Falun Gong

Falun Gong (alternatively Falun Dafa) is a system of beliefs and practices founded in China by Li Hongzhi in 1992. The practice emerged at the end of China's "qigong boom" in the early 1990s as a form of qigong. Falun Gong differs from competing qigong schools through its absence of daily rituals of worship, its greater emphasis on morality, and the theological nature of its teachings. While the Chinese government has declared Falun Gong to be a "cult" since 1999, Western academics generally describe Falun Gong as a new religious movement (NRM) or a "spiritual movement" based on the teachings and instructions of its founder Li Hongzhi, with a heavy emphasis on morality in its central tenets - Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Its teachings are derived from qigong, Buddhist and Taoist concepts, and draw upon modern science. The movement grew rapidly in China between 1992 and 1999. Government sources indicated that there may have been as many as 70 million Falun Gong practitioners in the country by 1998. Its rapid growth generated attention from Chinese journalists, skeptics, scientists, and religious institutions,. Falun Gong responded to its critics through protests and lobbying aimed at minimizing negative publicity for the practice. In April 1999, after one such protest in Tianjin, some 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered at Zhongnanhai, the residence compound of China's leaders, in silent protest, while its leaders reportedly negotiated with government representatives. In July 1999, the Chinese government banned Falun Gong through a crackdown and began a large propaganda campaign against the practice. Between 1999 and 2004, human rights groups reported that Falun Gong practitioners in China were subject to a wide range of human rights abuses. Falun Gong groups have since moved abroad, and continue to levy charges against the Chinese government by lobbying Western governments and proselytizing in public places, alleging that its practitioners have been subject to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, organ harvesting, forced labour, and torture under the hands of the Communist Party of China. Falun Gong practitioners have since founded media-outlets such as the Epoch Times, NTDTV and the Shen Yun Performing Arts as channels to publicize their cause and criticize the Chinese government, and the group has emerged as a notable force in opposing the Communist Party and its policies. Falun Gong websites claim there are over 100 million practitioners of Falun Dafa in "114 countries and regions around the world".