Ron Hubbard, the leader of Scientology, told his wife Sarah Northrup several times before founding his organization, "The only way to make a lot of money is to start a religion." Perhaps the "Falun Gong" leader Li Hongzhi has not heard this saying, but he has truly "practiced" this saying with his own actions.
Scientology leader Ron Hubbard (left) and Falun Gong Leader Li Hongzhi (right)
"Disciples" cultivate hard, "Master" is really rich
In the process of fabricating and disseminating the "Falun Gong," Li Hongzhi proclaimed himself to be an extraordinary "master Buddha of the universe," and declared to his disciples that "to cultivate DaFa, one must put aside one's mind for money and things" (from the Principles of Monastic Disciples). Those "DaFa disciples" who devoted themselves to "Falun Gong" during the Qigong craze, many of whom were laid-off workers, retired people, and the incapacitated, originally hoped to improve their health and save some medical expenses through practicing kung fu, but they may not have thought that with their devout and obsessed days and nights of hard cultivation, Master Li Hongzhi went from pennilessness to wealth.
In 1992, before the "mountain", Li Hongzhi did not have much money, and because of the shortage of money, he and his elder sister Li Jun's husband Liu Jiakui (later divorced) sold bicycles together to make profits. But years later, he is a real billionaire:
In August 1994, Li Hongzhi bought a house in Building 5, Kaiyun Community, Chaoyang District, Changchun City, Jilin Province. The house is 5 or 6 floors, downstairs for the dining room, kitchen, toilet and living room, upstairs for two large bedrooms and office, an area of 145 square meters, elegant decoration, complete appliances, and a garage, the real estate value of 311,000 yuan.
Interior view of Building 5, Kaiyun District
Shipping community 5 "Private house ownership Certificate" owner's name: Li Hongzhi building house interior view
In June 1997, Li Hongzhi bought in the name of his mother, No. 1138 villa building, No. 18 Shuangqiao East Road (Dongxu Garden), Chaoyang District, Beijing, with a single door and courtyard, luxurious decoration, construction area of 220 square meters, and the front garden area of 240 square meters. At that time, the property price was 400,000 yuan, "full payment".
Exterior view of Villa Building, No.1138, No. 18, Shuangqiao East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Representative of Party B in the House Purchase Contract: Lu Shuzhen (Li Hongzhi's mother)
And clearly indicate in the contract "full payment"
In addition, Li Hongzhi also owned several properties in No.12 Jing 'an Street, Lvyuan District, Changchun City, No.103 Jiefang Road, Changchun City, Building 16, Fahuasi Small District, Chongwen District, Beijing (now Dongcheng District), and at least three cars, BMW, Jetta and Santana.
Li Hongzhi's residence at No. 16, Fahuasi Community, Chongwen District, Beijing
Li Hongzhi's mother Lu Shuzhen owned No. 103 Jiefang Road, Changchun
According to the investigation, since 1995, Li Hongzhi began to secretly transfer his illegal gains abroad, and only in 1996, Ji Liewu and Yao Jie (the backbone of the law) handled the transfer of more than 6.6 million yuan to Li Hongzhi's account in overseas banks.
Li Hongzhi bought cars, houses and high-end consumer goods when he was in Beijing
In 2017, according to online Revelations, Li Hongzhi sold a mansion in New Jersey for $2.39 million (about 16 million yuan) on the Internet. The property is located at 9 Hunter Road, Woodcliff Lake Town, Bogan County, New Jersey, with an area of 676 square meters, 7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, wine cellar, sauna, gym and other facilities.
Exterior view of the mansion sold by Li Hongzhi
Interior decoration of the mansion Li Hongzhi sells
According to incomplete statistics, only 11 real estate properties under the name of Li Hongzhi Family have been found in the United States, of which 8 are in New York and New Jersey and 3 are in Chicago.
11 real estate distribution in the United States of Li Hongzhi’s family
Li Hongzhi's daughter at her 59th Avenue villa in Flushing, Queens, New York City
After absconding, Li Hongzhi carefully built his headquarters in the United States, "Dragon Springs" (full name: Dragon Springs Buddhist, Inv.) According to the official website of the Orange County Government of the United States, New York, "Law" headquarters "Dragon Springs" a total of 8 15 real estate, a total area of 721.98 acres, according to the United States real estate valuation website information, "Dragon Springs" real estate valuation of $2,048 million.
Real estate list of Dragon Springs
This price is the valuation of the land in the year when the property was purchased, and does not include the cost of construction and materials after that.
