Mencius once said, “Between father and son, there should be affection; between sovereign and minister, righteousness; between husband and wife, attention to their separate functions; between old and young, a proper order; and between friends, fidelity” (The Works of Mencius: Duke Wen of Teng, Part I). This is the origin of the Five Basic Relations of Humanity (or “Wulun”) in traditional Chinese culture, which is usually called "Five Human Relations" by posterity.
“The Wulun culture, dealing with all kinds of interpersonal relationships, creating a systematic lifestyle, finding home of the soul, clarifying the importance of family inheritance, has become the origin of the rich family.” This is the slogan of a pyramid-marketing organization, and it is also a deceptive mask that they have carefully created for themselves under the cloak of Sinology (or “Guoxue”).
In 2021, at the age of 55, Zhang Lian faced the toughest “ordeal” in her life, changing from a law-abiding citizen to a criminal suspect on bail pending trial.
“I was scared at the sound of the siren of a police car.”On January 4, 2022, Zhang Lian, accompanied by the police, confessed in an interview with reporters from the Qingfeng Garden Magazine. Ms Zhang was a retired worker of an electric appliance company. She liked to wear traditional clothes, worship Buddha, and pay attention to keeping fit. She also loved Chinese tea culture. In her spare time, she would do volunteer work at Kaiyuan Temple in Wuxi City, or read Mencius and Huangdi Neijing (or “Huangdi Internal Classic”), etc. Because of her hobbies, in July 2017, Zhang Lian was introduced by her friend Pan Meifeng to join a group of traditional culture, and attended a “public welfare lecture” on Sinology held in a teahouse.
The mystery of “Wulun culture”
“Is there any mystery in life? Well, please tell me, why do you work so hard but have no results? Why you love each other but get hurt? And why do you understand the truth but can’t do it?”
Such "three questions of life" were the opening remarks of this “public welfare lecture”. As soon as the spiritual mentor who spoke with fervor and assurance on the stage threw out the "torture of the soul", there would be “students” who spoke from their own experience, or told their tortuous and bizarre emotional stories, or narrated their extremely bumpy history of entrepreneurship. Touched by the elaborately fabricated stories, the audience quickly got immersed in, and the atmosphere in the classroom was quickly warmed up, then getting heat. Some of the audience who claimed their souls were deeply touched would burst into loud sobs.
Such a scenario was staged time and again in each “public welfare class”. But most people presented with the intention of learning traditional culture did not feel anything wrong.
In the classroom, the mentor declared in a high-profile manner that the Wulun culture was deeply rooted in the ancient national culture, could fundamentally sweep away resentment or hatred in the family, and helped people correctly handle all kinds of personnel relations in enterprises and society, thus creating a paradise in people's hearts.
"They analyzed that my problem was to ask for something. I went to Kaiyuan Temple to do volunteer work and read Mencius at home, all because I wanted to get something in my heart. This kind of thinking was totally wrong. People who really cultivated themselves had no desire.”
On the one hand, it advocated helping people correctly "handle interpersonal relationships," on the other hand it advocated "no desire". Although such arguments were obviously specious, Zhang Lian felt that her soul was so touched that she wanted to “learn more”. So, the mentor naturally threw out the next topic: "It is better to be guided by a famous teacher than to travel thousands of miles on one’s own." "When puzzled, if a master offers to help, you will wake up one morning knowing everything". The implication was very clear: a two-hour pro bono class was just an introduction, and if you wanted to learn something useful and purify your mind, you had to take a paid class.
Zhang Lian signed up without any hesitation.
The paid courses were divided into four parts, namely, "Wulun Mystery", "Life Awareness", "Ascension to Glories of the King", and "Wulun Embracing All People", all of which were taught by a "master" named "Shanhai". The organization claimed, Shanhai was the seventh disciple of the sage-like Ye Zhenggong, founder of the "Wulun culture" company. According to his own introduction, the paid courses taught by master Shanhai included: Chinese zodiac fundamentals, basic laws of the Five Elements, mobile phone number analysis, ID card number analysis, lunar birthday personality analysis, name science and so on so forth.
