 Cover | |
| Author | David Ownby |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Falun Gong |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 2008 |
| Pages | 312 |
| ISBN | 978-0-19-532905-6 |
| OCLC | 619082174 |
| 299.5'1 | |
| LC Class | BP605.F36O96 2008 |
Falun Gong and the Future of China is a 2008 book by David Ownby, published by Oxford University Press. The book is about the Chinese new religious movement Falun Gong, and covers its history and the group's media and portrayals of itself. The book received generally positive reviews.
David Ownby had conducted field work among people within North America who were a part of the Falun Gong movement. [1]
The initial portion of the book discusses the group's history. The book also discusses the general qigong fever from which the Falun Gong originated, as well as how the movement portrays itself in media like the Epoch Times , and anti-Falun Gong media created by the Chinese government. [1]
Joseph Kahn of The New York Times wrote that Ownby did not have access to Chinese government officials, nor secret Chinese government documents; additionally Ownby did not have access to Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi. [2]
Ownby stated that the work is not in favor of Falun Gong nor is it meant to attack the Falun Gong. Hong You of Chicago wrote in The Journal of Religion that "Ownby's take in this study, if not harshly critical of Li, is not laudatory either". [3]
Hong You stated that the book is "an objective appraisal". According to Hong You the average public and academics in Chinese and religious studies would appreciate the book. He also believed that Falun Gong members would appreciate the book and find ways to restructure the movement through "constructive criticism coming from an academic work." You argued that despite the title, the work does not talk much about the future of China, making this "My only criticism". [3]
Kahn wrote "his narrative does not offer many new insights into the fears and aspirations of either side" and that "His contention that Falun Gong belongs to a tradition dating to White Lotus is credible." [2]
Scott Pacey of the Australian National University described the book as "a comprehensive overview of Falun Gong both as a set of religious beliefs and as an organized group of devotees." [1] Michael L. Mickler of the Unification Theological Seminary wrote "Despite its title, the book deals very little, if at all, with the future of China." [4] Pacey stated "Scholars and students interested in Chinese religion will find much to profit from this book." [1]
Mickler stated that academics with modern Chinese history and/or new religions will have "particular interest" in the work although it is also "accessible" to the lay public. [4] Mickler stated that the work "is a major contribution toward our understanding of" the Falun Gong. [4]
James R. Lewis argued in his 2018 book Falun Gong: Spiritual Warfare and Martyrdom that Ownby's book was too sympathetic to the Falun Gong, and was unfairly biased against the People's Republic of China and too willing to accept information sourced from the group's websites. Lewis accused the book's account of the persecution of the Falun Gong as "incomplete and thus misleading" and that he accepted arguments from other organizations without realizing that they were not truly independent of the organization. He said that while he appreciated the book there needed to be room for less apologetic treatments of the movement. [5]
Falun Gong or Falun Dafa is a new religious movement. Falun Gong was founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a 427-acre (1.73 km2) compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near the residence of Li Hongzhi.
Li Hongzhi is a Chinese religious leader. He is the founder and leader of Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, a United States-based new religious movement. Li began his public teachings of Falun Gong on 13 May 1992 in Changchun, and subsequently gave lectures and taught Falun Gong exercises across China.
The Epoch Times is a far-right international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement. The newspaper, based in New York City, is part of the Epoch Media Group, which also operates New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television. The Epoch Times has websites in 35 countries but is blocked in mainland China.
The 610 Office was a security agency in the People's Republic of China. Named for the date of its creation on June 10, 1999, it was established for the purpose of coordinating and implementing the persecution of Falun Gong. The 610 Office was the implementation arm of the Central Leading Group on Dealing with the Falun Gong (CLGDF), also known as the Central Leading Group on Dealing with Heretical Religions, a leading small group of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Because it was a CCP-led office with no formal legal mandate, it is sometimes described as an extralegal organisation.
Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice and system of beliefs that combines the practice of meditation with the moral philosophy articulated by its leader and founder, Li Hongzhi. It emerged on the public radar in the Spring of 1992 in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, and was classified as a system of qigong identifying with the Buddhist tradition. Li claimed to have both supernatural powers like the ability to prevent illness, as well having eternal youth and promised that others can attain supernatural powers and eternal youth by following his teachings. Falun Gong initially enjoyed official sanction and support from Chinese government agencies, and the practice grew quickly on account of the simplicity of its exercise movements, impact on health, the absence of fees or formal membership, and moral and philosophical teachings.
Falun Gong, a new religious movement that combines meditation with the moral philosophy articulated by founder Li Hongzhi, first began spreading widely in China in 1992. Li's first lectures outside mainland China took place in Paris in 1995. At the invitation of the Chinese ambassador to France, he lectured on his teachings and practice methods to the embassy staff and others. From that time on, Li gave lectures in other major cities in Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America. He has resided permanently in the United States since 1998. Falun Gong is now practiced in some 70 countries worldwide, and the teachings have been translated to over 40 languages. The international Falun Gong community is estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands, though participation estimates are imprecise on account of a lack of formal membership.
