In 1999, the Falun Gong organization attracted the attention of the world for its relation with human rights and religious freedom in China after it was banned by the China government. In the past nine years, it can be seen that what this organization has done is far distinct from their claims. The astonishing news released by this organization that China government brutally violated human rights always turned out to be a trick play to obtain sympathy of the public. The public came to loss interest in it and it has gradually been washed off the mainstream. This paper attempts to explore the origin and evolution of Falun Gong organization. Shortly after it was founded it began to separate itself from the normal society through various theories and measures, and finally went opposite to the society. This paper will present the real life of today's Falun Gong followers in China and the survival policy of this organization outside China after it was banned by the China government.
I. From Meeting Social and Public Values to Attract Disciples to Isolating from and Antagonizing Against the Society
It is from 1992 to July 1999 that Falun Gong evolved from an obscure unknown Qigong group into an instant hit around the world. This period could be divided into three phases.
1. Falun Gong appeared amid "Qigong fanatic" in the mid of 1980s, attracting many followers who wished to keep fit
1.1 Social background that contributed to the emergence of Falun Gong
Qigong is an ancient Chinese way to keep healthy and has been passed from generation to generation for thousands of years in China. In fact, it proved to be considerably effective for some diseases. It is from 1979 that a tide of Qigong fanatic swept through China. In 1984, a "magic doctor" named Yan Xin in Chongqing claimed he could cure disease by means of remote diagnosis. He even invented Qigong-emitting lectures. It was said that attending such the lectures could receive magical powers of the master and cure their diseases in site. From then on, the so-called Qigong masters appeared here and there all over China by one by. When Li Hongzhi was making his debut in 1992, there already existed dozens of senior Qigong masters, for example, Zhang Hongbao, the founder of the "Zhong Gong"; Zhang Xiangyu, the self-claimed "Daughter of the Jade Emperor"; Tian Ruisheng, the founder of "Xiang Gong" who could give off fragrant smell after exercise; Zhang Zhixiang, the master of "Yuanji Gong" and Zhang Xiaoping, the "Son of Buddha" who pronounced himself the private physician of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, etc. Thousands of Qigong masters were officially certified and demonstrated different magical powers to the public, attracting millions of followers.
1.2 The rise of Li Hongzhi
Li Hongzhi was born in 1952. He joined the People's Liberation Army after graduation from a secondary school. Then he left the PLA and began to work as a staff at security office of the Changchun Municipal Cereals and Oil Company. In 1988, Li attended two terms of Qigong training courses held by Jilin Qigong Scientific Research Association. In 1990, Li began to create his own Qigong exercise method - Falun Gong. In November 1991, he left the company by way of suspending payment of salary but retaining office, and became a professional Qigong master. In May 1992, Li began to teach people Falun Gong openly at Changchun. In June 1992, Li Hongzhi came to Beijing where he managed to obtain the certificate of "Qualified Qigong Master" from China Qigong Scientific Research Society (CQSRS). As a result, Falun Gong was officially recognized as a "Level C Qigong Organization". On June 25, 1992, Li Hongzhi held in Beijing his first term of training class and an official named Li Chang from the Ministry of Public Security of China attended the lecture. Later on Li Chang helped Li Hongzhi acquire many honors and awards, expanding the influence of Falun Gong.
On July 30, 1993, with the help of Li Chang and others, Falun Gong was upgraded by CQSRS as "The Falun Gong Branch of China Qigong Scientific Research Society" or "Falun Gong Research Society" for short. On October 14, Li Chang and others went to relevant government departments and had "Falun Gong Research Society" registered as an affiliate of CQSRS. Thus, Falun Gong became an official organization.
1.3 Main tactics to grow popular
Tactic 1. Maximizing favorable factors and minimizing unfavorable ones to meet the mainstream of social values. Li Hongzhi intentionally stressed the so-called "Fofa" (The Law of Buddha) he invented and published the book China Falun Gong in which he advocated Qigong exercise as well as being a good man, asking Falun Gong followers to become good people with virtues of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance." This tactic proved to be a big success because Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance have always been traditional values deeply cherished by majority of the Chinese people. Soon Li had gained general recognition of the public.
