Falun Dafa

Falun Dafa / Falun Gong

25 October 2000
What follows is the result of an afternoon and evening of harvesting likely-looking web sites and reading retrieved materials, in search of background material to Falun Gong/Dafa, consequent upon thinking about the succession of Rebellions and millennarian movements in Chinese history. It's also an opportunity to put together a proto-project. As usual, the process of doing is a bit messy, but produces all sorts of interesting things along the way.

====Notes to myself====
remarkable how recent... or, rather, how recently the Media picked up
demonization by Chinese Authorities
involvement of gov't officials
mobilized 10K+ under the nose of State Security
Internet communication channel
stalking horse/proxy in US-China relations
'cults'
long history of rebellions, including Wang Lun and the White Lotus (18th c. --cf Spence), Hung Hsiu-ch'uan and the Taiping, Boxers... etc.
charismatic leader, personal revelation
ties to traditional ideas and practises (qigong/chi kung, etc.)
?collision between Chinese traditional and Western positivist models?
political force? spiritual discipline? mass delusion? just another lens?

"a spiritual discipline promising supernatural powers" (Ian Johnson)
but "not messianic or millenarian" (Barend ter Haar)
"...a rehash of traditional Chinese notions regarding meditation and exercises" (Skeptic's Dictionary)
"...provides a set of exercises which cleanse the human bodies (at all levels),
allowing the spiritual work to proceed" (Joseph Beckenbach)
"...a path which is more than just the practise of Qigong... a way of life" (ReligiousTolerance.com)

Books

A search for 'falun' in Annie produced this:

CALL NO.     KNQ2472 .S34 2000.
AUTHOR       Schechter, Danny.
TITLE        Falun Gong's challenge to China : spiritual practice or "evil 
               cult"? / a report and reader by Danny Schechter.
IMPRINT      New York : Akashic Books, c2000.
SUBJECT      Chi kung.
SUBJECT      Freedom of religion -- China.
SUBJECT      Political persecution -- China.
SUBJECT      Li, Hongzhi, 1951-
SUBJECT      Exercise -- Religious aspects -- Buddhism.
SUBJECT      Cults -- China.
1 > Leyburn-Level 3        KNQ2472 .S34 2000              JUST CATALOGED

(this one looks quite promising, "...a collection of documents to help readers acquaint themselves with ideas driving one of the most rapidly spreading spiritual movements in the world..." (pg. 1)
Apr 25 1999 "Mass Appeal" in Beijing, 10-15,000 practitioners gathering, a silent sit-in... earlier 'vigils' in provincial cities... 100 MILLION practitioners?...
...some scholars see it as just the latest in a long lineage of popular folk-based spiritual movements, which have sprung up in times of social disorder and decaying leadership (pg. 5)
The Chinese have long believed in cosmic forces that circulate both within the body and through the world. The notion that masters can see inside you, or help you understand the flux that is at the center of all life and nature, has been around since at least the year 100... (pg. 21)
Annie also produced this one, in response to a search for 'qigong':
CALL NO.     HM101 .H255 1994.
TITLE        Handbook of Chinese popular culture / edited by Wu Dingbo and 
               Patrick D. Murphy.
IMPRINT      Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1994.
SUBJECT      Popular culture -- China -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
SUBJECT      China -- Social life and customs -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
1 > Leyburn-Level 3        HM101 .H255 1994               NOT CHK'D OUT
...but what's really interesting is that the Annie record includes the table of contents of the book, and that's where my search nabbed this book, which has a chapter on 'Taijiquan and Qigong', nearly 20 pages... and the book has many other charms, too.

I also tried Harvard's HOLLIS and found only 3 books listed, but followed a Subject Heading tracing to Chi kung:

   1 CHI KUNG
   1 [retrieves broader heading: EXERCISE]
   2 [retrieves broader heading: MEDICINE CHINESE]
 159 CHI KUNG --BIBLIOGRAPHY
 160 CHI KUNG --BIOGRAPHY
 161 CHI KUNG --CHINA
 174 CHI KUNG --CHINA --BIOGRAPHY
 175 CHI KUNG --CHINA --HISTORY
 177 CHI KUNG --CHINA --PERIODICALS
 179 CHI KUNG --DICTIONARIES --CHINESE
 183 CHI KUNG --ENCYCLOPEDIAS
 185 CHI KUNG --HISTORY
 186 CHI KUNG --KOREA SOUTH
 187 CHI KUNG --PERIODICALS
 191 CHI KUNG --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS
 193 CHI KUNG --TAIWAN
 194 CHI KUNG --TERMINOLOGY
 195 CHI KUNG --THERAPEUTIC USE    
 201 CHI KUNG MOUNTAIN CHINA --GUIDEBOOKS

Periodicals

There are lots of articles in journals and magazines, so many that it's difficult to suggest how to thread one's way to the truly useful.

EAI leads to many Xinhua News Agency stories, and other news reports... but little that looks analytical (and NB none listed from FEER)
UnCover: 47 hits, including
Understanding Falun Gong. 
Madsen, Richard 
 Current history. 
SEP 01 2000 v 99 n 638 pg 243-

  Heretical Cult--the True Colors of Falun Gong. 
 Beijing review. 
NOV 08 1999 v 42 n 45 pg 12-
ATLA Religion Index finds 5 articles from Christian Century
Bibliography of Asian Studies has 13, most from Beijing Review
Lexis-Nexis has more of use in 'newsletters'... but NOTHING that I can find before 1999!
Books in Print has 5, the oldest Li's Zhuan Falun in its 2nd edition (1996)
amazon.com has about 20, with some duplication
U.S. News & World Report Feb '99 article