H-ASIA
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From: “Adam D. Frank” <afrank@mail.utexas.edu>
Subject: The Falun Gong Sect
Date: Mon, 10 May 1999

I have been doing research on the Falun Gong in the United States for the past several months (very preliminary) as part of a larger dissertation project on contempoarary qi-development practices in China and the United States. Since the April 27th incident in Tiananmen, there have been articles in the New York Times almost every day. In addition, most of the web-based news services, e.g. MSNBC, BBC's web service, the Hong Kong Standard, and the South China Post have been carrying regular stories. While I haven't checked it out yet, I'm sure the Far Eastern Economic Review will be carrying stories as well.

Right now, there are at least several thousand Falun Gong practitioners in the US. If the people I've been talking to are any indication, Falun Gong practitioners feel very misrepresented in the press. They've been described as everything from a “religious cult” to a “sect” to a “martial arts group.” I think part of the problem arises in trying to fit the group into pre-existing categories. With millions of practitioners, Falun Gong is probably many different things, but it doesn't seem to have a specific political agenda.

One interesting connection that several news reports have been making is the apparent similarity between Falun Gong and millenarian movements like the Boxer Uprising and the Taiping Rebellion. While there are some similarities to many millenarian movements (e.g. the presence of a single, charismatic leader, Li Hongzhi, now living in the United States), the make up of Falun Gong's membership is much different than these previous movements. Members seem to come from all walks of life and all classes, including a substantial number of party members. The majority of practitioners I've met in the US (both Chinese and non-Chinese) are well-educated, including several Ph.D. physicists and engineers. Many of them had practised other types of qigong but found this one to their liking.

Regarding actual practice, the outward forms are a combination of sitting, standing, and moving meditation forms that take 45 minutes to an hour o complete. The forms themselves are not that different from many other qi-cultivation practices. The closest form I've seen to Falun Gong comes from a branch of Shaolin, but I would not make a claim that there is any direct relationship. Despite the obvious pleasure people derive from the forms, however, they de- emphasize the importance of the outward forms. Reading Li Hongzhi's texts is at least as important to them, if not more important. The texts, available online from the various web sites, refer frequently to Buddhism and Taoism, but in a very modernist, maybe even New Age tone.

Adam Frank
Doctoral Program in Folklore
Department of Anthropology
The University of Texas at Austin
afrank@mail.utexas.edu