Tactic 2. Exaggerating magical powers to quickly harvest fames. Li Hongzhi claimed Falun Gong as a direct school of China Qigong Scientific Research Society (CQSRS) and he was an advanced Qigong master who possessed four magical powers: hiding physical body, making objects (or living things) motionless, teleporting, and controlling people's thoughts - all at his personal will.
Tactic 3. Spreading the World Doomsday Theory and intimidating his followers. In 1994, Li Hongzhi told Jiao Lixun who was the head of Falun Gong Teaching Station in Changchun, "It's up to us to determine the life expectancy of the Earth – the first earth explosion was decided by my master's master, the second one by my master. This time, the explosion was decided by myself. The date of the explosion this time was fixed so tightly that it would be postponed thirty years at the most, no matter how hard I try. " Holding lectures at Changchun Li told his followers: "The earth will explode and human beings are bound to doom. Only Falun Gong can save you…, when the earth is exploding in the future I'll give you a call – 'follow me to the Falun Gong world', then all of you would become Buddha or other Gods."
Tactic 4. Depreciating others while building up himself. Li Hongzhi told people frequently: "Now I am the only one who is teaching the top level Gong in China." He depreciated other Qigong masters one by one, saying that all schools of Qigong in China would be uniformed and dominated only by Falun Gong.
2. "Reaching Consummation" replaced "keeping fit" as the ultimate goal of practicing Falun Gong
2.1 Consummation-oriented theoretical system was formed
In 2004, Li Hongzhi published his book named Zhuan Falun (Rotating the Wheel of Law). Since then Li began to re-explain the universe, human life, disease as well as the social morality in a way completely different from the mainstream value system. And eventually Li formed his own theoretical system and led Falun Gong into separation from social values.
Li Hongzhi's view of the universe
In his book Zhuan Falun. Li explains there are many layers or levels of spaces in the universe, "Some of them got selfish or bad and they couldn't stay at high levels, so they dropped, they dropped to a certain level. At that level they became bad again, so they kept dropping and dropping, until they finally dropped to the level of ordinary people." Here the "ordinary people" refers to the earth. "The earth is but a garbage dump of the universe," and human beings are all "scum bags" that deserve "being disposed of." According to Li Hongzhi, the only way for people to avoid being eliminated is to practice Falun Gong and reach Consummation – and eventually return to the Paradise.
Li said, "This science was set up by aliens. Their purpose was to unify human beings and simplify their thoughts to the point of being as uniform as machines. And they unified knowledge to make it easy for them to later on control and replace human beings.,,Alien beings have made rather extensive preparations for overtaking human beings." And computer "was set up by aliens for the purpose of controlling human thoughts." (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland, 1998)"
It is obvious that only after Falun Gong disciples have discarded modern science could they totally believe in Li Hongzhi's theories – to abandon the "garbage dump" and take cultivation practice as their ultimate goal of life.
Li Hongzhi's view of morality
Li put forward two concepts called "virtue" and "Karma" respectively, materializing the traditional concepts of Benevolence and Wickedness. "Virtue is a kind of white substance," Li claimed, "Virtue can turn into Gong directly." "A practitioner's Gong power and what level he stays at all depend on his virtue." Li Hongzhi continued: "At the same time, there exists a kind of black substance called Karma," "A person acquires Karma when he does something bad or evil, when he is bullying others for instance". And "The white substance and the black are inter-related – as one falls, the other rises… as the white substance increases so does your Gong power, and when it accumulates to a certain extent you'll reach Consummation. But the black substance does harm to your cultivation practice."
Li illustrated several approaches to obtaining white substance: practicing Gong, helping others, etc. If someone hit you, swore at you or took advantage of you, it meant he was giving his white substance to you. So actually it was the man who suffered losses, this was an exchange. "People call it 'no loss no gain' or 'gains and losses balance each other,' and this is a Law of the universe." By adopting such an attitude of life, the practitioners could not only obtain the white substance for Consummation from others but also render from the society the fame of "being good people" – moderate, tolerant and altruistic. So the "virtue" Li claimed was actually the selfish pursuit of white substance from others.
Li Hongzhi's view of disease
Li explained, "The root cause of disease and misfortunes is karma, or karma field of the black substance I mentioned…Karma is one of the major causes of disease." The only way to get rid of disease was to practice Falun Gong and medicine would do the sick man no good. Li promised to eliminate sickness for faithful disciples as they started to practice Falun Gong. "I'll eliminate your sickness here directly all by myself; my Law-Bodies will do the same for disciples on other practice spots. Even when you study my book and learn the Fa by yourself, my Law-Bodies will cure your sickness. " As a result, Li did not allow his followers to seek medical help. "Taking medicine while practicing Falun Gong means not believing that Falun Gong is able to cure illness." "If you put your mind correct and really believe that practicing Falun Gong can eliminate your sickness, then you should stop taking medicine and neglect your trouble – someone else will eliminate illness for you." (Falun Fofa - Fa Lectures in the United States, 1997)
2.2 Using "keeping fit and becoming good people" as bait and taking advantage of mass effect to stimulate positive comments
Putting forward the "Fa promotion" theory to make it the responsibility of disciples to recommend Falun Gong to other people
Li Hongzhi asked his disciples to recommend Falun Gong to other people and called it "Promoting the Fa", declaring it the holy mission of every practitioner and the fastest way to reach Consummation. Li stated, there were two basic ways of "promoting the Fa": One was called "person to person, mind to mind", which meant the disciple invited his friends and relatives to join in by telling them the magical effect of Falun Gong through his own experience. The other was to join group practice of Falun Gong at practice spots, arousing other people's curiosity, making them to stop and watch, then persuading them to join in. As a result, many loyal disciples took their own friends and relatives in and formed a lot of "Falun Gong families."
Study the Fa collectively and exchange views with each other, stimulating practitioners with "group polarization phenomenon" to invite positive comments
Li asked his followers to study the Fa together and exchange views with each other. Each group had a leader who was responsible for organizing discussions, each member talking about the magical improvement of his or her body after practice. It was an intensified measure and a very effective one. Actually, people call it the "group polarization phenomenon" in social psychology: consolidate the common attitude of members of a group through discussion, influencing persons who hold different opinions. "The more they repeat other people's opinions, the more they agree with them." It is called "the information influence of groups." Also, the regulations or customs of a group have great impact on the attitude of its members. For instance, a new comer starts to practice Falun Gong, if all practitioners around him or her claim their bodies have been improved dramatically after practice, then the new comer may also "feel" better after practicing Falun Gong and make favorable comments on it as a result.
Form a warm and caring environment within the group, intensifying unity and loyalty of Falun Gong practitioners
Through collective study and practice, many Falun Gong groups were transformed into warm and harmonious social entities: practitioners within a group helped and supported each other, feeling safe to unburden their troubles to one another. And it proved to be very attractive for those who were feeling lonely and not good at socializing. Many of them regarded their practicing group as their home, felt excited and being strongly attracted by it, and strictly abided by regulations or customs of their group.
2.3 Create a "brand new world" for Falun Gong practitioners who originally just want to improve their health
Replace the purpose of practice
Firstly, Li Hongzhi lauded his Falun Gong into skies, claiming no other Qigong had magical effects as his Falun Gong did. If a practitioner really benefited from practice, Li would say it was him who had eliminated sickness for the practitioner. If some one dared to quit Falun Gong, Li threatened he would make the practitioner become ill again.
Secondly, Li Hongzhi promised that by practicing Falun Gong the practitioners could gain Consummation – or get into Paradise and become immortals. Li's vivid description of the Paradise made of gold was as follows: "In the Paradise of Ultimate Bliss, the trees are made of gold, and so are the ground, birds, flowers, and houses. Even the Buddha-body is golden and shiny." "When he succeeds in cultivation later on he'll get whatever he wants just by extending his hand, he'll have anything he wants, and he'll be able to do whatever he wants to - he'll have everything in his world." (Zhuan Falun)
According to Li Hongzhi, once a practitioner has gained Consummation and becomes an immortal, he can even take his flesh body with him to the Paradise, enjoying himself there body and soul: "In our practice system, I use the method of Ascension in Broad Daylight for those who are to go to the Falun Paradise." (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland, 1998) He promised that if one practiced successfully, he could fly to the heaven with his body to enjoy everything he wanted.
