The Rise of Falun Gong
Having survived the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) with significant trauma, the Chinese people were finding ways to reconnect with their ancient spiritual traditions without risking being denounced as backward or counter-revolutionary. Try as the Chinese Communist Party did to obliterate ancient Chinese spiritual practices in order to establish class struggle and atheism as the new Chinese culture, the Party could not remove traditional spiritual beliefs from people’s hearts.
Falun Gong’s Humble Beginnings
It was the turn of the decade, early 1990s, and the qigong craze was red-hot in China. While many qigong teachers vied for followers, one came on the scene that caused all of China to take notice.
Mr. Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong.
Born in the northeastern town of Changchun, Mr. Li Hongzhi had studied under Buddhist and Daoist masters in his youth. In 1992, after two years of working with a small group of students, observing the suitability of the Falun Gong practice to be publicly disseminated, Mr. Li introduced the ancient, traditional cultivation method to the general public.
His talks were unlike those of other qigong teachers because of his unwavering focus on moral standards and self-improvement.
On May 13, 1992, Mr. Li Hongzhi gave his first lecture on Falun Gong to about 180 listeners in a humble schoolhouse in Changchun, a city in northeastern China.
Within five months, Falun Gong became recognized by the state-run Qigong Science Research Association of China at its official branch. Mr. Li was formally declared a “Master of Qigong,” and received a permit to teach Falun Gong nationwide.
“Falun Gong is Miraculous!“
December 1992 • Mr. Li, together with several of his students, participated in the 1992 Asian Health Expo, held in Beijing. After using their qigong treatment to cure many people’s diseases, the news “Falun Gong is miraculous” echoed throughout the attending crowds.
Mr. Li received the most awards of any master at the event, announcing Falun Gong as a presence on the qigong scene. The interest in Falun Gong immediately skyrocketed.
Falun Gong introduced at Asian Health Expo
6 PHOTOS
1992-1994 • Responding to the popular demand during these years, Mr. Li traveled all across China almost without stopping. With several days of travel between each series of lectures, Mr. Li gave 54 lecture series on Falun Gong within two years. These seminars, often arranged by local, state-run qigong organizations, typically lasted 8-10 days.
Mr. Li charged only small entrance fees to cover the costs of traveling and venue rentals. Although he never advertised his lectures, the health benefits of the practice were spreading fast by word of mouth, and eventually attracted thousands of attendees at a time.
Falun Gong’s Teachings are Different from Other Qigong Schools
Falun Gong teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. It emphasizes character-building and virtue—rather than supernormal powers—as the true path to health and spiritual elevation.
Many people were initially drawn to Falun Gong because of its healing effects. However, a significant reason for Falun Gong’s popular appeal was also due to its simple and straightforward requirements for practitioners: Live your life according to truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, let go of negative attachments, and be responsible to yourself and others. Mr. Li discouraged the fanaticism that practitioners of other qigong schools so often dedicated to their masters, and instead encouraged Falun Gong practitioners to focus on what matters—becoming a better person.
The Chinese people recognized in Falun Gong’s teachings the core tenets shared by Buddhism and Daoism. But unlike these religions, there were no ordinances, onerous lifestyle restrictions, or the requirement to relinquish the secular world. Falun Gong spelled out the essence of cultivation and avoided the esoteric language of ancient scripture.
China Falun Gong • When the book China Falun Gong was first published in 1993, it made the practice accessible to a much wider audience.
Topics the book covered: The origins of illness and its true removal, true purpose of self-perfecting of mind and body (cultivation), what is karma and virtue, their origins, transformation and effect, fundamental principles of the universe, and much more.
“The True Ancient, Good Things Have Come Back!”
The Chinese public quickly recognized Falun Gong as a truly useful set of principles for living a meaningful life. This attracted people from all backgrounds and strata of society, including barely literate farmers, university professors, homemakers, and communist cadres.
The common sentiment among Chinese people upon encountering Falun Gong, whether they chose to practice it or not, was that the true heritage of China had been revived. As retired Chinese official Mr. Hao Ye tells it, “People really took it to heart. In Falun Gong, we believe the true ancient, good things have come back!”
Mounting Praise by Chinese Ministry of Public Security
August 30, 1993 • The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of Public Security hosted a National Conference of Recognizing Heroes in Justice and Courage.
Letter of appreciation • On August 31, 1993, the China Foundation for Justice and Courage, an affiliate institution of the Ministry of Public Security, wrote a letter of appreciation following the giving of qigong treatments by Mr. Li Hongzhi to Foundation honorees.
