Tag: Spiritual

By A. Nichols

To some in the western world, religious beliefs seem to be absent in Chinese culture. Despite the fact that the Chinese government perpetuates their image of corruption and immorality, the ordinary Chinese citizens have found spiritual meaning in other beliefs. The Falun Gong movement arose out of the Chinese people’s quest for meaning and stability in their lives in the midst of rapid social and economic change. Falun Gong, or “Law Wheel Cultivation” was created by Li Hongzhi in 1992. Falun Gong is a type of qigong which literally means “energy cultivation.” This energy cultivation is said to enhance supernatural powers, increasing wisdom and inner purity. The practice of Falun Gong includes spiritual meditations and four physical exercises: Buddha Stretching a Thousand Arms, Falun Gong Standing Stance, Coursing Between the Two Poles, and the Falun Cosmic Exercise. These four exercises would mix the energy of the body with the energy of the universe. Falun Gong is also comprised of moral teachings with an emphasis on Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance.

The popularity of Falun Gong grew from 1992 to 1999. The diverse group of members ranged from students to Communist Party officials. The Chinese government initially supported this idea of energy cultivation to improve the overall health of the Chinese population. The Chinese government’s corroboration with Falun Gong followers was surprising, considering the fact the the Communist party usually discouraged participations in voluntary organizations. This trust between the Communist Party and the Falun Gong practitioners was abruptly terminated  on April 25th, 1999. Chinese newspapers implied that the Falun Gong was an evil cult. These accusations resulted in Falun Gong practitioners protesting in Beijing on April 25th. The Chinese government immediately began to assume that the Falun Gong practitioners had underlying motives. The Chinese communist party, plagued with fear and paranoia, assumed that this peaceful protest was a prerequisite for revolution. Li Hongzhi had emphasized that Falun Gong was an apolitical group; however, the Chinese communist party still banned the practice of Falun Gong.

In an effort to undermine the credibility of the Falun Gong movement, the Chinese government employed tactics to effectively crush the movement, including propaganda and brutal violence towards Falun Gong practitioners. Anyone who was found with Falun Gong paraphernalia was either jailed or tortured to denounce their beliefs. Torture usually took place in detention centers. There was also much controversy surrounding the self-immolations that took place in Tianenmen Square on January 21,2001. Five people, who were allegedly Falun Gong practitioners, perished in the flames to protest against the Chinese government. The survivors were interviewed by journalists. Some western journalists believed this tactic of leaving survivors was actually a ploy to convince other Chinese citizens and the outside world that Falun Gong did, in fact, cause people to go mad. The self immolations would be the evidence of this suggestion.

Despite the fact that the Chinese government greatly abused human rights against the Falun Gong practitioners, the communist party exhibited great resistance to external forces that were seen as potential threats to the stability of the communist regime. The Chinese government continually defended its tactic of torture by claiming that Falun Gong was a threat to social stability. The Falun Gong movement was a threat that had never actually materialized.

The Falun Gong practitioners clearly debunked the stereotype that Chinese people would blindly follow a government that would so blatantly violate their human rights.

http://www.merinews.com/newPhotoLanding.jsp?imageID=1189&offset=1

http://www.bible.ca/falun-gong-falun-dafa-zhuan-falun.htm

http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200406/20295.html

By A. Nichols

Although China had once constructed an actual Great Wall to shield itself from aggression from tribes, clans, and countries to its north, modern society has torn down most walls that were made to keep foreign ideas and influences out Chinese culture. With the growth of Communism in China, China’s government has placed a new ideological wall around religion and its authority to write doctrine, which is the equivalent of giving the Asian Studies Department the authority to create the Math department’s curriculum. In order to understand the current dynamic between Catholicism, one of the main religions in China, and Chinese society, history and motives of both sides are critical, especially for answering the debate over the myth of Chinese distaste for Catholicism. As a metaphor for the notion of the Chinese government’s “caging” of Christianity, this picture from “China Encounters” provides a possible depiction of the conflict.

Historically, the strain that exists between the Church and the Chinese people has existed from Catholicism’s entrance alongside Christianity into Chinese society on the heels of the Opium War, which would taint the minds of the Chinese people who “do not forget history”[1]. Understandably, this method of “evangelizing” created deep divisions between the Chinese and Western missionaries; yet due to competition for converts, a sort of miracle developed and each branch of Christianity rapidly embraced the “Chinese way” to make themselves more appealing.  However, Westerners remained waiguoren; for in the power vacuum left by the second World War, Christians found their ideological rival, atheistic communists, perched in command China’s authoritarian government.

With this new atheistic entity that became the single political party with power in the Chinese government, Communism and the Vatican found themselves diametrically opposed on ideology. Due to the Church’s need to comply with the government’s guidelines with thanks to Deng Xiaoping, who is displayed bellow with photo credit given to Choo Yut Shing, the Vatican’s reaction against the government’s claim to supremacy over the Pope in matters central to the faith, such as appointing bishops, would draw the powers into conflict. In another struggle for papal supremacy, the seemingly unstoppable communist force was ready to collide with an unmovable object.

Additionally, the conflict may have political ends rather than a mere ideological struggle for power, for the Communists risk losing at their own game of being helpful to “the little guy.” Despite China’s government’s claim to be a “party of the people,” the Catholic Church represents a threat to Communism’s promise to be the best solution; for the Church can provide easy and cheap healthcare that the government cannot challenge[2]. Because most people acknowledge the power of religion, the Communists lack the means to eradicate faith fully; but that does not stop them from attempting to control religions and their doctrines, which is a sign of warranted fear.

While the Communists reserve the right to deem true Catholicism guilty and a threat in court, Chinese people have found Catholicism innocent in the court of public opinion; for Catholic traditions and spirit have planted themselves in society, and the Chinese people have accepted them. This hopeful photo of Christianity in Chinese society is credited to Mister Bijiou.

[1] The Bamboo Cross.Films for the Humanities and Sciences. 2008.

[2] The Bamboo Cross. Films for the Humanities and Sciences. 2008.