Spreading "the World Doomsday" theory and urging Falun Gong followers to grasp "the last opportunity"
"Right now the dimension where we human beings exist and a lot of other dimensions are in great danger. And the same goes for other dimensions at this level. The only way to avoid being destroyed is to get into higher levels through practice, if you practice Falun Gong, you can escape." "If a man continues to decline, he will face elimination, a thorough elimination, which is called 'extinction of body and soul', it is very frightening!"
According to Li Hongzhi's theory, practicing Falun Gong was the only way to save human beings. He explained: "This is the first and the last time I teach human beings Falun Dafa." "Like Buddha Sakyamuni's Buddhism, our Falun Dafa once saved people on a large scale in human society during a prehistoric time. In this period of human civilization, it has never done so. Since the appearance of mankind this time, this is the first time that we have brought it out again, and it could also be the last time that it is made public and taught to man." (Falun Fofa – Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Sydney, 1996)
Social psychologists find out that "When human beings have sensed the seriousness and possibility of a threat, the most effective way to let people accept a certain solution is to give them more terrifying information." Li Hongzhi threatened people with the news of the world Doomsday first, later on he prescribed for his followers – if you want to escape from the earth explosion, come and practice Falun Gong.
Claim to be the sovereign God of the universe who possesses boundless power
To make followers firmly believe in his theory, Li Hongzhi claimed to be the sovereign God of the universe: "The benevolence of the sovereign God is truly boundless. He has already passed Fofa to human beings." (--Remaking Mankind, 1996) In 2002, Li directly pointed out "The cultural heritage in history was all created by out Dafa disciples." (-- Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
Li told his followers: "I have numerous Law-Bodies who look the same as me. They are in another dimension, so of course they can become large or small…They will look after you, protect you." "There are so many of my Law-Bodies that they cannot be calculated by numbers, and they are numerous… I can protect all human beings, no mater how many. Of course, my protection is effective only when it comes to the cultivators."(Falun Fofa - Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Sydney, 1996) Li said he installed a Law Wheel for each faithful disciple at their abdomens, so his disciples could practice Falun Gong automatically when they were busy.
Practitioners with an original intention of keeping fit were led into a wonderful world where they could not only get rid of troubles of life but also get into Paradise after death. Under such temptation, millions of Falun Gong disciples got together. Yet they did not realize that the moment they got into the "wonderful world," they began to deviate from the normal society.
3. Isolate from and Antagonize Against the Society
This period was from 1996 to 1999 during which Li Hongzhi and his family emigrated from China to the USA. Li decided to spread his Falun Gong to other countries so he needed to achieve even greater popularity. Staging confrontations with Chinese government was the quickest way for him to gain publicity.
3.1 Li Hongzhi established and perfected Falun Gong organization while the Chinese people were querying Qigong masters
More than ten years after the "Qigong fanatic", the China Qigong Scientific Research Society conducted an investigation which read: "In China, over 60,000,000 people practice Qigong all the year round and more than 10,000 people are known to be Qigong masters. All Qigong schools amount to more than 2,400. We are facing a rather chaotic situation: all kinds of schools jumbled together, good and bad people are intermingled…"Some Qigong masters accumulated great wealth by hoodwinking and dishonesty, turning Qigong exercise into an illegal way of seeking exorbitant profits. So the Chinese government began to clear up Qigong organizations nationwide. Many big Qigong organizations were banned, and a lot of Qigong masters who had engaged in illegal activities were punished according to law. At that time, Falun Gong was only a small Qigong group with little publicity so it was not regarded as one of the top targets to be cracked down upon. Faun Gong was ordered to stop selling books and ceased its official qualification certificate. Taking advantage of the crack-down, Li Hongzhi expanded and perfected his organization system, consolidating the influence of Falun Gong. Up to 1999, Li established nine Falun Gong general teaching stations, more than 1,900 assistant stations and 28,000 practice spots in China. He also set up more than 20 websites in Mainland China, 39 websites in the USA, and 22 websites in other countries or regions around the world. While many other Qigong organizations were cleared up, Falun Gong formed a complete set of organization system level by level.
