Li Hongzhi and His Heretical Fallacies

Falun Gong" is a kind of cult that harms the society and an illegal organization that has emerged in some parts of China over the past few years to engage in law-breaking activities. For the expansion of this organization, Li Hongzhi, its founder, concocted and propagated a set of lies and heretical fallacies to deify himself and instill them into practitioners of "Falun Gong", so as to control them organizationally and spiritually. Li Hongzhi's anti-humanity, anti-society and anti-science words and deeds have already caused serious damages to society. This article briefly examines Li Hongzhi and his heretical fallacies to help readers know more about the facts.

I. Li Hongzhi's Background

Li Hongzhi was born on July 7, 1952, in Gongzhuling City (formerly Gongzhuling Town of Huaide County), in northeast China's Jilin Province. From 1960 to 1969, he studied successively at the Changchun Zhujiang Road Primary School, Changchun No. 48 Secondary school. After 1970, he first worked at an army stud farm, and later served as a trumpet player in a band of the Jilin Provincial Forestry Armed Police Corps. From 1978 to 1982, he worked as an attendant at a guesthouse run by the Jilin Provincial Forestry Armed Police Corps. Between 1982 and 1991, he was a member of the security section at the Changchun Municipal Cereals and Oils Company.

Li Hongzhi began to propagate his ideas of "Falun Gong" since the early 1990s. Initially, he fabricated the so-called "way of practice" of "Falun Gong" by combining the movements of martial arts he had learned from other people a few years before with movement imitated from traditional Thai dancing. At first, he earned money by teaching people to practice "Falun Gong." Later, when he found that few people took interest in his "way of practice," he changed the way of amassing money to treating people with diseases by "exerting his energy potency." But, cheating can never last long. So, after a period of scheming, he concocted a set of lies and heretical theories of "Falun Dafa" and founded the "Falun Gong" organization with overtones of a cult, thus further embarking on a road of crime.

Later, Li fabricated his background, saying, "I was born in Gongzhuling City, Jilin Province, on May 13, 1951. When I was a child, the Law Master Quan Jue gave me secret instructions to turn me into a Buddhist believer. My training was completed when I was eight years old.
"At the age of 12, the Taoist Master Bahi Zhenren (Eight-Pole Immortal) taught me Taoist practices¡­ In 1972, I received Taoist instructions from Master Zhendaozi (True Taoist), and in 1974, I received further training in Buddhist cultivation and returned to public life." In books compiled by the "Falun Gong" organization, it is stated, "At the age of eight, Li Hongzhi attained the superb Great Law with great supernatural powers, such as the ability to move objects (without lifting a finger), fix articles (at whatever spot), control other people's thinking and make himself invisible¡­.His energy potency reached an extremely high level. He understands the truth of the universe, has insights into life and can see the past and future of mankind."

In fabricating his life story, Li changed his date of birth from July 7, 1952 to May 13, 1951, and he personally altered his date of birth and acquired a new ID card. But the date of birth remained July 7, 1952 in the forms he previously filled in for determining his grade on his unit's payroll, applying to join the Communist Youth League and obtaining his ID cards issued on December 31, 1986 and March 31, 1991 respectively.

Why did Li make this change? In the Chinese lunar calendar, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month is believed to be the birthday of Sakyamuni, founder of Buddhism, and May 13, 1951 happened to be such a day. Thus, by changing his date of birth, Li intended to indicate that he is "a reincarnation of Sakyamuni." Moreover, he also had a photograph taken of himself in a stage costume he bought from a store to give himself the "image of Buddha" sitting on a lotus flower.

However, many of Li's former schoolmates, teachers and neighbors, when interviewed, all said Li Hongzhi was no more than an ordinary child obtaining average marks in his studies. In their reaction to his fabricated story of "spiritual cultivation," their answers were either "nonsense," or "impossible," or "I have never seen or heard of that." His superiors and roommates at the stud farm and the forestry police corps also said he was just an ordinary serviceman in an art troupe. They explained that the full schedule of rehearsals and performances, as well as the strict militarized routine and tight time schedule in the forestry police corps could not possibly leave him any spare time to practice his so-called "great law." His colleagues at the municipal cereals and oils company also said that Li Hongzhi knew nothing about the so-called "way of practice" and "spiritual cultivation" at all before he joined a qigong (a system of movements and deep breathing exercises-Tr.) training class in 1988. In general, no one who had been on familiar terms with him knew anything about him acquiring the "miraculous abilities" he himself boasted about.

