Li Hongzhi facts for kids

Li Hongzhi (Chinese: 李洪志; born in 1951 or 1952) is a spiritual teacher from China. He started a spiritual practice called Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. This practice is now based in the United States. Li began teaching Falun Gong publicly on May 13, 1992, in Changchun, China. He then traveled across China, giving talks and teaching the Falun Gong exercises.

In 1995, Li started teaching Falun Gong in other countries. He moved to the United States in 1998 and became a permanent resident. Falun Gong became very popular in the 1990s. However, the Chinese government began to suppress it in 1999. The government accused it of being a dangerous group. Today, Chinese citizens who practice Falun Gong face constant threats. The name of the practice and its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, are among the most blocked words on the Chinese internet.

Li has also been connected to the performing arts group Shen Yun and media companies like The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television. These groups share Falun Gong's ideas. Li has said that he believes beings from other dimensions walk the Earth. He believes these beings brought technology, war, and bad behavior to humans. Li says he is a being who came to help humankind avoid destruction from widespread badness. When asked if he was a human, Li replied, "You can think of me as a human being."

Li Hongzhi's Early Life

There are different stories about Li Hongzhi's early life. These stories appeared before and after Falun Gong was stopped in China in July 1999. There is not much official information about his early years. The stories from his supporters and those who oppose him are very different. They often reflect the political or spiritual goals of those telling the stories.

Stories from Supporters

An early biography of Li appeared in his book Zhongguo Falun Gong. It was written by a journalist named Zhu Huiguang. A second, official spiritual story was in early versions of Falun Gong's main book, Zhuan Falun. This one was written by the Falun Dafa Research Society. These stories were part of Li's efforts to share his beliefs. They focused on his spiritual journey, with few details about his everyday work or family. This style is common in old Chinese religious biographies.

These biographies say Li was born in Gongzhuling, Jilin Province. The first story said his family was poor. It described Li as learning to "bear hardships and tolerate hard work" while helping his younger siblings. The second, official story said Li came from an "ordinary intellectual's family."

Both stories say Li had natural kindness and discipline. The official biography mainly talks about the Daoist and Buddhist masters who supposedly taught Li from a young age. It says that at age four, he was trained by Quan Jue, a Buddha School master. By age eight, he had gained "superb great law with supernatural powers," which included things like invisibility. Master Quan left him at age twelve. Then, a Taoist master named Baji Zhenren taught him martial arts and physical skills.

A third Master arrived in 1972 from the Great Way School. Zhendaozi came from the Changbai Mountains. Unlike Li's other teachers, Zhendaozi wore normal clothes. He taught Li about "inner cultivation" through Qigong, focusing on xinxing (moral character). Li's training during this time mostly happened at night. This was possibly because of the political situation during the Cultural Revolution. One biography notes that Li refused to join the Cultural Revolution campaigns. He never joined the Red Guards or communist groups.

A fourth Master, a woman from the Buddha School, began teaching Li in 1974. After training with these four Masters, Li's "energy potency had reached a very high level." His personal growth reached a peak around this time. The biography says Li could "see the truth of the universe" and "the origin, development and future of mankind."

In 1982, Li moved to Changchun for "civilian employment." This suggests his previous work might have been with the military. At some point in the 1980s, Li got married and had a daughter.

In 1984, Li started combining the teachings he had received into what would become Falun Dafa. The practice would not be exactly the same as what he was taught. This was because those older systems were not suitable for "popularising on a large scale." Li began watching how other qigong masters taught. By 1989, he had finished creating his qigong system. For the next three years until 1992, Li reportedly tested the system with a small group of students.

Falun Gong books published after 1999 no longer include biographies of Li. These changes showed that Li was stepping back from public view. Since 2000, he has rarely appeared in public. His presence is mostly through online messages or quotes on Falun Gong's websites. Li Hongzhi's biography was removed from Falun Gong websites after 2001.

Information from the Chinese Government

The Chinese government started publishing information about Li's life after Falun Gong was banned in July 1999. This information was part of the government's efforts against Falun Gong. Their goal was to show that Li Hongzhi was an ordinary person. They wanted to prove that his claims of special abilities were false.

The government says Li was born in 1951 or 1952. His parents divorced when he was a toddler. Li and his siblings stayed with his mother. In 1955, they moved to Changchun.

Li reportedly went to primary and middle school in Changchun between 1960 and 1970. Like most students in China, Li's formal education was stopped by the Cultural Revolution. He did not attend high school. However, he finished high school through distance learning courses in the 1980s. Chinese government accounts often stress that Li did not have a higher education. They say he was an average student, only notable for playing the trumpet.

After getting his middle school diploma in 1970, Li reportedly held "a series of unremarkable jobs." From 1970 to 1972, Li worked at an army horse farm. From 1972 to 1978, he was a trumpet player in a forest police unit in Jilin Province. Later, he worked as a clerk in a grain company in Changchun. Former classmates and co-workers mentioned in government reports repeatedly say Li was ordinary. They claim they never saw him practicing qigong. They also say they knew nothing about the Buddhist and Daoist Masters Li claimed to have studied with.