3.2 Invent new theories to make Falun Gong followers lose the ability of thinking and discerning
Putting forward the "thought-karma" theory to forbid practitioners to think and question
After studying the Fa, some of the practitioners felt doubtful about what they had learned. Li called these doubts "thought-karmas", saying all karmas were black substance which hindered disciple's practice. Li Hongzhi told followers their doubts arising from thought-karma, not their own minds. To complete one's cultivation practice, practitioners had to eliminate the thought-karma first because it was intentionally set up to obstruct the cultivation of Falun Dafa. A practitioner's karma would, according to Li Hongzhi, build up if he felt doubtful during his practice. Li asked his followers to study the Fa everyday, demanding that study time be longer than practice. During discussions, the disciples could only talk about their enlightenments, no doubts or questions. Thus, the Falun Gong disciples lost their freedom of thinking for fear that their black substance (thought-karma) would increase.
Set up the "Drop Ordinary Idea" theory
In order to totally block up Falun Gong followers' thinking, Li Hongzhi set up the so called "Drop Ordinary Idea" theory, knowing that his explanations of the world were in contradiction with what his followers had learned. Li described people who did not practice Falun Gong as "the ordinary people" and who did "the cultivator," claiming that a cultivator had to give up "the ordinary way of thinking" if he really wanted to reach Consummation since "ordinary ideas" were obstacles of cultivation practice. "Every thought of the ordinary people is an obstacle"Li stated, "you have to let go of these ordinary ideas. " "The principles of cultivators and those of ordinary people are opposite，" "The world of cultivation is extra-ordinary and wonderful, nothing is impossible. So the ordinary people will not understand it."
The theory of "Drop Ordinary Idea" destroyed the standards to tell good from evil, and as a result, the Falun Gong followers turned deaf ears to criticism or opinions from other people, since they regarded themselves "cultivators" totally different from "ordinary people."
3.3 Depreciate and deny other religions
Firstly, Li put Falun Gong high above other religions, claiming Falun Gong was not a religion but "the Law of Universe." "Many of the world's true religions can no longer save people." (Zhuan Falun)
In May 1998, Li Hongzhi put it more plainly: "In fact, I can tell you that among the religions out in today's human world, no upright religion in the world is being looked after by gods." (Fa Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe) He directly defamed Christianity and built up himself: "What I am teaching is the Law of Universe and the greatest Law of all. Our Dafa can save all sentient beings. That's because Dafa is the Fa of the cosmos and has created living environments for all beings in the cosmos. Let say our Dafa is a grand palace, then Christianity is just a thatched shed. The two can not be mentioned in the same breath." Li emphasized that only Falun Gong enabled the practitioners to reach Consummation.
Secondly, Li Hongzhi denied his disciples' access to other religions. "We teach that in cultivation you need to commit to one discipline. It doesn't matter which cultivation you do, you shouldn't mix in other things and cultivate thoughtlessly.". " In other words, even in Buddhism they teach 'no second discipline.'" Li demanded his followers not to be converted to Buddhism or engaged in religious activities such as burning joss sticks etc, so they could concentrate themselves only on Falun Gong practice.
3.4 Activity segregation making Falun Gong followers isolated from the society
Be different from "ordinary people"
The initial purpose of most Falun Gong disciples was to keep fit. Yet they were lured into accepting the idea of Consummation. In order to gain Consummation they had to "promote the Fa"; and finally, they were asked to get rid of "ordinary peoples' thinking and desires." Step by step, they were led astray by Li Hongzhi, deviating from normal life and becoming marginalized.
Now the Falun Gong practitioners are forced to abandon their normal life and pursuit. "But as a cultivator you can't confuse yourself with an everyday person. To put it a bit seriously, you're no longer human…humans have various emotions and desires, and live for emotion (qing). During the course of cultivation you are gradually taking these things more lightly and gradually letting go of them until you completely discard them."（Teaching the Fa in New York City）
It was a typical story of "foot-the-door phenomenon": the best way to ask for a great favor was to ask for small ones first, "Many a little makes a mickle."
