Newer
Older
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])
+
<<benjamin-penny-the-life-and-times-of-li-hongzhi-2003>> gives the full title of the section + a translation (originally in pinyin, but why?!?! :-)):
+
____
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>>.
+
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).
+
The Wiki quotes <<benjamin-penny-the-religion-of-falun-gong-2012>>.
+
Penny says that it was removed in 1999 (presumably to remove some more glaring magical bullshit help with internationalization).
+
A possible Chinese copy might be found at: http://qingqing.freebbs.tw/viewthread.php?tid=165### inside a 1994 version of Zhuan Falun.
+
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.
+
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: <<diaries-of-being-in-thailand-with-li-hongzhi-s-family>>
+
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).
+
<<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:
+
**** 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]
[[diaries-of-being-in-thailand-with-li-hongzhi-s-family]]
===== Diaries 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?
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.
[[qigong-fever]]
=== Qigong fever (气功热 , 1980's)
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?) on <<zhihu>>
* 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.
Interestingly, like <<li-hongzhi>> who is from <<jilin>>, 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, creator of <<zhong-gong>>, sitting 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>>. TODO transcribe. 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_leaflet.jpg[height=400]
.Side by side comparison between <<zhong-gong>> on the left, and <<falun-gong>> on the right. In <<ciro-santilli>>'s opinion, nothing highlights better that both are fake than the fact that they are clearly part of the same historical movement of the Qigong Boom, while at the same time affirming that the other one is fake or inferior.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Zhong_Gong_vs_Falun_Gong_lotus.jpg[height=500]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Hongbao
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/张宏堡
Prophet of <<zhong-gong>>, just like <<li-hongzhi>> is the prophet of <<falun-gong>>.
9230
9231
9232
9233
9234
9235
9236
9237
9238
9239
9240
9241
9242
9243
9244
9245
9246
9247
9248
9249
9250
9251
9252
9253
9254
9255
9256
9257
9258
9259
9260
[[xiang-gong]]
==== Xiang Gong (香功, 中国芳香智悟气功, Qigong religion)
This was possibly the third most popular Qi Gong of the <<qigong-fever>> after <<falun-gong>> and <<zhong-gong>>. It is mentioned for example at <<the-falungong-phenomenon-by-hu-ping-2003>>.
Literal translation:
* Fragrant Gong
* China Fragrang Wisdom Comprehension Gong
It is however so obscure that there isn't even a wikipedia page for it anymore!
The prophet's name was Tian Ruisheng (田瑞生). He's the old due at: https://www.sohu.com/a/270132785_100279655 with little badges on his coat. He can be seen lecturing for example at: https://youtu.be/ItAUwGWSXuI?t=167
Some mentions in English:
* https://taijiclub.live/2020/05/09/xiang-gong-the-fragrant-mind-awakening-qigong/ Xiang Gong: The Fragrant Mind Awakening Qigong (2020) Interesting quote:
+
____
Basically, the origin of this qigong comes from Master Tian Ruisheng. Master Tian Ruisheng was taught this as a ill young boy by a traveling buddhist monk. He was told to practice it every day and not reveal it until 50 years later. He diligently practiced and eventually taught it after 50 years. It quickly became a popular qigong in China.
____
+
This is exactly the type of "Creation Story" that <<li-hongzhi>> invented. Notably, it is not something he just made up to take advantage of the obvious <<qigong-fever>>. No, it is something that he developped his entire life, and only started teaching at that point due to a coincidence!
+
This is notably highlighted in <<diaries-of-being-in-thailand-with-li-hongzhi-s-family>>. Li's sister just casualy never mentioned to her husband that her brother had been having mystical training for several years, until he finally announced it in the early days of <<falun-gong>>.