When Li's acquaintances asked him why he made up his life story, Li answered, "No one would believe me if I do not exaggerate a little bit."

But these completely fallacious "miraculous abilities" deceived many practitioners of "Falun Gong" who knew little about him.

II. The Heretical Ideas Advocated by Li Hongzhi

Li Hongzhi has preached his heretical ideas and fallacies on every possible occasion, and included these absurdities in several books, such as Zhuan Falun and Falun Fofa. These books have been widely circulated. The following fallacies, which Li Hongzhi has repeatedly preached to the practitioners, are all from the books he and his principal followers wrote and sold as well as from the cassette and videotapes of his speeches:

(1) Hawking the theory of "doomsday" by declaring that mankind has come to the brink of destruction

On many occasions Li Hongzhi told his audience: "The human race has experienced many destructive catastrophes,"¡­. "the next destruction--complete destruction--will come soon. It will be destruction of both the form and the spirit, and will be really horrible." He said during one speech, "Please tell everyone around you that the present time is near the point of extinction for the human race. All the devils will emerge this time, according to Sakyamuni." He told his followers, "I have found that mankind has experienced 81 calamities in the past, and each time there were only a few people who survived." He declared, "Mankind on this Earth faces inexorable doom. Our planet should have been totally destroyed last year, according to my calculations." He said it was he himself who had made the destruction postponed by 30 years.

(2) Cursing the human race and regarding the Earth as a rubbish heap

When preaching to practitioners of "Falun Gong," Li Hongzhi repeatedly told them that mankind was very dreadful. He said, "If you look around, you will find that the human world today is extremely terrible, full of vicious persons." Again, "The human race, as a whole, is deteriorating, and there are devils everywhere." He further explained this view by saying, "The human race, while developing to the present stage, has become distorted and is full of evil. Hence, the gods have completely lost confidence in mankind. This is one of the major reasons why the gods do not care about human beings any more." He also told his followers, "The reason why you were born on the Earth was not merely to be human. You should have the goal of gaining complete understanding about the world, as the rest of the universe, so as to escape confusion and return to the other world. However, there are some people who cannot do this. As a result, they have to be born into the world again according to the doctrine of samsara, until the world comes to an end. That's why the Earth has experienced many catastrophes." Li also said, "Usually, bad people fall down in the universe, dropping into the central part of it, which is the Earth. Consequently, the Earth serves as the rubbish heap of the universe." He added, "Those who have descended to the level of ordinary people are destined o be destroyed."

(3) Negating modern science and urging his followers to eschew science

Li Hongzhi proclaimed to practitioners of "Falun Gong", "Science today is not science in the real sense¡­, because you can never use this science to probe into the profound mysteries of the universe." And, "The (science and) technology of mankind cannot reach a high plane of understanding¡­ Yet, we practitioners (of "Falun Gong") can, and Buddha is a scientist at the highest level." Also, "The science of mankind today is, in fact, developed from a wrong basis; its understanding of the universe, mankind and life is all wrong. So, in our circles of practitioners we never acknowledge modern science, holding it to be erroneous."

(4) Claiming that only he himself and his "Falun Dafa" can save mankind

Li Hongzhi repeatedly told practitioners of "Falun Gong" that "'Falun Dafa'" has, for the first time since the Creation, enlightened human beings to the characteristics of the universe (Law of Buddhist), which is tantamount to providing mankind with a ladder to Heaven." He said, "Now I am the only person in the world who can spread the orthodox Law of Buddha. Therefore, I am doing a deed that has never been done by our predecessors. Indeed, I am doing something people have never done before--propagating the fundamental law of the universe, which you cannot read in any book, past or present, Chinese or foreign. The theory I propound is related to the nature of the universe; it is the fundamental Law of Buddha." He also said to the practitioners, "I am here to save you from this miserable world. If I cannot save you, there is no one in the world able to do so." "Existing human society has deteriorated to its extreme point. Hence, no one cares about you, except me; the others just watch you being destroyed." "My law-bodies [supernatural replicas of himself existing in the ether, apparently-Tr.] are so numerous that they are beyond calculation. Therefore, I can look after as many people as I want, maybe the entire human race."

