Falun Gong

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a <a href="/facts/New_religious_movement/7Ttfr321">new religious movement</a> founded by its leader <a href="/facts/Li_Hongzhi/ow8slnvx">Li Hongzhi</a> in <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a> in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in <a href="/facts/Dragon_Springs/etaFdMmD">Dragon Springs</a>, a 173-hectare (427-acre) compound in <a href="/facts/Deerpark%2c_New_York/jFDGFXcI">Deerpark, New York</a>, United States, near the residence of Li Hongzhi.
Led by Li Hongzhi, who is viewed by adherents as a god-like figure, Falun Gong practitioners operate a variety of organizations in the United States and elsewhere, including the dance troupe <a href="/facts/Shen_Yun/TAMrS8es">Shen Yun</a>. They are known for their opposition to the <a href="/facts/Chinese_Communist_Party/MwS3Togt">Chinese Communist Party</a> (CCP), espousing <a href="/facts/Objections_to_evolution/HBSjzSsA">anti-evolutionary</a> views, opposition to <a href="/facts/Homosexuality/gNy8Nvl0">homosexuality</a> and <a href="/facts/Feminism/RRqUvGmk">feminism</a>, and rejection of <a href="/facts/Modern_medicine/2fnp90Je">modern medicine</a>, among other views described as "<a href="/facts/Ultraconservatism/UBYpzngS">ultra-conservative</a>".
The Falun Gong also operates the Epoch Media Group, which is known for its subsidiaries, <a href="/facts/New_Tang_Dynasty_Television/c9ezXFCt">New Tang Dynasty Television</a> and <a href="/facts/The_Epoch_Times/fzHh3dHJ">The Epoch Times</a> newspaper. The latter has been broadly noted as a politically <a href="/facts/Far-right_politics/QpBMz5Ss">far-right</a> media entity, and it has received significant attention in the United States for promoting conspiracy theories, such as <a href="/facts/QAnon/7HwXHTDw">QAnon</a> and <a href="/facts/Anti-vaccine/Asj23DCg">anti-vaccine</a> misinformation, and producing advertisements for <a href="/facts/U.S._President/oMsfmLb1">U.S. President</a> <a href="/facts/Donald_Trump/pqqKY21P">Donald Trump</a>. It has also drawn attention in Europe for promoting far-right politicians, primarily in <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">France</a> and <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">Germany</a>.[13]
Falun Gong emerged from the <a href="/facts/Qigong/NeraDSa8">qigong</a> movement in China in 1992, combining meditation, qigong exercises, and moral teachings rooted in Buddhist and Taoist traditions. While supported by some[which?] government agencies, Falun Gong's rapid growth and independence from state control led several top officials to perceive it as a threat, resulting in periodic acts of harassment in the late 1990s. On 25 April 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered peacefully outside the central government compound in Beijing, seeking official recognition of the right to practice their faith without interference.
In July 1999, the <a href="/facts/Government_of_China/wGcnIR4s">government of China</a> implemented a ban on Falun Gong, categorizing it as an "illegal organization". Mass arrests, widespread torture and abuses followed. In 2008, U.S. government reports cited estimates that as much as half of China's labor camp population was made up of Falun Gong practitioners. In 2009, human rights groups estimated that at least 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners had died from persecution by that time. A 2022 <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_State/WsB5FMBT">United States Department of State</a> report on religious freedom in China stated that "Falun Gong practitioners reported societal discrimination in employment, housing, and business opportunities". According to the same report: "Prior to the government's 1999 ban on Falun Gong, the government [of China] estimated there were 70 million adherents. Falun Gong sources claims that tens of millions continue to practice privately, and <a href="/facts/Freedom_House/jV1eQeAJ">Freedom House</a> estimates there are between 7 to 20 million practitioners."

Falun Gong open-in-new

Falun Gong