+
In Tian's case however, he is truly really old. This is possibly a major reason why he didn't get as big as Falun Gong. It is terribly discriminatory, but who wants to look at an old ugly dude? Especially when he's likely teaching stuff that is supposed to cure diseases. <<li-hongzhi>> and
* https://www.beliefnet.com/news/2000/05/chinese-crackdown-goes-beyond-falun-gong.aspx Chinese Crackdown Goes Beyond Falun Gong (2000) mentions <<zhong-gong>> and <<xiang-gong>>. Says it is from AP News, but I can't find the original. But the language does look "AP-like".
+
____
China's entirely state-run media and the government have trumpeted the crackdown on Falun Gong. Thousands of practitioners have been detained since it was outlawed in July in the campaign against what the government says is an evil cult.
9262
9263
9264
9265
9266
9267
9268
9269
9270
9271
9272
9273
9274
9275
9276
9277
9278
9279
9280
9281
9282
9283
9284
9285
9286
9287
9288
9289
9290
9291
9292
9293
9294
9295
9296
9297
9298
9299
9300
9301
9302
9303
9304
But authorities refuse to talk about the clampdown on other qi gong organizations, and state media have all but ignored it. So far the campaign has affected at least five groups, practitioners, government sources and human rights organizations say.
____
+
The other groups, even smaller, are mentioned in the article next:
+
** Cibei Gong (慈悲功, Compassion Gong). Possible Chinese name mentioned at: http://www.chinanews.com/2001-02-22/26/72398.html 武汉侦破“法轮功”的变种慈悲功 (Wuhan investigates Falun Gong variant Cibei Gong) from a <<pro-chinese-government-media>>. The word for variant is the same as for "mutation", which brings funnily <<covid>> to mind.
** Guo Gong (国功, Country Gong). Not even the patriotic name was able to prevent crackdown!
** Bodhi Gong. TODO fins Chinese.
+
https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be1e20.html also mentions some of them.
Some mentions in Chinese:
* on <<zhihu>>:
** https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/76604171 香功是什么？为什么国家要禁止习练香功？ (What is Xiang Gong? Why did the country [China] forbit practicing Xiang Gong?) by 吴庆元. Mentions the <<flg-medication>> argument, but it is from a pro-Qi Gong writter in general.
** https://www.zhihu.com/question/24006657 香功是邪教吗？ (Is Xiang Gong an Evil Cult?)
* https://www.sohu.com/a/270132785_100279655 我们回顾一下80/90年代所谓的"大师" (Looking back at the so-called "Masters" of the 80s/90s) on <<sohu>>
In other languages:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Zcgk15kkc Treinamento Perfumado Nível 1 (Xianggong) completo (Complete Xiang Gong training, level 1 complete) by Maria Lucia Lee (2017)
+
This is the YouTube channel of a Brazillian Xianggong parcticionner.
+
This reminded <<ciro-santilli>> of a Qigong/Taichi course he went to for a few months when he was a young teenager in Santos, Brazil, attended almost exclusively by older ladies.
+
Some people, even outside China, like "mystic stuff", and may start a mystic stuff practice, more or less affiliated to a certain current of mysticism.
+
Especially since people know nothing about any of the currents, partly due to the language barrier, it often becomes a larger more dilluted current os mysticisms.
+
The same likely applied to that course Ciro attended, but at the time he was clueless and didn't really classify his teacher's influences.
+
Ciro must say however, that some of the exercises were good, and have become a permanent part of Ciro's https://cirosantilli.com/cirodance[Cirodance].
+
The only thing Ciro rejects completely is the metaphysical bullshit: <<does-ciro-santilli-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong>>.
+
Though if something has a lot of metaphysical bullshit, it makes it hard for Ciro to practice it without thinking about the metaphysics.
+
Maria speaks perfect Portuguese, and given the name Lee she must be a second or later generation immigrant. She's likely from Sao Paulo. Here's a video of her in the 70's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaPlwdb5iIw when she was likely in her late 30's, already as a Qigong teacher.
+
Mystical movements like that likely had a decent following in Brazil, especially in the 70's linked to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie[Hippies] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/嬉皮士[嬉皮士]). Ciro's mother mentioned some related stories of her friends.
