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One wonders how Falun Gong views Trump's ideology of "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_Access_Hollywood_tape[grabbing them by the pussy]". But sure, that was in 2005, he must have converted to Good since.
Analysis of Trumps electoral fraud claims:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election
* 2020-11-2020 https://www.ft.com/content/20b114b5-5419-493b-9923-a918a2527931 "Lawsuit tracker: Donald Trump's legal battle runs into repeated dead ends" gives the precise names of several of the cases
* 2021-01-05 https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-campaign-lawsuits-election-results-2020-11 "Trump and Republican officials have won zero out of at least 42 lawsuits they've filed since Election Day" gives an update on several of the cases at that date
[[you-are-not-alone-by-tony-chen-music]]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWjFeo0BgU You Are Not Alone by Tony Chen Music (陳東音樂, 2020) is a timeless classic devotional Trump support song. by Tony who https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AZ-jCiXCpI[is a Falun Gong believer]. This is consistent with Ciro's understanding of FLG's view of the world, where <<falun-gong-believes-that-the-ccp-is-literally-a-manifestation-of-real-devils>> ("I see the true light - You are the Chosen One to fight the Red Demon") and therefore Trump is the manifestation of a supernatural force oof Good. Chinese version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZrVbX8jV_o[], which contains perls such as (official translation) "I see hope - you are the Chosen One to save the world" and "Trump, Trump, you are not alone! Gods and Buddhas are here with you!". The extensive use of Trump's slogan "Make America great again" is also in line with Falun Gong's belief that the world was Good before, but has become Evil today. <<epoch-times>> made a https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/18/2/1/n10105396.htm[profile of Tony in 2018].
=== Western media has exaggerated reports on FLG for propaganda reasons
Possibly true, but which reports are you talking about specifically?
All that I care about is:
* it is censored today
* if you do it you go to jail
* there were tens of millions of followers at the time of the ban
which I think are undeniable.
The only question that matters is: should it be banned or not?
=== Does Ciro Santilli believe in the allegations of human rights violations done to Falun Gong believers?
Besides the obvious prohibition of their most fundamental belief, so e.g. being tortured.
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* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CedVnJOgwg4 "Undercover video reveals brutal treatment of Falun Gong prisoners inside Chinese labor camps" by "FOX 11 Los Angeles" published May 21, 2019. Names mentioned: Fuquan Yin,
[[flg-organ-harvesting]]
==== Does Ciro Santilli believe in the allegations of organ harvesting made by Falun Gong believers?
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_harvesting_from_Falun_Gong_practitioners_in_China
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/對中國共產黨摘取法輪功學員及良心犯器官的指控
In short: Ciro believes that it has happened to many people.
Long version follows.
It is obviously very hard to prove and quantify it definitely, much like it was hard to prove the Holocaust: bodies were cremated, and bribes were paid.
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Even if we had a video showing the whole process, showing the whole money flow from the donor to the prison guard, it would still be hard to quantify it, so I do have some room for doubt in this opinion.
But consider the following, which is based on what Ciro has heard.
Even Chinese officials have admitted that in the past, if the body of the executed person is not claimed by family, then the organs can be extracted even without the consent of the prisoner:
* 2014-12-04 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-30324440 "China to stop harvesting executed prisoners' organs"
* https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/07/china-still-using-executed-prisoners-organs-transplants-vatican
* https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-the-face-of-criticism-china-has-been-cleaning-up-its-organ-transplant-industry/2017/09/14/d689444e-e1a2-11e6-a419-eefe8eff0835_story.html
Perhaps now that they claim that there is a large voluntary organ donor database, then this has stopped or been reduced, but let's focus on that period when the extractions were widely done.
From this, even though China does not publish execution statistics, we can imagine that a large part of the organs come from prisoners sentenced to death.
Then, consider that a <<flg-important,70 million>> person religion was banned, leading to a huge influx of prisoners from that religion.
FLG followers are just de-facto criminals like any other, and so extracting their organs is also de-facto legal.
Also, people from that religion don't drink alcohol, smoke or take drugs, and their organs are of good quality.
Furthermore, FLG prisoners continue to not bow down to the government even in prison, e.g. by doing their <<flg-religion,Falun Gong meditation>>, which makes them clearly identifiable and dangerous to the system.
Finally, add to that mix the <<corruption,huge level of corruption found in dictatorships>>.
Don't you think, then, that it is extremely likely that it has happened many times that such people have been selected to be executed earlier than others on average, due to the monetary value of their organs?
Bibliography:
* https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12910-019-0406-6 (https://web.archive.org/web/20191118135832/https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12910-019-0406-6[archive]) "Analysis of official deceased organ donation data casts doubt on the credibility of China's organ transplant reform" by Matthew P. Robertson, Raymond L. Hinde and Jacob Lavee published at "BMC Medical Ethics" which is part of Springer Nature in 14 November 2019
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* The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China's Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem, by Ethan Gutmann, 2014
** <https://www.amazon.com/Slaughter-Killings-Harvesting-Solution-Dissident/dp/161614940X>
** <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Gutmann#The_Slaughter:_Mass_Killings,_Organ_Harvesting,_and_China's_Secret_Solution_to_Its_Dissident_Problem>
Related:
* 2020-11-29 (not of prisoners) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-55097424 "Chinese doctors jailed for illegal organ harvesting"
2018 https://chinatribunal.com/
This is a mock tribunal, i.e. one without any power of law, and was of course initially lobbied/organized brought up by FLG: https://endtransplantabuse.org/
However, Ciro Santilli believes that none of the lawyers/jury members are Falun Gong believers, and that they are trying to honestly decide if there is enough evidence or not for organ harvesting in China.
They also have non-FLG witnesses.
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Whether you believe in their partiality or not, I highly recommend watching some of what the witnesses, which I find very convincing and informative:
* https://youtu.be/oW3IaaXWE8s?t=7225 Swedish man who spent several years in prison in China
A notable precursor to mock tribunals is the link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Tribunal[Russel Tribunal].
Bibliography:
* Dr. Enver Tothi, has spoken openly about his organ harvesting activities in the 1990s in several tribunals in Europe
** 2020 https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/surgeon-who-harvested-organs-slaughtered-21040274 "Surgeon who harvested organs of slaughtered dissident now London Uber driver"
** 2019 in EU parliament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n-9n897jIo
** 2017 Him speaking in : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoXKMw4slHY at Ireland's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoXKMw4slHY[House of the Oireachtas]
=== Things Ciro Santilli dislikes about Falun Gong
But also as explaining why I don't think it justifies the ban.
This section also gives me more credibility as a balanced critic >:-)
* <<flg-religion,Falun Gong downplays the fact that they are a religion>>
==== FLG downplays the fact that it is highly organized
Many FLG practitioners claim that they are not at all organized, or that they have no political interest, and I truly believe that they mean it.
But it is obvious from the size of the <<falun-gong-media>>, namely:
* <<epoch-times>> newspaper
* <<shen-yun>> dance troupe
that in practice they do have are a highly organized hierarchical structure, and very likely with <<li-hongzhi,LHZ>> at the very top, e.g.:
* Shen Yun's 2018 libretto says that their Artistic Director and founder is "D.F." (likely an abbreviation for Da Fa, which is an abbreviation for Falun Gong Dafa, which is a full name of Falun Gong), with a picture of LHZ on top. It also amusingly says that D.F. is a "Distinguished Professor of Music and Dance at Fei Tian College in New York", which is likely where many of Shen Yun's dancers are trained, and therefore controlled by himself to a large extent. It's Falun Gong's dance-only-for-now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young_University[BYU].
* LHZ mentions NDTV, Epoch Times and Shen Yun extensively on his <<flg-canon>>. TODO link to source, this based on unintentionally overhearing to my family members reading it.