The organizers invited Mr. Li Hongzhi to provide qigong treatments to the conference attendees to alleviate their pains. Among the one hundred attendees, many were injured, disabled, and still suffered from various symptoms even after regular medical treatments. Many suffered from long-term health complications caused by stab wounds, gunshot, and other injuries. After receiving qigong treatments, symptoms including pain, headaches, tiredness, and dizziness disappeared.
“Some witnessed their tumors disappearing after receiving treatments; some had gallstones expelled within 24 hours after the treatment; some who had stomach diseases, heart diseases, or joint diseases felt their symptoms being removed on site right after treatments. Among these nearly 100 patients, except for one who had a minor disease and didn’t feel obvious effect, all others felt dramatic treatment effects in various degrees. The powerful effect of such treatment sessions was highly praised,” the organizers stated in their letter of appreciation.
Mr. Li is titled the Most Acclaimed Qigong Master, Falun Gong receives the Highest Qigong Awards at the Asian Health Expo
December 1993 • Only a year and a half after Falun Gong was introduced to the public, Mr. Li already received a special invitation to attend the 1993 Asian Health Expo as one of the Organizing Committee members.
Although Mr. Li explained in his teachings that Falun Gong’s purpose is not to heal illnesses, and that he attended the Expo with his students to support a state-sponsored qigong event, in reality the ’93 Expo became a grand occasion for Falun Gong. Few people were attending other qigong booths, while Falun Gong’s booth was crowded, with long lines of people waiting for healing treatments and autographs.
Highest Awards • Mr. Li received the most and the highest awards at the Expo: “Award for Advancing Frontier Sciences,” “Special Gold Prize,” and the title of the “Most Acclaimed Qigong Master.”
The powerful healing effect of Falun Gong was undeniable at this point, and the Expo and qigong specialists’ committees agreed that the highest award of the Expo – the “Award for Advancing Frontier Sciences” — should go to Mr. Li Hongzhi. He also received the “Special Gold Prize” and the title of the “Most Acclaimed Qigong Master.” Falun Gong’s profile grew significantly.
Falun Gong, like a gleaming star, outshined the other qigong schools from then on.
Rapid, Free-of-Charge Spreading of the Practice Among the Public
While morning group qigong exercise is a common sight in China’s public squares, the sheer volume of attendees at Falun Gong practice sites was unusual.
Volunteers provided the exercise instruction free of charge to anyone who wanted to learn. When one exercise site became too large, practitioners would volunteer to start new ones at other locations.
State-Run Media: Amazing Healing Effects, Good Samaritans and Heroes
The practice increasingly found itself in the news, primarily on the grounds of its health benefits and the good citizenship it fosters. Reports about heroic and virtuous deeds, improved morals, and selfless acts of help to their local communities started to appear ever more often. Mr. Li and Falun Gong were recognized by the Ministry of Public Security in its publications for enhancing social stability and Mr. Li was even awarded with a Certificate of Honor.
[We commend Mr. Li for his contributions] in promoting the traditional crime-fighting virtues of the Chinese people, in safeguarding social order and security, and in promoting rectitude in society.
Falun Gong taught that only with elevation of thought and behavior could true and lasting health follow. And so it was.
A 1998 survey of 6,000 practitioners in Dalian City showed a near-complete recovery rate among those with diseases. So did similar studies in other Chinese cities and in Russia. Even chronic and terminal patients—such as those with cancer, immunological diseases, and neurological problems—showed marked or complete recovery by practicing Falun Gong, without the help of medical intervention.
In 1993, the Magazine China Today published an article about Falun Gong and its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, titled “The Amazing Healing Effect of Falun Gong.” According to the article, “Master Li has taught Falun Gong in several cities including Beijing. Participants came from the central government, as well as people from all walks of life. There were military personnel, professors, students, and physicians. People of all ages, from teens to elderly folks, came to learn the practice. Many saw their mind and health improve after practicing.”
In 1997, the newspaper Medicine and Health ran an article titled “Falun Gong: Top Choice for Healing and Fitness.” A reporter from the paper visited a Falun Gong practice site in Shenyang City on November 8, 1998 and collected dozens of stories of practitioners whose health improved significantly after taking up the spiritual practice.