+
At https://www.instagram.com/p/COOnUMwHD_Q/ for example
* https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-Chinese-government-against-Falun-Gong on <<quora>>
* https://www.zhihu.com/question/23988890 at <<zhihu>>
* https://www.orange-papers further developed at: <<flg-cult>>
==== The Falungong Phenomenon by Hu Ping (2003)
https://s3.amazonaws.com/berkley-center/040127HuFalunGongPhenomenon.pdf
Published on the China Rights Forum from <<hric>>.
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>> (capital).
+
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.
+
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
* 包子露宪 https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2018/03/phrase-week-steamed-bun-betrays-constitution by <<china-digital-times>>
* https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/world/asia/china-xi-jinping-term-limit-explainer.html
** https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20180312/china-xi-jinping-term-limit-explainer/
.<<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>>.
9407
9408
9409
9410
9411
9412
9413
9414
9415
9416
9417
9418
9419
9420
9421
9422
9423
9424
9425
9426
9427
9428
9429
9430
9431
9432
9433
9434
9435
9436
9437
9438
9439
9440
9441
9442
9443
9444
9445
===== 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.
Master issue: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/231
* 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>>.
.<<xi-jinping>> photoshopped as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_(character)[The Joker] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/小丑_(角色)[小丑]). Would have been perfect with https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/22/ren-zhiqiang-who-called-chinese-president-a-clown-jailed-for-18-years[2020-09-22 Ren Zhiqiang - who called Chinese president a 'clown' - jailed for 18 years], see also: <<corruption>>. https://www.reddit.com/r/chonglangTV/comments/m04q0p/乌合麒麟新作一尊小丑/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Jinping_photoshopped_as_The_Joker.jpg[height=400]
.<<xi-jinping>>, <<jiang-zemin>> and <<hu-jintao>> photoshopped on top of a clothing advertisement (TODO original). The text reads: "江胡险恶 习以为常". TODO understand. 江胡 are the surnames of <<jiang-zemin>> and <<hu-jintao>>. 习 is the surname of; <<xi-jinping>>. "习以为常" is a fixed expression that means "to get accustomed to". Also asked at: https://www.mohu.rocks/question/573 on <<mohu>>, and explained at: https://www.secretchina.com/news/gb/2003/12/03/56236.html from <<falun-gong-media>>. https://twitter.com/BeqB38ldjIu5acT/status/1377094062063292418[Source]
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Jiang_Hu.jpg[height=400]
.2019-05-21 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism[Sadomasochist] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/虐戀_(性學)[虐恋]) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM[BDSM] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM[zh], 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.
* https://youtu.be/8221d7F8Uzc?t=145 in video from Stuart Wiggin, see also: <<ccp-apologists>>
[[xi-jinping-porn]]
===== Xi Jinping porn (习近平色情)
TODO <<ciro-santilli>> is very interested in finding this!
* good Photoshops:
** <<xi-jinping-bdsm-cosplay,Xi Jinping BDSM at cosplay fair>>
** https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1613570-xi-jinping Xi Jinping GIF photoshop tearing his shirt off AKA "Who you calling <<winnie-the-pooh,winnie>>"
* bad Photoshops:
** https://youtu.be/mX5HQOYk3go?t=45 bad Photoshop of adding a Xi Jinping face to a BDSM porn actor. TODO find image
** https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm38084556
** https://club.6parkbbs.com/bolun/index.php?app=forum&act=threadview&tid=15759443
* Hentai
** 2016 https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/xl2-02112016111224.html 日本漫画家报复中国不尊重版权疑似毛泽东习近平成色情主角 (Japanese cartoonist revenges China for disrespect of copyright, suspected of Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping as pornographic protagonist) by <<rfa>>. Appears to be by artist Rin Sanada (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/真田鈴[真田鈴]) Part of the idea is that to prevent copyright infringement, you just use something that will be forbidden in China anyways!
