China: Contemporary Political, Economic, and International Affairs

16. Understanding Falun Gong

182 16. Understanding Falun Gong September 2000 richard madsen T he basic facts about the Falun Gong affair in China are generally known among the American reading public: On April 25, 1999, approximately 10,000 members of this movement staged a peaceful protest in front of the Chinese government’s leadership compound in Beijing . The government responded on July 22 by outlawing the movement, charging that it was an “evil cult.” A massive vilification campaign ensued that led to the arrests of many Falun Gong members. In the spring of 2000, several dozen top leaders, including an air force general and a judge, were publicly sentenced to long prison terms. (Li Hongzhi, the movement’s founder, now lives in the United States, which refuses Chinese government requests for his extradition.) Thousands of lesser leaders and ordinary practitioners have been more quietly prosecuted . According to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a human rights group based in Hong Kong, about 5,000 members have been sent to labor camps and about 300 tried and sent to prison. Several dozen have died or committed suicide in police custody. Nonetheless , Falun Gong members continue to stage regular peaceful protests in sensitive public locations such as Tiananmen Square, even though such demonstrations inevitably lead to their arrest. But even sophisticated followers of international affairs understand very little of these facts. Western media do not even know how to name the movement. Falun Gong and Falun Dafa are two Chinese names for the movement. After tinkering with various translations of these names, the press just transliterates the Chinese sounds. Unsurprisingly, there is widespread confusion about how to classify it. Members of Falun Gong say that it is not a religion. International human rights advocates, joined by most of the Western media, call it a religion and see the Chinese government’s suppression of the movement as a violation of religious freedom. The Chinese government calls it a “cult,” which places it outside the Chinese constitution ’s protection of religious liberty. These confusions of classification are symptoms not only of relatively obvious differences in political ideologies but also of more subtle variations in cultural traditions between China and the West. A “Practice”or a Religion? To help make sense of the issue, let us start with a translation of the movement ’s names. Falun Gong literally means “Dharma wheel practice.”As seen by those Falun Gong members whom I have met, it is indeed primarily a practice, something one does rather than something one believes. The practice involves a series of five exercises. Four are performed standing and involve stretching various parts of the body and moving one’s arms in circular motions around the body. The fifth is performed sitting in a lotus position and involves focusing the mind in meditation on a visualized wheel spinning within the core of the body. The purpose of these exercises is to channel and harmonize the qi that is supposed to circulate through the body. Qi is a kind of vital energy; theories about its flow and function are the basis of traditional Chinese medicine . For thousands of years, Chinese have practiced various exercises devised to regulate qi. These exercises are called qigong and are believed to prevent and cure illnesses, induce a general state of vigor and well-being, and extend life. Many forms of qigong have been devised by various masters . In the 1980s, an explosion of interest in qigong occurred that saw the rise of many different qigong masters, each propagating a particular form of practice, often making extravagant claims about its efficacy, and sometimes making a good deal of money in the process. To some degree, the Chinese government encouraged the development of qigong to show the world the scientific value of indigenous Chinese medicine. By the 1990s the government had become concerned about unlicensed qigong practitioners and moved to control them. Falun Gong is a form of qigong developed in 1992 by Li Hongzhi, a railway official with no particular spiritual or medical training. One advantage Falun Gong has over other forms of qigong is that its exercises are relatively simple, can be learned quickly, and can be performed anywhere, making it Understanding Falun Gong 183 ideal for people living busy lives in modern cities. Most Chinese see qigong as a form of health practice rather than a religion. They...