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Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) is a spiritual discipline from China with exercises similar to Tai chi chuan. It was founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992.[1] People who follow Falun Gong do five exercises and read books written by Li Hongzhi, the movement's founder. They believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance", and they also believe that the Falun Gong exercises can make them healthy, and make them better people. In 1999, after a big Falun Gong gathering in front of a Chinese government building, the Communist Party of China said: people cannot practice Falun Gong, it is "illegal".[2]
The police started arresting Falun Gong followers, and according to human rights organizations, over 3000 people have been jailed and tortured to death.[3] The Chinese government claimed that Falun Gong spread superstitions, while others have suggest that Falun Gong's popularity challenges the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.[4] Many people and organizations outside of China have called for the Chinese government to stop jailing and killing Falun Gong people.[5][6]
It is not known how many people practice Falun Gong. The Chinese government suggests there were 70 million practitioners in China in 1998.[7] A Falun Gong website claims there are 100 million practitioners in more than 80 countries.[8]
Reporter Ethan Gutmann said about 65,000 Falun Gong people were killed for their body parts from 2000 to 2008.[9]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Statement of Professor David Ownby Archived 2008-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, Unofficial Religions in China: Beyond the Party's Rules, 2005. Quote: "The history of Falun Gong, and of the larger qigong movement from which Falun Gong emerged (...) The Falun Gong emerged in 1992, toward the end of the boom, and was in fact one of the least flamboyant of the schools of qigong"
- ↑ "China Bans Falun Gong", (July 22, 1999) People's Daily Online, retrieved June 14, 2006
- ↑ Mary-Anne Toy, Underground existence for Falun Gong faithful, The Age, July 26, 2008.
- ↑ Julia Ching, "The Falun Gong: Religious and Political Implications," American Asian Review, Vol. XIX, no. 4, Winter 2001, p. 12
- ↑ The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called heretical organizations Archived 2009-11-10 at the Wayback Machine, Amnesty International, 23 March 2000
- ↑ U.S. Congress Unanimously Passes (with no disagreement among the voting) Resolution Calling on Jiang Zemin Regime to Cease Persecution of Falun Gong Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Falun Dafa Information Center, July 25, 2002
- ↑ Notoriety Now for Movement's Leader
- ↑ "Answers to Commonly Asked Questions about Falun Gong", Falun Dafa Clearwisdom.net, retrieved June 10, 2006
- ↑ Ethan Gutmann (10 March 2011) "How many harvested?" revisited Archived 2011-12-20 at the Wayback Machine eastofethan.com