*** TODO how to access it in full? Work name?
*** https://disp.cc/b/163-9f5E screenshot used on <<ptt>>
*** https://www.mohu.rocks/question/id-6851__sort_key-agree_count__sort-ASC screenshot used in a <<mohu>> thread
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 <<covid,COVID>> because one of the theories is that the disease started in bats.
video::kHmLUYCUYT0[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]
.Souvenirs sold in Beijing with the bust of Xi Jinping and Mao Zedong circa 2020. TODO: what is the shape of those souvenirs meant to evoke? https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-negative-views-on-china-spike-polls-show-11614870001?reflink=desktopwebshare_twitter[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xi_Jinping_Mao_Zedong_sculpture_souvenirs.jpg[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/ by <<china-digital-times>>
.Chrysanthemum <<xi-jinping>> with <<tiananmen,六四>> spice added by Ciro Santilli
image::{china-dictatorship-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" (学习强国) designed by <<alibaba>>:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuexi_Qiangguo
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/学习强国
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
Part of <<newspeak,Xi-speak>>.
===== Xuexi Qiangguo app (Study for a strong country app, 学习强国, xxqg, 2019)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuexi_Qiangguo
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/学习强国
App made by <<alibaba>> for the <<ccp>> to teach people <<xi-jinping-thought>>.
Literally means "study for a strong country".
One of the beautiful things about that name is that is reminds one of the <<slang,expression>> "强国人" (strong country person), coined in during the 2014 during the <<hong-kong-protests-2014>> to refer ironically to Mainland Chines people, due to their exaggerated self-perceived strength and superiority, see also <<wumao-2011-vs-little-pink-2021,Wumao 2011 vs little pink 2021>>. A homonym "墙国" (wall country) is also known as a reference to the <<gfw>>, https://archive.ph/czYEv[sample usage].
The app appears to have both content, and also tests to check that you've read the bullshit.
At https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/mnulkd/china_is_forcing_chinese_to_use_national/gu05o20/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 a <<reddit>> user explains:
____
Many people are also forced to use the app "强国学习" in order to keep their jobs. Especially government workers. They have to study XiJinPing thought for certain amount of time each week and do exams.
____
This is confirmed e.g. at: https://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/studies/voices-middle-east-asia/voices-from-east-asia/xuexi-qiangguo-%E2%80%93-digitalization-of-chinese-propaga.html
____
Within the first four months of Xuexi Qiangguo’s release, it was the most downloaded app in China with over 100 million downloads, surpassing China’s most popular messaging, social media and mobile payment app, <<wechat>> and the <<tiktok,Chinese version of TikTok, known as Douyin>>.
To use the app is not exactly voluntary. The Communist Party has issued directives that requires party members to download the app and use it. Many workplaces have done the same and it has been reported that employees are required to send screenshots to document their progress on the app. If they don’t, they are at risk of a pay deduction.
To put it in perspective, over 90 million Chinese are members of the Communist Party, and there are nearly 850 million internet users and almost 690 million smart phone users in China, as of 2019. It is, however, not clear whether the people who have downloaded the app genuinely are interested in learning about Xi Jinping’s political ideology, or if they feel like they must download it to show loyalty to the party.
____
https://github.com/fuck-xuexiqiangguo/Fuck-XueXiQiangGuo[]
This <<github>> repository appears to help cheat the Xuexi qiangguo, see also: <<github-repositories-with-censored-information>>.
The program's executable file name is actually `./Fuck学习强国`, a thing of beauty.
Several video demos can be found on YouTube:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahHzi1rGDfA "2021@学习强国辅助之Ai强国&科技强国" by Axiom Show shows the Android App
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOic-mYcwGA "习近平的学习强国和fuck 学习强国 | 如何从github上获取fuck xuexiqiangguo | 如何使用fuck xuexiqiangguo" by "中国人每日秀 The Chinese Daily Show" (2019)
And there there's an anti-repo for <<wumao>> who oppose the cheating: https://github.com/boycott-fuck-xuexiqiangguo/Boycott-Fuck-XueXiQiangGuo It had 150 stars as of 2021, as oppoesd to 7500 of the cheating repo.
https://github.com/TechXueXi/TechXueXi appears to be a "non-cheating" assistant? TODO confirm. It is at the very least more politically correct.