Furthermore, Falun Gong practitioners directly lobby foreign governments to take action against human rights abuses in China, e.g.:
* https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+P7-RC-2013-0562+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
* https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-court-cisco-must-be-held-accountable-aiding-chinas-human-rights-abuses
Like any other religion, they have all the right to take those actions, and it is definitely in their best interest, and perhaps in the best interest of the whole world, that they do so.
The only thing that annoys me is their lack of self perception on this matter: the large majority of Western people would definitely classify them as an organized political force after having observed their activities. When they say otherwise, they are hurting their own credibility.
===== FLG media is not transparent about its affiliation
Agreed, and it is a point that hurts more than helps their cause.
This is very clearly put as well at "Front groups" of the <<orange-papers>>.
But the media is not legally obliged to state their affiliation.
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And if that were the case, then we should force _all_ newspapers to start taking polls of how many employees follow which religion and support which political party, and then put that in their print.
==== Falun Gong dislikes several other groups like homosexuals and some other religions
Like most <<flg-religion,old religions>>, related: <<hate-speech>>.
<<flg-canon,Canon quote>> from https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/19980904L.html[]:
____
Question: Why is homosexuality considered immoral?
Teacher: Think about it, everyone: Is homosexuality human behavior? Heaven created man and woman. What was the purpose? To procreate future generations. A man being with a man, or a woman with a woman - it doesn't take much thought to know whether that's right or wrong. When minor things are done incorrectly, a person is said to be wrong. When major things are done incorrectly, it's a case of people no longer having the moral code of human beings, and then they are unworthy of being human.
<<ciro-santilli>> strongly disagrees with that view, because it is the type of thing that makes people feel bad for characteristics that they have, but cannot change.
Also, it is very hard to pass any kind of law that forces people not to be racist/discriminatory, because there is always the lingering question: what if they are right about a particular point?
Because clearly everyone has innate characteristics that make them better suited for certain activities than others, we when we select candidates for a job, we are basically discriminating amongst candidates.
Also any such law can have the opposite effect, acting as a justification for further hate.
You and I dislike certain personality traits without any logical reason.
Democracy dislikes dictators, and it is not necessarily rational.
<<li-hongzhi>> clearly classifies races as a metaphysical concept e.g. on <<flg-canon>> https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/19990502L.html[]:
____
Strictly speaking, Indians, Egyptians, Persians, the yellow race, the white race, and the black race are the six major races of the present Earth. All the other ones are mixed races.
____
Mixed race people seem to have some metaphysical defect/peculiarity, https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/1997L.html[]:
___
Question: What did you say last time that a person of mixed race has lost?
Teacher: He has lost the body that comes from the top down through to here. Let me put it this way: People of the yellow race have people of the yellow race up there, and people of the white race have people of the white race up there. He's lost this thread.
___
but they can still go to Heaven:
____
Question: Can a person of mixed race succeed in cultivation?
Teacher: Whether someone can cultivate and whether he can succeed in cultivation are all up to the person himself. If a person of mixed race can persist in cultivation, he can reach Consummation just the same. When he succeeds in cultivation his Primordial Spirit will return to wherever he came from.
____
==== FLG believers are less likely to take necessary medication
Based on what <<ciro-santilli>> saw and heard, he does believe, without any clear statistical evidence, that it is very likely that it hs happened to in many cases that some Falun Gong believers refused to take modern medications and died of diseases that could be otherwise cured.
* what matters are statistics. Maybe FLG people live longer than non FLG in average. But we will never have statistics because of censorship: https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/27529/have-many-falun-gong-practitioners-forgone-medical-treatment-and-died-of-treatab
* maybe people should be link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_legislation[allowed to choose how they want to die], and not to take medication if they don't want to
+
As the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_and_Recreation[Parks and Recreation] caricaturally liberal character https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Swanson[Ron Swanson] puts it https://youtu.be/_UlNnETAZeI?t=48[about the United States]:
+
____
The whole point of this country is if you wanna eat garbage, balloon up to six hundred pounds and die of a heart attack at forty three, you can! You are free to do so. To me that's beautiful.
____
+
<<freedom-with-a-capital-f>> also comes to mind.
* maybe the number of people killed during persecution vastly outnumbers those who died because they would not take medication
* several <<flg-religion,religions>>, including <<christianity>> have miraculous cure claims. My impression is that claims were mostly notable in the old times apparently, likely because people noticed that Christians were still dying of all kinds of diseases like everyone else, no matter how devout!
* maybe the main reason why communists banned Falun Gong is the political threat it posed, but that a ban was unjustified given the situation. Christian crosses are being taken down as of 2016, have they stopped taking their medications as well? See also <<rule-of-law>>.
* maybe many of those people would also have died soon even if they had taken medication
* maybe not all Falun Gong believers thought that it was wise to stop taking medication. But their religion was banned anyway. Who can agree and follow all the innumerable prescriptions of any religious or legal system? See also: <<thoughtcrime>>.
* all the following also reduce people's lifespan:
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** riding motorcycles vs. cars/buses
** smoking
** moving to a poor country to do charity there
** eating fast food
--
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Forbidding them also has huge humanitarian costs (more expensive vehicles, creation of a black market, ...). So why not forbid them as well?
Especially In the beginning, Falun Gong did put a lot of emphasis on its health benefits, just <<zhong-gong,like all the other contemporaneous Qi Gong practices>>, and it is likely that especially many in the first generation of believers do believe it more than others.
For example, the main initial public announcement of Falun Gong was at a <<history-of-falun-gong,Health Exposition in Beijing>>.
In <<flg-canon>> itself, this is not super explicit and emphasised as far as Ciro can see. Zhuan Falun https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_74.htm[] has a chapter entitled "On the Issue of Healing Illnesses", that contains:
____
Let us talk about the most common illnesses, like tumors, infections or osteoproliferation etc., found in the human body. In another space, a very deep space, there lies an evil intelligent entity.
____
and the general very beaty-around-the-bush suggestion that if you do master Falun Gong fully, you will be healthy. But with the usual disclaimer that "you have to become a master", and since "there are no graduates", no one is ever a master for sure, and as usual "you don't get the promised goodies", as as mentioned at: <<orange-papers>>.
https://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/mgjf.htm contains some more direct quotes that suggest that you can take medicine, but you have to try and bear the pain first, and if you can't, it's a sign that you haven't practiced Falun Gong well enough:
____
So when you take medicine now you're killing this sickness or the virus at the surface. Medicine can truly kill viruses at the surface. Yet a practitioner's gong[7] is automatically destroying viruses and karma. But as soon as medicine kills the surface virus that has seeped over from other dimensions, the virus—karma—over on the other side will know, since everything is alive, and it will stop coming over. Then you feel that you've recovered because you took the medicine. But let me tell you that it nonetheless accumulates over there. Life after life human beings are accumulating this stuff. When the accumulation reaches a certain extent, the person becomes incurable and when he dies he's totally destroyed. He loses his life—forever loses his life. That's how horrifying it is. So here I've explained to you the relationship. It's not that people aren't allowed to take medicine. When an everyday person gets sick he definitely needs medical treatment.
But how do we cultivators deal with it? Aren't we purifying your body? Like the annual rings of a tree, there is karma at the very core, and at every layer, life after life, of your body. When you practice cultivation, I keep pushing this karma outward from the center; I push, and push, and push, and push until I completely push the karma out for you. And not all of this can go through the surface of our bodies. You wouldn't be able to bear it if all of it were to go through the surface of your body. Only a portion of it comes out through the surface. But you still feel that you're suddenly getting sick, you find it terribly uncomfortable and painful, can't bear it, regard yourself as an everyday person, and go take medicine. Then you can go ahead and take medicine, as we've never said that everyday people can't take medicine. We only say that your enlightenment quality isn't up to par and that you didn't pass this test well.