With his disciples struggling to cultivate without seeing the light of day, Li Hongzhi truly lived a "perfect" life like an "Immoral".
Li Hongzhi is not the "Lord Buddha" but a liar
In an interview in Sydney, Li Hongzhi once said: "unconditionally help people get rid of diseases, without accepting any money or material reward" (from Li Hongzhi's "A Little of my Thoughts", June 2, 1999), but how about the reality?
Screenshot of article on "Falun Gong" website, June 15, 2000
Li Hongzhi packaged himself as a "divine doctor" in the early days, claiming that he came from another dimension, claiming that "practicing can cure diseases, and cultivation is not allowed to take medicine." The media under the "Law" have also compiled articles to record the "miracles" of "Master" in his early years, such as "Master waved his hand, advanced lung cancer patients were cured" and "Dalian made a vegetable man in France get out of bed and walk" and so on. Under the deception of lies, many sick students gave up formal treatment and sought medical treatment from Li Hongzhi.
Li Hongzhi treated people by using “Qigong” on the spot in early time
According to his early collaborators Zhao Jiemin and Liu Fengcai, Li Hongzhi set up a "merit box" at home, with the word "by heart" written on it, and anyone who came to his home to ask him to see a doctor must donate money to the "merit box", each time as little as 10 yuan, more than 100 yuan, if the donation was less, Li Hongzhi would say he was mean to his Falun Gongce. An old woman took out 5 yuan to ask Li Hongzhi to see a doctor, Li Hongzhi said dismisingly: "5 yuan still want to see a doctor?"
Li Hongzhi received money and checked the number of banknotes on the treatment spot
On May 13, 1992, Li Hongzhi came out for preaching and held the first "Falun Gong" training course in the lecture hall of Changchun No. 5 Middle School, attended by 180 students and amassed a total of 5,400 yuan. From May 1992 to the end of 1994, Li Hongzhi held 56 "law" training courses all over the country, collecting a total of more than 2.84 million yuan.
In the training class, Li Hongzhi demonstrated the exercises and the Student Certificate.
Printing books and publishing audio and video products is a faster way to make money than going to "lectures". In April 1993, Li Hongzhi's China Law and the revised version were published, priced from 6.6 yuan to 8 yuan, and 110,000 copies were printed. In December 1994, Li Hongzhi's "Zhuan" was published, priced at 12 yuan, and more than 700,000 copies were printed. Li Hongzhi required all his "disciples" to read and even recite the Zhuan, describing it as a "ladder to heaven." As a result, a book full of fallacies and heresies became a hot commodity in the eyes of disciples. A price of 12 yuan "Zhuan Falun",with Li Hongzhi’s signature sold for 100 yuan.
The cover of Zhuan Falun
In 1992, Li Hongzhi began to publish VHS tapes, audio tapes, and compact discs. In 1994, Li Hongzhi went to Jinan to teach Falun Gong and found Xu Jinliang, manager of Shandong Youth Science and Technology and Culture Service Center. In June of that year, Xu Jinliang began to produce "law" class audio and video products, according to verification, a total of 4.3 million discs. It can be clearly seen from Xu Jinliang's accounts that from August 1998 to July 1999 alone, Xu Jinliang's so-called "copyright royalties" for Li Hongzhi reached 1.86 million yuan, and he also sponsored 1.2 million yuan and a Santana car worth 200,000 yuan to the "Law and Law Research Society".
In July 1996, the National Press and Publication Administration expressly prohibited the publication of "Law" books, and the Ministry of Culture expressly prohibited the publication and distribution of "Law" audio and video products, but Li Hongzhi still authorized Wang Hansheng, chairman of Wuhan Deep Group, and Xu Xianglan, head of the "Law" Wuhan General station (Wang Hansheng and Xu Xianglan are husband and wife) to illegally publish books and audio and video materials related to "Law". More than 90 million yuan. The Hong Kong edition (HK $70), English edition, pocket edition, hardcover edition (HK $40) and other editions have also been published.
Books and videos of "Falun Gong" printed by Xu Xianglan and Wang Hansheng
"Falun Gong" illegal books and audiovisual products
Li Hongzhi obtained huge income by publishing and selling "law" books, audio and video products, but he was not satisfied with this, and constantly tried his best to amass wealth.
The above photo of Li Hongzhi meditating on a lotus flower is an ordinary 5-inch photo. At that time, the retail price of such photos was 10 yuan per student, and after affixing Li Hongzhi's stamp on the back, it was 15 yuan per student. At that time, the price of developing a photo was only 20 to 30 cents.
