Li Hongzhi

Lore & Background

Li Hongzhi's early life is subject to competing accounts that emerged before and after the 1999 suppression of Falun Gong. Unofficial and official biographies published by Falun Gong sources describe him as born in Gongzhuling, Jilin Province, and trained from age four by a series of Daoist and Buddhist masters, acquiring supernatural powers such as invisibility and levitation. These accounts emphasize his spiritual development and claim he synthesized his teachings into Falun Dafa by 1984, testing the system with a small group until 1992. In contrast, Chinese government biographies published after 1999 portray Li as an ordinary individual: born to divorced parents, relocated to Changchun, with a middle school education and unremarkable jobs including work at an army horse farm and as a trumpet player. Both sets of accounts agree that Li moved to Changchun in 1982 for civilian employment and married and had a daughter in the 1980s.

Reader's Guide

Li Hongzhi's significance lies in founding Falun Gong, a movement that attracted millions of followers in China during the 1990s qigong fever, including members of government and qigong circles. Central to Falun Gong are the principles of truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance, which Li describes as fundamental characteristics of the universe. The movement's suppression by the Chinese government in 1999, accompanied by a propaganda campaign and allegations of torture and forced organ harvesting, has made Li a controversial figure. Since moving to the U.S., Li has remained largely out of public view, with his presence maintained through electronic media and affiliated organizations such as Shen Yun, The Epoch Times, and New Tang Dynasty Television, which promote Falun Gong's beliefs and unfounded conspiracy theories. Li claims to be a being who has come to help humanity from destruction caused by evil, and has stated that extraterrestrial aliens from other dimensions walk the Earth, introducing technology, war, and immorality.

Did You Know?

• Li Hongzhi began public teachings of Falun Gong on 13 May 1992 in Changchun.
• At the 1992 Oriental Health Expo in Beijing, Li reportedly helped a paralyzed wheelchair-bound man walk again.
• Li moved to the United States in 1995 and became a permanent resident in 1998.
• Falun Gong was suppressed by the Chinese government in 1999 and branded a heretical organization.