Enlightened Martyrdom

The Hidden Side of Falun Gong
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78179-498-2
Verlag: Equinox Publishing Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 276 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 581 g

When it became evident that the People's Republic of China (PRC) was on the verge of banning the Falun Gong movement, Li Hongzhi, the movement's founder, and his family escaped China, relocating permanently in the United States. Subsequently, the dramatic crackdown on Falun Gong in 1999 made international headlines. From the safety of his new home, Master Li encouraged his followers left behind in the PRC to vigorously demonstrate against the Chinese government, even if it meant imprisonment or even death. Further, Master Li actively discourages his followers from telling outsiders about his esoteric teachings; rather, he explicitly directs them to say that Falun Gong is just a peaceful spiritual exercise group being persecuted by the PRC. Not only has Falun Gong succeeded in propagating their side of the story in the media but the group will vigorously protest any news story that disagrees with their point of view. In more recent years, Falun Gong has attempted to silence critical scholars, including two of the contributors to the present volume. Enlightened Martyrdom: The Hidden Side of Falun Gong provides a comprehensive overview of Falun Gong: the movement's background, history, beliefs and practices. But whereas prior treatments have generally tended to downplay Falun Gong's 'dark side, ' in Enlightened Martyrdom, we have made an effort to include treatments of the less palatable aspects of this movement.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lewis, James R.

Chao, Huang

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen Moderne Kulte & Sekten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction James R. Lewis and Huang Chao 1. The Religion and Politics of Falun Gong Junpeng Li, Columbia University 2. The Doctrine of Li Hongzhi: Falun Gong: Between Sectarianism and Universal Salvation David A. Palmer, Hong Kong University 3. From Spiritual Healing to Protest: Falun Gong's Emerging Culture of Martyrdom Susan J. Palmer, McGill-Queens University 4. Burning Faith: Interpreting the 1.23 Incident James R. Lewis 5. Devil Killing and the Essence of Falun Gong Fang Yong, Wuhan University 6. The Self-contradictions in Li Hongzhi's Statements about Illness Cao Yan, Wuhan University 7. Scientific or Anti-scientific: A Critical Analysis of "Science" Discourses in Falun Gong Wang Chengjun, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law 8. "You Don't Want to Have That Kind of Thought in Your Mind": Li Hongzhi, Aliens, and Science Stefano Bigliardi, Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue, Geneva 9. Falun Gong's Attack on Academic Freedom Helen Farley, University of Queensland 10. Friendly Fire: How Falun Gong mistook me for an enemy Heather Kavan, Massey University 11. The Falun Gong Political Narrative: Creating the Illusion of So-called "Forced Organ Harvesting" Campbell Fraser, Griffith University 12. "Clarifying the Truth": Falun Gong's Media Strategies James R. Lewis

Über Autor(innen)

James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy at Wuhan University. Huang Chao is an associate professor in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University and Executive Director of Research Center for International New Religions and Cults at Wuhan University.