Falun Gong Falun Gong, occasionally spelled Falungong, and alternatively known as Falundafa, is a new religious movement in China, which formed in the early nineties. The movement’s origins are based upon recent Chinese events, and traditional Chinese practices as well. During the late eighties, the practicing of Qigong exploded, known as the “Qigong boom”. Qigong is a blanket term for numerous practices that heavily use meditation, slower exercises, and controlled breathing. The number of Qigong focused factions during this time skyrocketed, and at one period of time there were more than two thousand groups with tens of millions of Chinese. In May 1992, Li Hongzhi, founded the controversial religion based off of Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian,…show more content… Supporters aimed for truthfulness, compassion, and the refining of their moral character. Li Hongzhi worked in law enforcement and corporate security and, according to Chinese state media, only started practicing Qigong one year before becoming the full time spiritual leader of Falun Gong. The hierarchical structure of Falun Gong differs from other spiritual movements because there really is little to no structure. The movement has no administration. No officials, membership, churches, or any form of houses of worship for that matter. The authority, both spiritual and intellectual, is completely centered in Li Hongzhi, which hardly any come in contact with, other than his writings. After the group amassed one hundred million followers (according to Falun Gong. The Chinese government estimated the number to be between two and three million), Li Hongzhi decide to take the Falun Gong movement abroad, moving to New York…show more content… and the number of people practicing it secretly have dropped tremendously. Thought the protests were suppressed and stopped effectively, the Chinese government also created one of it’s biggest critics. Falun Gong-linked media based overseas like the Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty TV publish anti-communists reports regularly. Falun Gong also has a very big presence in Taiwan, one of China’s largest areas of disagreement. In Taiwan, the Falun Gong fights against Chinese integration. Freegate, a software made by the Falun Gong and partially funded by the US, is a popular tool for getting around China's harsh internet censorship. Because the campaign against the Falun Gong, and the suppression of the movement, the Falun Gong transformed into a political based group. Any new attempts China tries to make to stop the Falun Gong only continue to spur the group
