Politics
How a Persecuted Religious Group Grew Into a Global Movement
Founded in China in the early 1990s, Falun Gong unsettled Chinese government officials and quickly became subject to brutal repression. It has prospered nonetheless.
The posters are instantly recognizable, a fixture on storefronts around the world whenever the Shen Yun Performing Arts show comes to town. Featuring graceful dancers in billowy costumes, the ads promise a glimpse of “China before Communism.”
The show is one of the most visible parts of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, whose three-decade history includes a brutal crackdown in China, claims that its members’ organs were harvested and a transnational repression campaign that continues to this day.
Since its introduction in China about 30 years ago, Falun Gong has gained a global following comprising Chinese immigrants and non-Chinese practitioners alike. They have extolled the health benefits of its meditative exercises.
Precise estimates of the number of Falun Gong followers are difficult to obtain because the movement says it has no formal membership system. Falun Gong’s press department says it has followers in more than 100 countries, including about 10,000 who live in the United States.
Here’s what to know about the movement, its persecution in China and how it all connects to Shen Yun:
How did Falun Gong begin?
In 1992, a former grain clerk named Li Hongzhi began delivering lectures across China to introduce a new spiritual discipline called Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa.