falun gong

Falun Gong

(ˌfæluːn ˈɡuːŋ) n (Buddhism) a modern religious movement combining aspects of Buddhism and Taoism, esp the practice of qi gong, founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992[C20: from Chinese, falun dharma wheel (from fa law, lun wheel) + gong practice]

Thesaurus

Noun

falun gong - a spiritual movement that began in China in the latter half of the 20th century and is based on Buddhist and Taoist teachings and practicessocial movement, movement, front - a group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals; "he was a charter member of the movement"; "politicians have to respect a mass movement"; "he led the national liberation front"Cathay, China, Communist China, mainland China, People's Republic of China, PRC, Red China - a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world

Falun Gong

(fä-lo͞on go͞ong), also known as Falun Dafa (dä-fä), movement promoting physical and spiritual well-being that became widespread China in the 1990s. Founded in 1992 by Li Hongzhi (1951?–), a former Changchun grain clerk, it combines exercise routines, said to provide focus for the body's energy, with a code of spiritual discipline, intended to foster physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Falun Gong's practices derive from qigong, traditional physical exercises related to tai chi, and from Buddhist and Taoist meditation techniques and spiritual elements. Practitioners cultivate moral precepts that stress zhen (truthfulness), shan (compassion), and ren (forbearance).

Falun Gong, which spread rapidly throughout China in the last decade of the 20th cent., was viewed as a cult by the Chinese government, which vehemently opposed the movement and condemned it in the media. In 1998, Li fled to the United States. His movement, however, remained strong in China and gained adherents through proselytization in the United States and other nations. Chinese members staged protests against government persecution, and in Apr., 1999, when the movement claimed to have roughly 70 million members in China, some 10,000 adherents gathered in a peaceful, silent protest outside Zhongnanhai, the large government and Communist party compound in Beijing. Now regarding the movement as threat to party rule, China outlawed it and arrested and imprisoned members. There also were and continue to be reports of the torture and killing of adherents; some 2,000 persons are believed to have died as a result of the persecution of the group. The systematic suppression of the Falun Gong in China remains a government policy.

Bibliography

See Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun (tr. 2000); I. Adams et al., ed., Power of the Wheel: The Falun Gong Revolution (2000); D. Schechter, Falun Gong's Challenge to China (2000); S. Spiegel, Dangerous Meditation: China's Campaign against Falungong (2002); M. H. Chang, Falun Gong: The End of Days (2004); D. Ownby, Falun Gong and the Future of China (2008).

falun gong

Falun Gong

Falun Gong

Falun Gong

Bibliography

falun gong

Words related to falun gong

noun a spiritual movement that began in China in the latter half of the 20th century and is based on Buddhist and Taoist teachings and practices

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