It is obvious that Falun Gong is effective in improving health. Many patients benefit from it. Most people who practice Falun Gong have been through a process from not believing to believing. In the beginning, some patients just wanted to try it out to see if it works. Seeing how long-term illness miraculously disappeared, they are convinced that Falun Gong effectively improves health.
In 1998, the China Economic Times published an article entitled, “I can stand now!” The article covered a story of 53-year-old Ms. Xie Xiufen from the countryside of Handan, Hebei Province. She became paralyzed in 1979 due to a spinal injury. After having four children, Ms. Xie could not take care of herself and had to rely heavily on her mother and husband. She frequently thought about committing suicide. In April 1996, Ms. Xie’s sister, who was a Falun Gong practitioner, introduced the practice to her. Three months later, on July 1, 1996, Ms. Xie was able to go to a Falun Gong practice site in a wheelchair. Two months later, she had no pains whatsoever. A year later, Xie Xiufen could walk to the practice site. “I feel like a bird wanting to fly. People can hardly catch up with me when walking alongside me. I was paralyzed for 16 years. […] Teacher Li Hongzhi […] changed my life. Now, I am reborn.”
In a Feb. 22, 1999 interview with U.S. News & World Report, an official from China’s State Sports Commission praised the practice for reducing the state’s medical costs: “Falun Gong and other types of qigong can save each person 1,000 yuan in annual medical fees. If 100 million people are practicing it, that’s 100 billion yuan saved per year in medical fees.” The official said that then-Premier Zhu Rongji was very happy about this.
1 in Every 13 People Practices Falun Gong
By 1999, according to China’s official estimates, 70 million to 100 million people were studying Falun Gong, not counting the many more who had casually practiced it for a short time. This amounted to approximately 1 in every 13 people in China. In many cases, entire families across generations took up the practice after seeing the positive changes it engendered among their friends and relatives. Virtually everyone knew someone who practiced Falun Gong.
Falun Gong Teachings Go Global
After giving his last lecture in China in the city of Dalian on December 31, 1994, with some 6,600 people in attendance, Mr. Li began teaching Falun Gong abroad. His first talk was given in Paris at the Chinese embassy, initiated at the invitation of China’s ambassador to France. A full seven-day class began that evening in Paris, followed by a second series in May in the Swedish cities of Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Uddevalla.
Peak of Falun Gong’s Popularity Meets Early Signs of State Oppression
As Falun Gong became more and more popular in China and around the world, early signs of state oppression appeared.
A National Bestseller • Zhuan Falun, the complete teachings of Falun Dafa and focal book of the practice, was published in March of 1995. A publication ceremony was held in an auditorium of the Ministry of Public Security. By the spring of 1996, the book was listed as a national bestseller for several months.
Shortly after Zhuan Falun was listed in January, March, and April as a bestseller by Beijing Youth Daily, Falun Gong books were banned from publication by an order from the China News Publishing Bureau, an entity under the Ministry of Propaganda. The document accused Falun Gong of “spreading superstition.” The same year, Mr. Li moved to the United States.
Investigations • In 1996, Falun Gong withdrew from the Qigong Science Research Association of China to keep the practice free of political influence. Soon after, Falun Gong was accused of being a “heretical teaching” and spreading superstitions. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security responded with an investigation, which concluded, “No evidence has appeared thus far.”
The internal divisions among China’s political leadership became more obvious, as both positive reports on Falun Gong and attacks on Falun Gong were broadcasted alongside each other in the state-run media.
Falun Gong numbers in China kept growing while different government entities such as senior members of the People’s Congress and National Sports commission of China conducted more investigations into the group.
“Falun Gong has hundreds of benefits for the Chinese people and nation, and does not a bit of harm.”
On February 14, 1999, an official from China’s National Sports Commission, speaking with U.S. News & World Report, estimated that as many as 100 million people may have taken up the practice. The official highlighted the costs the practice was saving China’s national health care system, declaring that, “Premier Zhu Rongji is very happy about that.”
“We’re convinced the exercises and effects of Falun Gong are excellent. It has done an extraordinary amount to improve society’s stability and ethics. This should be duly affirmed.”
Global Awards & Recognitions
In the face of growing unrest regarding the ruling party’s stance towards Falun Gong and the subsequent crackdown, Falun Gong and its founder Mr. Li Hongzhi collected thousands of awards and recognition letters from all over the world.
Mr. Li Hongzhi is a five-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and was nominated by the European Parliament for the Sakharov Prize For Freedom of Thought. He is the recipient of Freedom House’s International Religious Freedom Award.
