Falun Dafa Day in Pictures

Falun Dafa Day is a double celebration for Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) practitioners. May 13 is the anniversary of Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, beginning to publicly teach this spiritual practice in China, and also Mr. Li’s birthday.[etssp 360]

Mr. Li first taught Falun Gong in a schoolhouse in Changchun in northeastern China in 1992. At the time, Falun Gong was known as one among many qigong practices that were offered to the public in China.

But Falun Gong was special. Practitioners of Falun Gong reported extraordinary improvements in their health and also dramatic changes in how they lived their lives. In large numbers, they reported having less stress, fewer conflicts with family, friends, and colleagues, improved character, and a deeper understanding of the purpose of life.

Falun Gong involves practicing five meditative exercises and living according to moral and spiritual teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Spread by word of mouth, Falun Gong soon became very popular among the people of China and was honored by local and central state offices for its benefits. In 1996 the chief text of Falun Gong, Zhuan Falun, became a best seller in China.

In February 1999 U.S. News and World Report, citing state officials, reported that between 70 and 100 million people in China were practicing Falun Gong. Falun Gong sources say the number of practitioners was in fact over 100 million at that time.

Persecution and Resistance

On July 20, 1999 the then-paramount leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Jiang Zemin, ordered the “eradication” of Falun Gong. The largest religious persecution in the world followed. The Falun Dafa Information Center reports that hundreds of thousands have been detained in jails, prisons, brainwashing centers, psychiatric hospitals, and labor camps. It estimates the deaths due to torture and abuse as in the tens of thousands.

Additional tens of thousands of practitioners are believed to have died due to the forced harvesting of their organs. In their book “Bloody Harvest” David Kilgour and David Matas report that according to official figures 41,500 organs were transplanted between 2000 and 2006 for which the CCP cannot provide a source. They conclude that detained Falun Gong practitioners were the most likely source for these organs.

In spite of this persecution, Falun Gong practitioners in China have persisted in their practice. The Falun Dafa Information Center estimates that between 20 and 40 million people in China continue to practice Falun Gong.

Not only have Falun Gong practitioners continued to practice, they have mounted an unprecedented campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience in China.

Exiled human rights lawyer Mr. Guo Guoting told The Epoch Times, “Under the whole violent, totalitarian CCP, there has been wave after wave of crazy persecution and attacks, but there has never been an organization or group that openly stands up and protects its legal rights.”

“This isn’t a hotheaded resistance that is quickly over,” said Mr. Guo. “It’s been an ongoing process, an extraordinarily tenacious process of protecting their rights to their beliefs, a display of persistence and dauntlessness.”

This campaign is changing China. Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, in an open letter in 2005 to paramount leader Hu Jintao and head of the state bureaucracy Wen Jiabao, said the actions of Falun Gong practitioners have “allowed me to see a spark of hope for rescuing our nation from its current depraved state.”

Celebration

Practitioners, even while celebrating Falun Dafa Day, say they never forget the persecution and resistance going on in China.

Wendy Yang at a Falun Dafa Day celebration in Chicago said that she looked forward to a future Falun Dafa Day at which all of the practitioners in China will be able to practice the Falun Gong exercises outside, without fear, as she could do in the United States.

While Falun Gong has been persecuted in China, it has spread around the world. According to the main Falun Gong website, Clearwisdom, Falun Gong is now practiced in 104 countries where 30 different languages are spoken.

Falun Dafa Day has become a world-wide celebration.

The Clearwisdom website reports receiving cards and letters from 300 regions inside China wishing Mr. Li a happy birthday. In addition, greetings are received from countries around the world. The birthday greetings might take the form of a handwritten note, an e-card, calligraphy, or oil or water painted scenes. Clearwisdom publishes hundreds of these greetings, but says only a small portion of those received are able to be published.

Activities both simple and elaborate are held, varying from place to place according to local circumstances. Proclamations from local officials congratulating Mr. Li and Falun Gong practitioners on the occasion of Falun Dafa Day are read. Parades are held with marching bands and drum corps. Performances of dance and song are staged. Photo or art exhibitions are shown. Booths or tables are set up to educate passerby about the benefits of Falun Gong and about the persecution it suffers in China. And, very commonly, practitioners come together to practice the Falun Gong exercises and to share with one another the difficulties and successes they have had in their practice.