Ciro does however believe that newer generations believe in this much less, notably because the first believer generation is all basically old or dead, and soon will be entirely dead. This might also have been de-emphasised to reduce the bullshit aspects and help the international spread of Falun Gong. Not even Falun Gong believers are that blind. And this perfectly mimics the beginning of Christianism, where the first generations gave much more emphasis to miraculous cures.
<<me-and-li-by-ben-hurley-2017>> has an anecdote on this, which Ciro feels sounds believable:
[[me-and-li-tumor]]
____
I think it was Lynn's* death that finally made me realise it was time to leave. I'd seen the writing on the wall about a year prior when I saw her at a yearly "Fa conference" for believers of Falun Gong, otherwise known as Falun Dafa, to exchange experiences and grow spiritually together. An executive assistant at a Queensland valuation firm, I'd gotten to know her over the years in various events as a warm and level-headed lady who had time for everyone. But I'd noticed she had developed a bulge on the side of her head and I was trying not to look at it when I talked to her. I saw, or at least I believed I saw, some pain in her smile. She was probably questioning herself over and over again what "attachments" she hadn't let go of that were causing this sickness to spread through her body and endanger her life. I wanted to tell her to just go to a hospital, although I wasn't at this stage resolute enough in my gradual return to logic. Another part of me feared that by looking at it I was acknowledging it — something you don't do with illnesses in Falun Gong because Master Li Hongzhi teaches that his pupils don't get illnesses. He can cure you but only if you don't have any loopholes in your belief in him and his teachings. Some people with solid beliefs can actually die due to others around them having flaws in their thinking, Li says. Just thinking the wrong way is perilous when you're a Falun Gong practitioner.
I later heard through the grapevine of Lynn's death. The cancer went into her brain and she passed away in extreme pain, probably believing to the end that it was her fault she was in this awful predicament. In a way, I guess it was.
____
and more interesting anecdotes follow, see source.
And Ciro has felt this first hand with his <<wife,mother-in-law>>. Whenever she has a health worry, first she tries to hide it. But then she casually mentions it without much thought because she speaks all the time the poor lady, may she be blessed. And then, when Ciro says: OK, let's try and treat it, even for trivial things that might have simple treatments, she immediately smiles a compassionate smile of "I'm a Falun Gong believer, I don't need that". This makes Ciro really mad. He tries to not show it, because he thinks people should be able to choose how they die. But Li promises the powers of <<flg-cross-dimensional-vision,remote, cross dimensional and past/future vision>> to some believers, and yet, blinds some of them to the obvious fact that they are aging, and, slowly but surely, their own bodies are starting to fail, like everyone else's will at one point.
It is also interesting to note how the Chinese government itself supported Falun Gong and <<zhong-gong,other Qi Gong practices>> for their health benefits, which is why they grew so large in the first place. <<li-hongzhi>> was even <<history-of-falun-gong,awarded prizes and recognized as a Qi Gong master by state backed organizations in 1992 and 1993>>. And the CCP still has a tendency to support certain non-scientific traditional practices: <<support-for-non-scientific-traditional-practices>>.
.https://youtu.be/kIpaDW3RwtY?t=244 one random thing ex-KGB spy undercover in the USA Jack Barsky mentioned in this BuzzFeed Multiplayer interview stuck to his mind: "The one thing that you have here, that I believe cannot be found anywhere else in the world is called Freedom, with a capital F". If people want to die in a certain way, or believe that some bullshit will cure them, they should be allowed. Natural selection will take care of the rest.
video::kIpaDW3RwtY[youtube,height=400,width=600,start=244]
===== Falun Gong's view of epidemics
<<li-hongzhi>> has said in <<flg-canon,canon>> things that lead certain believers (including e.g. <<wife,Ciro's mother in law>>) to believe that because they are good Falun Gong believers, that they are more safe from disease from evil people.
For example, in the 2003 "Fa conference" at the time of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome[SARS] he https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/20030420L.html[said]:
____
You must have seen the epidemic that's come along in China now, right? Hasn't a huge epidemic arrived? To put it in human terms, it's Heaven punishing people. What it's targeting, we Dafa disciples know full well: it's targeting those who don't deserve to be saved, who are impossible to save while Dafa disciples clarify the truth, and who aren't useful to the evil rotten spirits. This is the first round of cleansing. Heaven is punishing the evil, yet China is still lying to cover up the number of deaths, and I'll tell you, it's huge, and it hasn't peaked yet.
____
Such beliefs have of course carried over directly to <<corona,COVID-19>>.
An amazing quote from https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2020/3/20/183715.html[]:
____
Stay Rational
Pandemics and plagues are part of a divine plan and inevitable in the course of history.
____
Stay rational. Believe in God ;-)
Epidemics are also likely moments where religious grow due to more people being more desperate and looking for solace that cannot be found in this shitty world.
It is indeed tempting to believe that the virus magically kills only the Evil. What reality could be so fucked up where the innocent suffocate to their death? And yet, here we are.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Hongzhi
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/李洪志
Li Hongzhi is the creator of <<falun-gong>>: link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Hongzhi[].
Falun Gong people call him "master" (师父), which is a common traditional term used to respectfully address experienced teachers in a disciple (弟子)/teacher relation, e.g. Kung Fu or other crafts.
However they also believe that he has many many God-like powers and is comparable figures such as Jesus and Buddha himself.
Notably they believe that he has superpowers, and that everything that he says is the absolute truth of the universe, see also: <<flg-religion>>.
The term "master" is also used for example in the fictional film The Master (2012), which is likely inspired in <<flg-religion,Scientology>>.
<<ciro-santilli>> however prefers to call him <<flg-religion,prophet>>, since he feels LHZ is indistinguishable from <<flg-religion,any other religion>>. Guru/<<flg-cult,cult leader>> could also apply.
It's funny that even though Falun Gong only came up recently in the 80's, we still know relatively little about Li. One is kind of reminded of Jesus! See also <<li-hongzhis-family>> and <<li-hongzhis-hagiography>>.
One should note however that this is partly by design: at some point in the 90's, Li relatively stepped away from public view. This is because once you reach a critical mass of followers, it is better to let them to the preaching for you, while you hide your obvious human defects in a corner. See also comments at <<vissarion>>.
Li Hongzhi footage:
* 1999-06-12 AP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_onSZlvWSQ USA: "CHINA: FALUN DAFA CULT POSES NO THREAT CLAIMS FOUNDER" Li Hongzhi talks to media in New York
.<<li-hongzhi>> is Falun Gong's prophet/cult leader/living God. He's a cute North-Westerner 东北人 like <<wife,Ciro's wife>>. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Hongzhi[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Li_Hongzhi.jpg[height=400]
.<<li-hongzhi>> practicing one of his exercises with one of his cute prophet outfits in an extremely nice Chinese <<does-ciro-santilli-hate-china,stone garden>>. TODO exact location and date. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Li_Hongzhi_Falun_Gong.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Li_Hongzhi_stone_garden.jpg[height=600]
[[li-hongzhi-blue-halo]]
.<<li-hongzhi,Li>> in front of a light blue background (similar to <<xi-jinping-portrait-blue,CCP official portraits>>) with a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(religious_iconography)[halo] suggestion around his head. https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/11/5/12/n3254555.htm[Lower quality version] on <<epoch-times>> itself. https://www.epochweekly.com/144/7046pg.htm[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Li_Hongzhi_blue.jpg[height=400]
.<<li-hongzhi,Li>> going https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Saiyan[Super Saiyan] while casually sitting on a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_lotus_in_religious_art[giant Lotus flower] with a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(religious_iconography)[halo] on his head. https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/8022105562347289/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Li_Hongzhi_lotus.jpg[height=600]
.<<li-hongzhi>> really turning into a proper Buddha, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_characteristics_of_the_Buddha[physical signs] such as the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushnisha[Ushnisha] on the head and the https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Physical_characteristics_of_the_Buddha&oldid=972021136#The_80_secondary_characteristics["ears as longs as lotus petals"]. <<bannedbook>> https://www.bannedbook.org/bnews/tculture/xiulian/20190123/1068931.html[source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Li_Hongzhi_Buddha.jpg[height=400]
.Dubstep <<li-hongzhi,Li>> can <<flg-religion,liangong (练功)>> at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubstep[dubstep] speed. https://giphy.com/gifs/dubstep-gifs-dubstepgifs-xUOwFY1prqgUdPuFvW[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Li_Hongzhi_dubstep.webp[height=400]
===== Xi Hongzhi and Li Jinping
In an alternate reality, Xi Hongzhi, not to be confused with <<xi-jinping>>, is an obscure peasant trying to save his kingdom from oppression.
