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p. 306. 1992 – Li and several Falun Gong students participate in the 1992 Asian Health Expo in Beijing from 12 to 21 December. The organizer of the health fair remarked that Falun Gong and Li "received the most praise [of any qigong school] 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. 1992 – By the end of the year, Li had given five week-long lecture seminars in Beijing, four in Changchun, one in Tayuan, and one in Shandong. 1993 – China Falun Gong (中国法轮功), the first major instructional text by Li Hongzhi, is published by Military Yiwen Press in April. The book sets forth an explanation of Falun Gong's basic cosmology, moral system, and exercises. A revised edition is released in December of the same year. 1993 – In the spring and summer of 1993, a series of glowing article appear in Qigong magazines nationwide lauding the benefits of Falun Gong. Several feature images of Li Hongzhi on the cover, and asserting the superiority of the Falun Gong system. 1993 – The Falun Xiulian Dafa Research Society is established as a branch of the CQRS on 30 July.James Tong (2002), p. 670. 1993 – In August, an organization under Ministry of Public Security sends a letter to the CQRS thanking Li Hongzhi for providing his teachings to police officers injured in the line of duty. The letter claimed that of the 100 officers treated by Li, only one failed to experience "obvious improvement" to their health. 1993 – Li again participates in the Asian Health Expo in Beijing from 11 to 20 Dec, this time as a member of the organizing committee. He wins several awards at the event, and is proclaimed the "Most Acclaimed Qigong Master." Falun Gong also received the "Special Gold Award" and award for "Advancing Frontier Science." 1994 - Li asserts a new birth date for himself, 13 May 1951. Li asserted this date so that on the lunar calendar, his birthday would be consistent with the founder of Buddhism. 1994 – The Jilin Province Qigong Science Research Association proclaims Li Hongzhi a "Grandmaster of Qigong" on 6 May. 1994 – Li gives two lectures on Falun Gong at the Public Security University in Beijing, and contributes profits from the seminars to a foundation for injured police officers. 1994 – As revenues from the sale of his publications grew, Li ceased to charge fees for his classes, and thereafter insists that Falun Gong must be taught free of charge. 1994 – The last full seminar on Falun Gong practice and philosophy takes place from 21 to 29 December in the southern city of Guangzhou. 1995 – Zhuan Falun (转法轮), the complete teachings of Falun Gong, is published in January by the China Television Broadcasting Agency Publishing Company. A publication ceremony is held in the Ministry of Public Security auditorium on 4 January.David Ownby, Falun Gong and the Future of China (2008) Oxford University Press, p. 89. With its presentation of Li's religious teachings, Zhuan Falun marked Falun Gong's transition to a new religious movement. 1995 – In February, Li is approached by the Chinese National Sports Committee, Ministry of Public Health, and China Qigong Science Research Association to jointly establish a Falun Gong association. Li declines the offer. 1995 – Official attitudes towards the Qigong movement within some segments of the government begin to change, as criticisms of qigong begin appearing in the state-run press. 1995 – Li leaves China and begins spreading his practice overseas. 1995 – At the invitation of the Chinese embassy in Paris, Li begins teaching Falun Gong abroad. On 13 March, he gives a seven-day class in Paris, followed by another lecture series in Sweden in April (Gothenburg, Stockholm and Uddevalla). 1995 -- The qigong field generally comes under media criticism, with media reports condemning various qigong masters for practicing pseudoscience, swindling, and quackery.
1996–June 1999 Having announced that he was finished teaching his practice in China, Li Hongzhi begins teaching his practice in Europe, Oceania, North America and Southeast Asia. In 1998, Li relocates permanently to the United States.