The price for these courses ranged from 3,600 yuan to 50,000 yuan, basically four days and three nights or three days plus two nights, with accommodation and meals at students’ own expense. In class, students wore improved version of Chinese-style cotton and linen clothes and sat at round tables in groups. Eight or nine people were in a group, and each group had a "companion" or "parent" to answer questions and supervise the learning.
Although the content of these paid courses was far from the real Sinology, few people questioned it. Zhang Lian was very excited and felt that she had mastered a secret weapon: through a person's zodiac sign and ID card number, she could foretell his/her fortune, and by understanding the relationship between the color of clothing and the Five Elements, she could seek advantages and avoid disasters. Wouldn’t it mean that she had attained the way of Taoism?
At the beginning of each class, Shanhai would put an ancient text extracted from pre-Qin classics into his courseware and explained its “essentials”, sometimes the Analects of Confucius, Mencius, and sometimes the Book of Changes or Laozi. Although not everyone fully understood it, people always felt the charm of "Sinology" as long as it was classical Chinese.
In class, the mixture of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and modern success theory was everywhere: Shanhai just finished reading a paragraph of the Analects of Confucius, then talked about "how to become the real king of life", and then persuaded a student into expiating sins for deceased relatives. Soon after explaining “Man follows the earth, the earth follows the heaven, the heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows the nature”, he would quickly demonstrate a fortune telling technique. One moment he read “the best of men is like water; Water benefits all things and does not compete with them”, the next he talked about the way to keep fit, saying, “After our course, we have arranged moxibustion, massage, bath and other services for you, the price is fair, and welcome our students to experience them……”
The true colors of “Shubao Zhai”
At the beginning, the paid course students had to go to Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other places to attend classes, so Zhang Lian carpooled with others and travelled thousands of miles for the lecture.
In 2018, under the leadership of Shanhai, Wuxi officially became a "Wulun culture" sub-center, and established a culture company named "Shubao Zhai", which was responsible for recruiting students and teaching "Wulun culture". The company's shareholders included Xu Xiaoju, Pan Meifeng and others, but the lecturer was still Shanhai. And Ye Zhenggong, founder of the “Wulun culture” doctrines, was honored as “Patriarch”. Ms. Zhang Lian, an "excellent student" with financial management experience, was hired as the company's chief financial officer (CFO).
Gradually, the pace of Zhang Lian’s life became extremely fast: every day, she either went to the hotel to "attend classes" or "seminars", or made phone calls and sent WeChat messages to contact her "small partners".
She also introduced her relatives and friends to attend classes. According to the company’s regulations, students could get a rebate if they introduced others to buy paid courses. In addition, students could also become partners by paying a franchise fee which was divided into four levels, ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 Yuan at an interval of 100,000 Yuan. After paying the franchise fee, a partner could take the paid course for free, purchase product quotas, and receive commissions for recruiting low-level clients.
“We usually don’t call them ‘upper-level members’ or ‘lower-level members’, but angles and Ruyis”, Zhang Lian confessed. In recent years, not only did she introduce relatives and friends to the paid courses, but also she turned her son and daughter-in-law into students.
The relationship between her son and daughter-in-law was not good after marriage, so Zhang Lian invited the "Master" to foretell their fate. Learning from “Master” that the young couple would have two marriages respectively, Zhang Lian became anxious. "Isn't it a divorce?" She quickly persuaded the couple to come to the lecture, hoping to improve their relationship and avoid the divorce.
Xu Xiaoju is one of Zhang Lian’s lower-level clients. At that time, Xu Xiaoju, whose family was not in harmony and whose business was in debt, was at the lowest point of her life, so Zhang Lian invited her to attend the lecture together. After that, Xu Xiaoju quickly became a "core member" of the company and developed a dozen of lower-level clients of her own, and eventually became a shareholder of "Shubao Zhai", who was responsible for the company’s daily management.
By way of receiving rebates and commissions from lower-level clients, “Shubao Zhai” was growing rapidly. In a short period of more than two years, "Shubao Zhai" had developed more than 190 partners, attracted more than 1,000 students, and held more than 100 courses in Wuxi City.