And Li Jinping, not to be confused with <<li-hongzhi>>, is an evil Qi Gong who uses his powers to rule over his kingdom ruthlessly, ridding it of non-believers.
This meme would be offensive to both <<ccp>> and <<falun-gong>> believers.
We are entering Encyclopedia Dramatica territory here.
===== FLG is dangerous because Li Hongzhi has too much power over followers
Ciro agrees that there is danger in every religion, and especially new religions.
However the same point can be made about political parties and in particular the CCP and its chairman.
Ciro Santilli
committed
Couldn't a charismatic leader chairman gain more and more power (like Xi seems to be doing), and eventually start a war and kill millions? Or just kill some minority who is not happy about the situation.
Ciro Santilli
committed
Similarly, any charismatic leader of a pro-democracy movement could become the leader of a terrorist organization.
If you ever want democracy, you will have to learn to accept the beliefs of others, and only punish them when they actually break a law.
Finally, LHZ was born in 1951, so he will die in 20 years, unless FLG is true and a miracle happens, and then this argument will become invalid.
From what Ciro hears, LHZ has always maintained that he is the only source of truth on FLG (see also "The Guru is always right"), and therefore, so his death will very likely remove any danger once and for all.
Furthermore, it also seems to Ciro that FLG is clearly anti-violence and self-harm, so Ciro wonder how many would follow a contradictory order such as killing or suicide? We have had no hint of any incitation to violence so far.
It is also interesting to look into the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown case. When the suicide order came, most people wanted out! Without physically controlling the followers, I don't think you can make them do much.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Hongzhi mentions that there are two versions of the biography:
* An unofficial biography appeared in the first of Li's major publications, <<flg-canon,Zhongguo Falun Gong>>, supposedly authored by journalist Zhu Huiguang (朱慧光).
The full text appears to be at available at: http://qingqing.freebbs.tw/viewthread.php?tid=130### (God bless <<taiwan,Taiwanese>> piracy, link:++https://web.archive.org/web/20200805093333/http://qingqing.freebbs.tw/viewthread.php?tid=130###++[archive])
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<<benjamin-penny-the-life-and-times-of-li-hongzhi-2003>> gives the full title of the section + a translation (originally in pinyin, but why?!?! :-)):
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____
法輪旋轉新天地-記李洪志先生和他創立的法輪功 +
"The wheel of the law revolves the new cosmos - on Li Hongzhi and the Falun Gong he founded".
____
* A second, official spiritual biography appeared in early editions of <<flg-canon,Falun Gong's primary text, Zhuan Falun>>.
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It is shorter than the first, and is marked as authored by the "Falun Dafa Research Society's President" (法轮功研究会会长).
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The Wiki quotes <<benjamin-penny-the-religion-of-falun-gong-2012>>.
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Penny says that it was removed in 1999 (presumably to remove some more glaring magical bullshit help with internationalization).
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A possible Chinese copy might be found at: http://qingqing.freebbs.tw/viewthread.php?tid=165### inside a 1994 version of Zhuan Falun.
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The section is entitled "中国法轮功创始人、法轮功研究会会长 李洪志先生小传", so literally tranlated as a "profile" (小传) rather than a full biography. The index marks it as 附 (addendum), and it comes at the end of the book.
===== Let's make a mini series about Li Hongzhi's life
Ciro can't help but to imagine how Falun Gong came about in detail.
Someone should write a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Temptation_of_Christ_(novel)["The Last Temptation of Christ"].
This deserves an American miniseries like Chernobyl.
It would manage to piss off both FLG and the CCP, which would be amazing. It is a shame that it is so difficult to find good historical information between the infinite barrages of CCP and FLG propaganda.
It could show how:
* Li was an ordinary dude who could liked to play the trumpet, which partially explains his focus on <<falun-gong-media,Shen Yun>> and Falun Gong musical street parades
* Li first heard about Qi Gong, and went to practice it under some dude. Then how he saw other people were so into it, and decided to take this opportunity to make a career out of it during the 80's
* how he met his wife and had a daughter
* how he started to notice how people were feeling things during the exercise classes, and started suggesting more and more metaphysics to these first disciples
* Li could also have some metaphysical moment, like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW20LbwAmng but at the same time, he must tell his followers some lies which he does not believe
* how followers started telling others things and "experience sharing" where the cycle of belief stats to take off
* a clear demonstration of how "A group of early adopters in Changchun became disenchanted after Li forbade his followers from charging fees for the practice at the end of 1994" showing dissent within the cult
* and finally, the immigration and crackdown, and how he put his fingers on those things, and the creation of media, this could be the last episode
Episodes could be split along:
* Episode 1: pre Qi Gong, shows Childhood, workplaces, early motivations. Ends with first contact with a Qi Gong lesson
* Episode 2: early Falun Gong. Opens an academy. Starts without metaphysics, but grows into it. Show him knowingly lying, but also seething magic things. The first followers, and top lieutenants. Makes some management mistake, but gets away with it. Could end in a metaphysical scene, or 13 May 1992 initial public lesson. Maybe a scene of Li's visit to <<thailand>> in 1983 (photo from CCP media found on Google).
* Episode 3: later Falun Gong in China. It grows, show in Chinese news. Power struggles, problems with early lieutenants, and new lieutenants come up. Many people practice on streets. Battle against <<zhong-gong>>. Near 1996, something tips Li off to the fact that the CCP is going to crack down on them, and so he announces that he will be spreading abroad full time. Check out if this was before or after the first Anti FLG newspaper article in 1996-06-17.
* Episode 4: preaching outside of China and emigration. American permanent residence in 1998. Watches crackdown on television. International Falun Gong media. Show him at Falun Gong New York <<dragon-springs,"Dragon Springs">> complex
Or maybe, never mind that boring post 1992 stuff which is already highly public, instead we could focus only on the more interesting pre-1992 events, and finish in 1992.
So per-early FLG up to 1992, with childhood flashbacks.
The tone should of course be a mixture of:
* personal insight of the master
* the love of a follower
* external view of their shortcomings
Parts of the series could be filmed in <<taiwan>> maybe?
Source material: <<history-of-falun-gong>>.
Related videos:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Wild_Country (2017) about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneesh[]. Ciro feels that Falun Gong believers would not be as open with external questioners.
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But who knows. Episode 3 shows how Rajneesh implemented <<careful-control-of-your-image>>: Sheela was the front-person, and had meetings with him every evening.
* The Master (2012)
[[li-hongzhis-family]]
Jesus appeared to value chastity. He was born from a virgin. No sex around him at all.
But Li doesn't need that. He's a God, right, he can both be an Enlightened God part time and still have a normal family part time.
Once thing Ciro approves about Li's approach to his family is that he seems to have stated (TODO source) that none of them are Gods like him.
Wife's name: Li Rui (李瑞 according to CCP). Report saying that a follower bought a house and registered it on Li Rui's name as a gift, but Li later returned the gift back: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB94140245836194819 TODO house address.
