falun gong

a falun welcome

As I exited the Hung Hom Train Station in Kowloon, Hong Kong on June 11, 2009, I was immediately greeted by a banner stating "Falun Dafa Is Good."

Could it be?

Though Falun Gong had surfaced in conversations since 2001 (the second time I lived in China) it had been just as long since I had really seen any sort of promotion, defense, or propaganda about what mainland Chinese refer to as a cult.

Falun openly protesting in Hong Kong, June 2009

10 years ago...

... on July 20, 1999, the Chinese government bans the practice of Falun Gong (法轮功, fǎlún gōng), also known as Falun Dafa (法轮大法, fǎlún dàfǎ). Falun literally translates as "Law [of the] Wheel".

But what is Falun Gong? Is it a religion? a cult? a meta-physical exercise?

Three principles: Truth. Compassion. Tolerance. But it seems nobody really knows, or at least few agree upon its definition to any degree, even those at wikipedia.

8 years ago...

... during a previous stay in China in 2001, a local friend of mine relayed a Falun Gong story:

His friend was married to a woman who became involved in Falun Gong. One day, she disappeared, and that was in 1998. For three years, the family had not heard from her.

Did she disappear by choice? They didn't know. Did the government take her? They couldn't be certain. Had they heard from her? Not once.

Amidst uncertainty, the family had not gone looking for her. Of course they were worried about her. They were unsure, however, whether her disappearance was willful or forced. If indeed it was the government who had detained her [or worse], the family certainly didn't want to be associated with her or Falun Gong. Knowing did not warrant the risk.

And so they stayed silent.

burned alive

It was during the Spring Festival of 2001 that I visited my friend and his family in Southern China.

The making of dumplings is still the central activity during the holidays, as is, in recent years, a flickering television set.

The date was January 23, 2001. Suddenly a news flash flickered across the television screen. The making of dumplings halted.

Tiananmen Square. Fire. Security guards. Victims.

I saw a completely charred face, recognizable only by three small holes - two eyes, and the latter, a mouth. "Ma ma.... ma ma..." Emergency crews paused for a camera to capture a 12-year old girl calling out for her mother, before she was loaded onto an ambulance.

The story on the TV went as such... "Mother and daughter. Tiananmen Square. Self-immolation with gasoline." Xinhua News reported that the girl was told that she would see heaven if she did as she was instructed, but instead, she ended up in the hospital, only to die 2 months later.

That is what was reported here, on TV. Some say it was staged by the government to gather credibility in its stance against Falun Gong. A deeper look stirs much controversy about the authenticity of this footage; watch video footage and analysis here.

mystery...

... surrounds Falun Gong. The lack of religion in China in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution tells me that there is a strong spiritual void, the nature of which will always be filled by those who feel a calling for something more.

Where there is not the way, the will is found.

When anything goes underground because of a government ban, the spread of incorrect information spreads even faster and with greater conviction. I question that a ban is successful of the opposite.

What is pruned at the branches will flourish at its roots.

For practicing members, a government ban is only to strengthen the desire to practice. For those unfamiliar with the practice, they may be likely to stay farther away, but more so out of fear of persecution than out of lack of curiosity.

torture

Nearing the train station 2 days later, I again was greeted by graphic images of torture of Falun Gong followers, purportedly at the hands of the Chinese government:

purported torture of Falun Gong followers

more purported torture of Falun Gong followers

even more purported torture of Falun Gong followers

today

Shhh. Nobody is talking today.

Still in mainland China, religion and politics are two topics that most of my Han (ethnicity) friends and acquaintances are either unwilling to or uninterested in discussing openly, at least with me (other topics include Tibet and Taiwan). The hangover of not being able to freely discuss matters of importance ever lingers from the Cultural Revolution.

It is not possible to trust the government's hard line statement, it is not possible to trust the follower's blanketed mission, it is not possible to trust the foreign media's distant bias.

Note: Access to Blogger is still blocked within China. Without access to a much appreciated VPN (proxy), I would be unable to write such a post and publish it to my blog from within mainland China. Thus, I am blessed and grateful to be sharing.

six four

This post is long overdue, but at long last it will be shared.

June 4, 2009

After a busy day of teaching English to local elementary students, I was lucky enough to catch mass transit to the city square, otherwise known as Tiananmen Square，天安门 (tiān'ānmén), before it closed.

Quite literally, I arrived just minutes before the Square closed. I couldn't recall the square closing so early before, not even 8p, but sure enough the square was closing. Was it an early closing? A typical closing? Only another visit at a later, less memorable date could answer this question.

the Square after closing, looking south

To reach the Square, you must enter through below the ground security checkpoints, finally taking a set of stairs up directly onto the Square. Below ground, a bag check (X-ray) conveyor is there to make sure no dangerous or hazardous items are taken to such a public place. These electronic bag checks exist at every single subway entrance, and it is a rare bag that walks unnoticed past the security guards (but it does happen).