Li Hongzhi asked the "disciples" to hang portraits in the practice place and at home, practice clothes must be worn, and amulets should be brought when going out. At that time, a practice suit would cost more than 30 yuan a set, and a practice mat would cost 10 yuan a set. In addition, "Falun Gong" badges, banners, banners and so on were also produced and sold. These incomes are quietly sent by various support stations into Li Hongzhi's "Law and Law Research Association" account in Beijing, which is actually Li Hongzhi's personal account.
Production and sales of "Falun Gong" training clothes, training MATS, banners, banners, etc
Statistical table of the production and sale of articles under the "Falun Gong" organized by the "Falun Gong" in Beijing
Statistical table of Hubei "Falun Gong" organization manufacturing and selling "Falun Gong" articles
Absconding overseas, making filthy fortunes
Li Hongzhi, who fled to the United States, amassed wealth in more blatant and unscrupulous ways. Here are the following:
- Continue to squeeze money out of believers.
Li Hongzhi opened "Tiandian shops" in the United States, Canada and other places, and put "Falun Gong" books, CDS, and practicing supplies on the website to sell, and the prices were ridiculously high. Ironically, in order to continue to make money from believers, the Dharma organization has even developed and designed a special "Scripture" listening device, "Scripture radio."
"Scripture Radio" sells at the price of NT $3,600 (equivalent to RMB 900)
-- Creating a doomsday dance "Shen Yun performance" to collect money.
Li Hongzhi created a "Shen Yun performance" that purported to promote traditional culture, but actually corrupted traditional Chinese culture and propagated cults, and traveled around the world to collect money. James R. Lewis, an internationally renowned religious scientist and an authoritative scholar on the study of emerging religious movements and cults, wrote in his long research report "The Dance of Doom: Tracing the Money Trail behind Shen Yun's revision of eschatology revealed in the 2018 US tax return that "Shen Yun" earned $37,458,382 in the US that year, and its assets reached $12,198.3477 million. In 2018, Shen Yun had an advertising budget of tens of millions of dollars in the United States alone.
According to the annual audit report submitted by the "Art Troupe" to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in May 2011, its financial director is Rui Lee, Li Hongzhi's wife.
Chinese in US protest against Shen Yun Performance
According to the website of the US Small Business Administration, as of July 5, 2022, 23 US "law" peripheral organizations that have collected money for "Shen Yun Performance" have cashed out nearly 46 million US dollars in US government relief for the new coronavirus outbreak. Nearly $36 million over the legal limit.
-- Usiing cult medias to attract donations and advertise.
On January 12, 2021, according to the US news website AXIOS, the "Falun Gong " cult media "The Epoch Times" amassed a lot of money by spreading conspiracy theories supporting Trump. On October 14, 2023, Nbcnews.com published an in-depth analytical article by investigative reporter Brandy Zadrozny, exposing the Epoch Times' $8.4 million in donations and grants for 2020 and 2021. The donations are partly funded by Conservative Party donors and foundations.
The Epoch Times' advertising column
Even after Trump left office, he continued to make a lot of money by hyping such conspiracy theories, with annual " Epoch Times" income skyrocketing from $3.9 million in 2016 to $15.5 million in 2019. According to a report by the US news website AXIOS and an investigation by the US Internal Revenue Service, "NTD TV", another cult media under the "Falun Gong", earned $18 million in 2017.
In order to gain full control of the network platform and collect money, Li Hongzhi launched the "Clean World" website and mobile client, forced "disciples" to focus on promotion, and regularly shared the content of "Ganjing World" to relatives and friends, and inserted advertisements to sell "Falun Gong" books, audio and video products to cheat money, so as to ensure that these profits could eventually go into Li Hongzhi's pocket.
-- Financial support from anti-China forces in the US and the West.
According to the aforementioned James R. Lewis study, in 2000, Freedom House, one of the executive founders of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Mark Palmer, vice chairman of the board of directors of another NGO funded by the US Congress, has formed a new government-backed NGO, FoFG. Through the annual tax refund files of "Falun Gong", it was found that "Falun Gong" donated a large amount of funds to the media and public relations activities of "Falun Gong".
Coincidentally, an Asian-American social activist named Bobby Fletcher has also written that by analyzing the tax returns of "law" organizations published on the famous "Guide Star" website in the United States, it is found that from 2001 to 2005, More than $6 million in sponsorship money flowed to Falun Gong through an organization called Falun Gong.
And there are many foreign institutions and organizations that continue to provide financial support to "Falun Gong" cult organizations.