* daughter: Li Meige (李美歌) claims born 1982-06 on <<kaiwind>> http://www.kaiwind.com/anticult/kfgc/201311/05/t20131105_1188845.shtml says that she performs in <<shen-yun>> under the name "Christina Li" and even won awards. This Falun Gong sources confirm that a "Christina Li" was a Shen Yun lead dancer as of 2011, but does not confirm that she is the daughter of Li Hongzhi: https://www.theepochtimes.com/where-are-the-ancient-arts-of-china-part-4_1491935.html If this is true, talk about <<orange-papers,"different levels of truth">>! The article also claims that she has had other pseudonyms, including: "Annie Li" and "Li Jingjing" (李晶晶). Here are web archives of the now broken of course Shen Yun pages Kaiwand links to as evidence of her constant name changing (but no mention of her father):
** https://web.archive.org/web/20140727034323/http://dance.ntdtv.com/ct/archive/
** https://web.archive.org/web/20121211022246/zh-cn.shenyunperformingarts.org/artists/biography/view/WG3gbBQudOg
** possibly CCP sources report that Meige married in 2017, likely near the Falun Gong Day (13th May): e.g. http://www.saibeifeng.com/kfyd/201705/16/t20170516_5219554.shtml says many felicitation posts were posted on <<falun-gong-media,minghui>>, so this is likely widely known within the Falun Gong community, but the idiots who wrote that page don't know how to link to sources. Ciro could not find the groom's name.
* brothers and sisters, all younger:
** Li Jun (李君) older younger sister
** Li Ping (李平) younger younger sister
*** <<china-daily>> http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2012-10/17/content_15825454.htm mentions that Li Jiguang (李继光), the second husband of one of Li Pingy died in 2012
*** Notably, Li Ping's alleged husband Sun Senlun (Natawut Smittipong, 孙森伦) is a Chinese-Thai, and allegedly wrote an account of Li Hongzhi's family in the 1980's: <<diary-s-of-being-in-thailand-with-li-hongzhi-s-family>>
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The book also claims that they had two children Sun Baoyuan (孙宝圆) and Sun Baoman (孙宝满), which Li later managed to rename Li Baoyuan (李宝圆) and Li Baoman (李宝满).
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<<shen-yun>> had dancers called with those exact same Chinese character names between 2009 and 2020, so it is very likely that it is them:
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**** Li Baoyuan: https://zh-cn.shenyunperformingarts.org/artists/view/article/e/tQIEajYbB_s/李宝圆.html
**** Li Baoman: https://zh-cn.shenyunperformingarts.org/artists/view/article/e/Aw5bu_PdeNI/李宝满.html
** Li Hui (AKA Li Donghui) younger brother
* father: Li Dan
* mother: Lu Shuzhen. http://wap.uuhomepage.com/StaticWapPages/20161013/20161013062741097.html claims that she died on 2016-08-24 in New York. TODO find a decent report.
There are also claims that Li's birth name was Li Lai (李來).
Sources:
* <<benjamin-penny-the-religion-of-falun-gong-2012>> gives further family members (some of them are based only on CCP sources however):
* https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/news/bbmz49.html[] claims to contain the biography of Li Hongzhi's family (likely all according to CCP sources), including several good pictures: The photo given there for Li Jun appears on this apparently FLG source without mention of the name: https://www.epochweekly.com/b5/103/5805.htm
.Li Hongzhi with his wife Li Rui and daughter Li Meige presumably in the late 80's with fishing ships in a shipyard in the background. TODO location. Likely from CCP sources, in many places with <<chinese-government-media,kaiwnd>> watermarks. http://www.toppk.net/art/2016/3/9/art_7328_304365.html[Anti-FLG source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Li_Hongzhi_with_wife_and_daughter.jpg[height=400]
.Photo of Christina Li from Shen Yun, which the CCP claims to be Li Meige, daughter of Li Hongzhi. That page also claims that she was awarded Bronze in the 2009 and 2010 NDT Chinese Dance Competition. https://web.archive.org/web/20121211022246/zh-cn.shenyunperformingarts.org/artists/biography/view/WG3gbBQudOg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Li_Meige_Shenyun.jpg[height=400]
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[[diary-s-of-being-in-thailand-with-li-hongzhi-s-family]]
===== Diary's of being in Thailand with Li Hongzhi's family (我与李洪志一家在泰国的日子——法轮功教主妹夫的自述)
An alleged account of Li Hongzhi's family in the 1980's written by his brother-in-law Sun Senlun (Natawut Smittipong, 孙森伦), who married Li Ping.
ISBN 9789996590252: https://www.cp1897.com.hk/product_info.php?BookId=9789996590252[]
This is reproduced likely without copyright on many CCP sources, e.g.: http://lihongzhidaqidi.blogspot.com/2013_09_27_archive.html which links to <<kaiwind>>'s HTML reproduction.
The <<kaiwind>> links are all dead now, but they are all still visible under: https://web.archive.org/web/20191230124120/http://lihongzhidaqidi.blogspot.com/2013_09_27_archive.html
It is a good reading if you take everything with a grain of salt, does sound quite believable.
https://web.archive.org/web/20191230151939/http://news.kaiwind.com/features/s/201309/27/t20130927_1121750.shtml claims that Li lived in Sun's house in Thailand from May 1991 to March 1992. And that he was baffled when Li started telling the miraculous events of his <<li-hongzhis-hagiography,hagiography>> in the 1992 public talks, how could his wife never told him about any of those amazingly important life events before that point?
TODO find original publishing location.
This appears to be an interview with Sun Senlun about the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js0OyNwYw5A (watermarked <<kaiwind>> on top)
Semi weirdly though, https://www.cesnur.org/2001/falun_jan10.htm claims that Senlun was a coordinator of Falun Gong in Thailand as of 2001.
https://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2020/1/16/原北京师大研究生陶渊在浙江第四监狱遭受的迫害-399012.html[] from 2020 by <<minghui>> claims the book slanders Li Hongzhi's family, and that the CCP forced prisoners to read it.
Li Hongzhi's Falun Gong complex in New York state countryside, where he lives, and organizes <<shen-yun>>.
https://goo.gl/maps/4bqt18CSBmFSekw89
Started in the 2000's in New York State with money donated by believers.
* http://www.dragonsprings.org/
* https://www.businessinsider.com/dragon-springs-falun-gong-upstate-new-york-compound-photos-2019-9
* 1999 https://apnews.com/420a741ec19c4db3993d408747874b2d "Falun Gong US compound's neighbors fret over expansion plans"
<<china-daily>> http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2012-10/17/content_15825454.htm claims that <<li-hongzhi>>'s appartment in 2012 was the number 136-08 on 59th avenue, Flushing, NY. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/seeking-master-li-1.221547 confirms Flushing. Also mentions key 1999 lieutenant Erping Zhang, https://www.c-span.org/person/?erpingzhang[] confirms with photo.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhong_Gong
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中华养生益智功
A very similar religion to <<falun-gong>>, that also emerged during the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong_fever[Qigong fever] (气功热) of the '80s and '90s.
Zhong Gong was the second most sucessful Qigong Boom religion after Falun Gong.
The similarity of their imagery as seen from propaganda videos is striking. To <<ciro-santilli>>, this makes Zhong Gong a perfect example of why <<does-ciro-santilli-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong,FLG metaphysics is bullshit>>: it is obvious that both Zhong Gong and Falun Gong and many others were just random dudes who took advantage of the Qigong fever to create their religions.
Their prophet is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Hongbao[Zhang Hongbao] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/张宏堡[张宏堡]).
Interestingly, like <<li-hongzhi>>, Hongbao is also from the Northeast of China (Heilongjiang), there must be a reason why those Qi Gong movements come from that region.
Unlike Falun Gong however, Zhong Gong failed to branch the franchise out of China, and basically died out. Hongbao also died in a car crash in 2006 which didn't help. Li Hongzhi however played smarter, and started branching abroad full force in 1996, he likely predicted that the crackdown was inevitale.
Wikipedia says it reached 34 million followers in China.