Li Hongzhi published the Teachings of Falun Gong in Changchun, China in 1992. They cover a wide range of topics ranging from spiritual, scientific and moral to metaphysical.
The Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, on the eve of Chinese New Year on 23 January 2001. There is controversy over the incident; Chinese government sources say that five members of Falun Gong, a new religious movement that is banned in mainland China, set themselves on fire in the square. Falun Gong sources disputed the accuracy of these portrayals, and claimed that their teachings explicitly forbid violence or suicide. Some journalists have claimed that the self-immolations were staged.
Zhong Gong (中功) is a spiritual movement based on qigong founded in 1987 by Zhang Hongbao. The full name (中华养生益智功) translates to "China Health Care and Wisdom Enhancement Practice." The system distinguished itself from other forms of qigong by its strong emphasis on commercialisation, and a targeted strategy that aimed to build a national commercial organisation in China in the 1990s.
James Roger Lewis was an American philosophy professor at Wuhan University. He was a religious studies scholar, sociologist of religion, and writer, who specialized in the academic study of new religious movements, astrology, and New Age.
The Kilgour–Matas report is a 2006/2007 investigative report into allegations of live organ harvesting in China conducted by Canadian MP David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas. The report was requested by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) after allegations emerged that Falun Gong practitioners were secretly having their organs removed against their will at Sujiatun Thrombosis Hospital. The report, based on circumstantial evidence, concluded that "there has been, and continues today to be, large-scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners." China has consistently denied the allegations.
The persecution of Falun Gong is the campaign initiated in 1999 by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to eliminate the spiritual practice of Falun Gong in China, maintaining a doctrine of state atheism. It is characterized by a multifaceted propaganda campaign, a program of enforced ideological conversion and re-education and reportedly a variety of extralegal coercive measures such as arbitrary arrests, forced labor and physical torture, sometimes resulting in death.
Falun Gong is a spiritual practice taught by Li Hongzhi. Practicing Falun Gong or protesting on its behalf is forbidden in Mainland China, yet the practice remains legal in Hong Kong, which has greater protections of civil and political liberties under “One country, Two systems.” Since 1999 practitioners in Hong Kong have staged demonstrations and protests against the Chinese government, and assisted those fleeing persecution in China. Nonetheless, Falun Gong practitioners have encountered some restrictions in Hong Kong as a result of political pressure from Beijing. The treatment of Falun Gong by Hong Kong authorities has often been used as a bellwether to gauge the integrity of the one country two systems model.
Qigong, the Chinese practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and martial arts training, has a history that extends back more than 4,000 years. Contemporary qigong is a complex accretion of the ancient Chinese meditative practice xingqi or "circulating qi" and the gymnastic breathing exercise daoyin or "guiding and pulling", with roots in the I Ching and occult arts; philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts; along with influences of contemporary concepts of health, science, meditation, and exercise.
Zouhuorumo ,to be obsessed, possessed or taken over by something, also known as qigong deviation, is a Chinese-culture concept traditionally used to indicate that something has gone wrong in spiritual or martial arts training. The qigong and Traditional Chinese medical physicians and community uses this term to describe a physiological or psychological disorder believed to result during or after qigong practice, due to "improper practice" of qigong and other self-cultivation techniques. The concept was highlighted in the social and political context of mass popularization of qigong in China. The Buddhist or Taoist community also uses this term "Zouhuorumo" when referring to people who practice esoteric teachings and techniques or meditation without good character and well established discipline or the proper guidance of a teacher.
Heterodox teaching is a concept in the law of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its administration regarding new religious movements and their suppression. Also translated as 'cults' or 'evil religions', "heterodox teachings" are defined in Chinese law as organizations and religious movements that either fraudulently use religion to carry out other illegal activities, deify their leaders, spread "superstition" to confuse or deceive the public, or "disturb the social order" by harming people's lives or property. What exactly these definitions mean has been interpreted in various ways since their establishment in 1999/2000. Organizations that are found by local police forces in the PRC to be distributing heterodox teachings are targeted for disruption, and its leaders and organizers are severely prosecuted.
The Religion of Falun Gong is a 2012 nonfiction book by Benjamin Penny, published by the University of Chicago Press, that discusses the Falun Gong's belief system.
Revenge of the Forbidden City: The Suppression of the Falungong in China, 1999-2005 is a 2009 book by James W. Tong, published by Oxford University Press. It describes how the Chinese government suppressed the Falun Gong in that stated time frame. David Ownby of the Université de Montréal described it as "a very nuts-and-bolts book".
Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China is a 2007 book by David A. Palmer, published by Columbia University Press. It is about the "Qigong fever" in the late 20th century in China.
Becoming Activists in Global China: Social Movements in the Chinese Diaspora is a non-fiction book by Andrew Junker, an adjunct assistant professor in sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Published by Cambridge University Press in 2019, the book is a sociological study of the Falun Gong movement and the post-1989 democracy movement (Minyun), both suppressed in China. By comparing these two movements from a social movement perspective, Junker argued that Falun Gong's more enduring mobilization results from its decentralized organizational structure and demonstrates the potential for progressive social change.