Disconnect communications with other people
Li Hongzhi asked his followers to frequently advertise to "ordinary people" Falun Gong's magical powers of eliminating sickness, the "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance", as well as the "Being good people" etc, but never allowed his disciples to talk about some thing like "reaching Consummation" which would arouse other people's suspicions. Li Hongzhi purposely cut off the communication channels between common people and Falun Gong practitioners, making his teachings a sole theory system accepted by people within Falun Gong organizations. At the same time, the cliquism became practitioners' philosophy of life.
Break off relationship with family members, making practitioners isolated from the society
In China, people cherish family member affections; one's family members are usually the most reliable elements in his social supporting system. Li Hongzhi purposely drove wedges between practitioners and their family members. In his book Zhuan Falun, Li Hongzhi told his followers: "Since a person's true being is his master soul, only the mother who gave birth to your master soul is your real mother. In your cycle of rebirth, if you want to count the mothers that are human and nonhuman, they're just countless. And how many children have you had over all those lifetimes? They're countless, too. Who is your mother? Who are your children? When you take your last breath no one recognizes anyone." "Those who are attached to affection for family will definitely be burned, entangled, and tormented by it. Pulled by the threads of affection and plagued by them throughout their lives, they will find it too late to regret at the end of their lives. "（Cultivators' Avoidances, April 1996）According to Li Hongzhi, a person had numerous parents and his affection for family was an obstacle in the way of reaching Consummation. Bewitched by Li Hongzhi, the practitioners only exchanged views within Falun Gong organization, so the influence of their family members became weaker and weaker. It further consolidated Li's authority, no matter what he said, the practitioners would accept without any hesitation. Some practitioners even thought that being different from "ordinary people" meant they were standing head and shoulders above others. For them, absurdities equaled to the Gong power a practitioner had acquired.
Li Hongzhi purposely instilled the idea of "Being different from ordinary people" into his followers, encouraged them to discard family affections and viciously cut off communications with other people and the society, triggering the confrontation between the recognition of the society (including practitioner' family) and that of the small group of Falun Gong. As the two sides were diametrically opposed to each other, the group of people within Falun Gong organization would automatically separate from the society and become marginalized.
3.5 From minor conflicts to escalated confrontations, Falun Gong becomes well-known around the world
It is common that cult organizations will gradually become marginalized. According to investigation conducted by the USA on rising religious organizations (Adapted from G. Vernon 1962, see also Chalfant et al 1994), the common characteristic of these organizations is to "neglect or challenge" the nation and society. If Falun Gong did belong to the category mentioned, it would be just an obscure, subculture or counterculture organization with its own argot. But the fact indicates it does not. Falun Gong has gone beyond: it stirs up conflicts, openly violates laws and purposely escalates confrontations to attract publicity.
Affirm inner loyalty by staging minor conflicts
When a marginalized organization that denies social values has gone to the extreme, it may easily evolve into a destructive one. Because its members are pride of the organization and consider themselves superior to others, they frequently ignore laws and regulations, a minor strife may quickly escalate into an explosive confrontation.
Li Hongzhi boasted that "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance" was the foundation of Falun Gong. When Falun Gong was at its initial stage, some disciples asked Li Hongzhi, how to defend Falun Dafa if it was under attack? Li answered, never mind, let them say what they want to say. Yet after his disciples had been brainwashed, Li began to affirm disciples' loyalty to him. In June 17, 1996, the Guangming Daily published an article: "Perseveringly Oppose Pseudoscience – a topic arising from the book Zhuan Falun" Li Hongzhi quickly wrote the scripture named Huge Exposure, encouraging Falun Gong followers to send condemning letters to Guangming Daily. In a short span of time, the Press was flooded by over 100,000 condemning letters. This incident was an exploratory one for Li Hongzhi and he cleverly employed a legal approach -- send out complaining letters.
Before 1998, Li Hongzhi constantly gave hints, encouraging Falun Gong groups around the nation to stage small-scaled demonstrations. To avoid deterioration of the situation, the media was forced to make necessary concessions. Common threats from the outside world consolidated unity and the feeling of responsibility for their group, making Falun Gong followers more faithful to Li Hongzhi.