Hongbao also has a more spicy history it seems, with sexual allegations and open political goals <<flg-political,unlike Li Hongzhi, who hid his goals better>>. Well played, Li, well played.
<<li-hongzhi>> maintains in <<flg-canon,canon>> that Falun Gong is of course extremely different from all of those other extremely similar Qi Gong religions. Zhong Gong is likely not mentioned by name, but it is also likely one of the main targets. E.g. in 1998 <<flg-canon,canon>> https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/19980329L.html[]:
____
Dafa can't be obtained lightly. For example, the diversity of cults and the number of false qigongs are large these days, and they lead people astray. Many people who are capable of cultivating get sucked into them, and some of them engage in suicide - it's a mess.
____
Zhong Gong videos:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX72zfEP_zs googd Zhong Gong playlist
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYH8Y_1UmrY&t=1445 Zhong Gong people "experience sharing". It truly is exactly like Falun Gong.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2GxSJK9c-A this appears to be positive mainstream media coverage of Zhong Gong
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ziluy_AlEI video of Hongbao giving a lecture dated 1994 and commented "Qiling kylin Tianhua culture"
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQKCtPSfdR4 video dated January 21st, 2007 of Monks praying after his death
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvJSzeY7Chw contains a bunch of what appear to be extremely low quality Zhong Gong propaganda videos. It is very similar to Falun Gong's of course.
The embassy spokesman says Chinese officials have ample evidence of sect leader Zhang Hongbao's involvement in crimes such as rape and murder.
.Zhang Honbao on a giant flying lotus reaching Enlightenment with a halo. It looks <<li-hongzhi-lotus,exactly like Falun Gong imagery>>. But of course, Zhong Gong is just a "completely unrelated and inferior sect" according to <<li-hongzhi>>. https://blog.boxun.com/hero/201102/tianhuaren/1_1.shtml[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Zhong_Gong_lotus.jpg[height=400]
.The blue background, the halos, the praying hands, the master Zhang Hongbao flying above. It is just exactly like <<flg-blue,Falun Gong imagery>>. https://www.chinacourt.org/article/detail/2018/08/id/3475129.shtml[Source] (<<chinese-government-media>>)
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Zhong_gong_blue.jpg[height=400]
.Hungarian <<falun-gong>> propaganda image with woman meditating in with blue sky background for comparison with <<zhong-gong-blue,similar Zhong Gong imagery>>. https://hu.faluninfo.eu/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_sky_advertisement.jpg[height=400]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong_fever
AKA Qigong Boom.
* https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/26268612 特异功能、法功灭火、铝锅传功……80年代的气功热究竟有多疯狂？ How crazy was the Qi Gong boom after all?
* https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-Chinese-government-against-Falun-Gong
* https://www.zhihu.com/question/23988890 at <<zhihu>>
* https://www.orange-papers further developed at: <<flg-cult>>
https://medium.com/@Ben_D_Hurley/-10677166298b "Me and Li" by Ben Hurley published on October 23, 2017.
This post by a former believer gives what <<ciro-santilli>> feels is a realistic account that matches Ciro's observations.
The following echoes "Different levels of truth" from <<orange-papers>>:
____
Most would find they had little in common with non-practitioners ("ordinary people" in Falun Gong parlance) but would maintain cordial relations with friends and family nonetheless, and think of various ways to explain the edge off some of Falun Gong's less palatable teachings about aliens, how heaven views gay people, the inferiority of other religions and Master Li's role in saving the universe.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Falun_Gong
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/法輪功歷史
A few non-religious non-CCP resources can be found at:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Falun_Gong
* Sun Senjun's accounts from the 1980's, see: <<li-hongzhis-family>>
but those are very rare, because where else would the information come form, right?
Some key events:
* 1989: initial private beta courses. TODO key interesting moment.
* 1992-05-13: initial public lecture at the 1992 International Health Exposition in Beijing, and opening main academy on No. 5 Middle School in Changchun, Jilin Province (capital.
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TODO what did he talk about on that Beijing day. This day still celebrated in 2020 as https://en.minghui.org/cc/36/["Falun Dafa Day"], in which the major international "<<orange-papers,Experience Sharing>> Conference" happens in New York.
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He apparently also taught at Chaoyang Park in Changchun: https://goo.gl/maps/BFwKs2xr48AMUAbx8
[[benjamin-penny-the-life-and-times-of-li-hongzhi-2003]]
===== The Life and times of Li Hongzhi by Benjamin Penny (2003)
Free to read at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20059033
[[benjamin-penny-the-religion-of-falun-gong-2012]]
===== The Religion of Falun Gong by Benjamin Penny (2012)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0226655016
A freely downloadable paper with a subset of the book: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20059033.pdf
The author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Penny is an Australian researcher, https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/penny-bdc
== Chinese politicians 中国政治家
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/习近平
==== Xi abolishes term limits (习近平取消席连任不得超过两届的限制规则, 2018-03)
* 包子露宪 https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2018/03/phrase-week-steamed-bun-betrays-constitution
* https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/world/asia/china-xi-jinping-term-limit-explainer.html
.<<rebel-pepper>> cartoon showing Xi Jinping preparing to sleep in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Mao_Zedong[Mao Zedong's tomb], meaning that Xi also wants to reach Mao's "eternal ruler" status when he abolished term limits in 2018. https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/XiJinping-Eternity-cartoon-02282018104813.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_sleep_Mao.jpg[height=400]
.1977 photo showing Mao's actual glass tomb during his funeral, with famous politicians in the background. It is interesting to see that Mao https://mummipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Mao_Zedong[features on the "Fandom Mummipedia Wiki"]. https://apnews.com/a94a0d7a824b474fb11545e8c4481c21[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Mao_coffin.jpeg[height=400]
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist[The Economist] "Let's party like it's 1793" cover from May 4th – 10th 2013 depicting a painting of Xi Jinping dressed as emperor of China. The famous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianlong_Empero[Qianlong Emperor] was in power at that time. The title is likely a joke based on the more well known https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/party-like-its-1969-woodstock-forty-years-on-1722695.html["Let's party like it's 1969"] due to the legendary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock[Woodstock festival]. Party is also a play on words between the Communist Party and a night party. TODO why 1793 specifically. https://twitter.com/TheEconomist/status/329929668155293696[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Lets_party_like_its_1793.jpg[height=600]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers | https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/巴拿馬文件
Leak of financial data implicating <<corruption,many corruption scandals>>.
Mentions <<xi-jinping>>'s brother-in-law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Jiagui[Deng Jiagui] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/邓家贵[邓家贵]).
See also <<ciro-santilli>>'s answer to https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-net-worth-of-Xi-Jinping/answer/Ciro-Santilli[What is the net worth of Xi Jinping?] answer on <<quora>>.
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===== Foreign citizenship of Xi Jinping's family
<<li-hongzhi,Cult leaders>> hate having <<li-hongzhis-family,their families examined>>. So let's do it.
TODO confirm: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/c20xf3/almost_every_members_in_president_xis_family/ from <<reddit>>.
One Redditor https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/c20xf3/almost_every_members_in_president_xis_family/ergsu6v/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3[translated]:
* Xi's eldest sis - Canadian
* Xi's 2nd sis - Australian
* Xi's younger bro - Australia
* Xi's daughter - American. Really???
* Hu's daughter - American
* Jiang's grandchild - American
* Deng's son - American
* Deng's grandchild - American
* Mao's grandchild - American
====== Xi Mingze (Xi Jinping's daughter, 习明泽)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Mingze
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/习明泽
Went to Harvard from 2010 to 2014 under pseudonym, apparently Xiao Muzi (小木子).