(5) Claiming that diseases are "karma retribution" and forbidding his followers to consult doctors or take medicine

"Karma" is a Buddhist term, basically having neither good nor bad connotations. Li Hongzhi, however, used it to express the concept of retribution for sin. He preached to the practitioners of "Falun Gong", "The basic cause of all illness and misfortune is'Karma'." Illness came from a kind of "field of karma formed by black materials." He continued, "Karma is the fundamental cause and the most important source of illness."

"Birth, old age, disease and death are preordained," he claimed. "they are karma retributions. Once you owe debts, you have to repay them." "Illnesses can never be cured completely. Only by practicing'Falun Gong' can karma be dispelled. No other means will do." He also said, "The essence of illness is the problems in another space reflected in this space. For instance, if pathogenic bacteria live in another space, how can man deal with them? So we practitioners do not talk about illnesses, because they are all the results of karma.

Furthermore, "Those who sincerely practice'Falun Gong' will not fall sick or encounter danger." "The power achieved by practicing'Falun Gong' can automatically eliminate viruses and karma. Taking medicines merely presses back karma, making it impossible to cleanse one's body; so medicines are not able to cure diseases. One who passes this barrier will become a superman."

(6) Claiming that he himself has "Law-bodies" and has installed "wheels of law" in the abdomens of practitioners

Li Hongzhi claimed to practitioners of "Falun Gong", "None of you, my disciples, or masters of other schools of qigong, has law-bodies. As far as I know, I'm the only one in the world who has law-bodies." "I have countless law-bodies, who look exactly like me. They are in another space, and can change their sizes limitlessly and freely." He went on to say, "I am the main body, but they (the law-bodies) have the ability to do things independently. They can look after you, protect you, help you to practice, and do other things. They are actually embodiments of me. That is how I can protect you." Li Hongzhi added, "Most of my law-bodies wear the kasaya [Buddhist robe-Tr.], and they have curly, blue hair, as blue as a sapphire."

"Today, human society is extremely chaotic and dirty," he told "Falun Gong" practitioners. "Human beings are stained with too much karma and evil thinking. But I can rid you of all that, and install in you the bright golden 'wheels of law,' together with many other things included in 'Falun Dafa,' so that you can cultivate yourselves and purge your hateful, dirty bodies¡­ This is a precious chance never met before since remote antiquity; you are incomparably lucky to have it."

He said, "The 'wheel of law,' which I install in a practitioner's abdomen, revolves 24 hours a day. It automatically helps the practitioner in his or her practice. In other words, although the practitioner is not practicing all the time, the 'wheel of law' is cultivating the practitioner non-stop."

(7) Distorting and belittling religion and claiming that "Falun Dafa" is the "orthodox law"

In the guise of "Law of Buddha," Li Hongzhi usurped some religious terms and distorted Buddhism. His heretical ideas are in essence anti-religious. Li Hongzhi called his "Falun Dafa" the "highest Law of Buddha" and the "orthodox law" superior to all religions. In order to make the practitioners of "Falun Gong" have total faith in "Falun Dafa" and abide by the doctrines of his heretical cult, Li Hongzhi forbade the practitioners to believe in any religion. He said, "The existing religions cannot save people from torment any more. They cannot help you attain self-cultivation, and so are on a low plane. Why should you want to adulterate the "Falun Dafa"? You must shun the things on a low plane because they will cause confusion in the body you have cultivated or the things you will get from practicing "Falun Gong". In that way, you will not be able to return home, but will undermine the road for your advance." He further claimed, "As for Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and some other religions, I admit that they have been orthodox religions in history. However, in this historical period and in this society, when the concept of mankind is being modernized, it has become impossible for people to understand the true concept of the nature of man from ancient ideas¡­. You cannot understand the old religions, and of course you cannot be converted by them. Consequently, they will not care about you." "I tell you this because I'm afraid you may be led astray by the religions that cannot relief people of their torment."

He also said, "Some religions have come into being in this century. No, not only this century, over the past few centuries many new religions have appeared. Most of them are fake."

Leaders of China's religions circles pointed out that not only do Li Hongzhi and his "Falun Dafa" have nothing whatsoever to do with religion, their heretical ideas are directly opposed to religious doctrines, and are therefore anti-religious.