The repository was created by Tang Wenzheng (唐文正, <<github>> alias https://github.com/Xmader[Xmader]). https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/663593.html According to https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/663593.html form <<china-digital-times>>, he accidentally posted with his real name on an issue once (<<ciro-santilli>> knows that it is basically impossible not to when juggling multiple accounts simultaneously), and subsequently publicly announced his true identity. Following the name reveal, he did an AMA on <<terminus2049>> https://2047.name/t/11552[], and luckily he is abroad, and does not intend to come back. Wenzheng also created the https://github.com/china-digital-times/china-digital-times.github.io <<github>> pages mirror of <<china-digital-times>>, further discussed in that section. At https://github.com/fuck-xuexiqiangguo/Fuck-XueXiQiangGuo/issues/578 on 2021-03-03, he announced that he would stop working on the project because his parents weren't needing the APP anymore, succession wasn't announced. A few commits followed in the next days, but presumably minimal maintenance and ramp-down.
.Fuck-XueXiQiangGuo 2021 GitHub page screenshot with stars highlighted. 7k stars on a Chinese-only repository is a lot of stars, and very unlikely to be faked. This is what you should show <<wumao,wumaos>> when they that no Chinese person opposes the <<ccp>>.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Fuck-XueXiQiangGuo_2021_GitHub_page_screenshot_with_stars_highlighted.png[height=650]
[[national-anti-fraud-center-app]]
====== National anti-fraud center APP (国家反诈中心APP, 2021)
* https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/664606.html on <<china-digital-times>>
* https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/mnulkd/china_is_forcing_chinese_to_use_national/
New forced spy app for Chinese people going abroad.
[[jingwang-weishi]]
====== Jingwang Weishi app (Clean Net Guardian app, 净网卫士)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingwang_Weishi
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/净网卫士
[[chinese-dream]]
===== Chinese dream (中国梦, 4000 BC -)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Dream
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中國夢
Chinese version of the <<american-dream>>, which <<xi-jinping>> insists is completely different and superior to the <<american-dream>>.
The names suggest, they are not real, but just dreams.
Transcript for <<little-pink-american-dream-vs-chinese-dream,Little pink explains the difference between the American dream and the Chinese dream>>:
9684
9685
9686
9687
9688
9689
9690
9691
9692
9693
9694
9695
9696
9697
9698
9699
9700
9701
9702
9703
9704
9705
9706
9707
9708
9709
9710
9711
9712
9713
9714
9715
9716
9717
9718
9719
9720
9721
9722
9723
9724
9725
9726
9727
9728
9729
____
美国梦是个人发财的梦 +
讲究冒险 +
通过个人奋斗达到所谓的成功 +
成为有产者 +
然后去剥削别人 +
中国梦是共同富裕 +
追求的是人民幸福 +
换句话说 +
美国梦是个人梦 +
是为美元的梦 +
中国梦是人民梦 +
是为人民服务的梦 +
这就是二者的本质区别 +
以后不要在我面前提起美国梦 +
俗气！ +
____
____
The American dream is a dream of personal wealth +
it focuses on risk taking +
to achieve so-called success through personal struggle +
and become a property owner +
and then exploit others +
The Chinese dream is common prosperity +
to pursue the happiness of the people +
In other words +
the American dream is an individualistic dream +
it is a dream of the Dollar +
The Chinese dream is the people's dream +
Is a dream of serving the people +
This is the essential difference between the two +
Don't bring up the American dream in front of me in the future +
Cheesy! +
____
[[little-pink-american-dream-vs-chinese-dream]]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MilRo8zZM8A (https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/228[GitHub 上传 upload]) 小粉红谈中国梦与美国梦的区别 (<<little-pink>> explains the difference between the <<american-dream>> and the <<chinese-dream>>). That girl should have a look at the state of <<labour-rights>> in China in the 2020's, where activists for better worker protection are being put into jail. Also <<twitter,tweeted>> by <<rfa>> at: https://twitter.com/RFA_Chinese/status/1381531661804826627 The <<seal>> on top left reads: "进击老冯" TODO what is that? Source without subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw8TfbsNfNI[]. Ciro also reposted it at: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/msnixt/nationalistic_chinese_girl_compares_the_chinese/ on <<reddit>>. TODO try to identify it by logo of the microphone, looks something like "华浦TV" but not sure. TODO identify background music. TODO original source.