The news was apparently broken in 2012 by the UK tabloid Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2234651/Xi-Jinping-Chinas-new-Princess--daughter-Communist-president-studying-quietly-Harvard.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/xi-mingze-harvard-article-goes-viral-2012-11 mentions:
____
The Chinese elite is no doubt keen to avoid questions about how exactly Xi Jinping can afford his daughters fees. Officially, his salary is less than $13,000 a year, and Xi's circle has been remarkably cagey about reports of his family's true wealth before.
____
plus 24-hour bodyguards. <<panama-papers>> comes to mind.
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/xi-mingze-16091.php says birthday June 27, 1992.
https://answersafrica.com/meet-xi-mingze-xi-jinpings-daughter-is-she-married-where-is-she-now.html gives some public appearances, e.g. in New York in 2018.
[[xi-jinping-memes]]
==== Xi Jinping memes 习近平模因
* 習包子: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=29230 says:
+
____
Xi Jinping got his nickname as "Xi baozi 習包子" ("<<buns,steamed stuffed bun Xi>>") due to the much publicized visit he made to the famous Qìngfēng bāozi pù 庆丰包子铺 ("Qingfeng baozi shop") in Beijing. During and after his visit to the shop, media swarmed over the place and were eager to portray an image of Xi as being down to earth and close to the people. Those who dislike Xi use this nickname sarcastically against him for being a hick and for hypocritically "putting on a show" (zuòxiù 作秀).
____
+
See also: <<buns>>.
* 大撒币: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=29230 says:
+
____
It can be translated as "big spender," a play on the literal translation of the words sā bì 撒币 "throw money" and "stupid cunt" (shǎ bī 傻逼). The nickname takes aim at the economic aid Xi has promised to foreign countries; the moniker is so widely used on Chinese social media that the censors' repressive measures only draw more attention to it, and to the criticism embedded within it.
____
+
See also: <<shitpost>>.
.2019-05-21 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism[Sadomasochist] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM[BDSM] (SM) Xi Jinping lookalike or photoshop in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondage_suit[bondage suit] (gimp suit, fetish gear) at a cosplay fair. TODO: is this a Photoshop and if yes what's the original pic, publish dates, location/event. <<ciro-santilli>> googled a lot for it, but it was beyond his skills :-( Earliest post found so far: 2019-05-21 08:49:20 GMT+1 (Imgur timestamp) going wild on <<ptt>>: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/joke/M.1558454171.A.5C9.html[] entitled "這位coser是誰啊？好眼熟。" (Who is this Cosplayer? He looks familiar.) by user "a15568". Watermark reads "I am Dasen 郭", where "郭" is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guo[a common Chinese surname]. Notable discussion threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/ckgs5l/xi_jinping_took_to_the_streets_to_demonstrate_his/[r/China 2019-08-01], https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/ke4hde/nice_pic_i_found/[r/China 2020-12-16], https://www.reddit.com/r/HongKong/comments/ckjf65/gee_i_am_sure_chairman_xi_will_really_appreciate/[2019-08-01]
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_sadomasochist.jpg[height=500]
.2020-01-01 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shengjian_mantou[Pan-fried dumpling] Xi Jinping lookalike 生煎包习近平撞脸. Furthermore, this reminded people of <<xi-jinping-memes,習包子>>. A <<taiwan,Taiwanese>> report from 2020-01-01: https://news.tvbs.com.tw/world/1257030 TODO name, location. One of the many videos of him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTt8Sjer6cc[]
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Mantou_Xi_lookalike.jpg[height=400]
[[liu-keqing-singer]]
.2020-05-12 Liu Keqing (刘克清) is an opera singer who had his personal videos on <<tiktok>> taken down from time to time because he looks too much like <<xi-jinping,The One>>. https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/2020/05/【立此存照】只因太像习近平？歌唱家刘克清形/[China Digital Times report]. One of his personal vlogs reuploaded to YouTube where he shared singing techniques and thoughts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPFKUhJdqzk[]. A video of him performing professionally in a chamber concert: 2018-11-02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z98-Mqci4ag[].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Liu_Keqing_singer_Xi_lookalike.jpeg[height=400]
* 2014-06-23 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-27926747/meet-the-chinese-presidential-pancake-seller "Shao Jianhua" TODO Chinese name, name of dish he sells. Too young and not fat enough.
===== Comparisons between Xi Jinping and Winnie-the-Pooh 小熊維尼 (2017)
Got censored due to comparisons between Xi Jinping and Winnie in 2017: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh#Censorship_in_China
In <<xi-dada>> we see that a <<peoples-daily>> video actually interviews someone who mentions that, so the meme has had a positive connotation at least some point in the past.
Some good photoshops:
.Comparison image between Xi Jinping waking with then USA president https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama[Barack Obama] with a Winnie-the-Pooh cartoon still of Winnie walking with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigger[Tigger, the tiger]. The original photo is from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-09/obama2c-xi-forge-rapport-in-debut-summit/4742616[Xi's 2013 visit to the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, California]. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/17/oh-bother-chinese-censors-block-winnie-pooh-meme-comparing-xi/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Pooh_Obama.webp[height=400]
.Comparison image between Xi Jinping shaking hands with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinzo_Abe[the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe] and a Winnie-the-Pooh cartoon still of Winnie shaking hands with the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeyore[Eeyore, the donkey]. The original photo is from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/world/asia/leaders-of-china-and-japan-hold-long-awaited-meeting.html[Abe's lacklustre 2014 visit to Beijing]. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/07/china-bans-winnie-the-pooh-film-to-stop-comparisons-to-president-xi[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Abe_Pooh.webp[height=400]
.Comparison image between Xi Jinping on a car in a 2015 military parade and a toy Winnie-the-Pooh on a car. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-40627855[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Pooh_car.jpg[height=400]
.Real photo of Xi Jinping edited to look like Winnie the Pooh. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/dcabzh/this_image_of_xi_jiping_as_winnie_the_pooh_is/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Pooh_Photoshop.webp[height=400]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmLUYCUYT0 "Xi Jinping as Winnie the Pooh Dancing to Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf" by TheFakening (2020). Deep fake of several girls wearing Winnie the Pooh clothes with a Xi Jinping face. The song choice "Bat Out of Hell" is a reference to <<corona,COVID> because one of the theories is that the disease started in bats.
video::y-JPLzj2poY[youtube,height=400,width=600,start=57]
Benevolent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personification[personification] of <<xi-jinping>>. Part of the <<ccp-cult>>.
2015-09-23 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-34338832 "Who is Xi Dada"?
That article comments on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnRo9AMT8FI "Who is Xi Dada?" by <<peoples-daily>> (2015-09-23) in which several foreign students in China praise <<xi-jinping>> in English. https://youtu.be/PnRo9AMT8FI?t=47 notably states: "They also refer to him as <<winnie-the-pooh,Winnie-the-Pooh>>". Priceless.
What does dada mean: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Xí-Jìnpíng-called-Xí-Dàdà
Some other sources:
* 2015-03-08 https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20150308/c08xi/ ""习大大"再次燃起中国人的领袖崇拜之情" (Xi Dada reignties Chinese Leader's cult once again)
.Golden heart shaped souvenir with a picture of Xi Jinping that was sold in <<tiananmen,Tiananmen Square>> in 2018. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/26/endowing-role-endless-rule-shows-xis-imperial-ambitions/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Jinping_heart.jpeg[height=400]
.Xi Jinping in 2019 wearing his cute compassionate face. Do you think that such a cute cute North-Westerner 东北人 would ever to terrible things like <<xinjiang,commiting cultural genocide of a million people>> or <<xi-abolishes-term-limits-2018-03,trying to become ruler for life>>? Impossible, it must be <<evil-west,American lies>>.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_dada.jpg[height=400]
===== Chrysanthemium Xi Jinping (菊花习近平, 2015)
* https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinese-artist-who-posted-funny-image-of-president-xi-jinping-facing-five-years-in-prison-as-10282630.html
* https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/05/artist-detained-after-posting-humorous-photo-of-xi-jinping/
.Chrysanthemum Xi Jinping with <<tiananmen,六四>> spice added by Ciro Santilli
image::{cirosantilli-media-base}/Chrysanthemum_Xi_Jinping_with_black_red_liusi_added_by_Ciro_Santilli.jpg[height=400]
.Original Chrysanthemum Xi Jinping by Dai Jianyong published in 2015. https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/05/artist-detained-after-posting-humorous-photo-of-xi-jinping/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Chrysanthemum_Xi.jpeg[height=400]
.Possible original Xi Jinping photo used for Chrysanthemum Xi, possibly from 2012. The light blue gradient background was used for the official photos of many Communist officials of the era. https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2111975_2111976_2112111,00.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Jinping_portrait_2012.jpg[height=400]
[[xi-jinping-thought]]
==== Xi Jinping Thought (习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想, 2017)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping_Thought
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想
Added to the Constitution in preparation for <<xi-abolishes-term-limits-2018-03,eternal rule>>.