But almost at the same time, Zhang Lian began to be heavily in debt. As an employee of the company, although she had finished all the paid courses, she still needed to follow the company's regulations and "retrain" herself regularly. Otherwise, she would become "backward in thinking and “not keep up with the pace of the big family”. The cost of each retraining course was about 1,200 yuan, which was the price with a membership’s discount, the accommodation and meals not included.
In addition to the cost of the paid courses, under the recommendation of the “Patriarch”, Zhang Lian changed her name, set up several Buddhist altars at home, and bought a jewel for each of her son and daughter-in-law. And it cost her 15,000 Yuan to change a name, 100,000 Yuan to set up a Buddhist altar, and more than 50,000 Yuan for both jade pendants.
Being short of money, Zhang Lian applied for more than 20 credit cards and cashed them back and forth, “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. After several years of tossing and turning, she owed a debt of nearly one million yuan plus the interest.
In fact, it was common for students in “Shubao Zhai” to pay tuition fee or partnership fee by taking usury or making an overdraft. “The herd mentality played a dominated role back then, and when they see people around them all doing it, they don't take it seriously,” Zhang Lian explained.
In July 2020, when "Shubao Zhai" opened a "parent-child class" among its students, a high school student who followed his relatives to the lecture saw through the true colors of the fake "Guoxue" pyramid-selling, and then called the police. The police followed the trail, and destroyed the huge but hidden pyramid-selling organization “Shubao Zhai”.
The Mysterious “Master”
Along with Xu Xiaoju, Zhang Lian and other members, the behind-the-scenes manipulator and spiritual mentor of the organization, “Patriarch” Ye Zhenggong and “Master” Shanhai, were also arrested.
In the minds of the students, “Patriarch” Ye Zhenggong and “Master” Shanhai were two spiritual leaders with completely different temperaments: “Patriarch" Ye Zhenggong was a sage-like and mysterious type, who kept a low-profile and seldom showed his face in public; while the “Master” Shanhai was amiable, as common as an old shoe, who liked to talk animatedly with students, a man in accord with the students’ imagination for a modern elite.
The “Patriarch” did not teach, only appeared in public when “advanced services” were required, such as renaming, expelling evil spirits, or setting up Buddhist altars, etc. The only exception he personally lectured students was in 2019, when he delivered a speech titled how to be the master of your life in the world of mortals to core disciples in a conference hall near Asakusa Temple in Tokyo, Japan. On the spot, Zhang Lian and other disciples really felt the “personal charm” of the “Patriarch”. “He spoke with fervor and assurance, and his bearing was extraordinary."
“It is mainly to advocate superstitious ideas such as mysticism, life energy, fate or fortune, and the end of the Dharma era. Students who attend this course are responsible for their own visas, air tickets, accommodation, and transportation expenses. In addition, they have to pay a course fee of 118,800 yuan.” After being arrested, Ye Zhenggong confessed to the police.
According to Zhang Jian, a prosecutor at the Second Procuratory Branch of Wuxi Binhu District Procuratorate, who was in charge of the case, Ye Zhenggong, a native Cantonese, worked as a housekeeping manager at a local summer resort after graduating from high school, who in his spare time, liked to study the Five Elements theory and the Book of Changes. In 2009, based on his own understanding of traditional culture, Ye Zhenggong created the so-called “Wulun culture” doctrines. “If a person can handle well the five relationships between parents, children, relatives, friends and colleagues, his/her life will be perfect.” After that, he began to recruit students and give lectures to them in the name of Sinology (or “Guoxue”).
In 2012, Zhu Xiaping, who majored in advertisement science, met Ye Zhenggong for the first time, and was deeply impressed by his “knowledge and self-cultivation”. Therefore, Zhu Xiaping honored Ye Zhenggong as his teacher and became Ye’s seventh disciple with a Buddha name of “Shanhai”. Ye Zhenggong taught Zhu the self-fabricated “Wulun culture” doctrines without reservation. A year later, Shanhai began to recruit his own students and give lectures everywhere.