A group of early followers in Changchun became unhappy after Li told his followers not to charge fees for the practice in late 1994. This group left Falun Gong. They sent a series of accusations against Li to government ministries. Among these was the claim that he had not shown any special powers when he was young. Falun Gong sent detailed responses to these accusations. After Falun Gong was banned in 1999, Chinese authorities republished all these accusations.

Disagreement Over Birth Date

Li's date of birth became a point of disagreement after 1999. Falun Gong sources stated that Li was born on May 13, 1951. The Chinese government said his birthday was July 7 or 27, 1952. They pointed out that his claimed birthday was the same as Gautama Buddha. As proof of the 1952 birth, authorities quoted Pan Yufang, a midwife. She remembered delivering Li in July 1952. Pan's story included that she used a medicine called oxytocin to help with the birth. Falun Gong followers disagreed, saying oxytocin was not available until after 1953.

Professor David Ownby wrote in 2008 that Li Hongzhi was born Li Lai on July 27, 1952, in Gongzhuling, Jilin province, China. The Chinese government said Li changed his name from Lai to Hongzhi. They claimed Hongzhi, meaning vast will, sounded more revolutionary. In 2017, Professor James R. Lewis looked at a 2015 report by Kaiwind, a group in China that works against cults. He agreed with their photo evidence that Li was born on July 7, 1952. The Kaiwind report said Li asked a friend in government service for help. This friend helped him change his government ID papers in late September 1994. The report claimed a police woman named Sun Lixian forged the necessary clerk's signature. She changed his birthdate and ID number, and he got a new ID card in October.

Li does not deny changing his ID in 1994. However, he said his birth date had been printed incorrectly due to common mistakes during the Cultural Revolution. He stated he was simply correcting it. Regarding the accusation that he chose Gautama Buddha's birthday as his own, Li called it a "smear." He said, "What's the big deal about having the same birthday as Sakyamuni [Gautama Buddha]? Many criminals were also born on that date. I have never said that I am Sakyamuni. I am just a very ordinary man." However, Li has claimed to have various superhuman powers, such as the ability to become invisible.

About Falun Gong

Li Hongzhi learned from other qigong practices in the late 1980s. He then created Falun Dafa, or the Great Law of the Wheel of Dharma. He introduced it on May 13, 1992, in Changchun, Jilin. From 1992 to 1994, he traveled across China, giving talks and teaching the Falun Gong exercises. His group grew very quickly. Li's success was largely due to the huge popularity of qigong in the early 1990s. He made Falun Gong different by making it "accessible to the public" and focusing on moral teachings.

Falun Gong's teachings come from Li's talks. He has the main say in what Falun Gong followers believe. Li claims to have special powers like seeing things far away and preventing illness. He also claims to have eternal youth. He created a program that promises followers perfect health and special powers easily. He also criticized other Qigong systems. He said they had "false teachings and greedy and fraudulent 'masters'" and aimed to fix this. Li said Falun Gong was part of a "centuries-old tradition of cultivation." In his writings, he often criticized those who taught "incorrect, deviant, or heterodox ways." Li made Falun Gong different by stressing moral values. He said these values aimed to "purify one's heart and attain spiritual salvation." He felt other Qigong movements focused too much on physical health and developing special powers.

During the time when Falun Gong books sold the most in China, Li Hongzhi did not receive any money from them. This was because all publications were unofficial copies. Li's success also came from people looking for alternative medicine treatments. At that time, China's healthcare system was struggling to meet people's needs. As the Master of the Falun Gong system, Li claimed to "purify the students' bodies" and "unblock their main and collateral channels." He said this would "remove the root of their disease" if they were sick. He also reportedly placed a Falun or "law wheel" in the stomach of each student. He also placed other "energy mechanisms" in other parts of their bodies. Li also described how his "Law bodies" would protect each follower. He said he would "clear up the students' house and places of practice and then put a covering of safety." In Li's Falun Gong teachings, he stresses that followers should live by the moral principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance every day.

According to Falun Gong groups, Li's early success was recognized at the 1992 and 1993 Beijing Oriental Health Expos. At the first event, the organizer said Falun Gong and Li "received the most praise [of any qigong school] at the fair." They also "achieved very good therapeutic results." This event helped Li become popular in the qigong world. News reports about Falun Gong's healing powers spread. The next year, Li became a member of the organizing committee for the Beijing Health Expo. He won several awards and honors at the event.

In the early 1990s, Li had a good relationship with the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). In 1993, he treated 100 police officers who had been hurt on the job. This earned him praise from an organization under the MPS. Li gave talks at the Public Security University in Beijing in 1994. He gave money from these talks to a fund for injured police officers. The ceremony for publishing Li's book, Zhuan Falun, was held in the Ministry of Public Security's auditorium in January 1995.

