A Brief History of Falun Gong
The Chinese practice of Falun Gong has a relatively short but already important history. Its specific history is a mere ten years old, however the ideas and practices it is based on have a history that stretch throughout the entire history of the Chinese civilization. The practice of different forms of qigong, the cultivation of qi or the energy that flows throughout the human body and the universe, has been a staple in many different practices of Chinese culture including being the basis for traditional Chinese medicine. In its ten-year history, Falun Gong has garnered millions of practitioners and followers and much attention from many others including the Chinese government, although this attention has been mostly negative. Falun Gong is a form of qigong, an age-old Chinese tradition of meditation and exercise. (Beliefnet 1) Falun Gong is essentially a practice of five sets of movements, including both physical exercise and meditation, believed to heighten the physical, spiritual and moral health of its practitioners. (Beliefnet 1) The exercises of Falun Gong are an effort to rotate the falun, or the spinning body of energy thought to be located in the lower abdomen. (Beliefnet 1) The be
Shortly after the publication of Zhuan Falun, in 1996, Li Hongzhi left China for lief is that the performance of these exercises will stimulate the energy in the falun and in the body in general. It is also believed that this practice absorbs energy from the universe and will release negative elements from the body, which can remedy irregular conditions within the body such as pain, disease and the like. (Beliefnet 1) However, the members of Falun Gong wished to express their grievances to the government of China. The persecution brought about by this demonstration and the organization (and consequently threat) it showed the Falun Gong to have could have been foreseen. A major reason that such a threat was seen could have been the timing of the demonstration. Not only was the protest "an unlawful demonstration in one of the most sensitive spots in China" but it also took place "at a time when the government was nervously anticipating the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown." (Madsen 247) The occurrence of this demonstration at a time so close to the anniversary of another such threatening event could have brought about an overreaction to the protest and given it a negative connotation that it was never meant to have. More recently, there has been more seemingly threatening (at least to the Chinese government) actions performed by the group. They have begun interrupting television broadcasts and sending messages of their own into Chinese viewers' homes. Recently, cable broadcasts have been interrupted in at least six cities, and the replacement broadcasts tend to merely display banners reading, "Falun Dafa is good." (CNN) Furthermore, the government blames the bold hijacking of government controlled satellite signals during the World Cup soccer finals to Falun Gong. (CNN) described by Li Hongzhi as a small representation of the universe. (Beliefnet 1) The symbol consists of a large swastika surrounded by spinning smaller swastikas and yin-yang symbols as well. The large swastika is said to represent the spinning universe. (Beliefnet 1) In its designer's own words:
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1748
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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