By chance, Pan Meifeng, a student from Wuxi, heard out a speech given by Shanhai while traveling in Guangdong, and felt greatly inspired, so she advocated it in the circle of her friends, and introduced several local students in Wuxi City, and Zhang Lian was one of them. They quickly became the core disciples of Shanhai who was also from Jiangsu Province. As Pan Meifeng, Xu Xiaoju, Wang Zhouzhou and others had entrepreneurial experience, good family backgrounds, and excellent social skills, Shanhai got the idea that they transferred the lecture center to Wuxi. At his suggestion, Pan Meifeng and others opened a “Wulun culture” sub-center in Wuxi, and set up a company named "Shubao Zhai" to formally recruit students.
The company’s income was split “forty-sixty”, which meant 40% of the total income belonged to the company while the rest 60% came to Ye Zhenggong and Shanhai.
“I'll keep part of it for myself and hand over the rest to Patriarch Ye”. Shanhai also confessed that the graded rebate model of "Shubao Zhai" was also determined after he had discussed with “Patriarch” Ye Zhenggong. Ye repeatedly stressed that the state's crackdown on pyramid selling was getting tougher, to avoid legal risks, the graded rebate should not exceed three levels.
According to the statement of Xu Xiaoju and other managers of the company, they first published advertisements for “public welfare lectures” on Sinology in WeChat Groups and Friends Circle, claiming these classes aimed at “promoting traditional Chinese culture and studying how to handle all kinds of relationships”. The course would start with contents on “success, morality, health preservation etc”, then secretly “graft” distorting celebrity quotations as its "platform logo”. On the surface, it was full of "benevolence, righteousness and morality", but in fact, it was just a disguise to attract students to buy paid courses. Once these students were trapped, they would publicize cooperative rebates and promote superstitious businesses such as renaming, expelling evil spirits, expiating sins for the dead, and setting up Buddhist altars. At the same time, the company was selling its religious vestments, Buddha musical instruments, health food, jewelries and so on at high prices.
Among them, the special income for services such as renaming, expelling evil spirits and setting up Buddhist altars would be collected by Ye Zhenggong alone, while others did not participate in the sharing.
From 2017 to July 2020, the organization received more than 40 million Yuan in “cooperation fees” from students, and cheated more than 120 million Yuan in total.
No one really cared about “Sinology”
Even after being handcuffed, Zhang Lian was still puzzled: “Didn’t I promote traditional Chinese culture to build a harmonious society? How did it become a crime?”
She, along with other management personnel of “Shubao Zhai”, firmly believed in the so-called “Wulun culture” doctrines.
Zhang Lian said that the company did receive complaints during its operation, but they did not take it seriously, just claiming, "Let the police check, just wait and see, whether our class is promoting positive energy or not".
"Marketing is to save people, help more people get rid of suffering and enjoy happiness. While bringing more people to class is a spiritual practice for oneself and others." Pan Meifeng wrote in her statement.
But the so-called "practice", in the eyes of the "Patriarch" and "master" was just a tool to make money, once the money in hand, who cared if it was Sinology or not. In his statement, Shanhai confessed that the purpose of talking about the "mystery of Wulun" was to deify Ye Zhenggong. Quoting the pre-Qin classics was also to convince the students that "we are consistent with the idea that the country advocates: to promote traditional Chinese culture".
“The organization adopted a tactic of expanding from core members, mutual introduction of students, soliciting clients by cooperation etc. Firstly, they attracted potential customers to participate in free public welfare courses; then brainwashed them into buying the paid courses. By formulating a set of graded rebate framework, the company had formed a hierarchical pyramid-selling organization, with more than three layers. And that in fact broke the law for organizing and leading in a pyramid-selling scheme,” said Zhang Jian, the procurator in charge of the case.
On May 31, 2021, the People's Procuratorate of Binhu District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, prosecuted eight people, including Ye Zhenggong and Zhu Xiaping, for organizing and leading in pyramid-selling activities. On November 15 of the same year, the People's Court of Binhu District of Wuxi City sentenced Ye Zhenggong and Zhu Xiaping to six years' imprisonment plus a fine of 500,000 yuan for organizing and leading in pyramid-selling activities, and confiscated their illegal income. Xu Xiaoju, Wang Zhouzhou and others were also sentenced to corresponding penalties. Zhang Lian was temporarily released on bail pending trial for “minor offences,” and would be prosecuted by the Court later on. (Names in this report are all pseudonyms)