video::MilRo8zZM8A[youtube,height=400,width=600]
[[dream-of-the-red-chamber]]
====== Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/红楼梦
[[american-dream]]
====== American dream (美国梦)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/美国梦
[[xi-jinping-speech-synthesizer]]
==== Xi Jinping speech synthesizer (习近平讲话模拟器)
* XJP音源(习近平音源) from <<winnie-the-pool>>
* https://www.reddit.com/r/China_irl/comments/i4eodw/我做了个习近平讲话模拟器输入一段文字可以合成习近平语音欢迎前来游玩/ from 2020-08 announced https://dnmkrgi.github.io/xi-speech-demo/ now down but presumably at https://github.com/for-memory/xi-speech-demo
* https://github.com/for-memory/xi-speech-synthesizer voice synthesizer meant to replicate Xi Jinping's speaking, mentions it is similar to https://trumped.com/ and https://rogeraabbccdd.github.io/Fadacai-Generator/#/
** on <<gov-takedowns-china>>: https://github.com/github/gov-takedowns/blob/master/China/2021/2021-01-29-BNIA.md
** this was likely taken down due to videos like this:
*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVibUOFQhRw
** https://www.reddit.com/r/China_irl/comments/i4eodw/我做了个习近平讲话模拟器输入一段文字可以合成习近平语音欢迎前来游玩/
[[xi-jinping-deepfakes]]
==== Xi Jinping deepfakes (习近平deepfakes)
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diec9Cdsvg0 Xi Jinping singing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y.M.C.A._(song)[YMCA] with a wide range of cute expressions.
video::diec9Cdsvg0[youtube,height=400,width=600]
[[hu-jintao]]
=== Hu Jintao (胡锦涛, 2002-2012)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Jintao
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/胡锦涛
* 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
Jiang 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-zemin-magnify]]
.Jiang reading through comically large magnifying glass during the opening ceremony of the 19th <<national-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}/Jiang_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]
==== Too young, too naive
The Chinese also love Jiang's quote in English during an interview with Hong Kong press:
____
Too young, too simple, sometimes naive.
____
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=y-JPLzj2poY Jiang Zemin saying "Too simple, sometimes naive."
video::y-JPLzj2poY[youtube,height=400,width=600,start=57]
[[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.
[[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.
____
9857
9858
9859
9860
9861
9862
9863
9864
9865
9866
9867
9868
9869
9870
9871
9872
9873
9874
9875
9876
9877
9878
9879
9880
9881
9882
[[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]
[[the-private-life-of-chairman-mao]]
==== The Private Life of Chairman Mao (毛泽东私人医生回忆录)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Private_Life_of_Chairman_Mao
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/毛泽东私人医生回忆录
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Zhisui
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/李志绥
[[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>>
[[hundred-flowers-campaign]]
==== Hundred Flowers Campaign 百花齐放 (1956-1957)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/百花齐放、百家争鸣
Some possible quotes from Mao saying that people should be able to protest, original share: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/i2z5ss/maos_propaganda_poster_saying_protest_and_strike/
____
允许群众示威。 +
Citizens should be allowed to protest.
