Is Falun Gong a modern religion that was first promoted by the communist party of China?

There was no reason to ban them from promotion early on.  I mean, other Qigong practices got promoted too. Their practices appeared as innocent as Yoga (to outsiders they are just doing some exercise, though they will attempt to convert you if you keep practicing). That is, until they counter criticisms with organized protests. There are always some people who do not believe spiritual healing powers , mythical theories or even Darwin's theory of evolution. In fact, the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine, with as much official support as a traditional healing method can get, is openly doubted in the Chinese media and social networks. Debates on its theory often turn into heated discussion. But those discussions often ends a peaceful "we agree to disagree". But Falun Gong does not take criticism so well. Hundreds of protests were made over the years for what Falun Gong view as as attacks from journalists and scientists. An organized crowd of 2,000 got some TV program editors fired in Beijing, then a blackout against any negative media reports on the movement was made in Beijing. Probably a tactic mistake if this led Falun Gong to think they can suppress the press by organized protests. Of course, Beijing's order did not stop some scholars in Tianjin. A university was occupied for 3 days demanding retraction of a paper which an academic magazine refused. Then they thought surrounding the Communist party headquarter with 10,000 people was a good idea to get this resolved. The rest is history.

An interesting question. In a sense, the modern Qigong movement is an invention of the Communist Party, and so is what we now refer to as “Traditional Chinese Medicine.” However, the practices, traditions and beliefs that comprise qigong and TCM date back thousands of years. Qigong-like exercises (e.g. meditation, slow-moving exercises, controlled breathing, etc.) have been practiced in various forms for millennia, and usually have some kind of Buddhist or Daoist theology attached. These practice systems were usually passed down orally from master to disciple over the generations (yoga seems to have a very http://www.americanyogaassociation.org/general.html).Under communist China, many of these systems of mind/body cultivation were classified under the umbrella of “qigong.” The Chinese government set up an administrative body to promote, study, and oversee all the various qigong denominations. It doesn’t mean that these disciplines were all new creations—some of them were in fact very old systems, but they assumed a modern label. In order to be accepted by the Communist Party, they also had to cast off the more religious/spiritual aspects of their teachings. Taichi is one example—it has a documented history dating back at least to the Ming Dynasty, but it was popularized only in the last several decades.Roughly the same applies to Falun Gong. There’s probably no way to confirm origin stories, but Falun Gong was apparently once referred to as “Falun Xiulian Dafa,” and its techniques were passed down orally for many generations. Li Hongzhi, who inherited this tradition, then made it public, holding seminars and writing books about its practice forms and philosophy.One of the main differences between Falun Gong and most other qigong systems is that Falun Gong tried to revive the central role of spiritual self-cultivation. Its moral philosophy is front and centre, whereas most qigong practices never publicized the more religious aspects of their teachings (the Communist Party, especially in the Maoist era, wouldn’t have tolerated it).

For those who dont know, Falun Gong is a chinese practice that promotes physical well being trough meditation and qigong exercises. It also emphasises moral improvement, its core principles being truthfulness, compassion and forbearence.Now, qigong is a newly crafted term that refers to the practice of the vitaly energy, also known as qi. But as you may know, the practices that involve qi date way back, so it is not accurate to say that it is something modern.In 1998, a Chinese government survey showed that there were more people practicing Falun Gong than there were members of the Chinese Communist Party. With 70 to 100 million practitioners, Falun Gong was arguably the largest independent group in the history of the People’s Republic of China.At that time, Falun Gong was highly respected and supported, awarded and even endorsed by the Chinese regime for the health benefits it brought to the people. One news report stated that Falun Gong had saved the country billions of dollars in health care costs.But this did not matter for the Communist Party chairman Jiang Zemin who almost unilaterally took the decision to persecute Falun Gong in 1999. Other members of the leadership favored a more conciliatory approach, recognizing that the practice was peaceful and did not have a political agenda.Jiang Zemin’s opposition towards Falun Gong was deeply personal, stemming from his jealousy over the practice’s popularity. He also reportedly believed that by launching a Cultural Revolution-style campaign against Falun Gong, he could consolidate his power. But dont worry, it freely practiced in the parks of over 100 countries.In spite of China’s turning to a market-economy in recent decades, the atheist Communist Party still clings to Marxist ideology, and promotes the violence and struggle theory. Some Party leaders saw Falun Gong as challenging the ideology that the Party is the highest authority. For decades, Communist Party has repeatedly launched political campaigns that suppress freedom of thought and force Chinese people to declare their allegiance to the Party. In 1999, Falun Gong became its latest target.Hasn't PCC targeted the chinese people in violent campaigns like the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution etc killing tens of millions of innocent people? Hasn't it always invented lies about people before starting the mass killings, so that it can divide the society and turn people against one another? Isn't this the same old story now?About Falun Gong the propaganda machine went crazy. They invented all sort of incredible stories - CIA suported, people not taking medicine, evil cult, people burning themselves etc - some of them are pretty incredible also. But, let's think clearly for a second. Who is the real evil cult?!Why are these so called issues only happening in China, with people dying because Falun Gong doesnt let them take medicine? And why hasnt havent they happened in the West also? Instead, Falun Gong has received outside of China over 1.000 awards because it benefits society.Is Falun Gong superstitious? Well, just to give you an example, a couple of days ago, a study published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Journal of Clinical Oncology had concluded: ”We observed that Falun Gong practice can help terminal cancer patients survive significantly longer, in addition to notable symptom improvement”. (http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/content/161830-176)Now thats a real ”evil cult”, it has managed to fool all the world, but not the Communist Party :)Many scientists in the West who are exploring this domain are now getting ever more close to proving what the asian culture have held to be true for centuries - that meditation can ward off stress and disease. (Just google it, there are Harvard studies on this topic as well, and also many examples of pretty amazing recoveries documented).I have great respect for the 5.000 years of chinese civilisation. Unfortunately, the Communist Party is betraying and persecuting its own people. I am sure that at one point the people will eventually wake up in China. When the people there will find out about the crimes of the CCP they will not stand it anymore. China is a great country and it deservs better.I recommend you to watch this youtube video from China Uncensored. It answers some of the most basic questions about Falun Gong:Now I dont know how much you now about the mass live organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners that Jiang Zemin orchestrated, but you can google it for sure. Here is just an example:For those who want to know the detailes, here is the whole story:Kind regards,Andrei