III. Advocating Heretical Ideas in Order to Control the Minds of
the Practitioners of "Falun Gong"

Li Hongzhi advocated the theory of the imminent "doomsday" of the world, claiming that he himself was the sole savior now, and that only he and his "Falun Dafa" could ward off the inevitable disasters and sufferings. He ordered the practitioners of "Falun Gong' to obey him absolutely, and to think and act in strict accordance with his teachings so that he could control their minds. Li Hongzhi had advocated the doctrines of his cult and adopted all sorts of heretical means to control the practitioners of "Falun Gong," resulting in the deaths of many "Falun Gong" practitioners and serious damage to the health of many others.

According to incomplete statistics collected from some provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, 1,404 people have died as a result of practicing "Falun Gong," and still more of others have been found to be suffering from mental disorders for the same reason. According to doctors at the Beijing University of Medical Science, since 1992 the number of patients with psychiatric disorders caused by practicing "Falun Gong" has increased markedly, accounting for 10.2 percent of all patients suffering from mental disorders caused by practicing various qigong exercises. In the first half of this year, the number rose further, accounting for 42.1 percent. Among those who died as a result of practicing "Falun Gong," some were deceived by Li Hongzhi's "doctrine of karma," and refused either to consult doctors or take medicine when they fell ill; others became mentally deranged in the course of practicing "Falun Gong," and either committed suicide or killed others. What is more tragic is that some victims had put so much faith in Li Hongzhi and his "Falun Gong" that they, even when suffering from pain caused by diseases, had let go untreated on his orders and blamed themselves inwardly for not having enough faith in "Master Li" and not having achieved higher attainments in the practice of "Falun Dafa." Personal and family tragedies thus caused are too numerous to mention one by one.

It is necessary to point out here that while Li Hongzhi told others not to consult doctors or take medicine when they were sick, he did not himself practice what he preached. Many bills for reimbursement, turned in by Li Hongzhi and his family members after consulting doctors and buying medicine, have been found. Now that his preposterous fallacies have been exposed, Li Hongzhi is trying to deny that he advocated them. Yet, he himself has compiled, printed and distributed books extolling such fallacies. How can he deny them when they are printed in black and white?

No responsible government in the world would tolerate a heretical cult running rampant and depriving people of their lives and health. In this regard, there are clear-cut stipulations in China's laws. Li Hongzhi can never escape retribution for the crimes he has committed.

IV. Infringing upon Other People's Rights and Seriously Disrupting Public Order

Li Hongzhi's illegal organization, the "Research Society of Falun Dafa," was the top national organ of the "Falun Gong" organization. Li Hongzhi himself was its chairman. The "Research Society of Falun Dafa" set up 39 general instruction offices, 1,900 ordinary instruction offices and 28,000 practice sites throughout the country. Two million people joined the "Falun Gong" organization (Li Hongzhi freely remarked that the number of " Falun Gong" practitioners was as many as 100 million). The general instruction offices were directly under the "Research Society of Falun Dafa." Li Hongzhi's directives were relayed by the "Research Society of Falun Dafa" to the various general instruction offices, which then passed them to the ordinary instruction offices, practice sites and individual practitioners. The "Falun Gong" organization demanded the practitioners should go to the instruction offices and practice sites to practice every day. Moreover, they also held collective activities at regular intervals. In fact, the "Falun Gong" organization simply became tools enabling Li Hongzhi to engage in sorts of law-breaking activities. After the true features of Li Hongzhi were brought to light, the overwhelming majority of the practitioners suddenly woke up to their misjudgment and severed their relations with the "Falun Gong" organization.

Li Hongzhi and the "Falun Gong" organization under his control would never allow other people, no matter who they are, to hold views which are not in line with his preaching and expose the damages they have caused. Whenever there was criticism of Li Hongzhi or the "Falun Gong" cult, the "Falun Gong" organization would instigate and organize the practitioners to hold, without obtaining any approval, illegal gatherings, harassing and attacking those who voiced their criticisms. Since 1996, many people have written articles exposing the heretical nature of and serious damage caused by "Falun Gong." This gave the "Falun Gong" organization excuses to besiege schools, media and publishing establishments, government organs and even the residences of individuals on several hundred occasions, culminating in instigating more than 10,000 people to besiege Zhongnanhai, the seat of the Central Government, in Beijing for a unlawful demonstration in April 1999. Their aim was to muzzle public opinion and threaten the society in total disregard of law, so as to prevent other people as well as the media and publishing organizations from voicing any views that "Falun Gong" did not approve of. This resulted in a situation in which no one could afford to offend Li Hongzhi and his "Falun Gong" organization, which seriously undermined the normal public order, gravely disrupted the normal life of the citizens and encroached upon other people's freedom of speech and safety of the person. All this reveals their anti-social aspect.