In 2001, Hong Kong's Mirror reported that the United States Agency for International Development had allocated $20 million to "non-traditional religions," or "Dharma." On March 1, 2015, PanDo Daily, an American Internet news media review network, published a lengthy, nearly 10,000-word report by investigative journalist Yasha Levine titled "Internet Privacy under the Patronage of Ghosts: A Brief History of the Broadcasting Board of Governors of the United States states that as of 2012, the Broadcasting Board of Governors continued to provide $1.5 million per year in funding to technical institutions operated by members of the Law.
On October 1, 2020, the Australian "Transparency News network" (Openthenews.com) published an article by columnist Maddison Brown, pointing out that The "Decoding China" (a peripheral organization of the "Law") under the "Law" has received support funds from the US State Department through the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, an anti-China think tank organization in Australia.
A screenshot of the Australian Transparency News Network's reporting page
-- Big tax evasion in the name of religion.
In early days, Li Hongzhi never paid a penny of tax, whether he ran a class or published a book. After fleeing overseas, they still do not forget to evade taxes and accumulate wealth through system loopholes. He took advantage of the provisions in the laws of Western countries that "religious organizations" and "churches" enjoy tax exemption treatment, and so on, instructed "Falun Gong" organizations and their branches to register in the name of "churches", and most of the money they collected, donated and received was channeled to Li Hongzhi.
According to the 2017 "Tax-exempt Organization Income Return" published by the U.S. non-profit Organization Income Reporting Network, the "Art Troupe" received nearly $9 million in "donations and grants." In 2021, The Epoch Times received a donation of $55,750 from the National Christian Charitable Foundation and a donation of $31,000 from the Donors Trust ) donation.
-- Exploiting the labor of "disciples".
Ben Hurley
Ben Hurley has published a long article on his blog, "Li Hongzhi and I: As a devout disciple for more than ten years, Why I left the" Falun Gong ", which truly describes how foreign "Falun Gong" and "disciples" completed the "Shen Yun" push ticket task. "According to some members of the Shen Yun ticket sales team, they infiltrated other people's office buildings without permission, ignored the security guards, and handed out Shen Yun leaflets floor by floor and station by station to forcibly push tickets," the article said.
Overseas "Falu Gong" personnel around to promote "Shen Yun performance" tickets
In order to save costs during the construction of the "Dragon Springs", the "Falun Gong" organization also used ordinary "disciples" as free labor force to squeeze and use, and called them "volunteers". These "Falun volunteers" are not only not paid, but also lack even the most basic personal security. On May 3, 2008, Liu Jinan, 54, fell 16 feet to his death while doing construction work, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website. Police said Liu was trying to grab a piece of plywood when he fell.
North American "Falun Gong" backbone Liu Jinan
Jiang Qinggui, from Chiayi, Taiwan, China, went to the United States "Falun Gong" headquarters "Longquan Temple" base as a volunteer in 2006, responsible for driving the excavator. In June 2009, Jiang Qinggui had sores on his back, but the "law" did not allow him to "go down the mountain" to see a doctor and take medicine. In July, Jiang became ill and bedridden. Under the continuous request of the volunteers, the "law" organization was forced to send Jiang back to Taiwan, due to the deterioration of his condition, Jiang Qinggui died on the road. In the face of this situation, Li Hongzhi said: "This is not his (Jiang Qinggui) physical problem, but the invasion of foreign demons, is not the cultivation of hard."
According to people familiar with the matter, there have been many work-related injuries and deaths at the "Dragon Springs" site, but they have been concealed by the "Falun Gong" cult organization.
" Dragon Springs Buddhist, Inc.", photo: CBS (CBS)
Li Hongzhi once said, "Cultivators are complicated when they touch money, and fame and wealth are the biggest obstacles to cultivation" (from "Teaching the Falun Gong at the Beijing International Exchange Conference"), and he also asked his disciples, "Is it cultivation to pursue material interests and money so strongly" (from "Teaching the Falun Gong at the New York Falun Gong Conference"). As for himself, Li Hongzhi said, "In my teaching of your Falun Gong, I did not say that those who become masters must practice the same penance as those who cultivate them" (from "Teaching the Falun Gong at the International Falun Gong Conference in the Western United States"). Listen, how at ease, what a face!
Behind Li Hongzhi's rise from pennilessness to a billionaire is the sweat, blood, tears and lives of DaFa disciples, as well as the blood transfusion and encouragement of anti-China forces. The so-called "perfection" through cultivation is just a fantasy Li Hongzhi fabricated for the "DaFa disciples", and encouraging believers to sincerely cultivate is actually cheating money and amassing wealth, which is Li Hongzhi's most real purpose.