____
claims from from some 毛泽东选集第五卷 (selected works from Mao Zedong) in speech from the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China[8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China]. https://twitter.com/shijianxingzou/status/1158421996755128323 mentions the anthology was published in 1977.
Even <<pro-chinese-government-media,kknews>> confirms: https://kknews.cc/zh-my/news/ql9k4ag.html
<<liu-shihui-one-party-rule,Liu Shihui (刘士辉)>> also comes to mind.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/大跃进
.A high tower of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_gourd[winter gourds] "冬瓜上高楼" propaganda poster for the Great Leap Forward by https://chineseposters.net/artists/jinmeisheng.php[Jin Meisheng] published in 1959. <<western-democracies-are-not-perfect,Even in democracies>>, politicians promise the fat gourds. But when there is <<censorship,no free media to control their>> lies, things can get really out of hand. http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/chairman/chn11.php[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Winter_gourd.jpg[height=600]
.Communist Children Catch Pokemon: the true meaning of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union[CCCP]. Edited from the original poster with a <<little-red-book>> instead of Pokeball and no "CCCP" shown at https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/360428776411504491/[]. By Volaran Cadires. https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/405253666454984678/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Communist_children_catch_pokemon.jpg[height=600]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/文化大革命
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=kXByOrRrO7c Vox 6 minute explanation with some good footage for impatient Millennials, published on Feb 14, 2020.
video::kXByOrRrO7c[youtube,height=400,width=600]
[[revolutionary-opera]]
===== Revolutionary opera (样板戏)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_opera
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/样板戏
[[struggle-session]]
===== Struggle session (批斗)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struggle_session
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/批鬥
.<<struggle-session>> Luo Zicheng (TODO Chinese), head of the work group designated by the provincial Party committee, wearing a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunce#Dunce_cap[dunce cap] (TODO 笨蛋帽?) and surrounded by from the staff of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heilongjiang[Heilongjiang] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/黑龙江省[黑龙江省]) Daily newspaper accusing him of 'following the capitalist line' in 1966. Photo by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Zhensheng_(photojournalist)[Li Zhensheng] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/李振盛[李振盛]). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19807561[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Struggle_session_cultural_revolution_dunce_cap_luo_zicheng.jpg[height=400]
===== Mao swim across the Yangtze river (毛主席畅游长江, 1966-07-16)
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/毛主席畅游长江
Good <<scmp>> article: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/1999098/chairman-maos-historic-swim-glorified-china
Mao claimed to have set a swimming record by swimming 15km in 65 minutes at the age of 72 at the <<yangtze-river>> in Wuhan, or an average of 13.8 km/h.
As a comparison, the Olympic swimmers of 2016 covered the lesser distance of 10 km in 113 minutes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics_–_Men%27s_marathon_10_kilometre for an average of 5.3 km/h.
According to https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311977913_Analysis_of_the_characteristics_of_offshore_currents_in_the_Changjiang_Yangtze_River_estuarine_waters_based_on_buoy_observations[this article], the maximum current speed of the Yantze is 128.5 cm/s or 4.62 km/h so even if he were swimming with the current, Mao was faster.
In <<the-private-life-of-chairman-mao>> however, the doctor says that this was actually true, the current was enough to drag Mao's big belly quite fast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k1ZWoM6g8w How to swim in Wuhan's Yangtze river Blondie in China (2019)
Dictatorships would <<censorship-makes-no-one-trust-your-country,never lie about obviously verifiable facts>>, would they?
And idiots today still celebrate this event that preceded the <<cultural-revolution>> which put China's economy in shambles.
<<superputin>> learnt from this and also showed off his swimming skills in 2009.
.https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1966-10_1966年毛泽东游长江2.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Mao_swim_wave.jpg[height=400]
== Sport events
* 2020 <<hao-haidong>>
* 2019 <<lebron-james-opposes-hong-kong-anti-extradition-bill-protests-2019>>