Pave the way to the world by setting up massive confrontations
In February 1998, Li Hongzhi emigrated from China to the United States and settled down. He began to establish Falun Gong organizations all over the world. 38 state-level Assistant Stations were set up in the USA. Obviously, Li needed more breeding grounds and worldwide popularity since he had already decided to expand his organization mainly outside China. From April 1998 to April 1999, Falun Gong plotted and organized 18 besieges against press and publication units, government offices at all levels, each time with a mob of more than 1,000 practitioners. Li described these conflicts as activities of "protecting the Fa", and openly speaking on behalf of Falun Gong as "going out". "Every occurrence of such magnitude, is the best test and best opportunity for students to make that best step toward Consummation.… If Consummation is at hand and you still won't move, I wonder what you would move for. You don't really want to achieve Consummation."(Fa Teaching at Chang Chun, July 1998)
In May 1998, Beijing TV Station ran a program "Could the tight certificate-control clear up all pseudo-Qigong cases?" The program told people a real story about a Ph.D. who was mentally deranged because of practicing Falun Gong. From the USA, Li Hongzhi called Li Chang twice and asked him to "mobilize as many practitioners as possible," and "put pressure on the TV station." From May 27 to June 4, Beijing TV Station was encircled by several thousands of practitioners for eight consecutive days. Although the Station did not satisfied practitioners' demands, it made concessions.
In November 1998, the practitioners besieged Chongqing Daily Press Office and Falun Gong organization threatened: if the press office did not apologize openly, all Falun Gong practitioners would "send out their Gong simultaneously" to destroy the Press with flood and move up the date of earth explosion.
On April 11, 1999, the college publication Science Review for Juvenile sponsored by Tianjin Educational College published a signed article written by He Zuoxiu, "I Don't Agree with Teenagers Practicing Qigong," in which Falun Gong was criticized. The Falun Gong Headquarter in Beijing mobilized 6,000 plus practitioners from six provinces and cities to besiege the College from April 19 to 23, continuously. Mandatory measures were taken by the Tianjin Public Security Bureau to control the situation. At the night of April 23, over 2,000 practitioners surrounded and attacked Tianjin Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Administration.
At about three o'clock early in the morning on April 25, 1999, Falun Gong practitioners from six provinces and cities started gathering in Beijing. The government leaders in Zhongnanhai woke up to the news that their compound had been enveloped by more than 10,000 practitioners. Falun Gong organization put forward three demands to General Office of the Central Committee of CPC and to Letters and Visits Bureau of General Office of the State Department: (A) Release the practitioners arrested at an earlier protest in Tianjin. (B) He Zuoxiu and the authority of Science Review for Juvenile make a public apology and promise not to criticize Falun Gong again. (C) Declare that Falun Gong be legal. At about nine o'clock that night, the practitioners disbanded at the approval of Li Hongzhi who was then staying at Hong Kong.
The "4.25 Incident" made Falun Gong an instant hit. On May 8, Li Hongzhi claimed at the Fa Conference in New Zealand: "Just think about it, now people around the world learn about our Falun Dafa through it (the Incident). It has a far-reaching influence than what you have done to promote the Fa." And indeed, that was exactly what Li had expected.
After the "4.25 Incident", Li Hongzhi continuously sent out scriptures, making preparation for the extremity of Falun Gong. In May, Li instigated followers to sacrifice lives to Falun Gong at the Fa teaching Conference in New Zealand, "If a cultivator has learned the meaning of his life and truth, then it is not regrettable that he sacrifices his life to truth."
On July 20, 1999, at the order of Falun Gong Headquarters practitioners throughout the nation simultaneously went out and gathered at local government offices at all levels, staging a wave of nation wide protests and sin-in demonstrations.
On July 22, 1999, CCTV broadcast the "Decision on Banning the Falun Dafa Research Society" issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China. Falun Gong was officially held to be illegal and banned. The Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China on July 29 issued a wanted circular for the arrest of Li Hongzhi. As the result, Falun Gong attracted great attention throughout the world.