<<xi-jinping>>'s <<little-red-book>>. But since it is the 21st century, there's an app for it instead called "Study (for a) Strong Country" designed by <<alibaba>>:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuexi_Qiangguo
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/学习强国
TODO what does this repo do: https://github.com/fuck-xuexiqiangguo/Fuck-XueXiQiangGuo[]? And there there's an anti-repo for wumaos: https://github.com/boycott-fuck-xuexiqiangguo/Boycott-Fuck-XueXiQiangGuo
Online video version courtesy of <<xinhua>>: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/xjpsxkj/index.html[]. Contains <<ccp-cult,devotional>> videos, not text: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/xjpsxkj/1.html
Notably, it consists of 14 chapters, which are called "talks" (讲), e.g. the first talk (第一讲) etc. This is exactly like <<li-hongzhi>>'s <<flg-canon,Zhuan Falun>> (and likely like other ancient Chinese religious texts).
.<<ccp-cult,Devotional>> image of <<xi-jinping>> on the cover of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Governance_of_China[The Governance of China] (link:https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/习近平谈治国理政[习近平谈治国理政], 2020) book which is part of <<xi-jinping-thought>>. The similarity to <<li-hongzhi>> devotional images <<li-hongzhi-lotus,is striking>>. Related: <<xi-halo>>. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Governance-China-Xi-Jinping/dp/1602204098[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Jinping_The_Governance_of_China.jpg[height=400]
[[two-safegards]]
===== Two safegards (两个维护, 2018)
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/兩個維護
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Zemin | https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/江泽民
<<dictatorship,Dictator>> from 1989 to 2002.
Jiang is often compared to a toad in a meme what is referred to as toad worship (膜蛤), further keywords: 蛤蟆
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_worship
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/膜蛤文化
Ciro Santilli
committed
The Chinese also love Jiang's quote in English during an interview with Hong Kong press:
____
Too young, too simple, sometimes naive.
____
Ciro Santilli
committed
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=y-JPLzj2poY Jiang Zemin saying "Too simple, sometimes naive."
video::y-JPLzj2poY[youtube,height=400,width=600,start=57]
Jiang also has an amazing array of meme-ready funny expressions.
.Comparison between Jiang Zemin and a 72-feet-tall inflatable toad in a Beijing park seen in 2014 made the rounds on Weibo and led to some <<censorship,censorship>>. https://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/01/world/asia/toad-jiang-zemin/index.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Jiang_Zemin_frog.jpg[height=400]
.Jiang picking his nose. https://pieceofmindful.com/2013/12/12/chinese-exceptionalism/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Jiang_Zemin_nose_picking.jpg[height=400]
.Jiang reading through comically large magnifying glass during the opening ceremony of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_National_Congress_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China[19th Party Congress] in 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/18/back-from-the-dead-chinas-internet-goes-wild-over-youthful-jiang-zemin[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Jaign_zemin_magnify.jpg[height=400]
.More Jiang funny expressions and Photoshops from a Research Gate page! https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Jiang-as-emoticons-often-used-in-chats_fig4_325864518[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Jiang_Zemin_emoticons_montage.png[height=400]
[[deng-xiaoping]]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/邓小平
Although his reign officially ended in 1987/1989, he remained extremely influential until his death, and was a major figure in <<tiananmen>> most likely.
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[[xidan-democracy-wall]]
==== Xidan Democracy Wall (西单民主墙, 1978-1979)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Wall
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/西单民主墙
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xidan
https://youtu.be/846AtqraCYg?t=799 suggests that <<deng-xiaoping>> initially encouraged it after during/after killing the Gang of Four.
But then, obviously, people started denouncing corruption in his goverment, and so Deng made it stop.
The documentary also mentions <<wei-jingsheng>> who was a notorious contributor who asked for democracy.
.Xidan democracy wall. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xidan_Wall,_May_1979.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xidan_Wall.jpg[height=400]
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=40PxfKWgBmY China: Democracy Wall Beijing Dec 1978 video only. This is one of the many footage available of the wall.
video::40PxfKWgBmY[youtube,height=400,width=600]
[[wei-jingsheng]]
===== Wei Jingsheng (魏京生)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei_Jingsheng
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/魏京生
Key figure on the <<xidan-democracy-wall>>, notable for writting <<the-fifth-modernization>>.
____
我们要自己掌握自己的命运，
不要神仙和皇帝不要相信有什么救世主，
我们要做天下的主人，
我们不要作独裁统治者扩张
野心的现代化工具，
我们要人民生活得现代化，
人民的民主、自由与幸福，
是我们实现现代化的唯一目的，
没有这第五个现代化，
一切现代化不过是一
个新的诺言。
We need no Gods or emperors and we don't believe in saviors of any kind... we do not want to serve as mere tools of dictators with personal ambitions for carrying out modernization. We want to modernize the lives of the people. Democracy, freedom, and happiness for all are our sole objectives.
____
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[[the-fifth-modernization]]
====== The Fifth Modernization (第五个现代化, 1978)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Modernization
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/第五個現代化_(魏京生)
Not to be confused with the one of the same title made by the CCP in 2013: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/第五个现代化_(中国共产党)
Full text on Jingsheng's apparently official website: https://weijingsheng.org/doc/cn/46.htm
Most notable quote:
____
我们要自己掌握自己的命运，不要神仙和皇帝 +
不要相信有什么救世主，我们要做天下的主人，我们不要作独裁统治者扩张 +
野心的现代化工具，我们要人民生活得现代化，人民的民主、自由与幸福 +
We want to be the masters of our own destiny. We need no gods or emperors and we don't believe in saviors of any kind +
we do not want to serve as mere tools of dictators with personal ambitions for carrying out modernization. +
We want to modernize the lives of the people. Democracy, freedom, and happiness for all are our sole objectives
____
Full text: link:fifth-modernization.md[].
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/毛泽东
What could be a better reminder that <<xi-jinping,dictatorships are dangerous>> than the catastrophes that Mao created such as the <<great-leap-forward>> and <<cultural-revolution>>?
https://youtu.be/MHFrhIAj0ME?t=926 "The camp was an intense and exciting place, and many of the guerrilla fighters had affairs. Sex was called undisciplined guerilla warfare". TODO Chinese.
.Mao Zedong in Yan'an in the 1930's thinking deeply. This funny looking picture is meme ready and https://uncyclopedia.ca/wiki/Chairman_Mao[much loved by Uncyclopedia]. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mao_Zedong_in_Yan%27an.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Mao_Zedong_in_Yanan.jpg[height=400]
[[little-red-book]]
==== Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (Little Red Book, 毛主席语录, 1976)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotations_from_Chairman_Mao_Tse-tung
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/毛主席语录
<<mao-zedong>>'s <<flg-canon>>. Like <<li-hongzhi>>'s, also extracted from talks, see also:
* <<ccp-cult>>
* <<xi-jinping-thought>>