In early April this year, Teenage Science-Technology Outlook, a magazine published by Tianjin Normal University, carried an article entitled "I'm Opposed to Qigong Practice by Teenagers" by He Zuoxiu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This became a pretext for the "Falun Gong" organization to instigate trouble. They mobilized their practitioners to illegally besiege the home of Professor He as well as Tianjin Normal University. On April 22, Li Hingzhi flew back to Beijing from the United States, decided to escalate such actions, and personally planned the illegal demonstration to surround Zhongnanhai. Just prior to the demonstration, Li Hongzhi hurriedly left Beijing for Hong Kong. On April 25, more than 10,000 "Falun Gong" practitioners rushed to Beijing from other parts of the country and besieged Zhongnanhai. Li Hongzhi, who then hid in Hong Kong, manipulated them from distance. In a single day he made 29 phone calls to his "headquarters" in Beijing. Later, guilty in conscience and to shirk his responsibility, he lied to foreign correspondents that he had known nothing about it in advance and that, when the incident occurred, he was on his way from the United States to Australia.

V. Using "Falun Gong" to Amass Dirty Money, and Committing Economic Crimes of Tax Evasion and Money Laundering

Li Hongzhi has illegally reaped a large amount of money by using "Falun Gong" as a means to attain the purpose. According to initial investigations by related departments, from May 1992 to the end of 1994, Li Hongzhi and his collaborators, under the pretext of holding "Falun Gong" training classes, collected more than RMB 3 million yuan through running 56 such classes. They paid no taxes on the overwhelming part of the money.

The major source of Li Hongzhi's illegal income was the production, publication, distribution and sale of books, audio and video tapes, and VCDs on "Falun Gong," as clothing and other articles needed for the practice of "Falun Gong". The Wuhan Shenshen Group Co., run by the head of the Wuhan "Falun Gong" General Instruction Office, reaped an income of 83 million yuan through illegally publishing "Falun Gong"-related books and audio-visual materials. According to the contract the company signed with Li Hongzhi, it was to turn eight percent of all the sales over to him, apart from paying the regular fees for writing and proofreading. From June 1997 to July 1998, the company handed over to Li Hongzhi and the "Research Society of Falun Dafa" RMB 1.2 million yuan and US $10,000, on which no individual income tax was paid.

The "Shandong Scientific, Technological and Cultural Service Center" mainly published audio-visual products on "Falun Gong." In the five years following June 1994, the center's business turnover exceeded 20 million yuan, with a net profit of over 8.3 million yuan. According to the agreement reached with Li Hongzhi, Li was to receive 15 percent of the profit, that is, over 1.24 million yuan. It now has been verified the "service center" had turned to the "Research Society of Falun Dafa" 700,000 yuan and to Li Hongzhi 90,000 yuan. In addition, it had bought a "Santana" car for Li Hongzhi did not pay any income tax on the amount he received.

On April 6, 1996, Li Hongzhi bought a house in Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, valued at 311,000 yuan. According to relevant state regulations, he should have paid 18,700 yuan as contract tax. Li Hongzhi forged the contract for buying the house, playing down the price by 178,000 yuan and thereby evading 10,700 yuan in tax.

From the second half of 1996 to the first half of 1997, a person surnamed Yan, a leading member of the "Research Society of Falun Dafa," took charge of smuggling books on "Falun Gong" published in Hong Kong to Beijing. According to initial verifications, he reaped 54 million yuan from selling these books. All the money was remitted to the account provided by Ji Liewu, Li Hongzhi's agent for the distribution of "Falun Gong" books overseas. According to Ji, all the proceeds from the sales of "Falun Gong" books outside the mainland belong to Li Hongzhi. According to a reliable source, Li Hongzhi has large amounts of savings deposits outside China, and has committed crimes of tax evasion and money laundering.
In addition, it is reported that, when traveling abroad, Li Hongzhi also frequented gambling clubs and places that provide sex services. According to people close to Li Hongzhi outside China, in 1997 when he traveled in Thailand, he visited brothels and took "twin baths" there to relish in the sex services. Li also gambled in a casino in Brisbane, Australia.

What being listed above are only a very small part of Li Hongzhi's heretical ideas and criminal activities. Limited space of the book does not allow a full listing of them.

(Compiled by New Star Publishers, Sep., 1999)