In 1998, Li Hongzhi stated that he believes alien invaders walk the Earth. He also said that modern science and race-mixing are part of their plan to take over humanity. He has reportedly said he can walk through walls and make himself invisible. Li says he is a being from a higher level who has come to help humankind avoid destruction from widespread badness. About these ideas, he said, "You must not talk with ordinary people about the high-level things I have taught you. Instead, only talk about being persecuted... about our human rights being violated."

Life Outside China

In 1995, Li announced that he had finished teaching Falun Gong in China. He then began spreading the practice in other countries. His first stop in March 1995 was the Chinese embassy in Paris, where he was invited to teach. After that, he held seminars in Sweden. Between 1995 and 1999, Li gave talks in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States. Falun Gong groups and clubs started appearing in Europe, North America, and Australia. Their activities mainly took place on university campuses.

In 1996, the city of Houston named Li an honorary citizen and goodwill ambassador. This was for his "unselfish public service for the benefit and welfare of mankind."

After this, Li received more recognition from cities in North America. In May 1999, Li was welcomed to Toronto. He received greetings from the Mayor of Toronto and the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. In the next two months, he also received recognition from the cities of Chicago and San Jose.

Li Hongzhi moved to the United States in 1996 with his wife and daughter. In 1998, he became a U.S. permanent resident, settling in New York.

On July 29, 1999, after Falun Gong was banned, China's Ministry of Public Security made several accusations against Li. These included "disturbing public order." They issued a notice saying he was wanted for arrest. At that time, Li Hongzhi was living in the United States. The Chinese government asked Interpol to arrest him. However, Interpol rejected the request. They said the request was "of a political or religious character" and lacked information on any "ordinary law crime he would have committed." The Chinese government also took away his passport, stopping him from traveling internationally.

By April 2001, Li Hongzhi had received over 340 awards and honors. These came from Australia, Canada, China (before the ban), Japan, Russia, and the U.S. They recognized his contributions to people's spiritual and physical health, and to freedom of belief. These include honorary citizenship from the State of Georgia and the city of Atlanta. On March 14, 2001, Freedom House gave Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong an International Religious Freedom Award. This was for promoting religious and spiritual freedom. He was nominated for the 2001 Sakharov Prize by over 25 members of the European Parliament. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 and 2001. In 2013, Foreign Policy Magazine listed him as one of the 500 most powerful people in the world.

Shen Yun, The Epoch Times, and Other Groups

The performing arts group Shen Yun, the media company The Epoch Times, and other groups like New Tang Dynasty Television work as parts of Falun Gong. These groups promote Falun Gong and Li Hongzhi's teachings. The Epoch Times also promotes ideas that some people don't agree with in the United States, Canada, and Europe. According to a March 2020 report by Samuel Braslow in Los Angeles Magazine:

In 2000, Li started Epoch Times to share Falun Gong's ideas with American readers. Six years later he launched Shen Yun as another way to promote his teachings to general Western audiences. Over the years Shen Yun and Epoch Times, while officially separate, have worked together in Falun Gong's ongoing efforts against the Chinese government, following directions from Li.

Even with its conservative goals, Epoch Times tried to avoid getting involved in U.S. politics until recently. That changed in June 2015 after Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign. In Trump, Falun Gong saw more than just an ally—they saw a savior. As a former Epoch Times editor told NBC News, the group's leaders "believe that Trump was sent by heaven to destroy the communist party."

(Los Angeles Magazine later removed Braslow's article in September 2020 after Falun Gong filed a lawsuit.)

The exact financial and structural connections between Falun Gong, Shen Yun, and The Epoch Times are not fully clear. According to NBC News:

The Epoch Media Group, along with Shen Yun, a dance group known for its many advertisements, are part of Falun Gong's outreach efforts. Falun Gong is a relatively new spiritual practice that combines ancient Chinese meditation, spiritual beliefs, and often very traditional cultural views. Falun Gong's founder has called Epoch Media Group "our media." The group's practice strongly influences The Epoch Times' news coverage, according to former employees who spoke with NBC News.

The Epoch Times, the digital production company NTD, and the widely advertised dance group Shen Yun make up the non-profit network that Li calls "our media." Financial documents show a complex picture of more than a dozen groups that are technically separate. However, they seem to share goals, money, and leaders. While the source of their income is not clear, recent financial records show that the overall business has been growing.

Reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian suggests that Li Hongzhi's beliefs about different races could have influenced The Epoch Times' support of certain political ideas. Falun Gong's beliefs include the idea that different ethnic groups each have their own heavens. They also believe that people of mixed race lose some of this connection. Falun Gong's teachings include belief in reincarnation. They say that a person's soul always keeps a single racial identity, even if their body is of mixed race. Investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann noted that mixed-race marriages are common in the Falun Gong community.

See also

In Spanish: Li Hongzhi para niños

• Chinese people in New York City