The underground channel was filled with people coming, slowly, and leaving, freely. I dropped my bag onto the conveyor and matched my pace to gather it upon its exit.

On this particular day, June 4th 2009, at this particular security crossing, there were approximately 15 guards -all uniformed but one, who was talking with a uniformed and swinging a closed umbrella (it was not only not raining, but dusk and underground!)

Without so much as a hesitation from the guards, I proceeded onto the square, ever curious as to the waiting demographics of the crowd.

a waning crowd at dusk, looking south across Tiananmen Square:
Sobriety and irony on the 20th Anniversary of the June 4th, 1989 Incident
at and around Tiananmen［天安门], literally, the Gate of Heavenly Peace, Beijing

It was busy with people, but not a solid mass. There were foreigners and locals, male and female, the elderly and babe alike. It was a visual cross-section that made it impossible to really identify their purpose for coming. Was it just a random visit on a random Thursday evening? Or a silent commemoration with simply presence?

When our voice is lost to those who listen, our presence is not lost to those who see.

The sun was beginning to set. I noticed a large crowd gathering at the north end of the square, with a police car patrolling the area with a broadcast message. Upon closer inspection, the crowd had gathered for the daily flag lowering, as is usual at the close of each day. A set of [uniformed] soldiers filed out and crossed the Chang'an Boulevard (长安大街) towards the Forbidden City.

police on guard while soldiers transport the flag across Chang'an Boulevard (长安大街)

Back on the Square, I wandered around during the final minutes of the Square's opening, took a few pictures, but the dusk [and my limited camera] prevented me from capturing more. Police vehicles circled and weaved through the crowd like remotely controlled toy cars, which may not be too far from the truth.

a police car warns of the Square's closing

A German woman approached me, inquiring about the message being broadcast from the vehicles. And so, with her in tow, I approached a vehicle. Unfortunately, its speed was faster than my walking pace, and the clarity of the speakers not so... clear. My translation was nothing more than a few broken words, but I gathered enough that it was simply an end of day message.

Then the sweet English came through loud and clear, as only one's mother tongue is capable of transcending even poor speakers. This recording doubled over itself tirelessly, first in Mandarin, followed by English:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Tiananmen Square is now closing for the night. Please take all your personal belongs and leave the square as directed by the police officers on duty. Thank you for your understanding and for your cooperation. We hope to see you again. 游客你好。今日广场...

I shot a few video clips, not realizing that I would later be grateful for it. In fact, nothing spectacular happened, but it still proved to be a memorable evening.

June 4th, 2009 - a view of Tiananmen Square on the 20th Anniversary of 'Six Four'

Interestingly, the plain-clothes soldiers were quite easy to identify in the crowd. Typically sporting a polo shirt and jeans and sun visor, they all carried a bag across their shoulder or around their waist. And as they joined the uniformed soldiers and filed out at the close of the day, no secrecy was worn as they 'kept the peace'.

plains-clothes soldiers line up with uniformed soldiers

Six Four is still a hushed topic, which is how it is referred to by the Chinese. It is hardly a topic of conversation for a public setting, and even a private setting may bring no more transparency. It is not clear how many locals are aware of the Incident, some twenty years on.

Websites referencing June 4th, 1989, have been and apparently will be blocked until an unknown date of truthful admission. What knowledge is available here in the Mainland is spread by verbal stealth, of memories carved and of foreign journalism.

While there is much uncertainty and even greater speculation about the details of the events of that fateful day, the elder generations acknowledge it with solemn remembrance or staunch denial. The younger generation, yet born or still toddling about, now either acknowledges it with removed curiosity or is quite totally unaware.

Taken from an earlier posting:

...As any good story might begin, a friend of a friend shared this experience: She is a college student, masters student, and part of the Communist Party. On occasion, they have participation 'homework', which could be in the form or attending/planning meetings or writing a rather nationalistic essay. This year, for June 4th, 2009, she was given a special assignment: she was informed that she would be the

"Supervisor of the Prevention of a Commemoration for an Event that Never Happened".

Needless to say, such a delegation had the student, previously and otherwise oblivious to and uninformed of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, asking a few difficult questions of her own. If an event didn't happen, why would anyone be commemorating it? And more importantly, why would anyone spend time, energy, and resources to prevent the commemoration of something that never happened?

'logic' is a borrowed word, 逻辑 (luóji)

There is more than solemn irony in the name of this square, for Tiananmen quite literally means 'the Gate of Heavenly Peace'.

But for at least this June 4th, Tiananmen held true to its name, with the peaceful commemoration of an event -an event that did happen twenty years earlier.

Note: Access to Blogger is still blocked within China. Without access to a much appreciated VPN (proxy), I would be unable to write such a post and publish it to my blog from within mainland China. Thus, I am blessed and grateful to be sharing.