Falun Gong

Falun Gong
The Falun Dafa emblem
Traditional Chinese	法輪功
Simplified Chinese	法轮功
Literal meaning	Dharma Wheel Practice or Dharma Wheel Work/Power/Energy
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Fǎlún Gōng Wade–Giles Falun-Kung IPA [fàlwə̂n kʊ́ŋ] Yue: Cantonese IPA [faːt lɵn kʊ́ŋ] Jyutping faat3 leon4 gung1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hoat-lûn-kong Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Huák-lùng-gŭng
Falun Dafa
Traditional Chinese	法輪大法
Simplified Chinese	法轮大法
Literal meaning	Great Dharma Wheel Practice
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Fǎlún Dàfǎ Wade–Giles Falun Tafa Yue: Cantonese Jyutping faat3 leon4 daai6 faat3 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hoat-lûn-tāi-hoat Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC huák-lùng-dâi-huák

Falun Gong /ˈfɑːluːnˈɡʊŋ/ or Falun Dafa /ˈfɑːluːnˈdɑːfɑː/ (Standard Mandarin Chinese: [fàlwə̂n tâfà]; literally, "Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a Chinese spiritual practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and (Chinese: 真、善、忍). The practice emphasizes morality and the cultivation of virtue, and identifies as a qigong practice of the Buddhist school, though its teachings also incorporate elements drawn from Taoist traditions. Through moral rectitude and the practice of meditation, practitioners of Falun Gong aspire to eliminate attachments, and ultimately to achieve spiritual enlightenment.

Falun Gong was first taught publicly in Northeast China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. It emerged toward the end of China's "qigong boom"—a period which saw the proliferation of similar practices of meditation, slow-moving exercises and regulated breathing. It differs from other qigong schools in its absence of fees or formal membership, lack of daily rituals of worship, its greater emphasis on morality, and the theological nature of its teachings. Western academics have described Falun Gong as a qigong discipline, a "spiritual movement", a "cultivation system" in the tradition of Chinese antiquity, or as a form of Chinese religion.