Zhong Gong
| Zhong Gong | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中华养生益智功 | ||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||
| Chinese | 中功 | ||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | zhōnghua yangsheng yizhi gōng |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | zhōnggōng |
| Wade–Giles | chung1 kung1 |
Zhong Gong (中功) is a spiritual movement based on qigong founded in 1987 by Zhang Hongbao. The full name (中华养生益智功) translates to "China Health Care and Wisdom Enhancement Practice." The system distinguished itself from other forms of qigong by its strong emphasis on commercialisation, and targeted strategy that aimed to build a national commercial organisation in China in the 1990s.
Zhong Gong achieved national prominence during the 'qigong fever' that gripped China during the Deng era. The denomination included a nationwide network of schools and healing centres based on Zhang's form of qigong before being outlawed by Chinese authorities in 1999. Zhang Hongbao claimed in 2003 to have about 38 million followers, and even Jiang Zemin allegedly believed in the curative power of Zhong Gong massage.
After China declared Zhong Gong an illegal organisation, all its assets and those of the 3,000 entitles constituting the Unicorn Group were confiscated, its 600 principals arrested. Zhong Gong wilted away once the organisation was no longer able to transmit the material and social benefits which were motivational drivers for its followers. After a warrant for the arrest of leader Zhang Hongbao was issued, he fled to United States and applied for political asylum—he gained Protective resident status in U.S. on 13 June 2001. Zhang died in a car accident in July 2006.
In the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, Zhang Hongbao retreated to a remote base area in Sichuan, where he reorganised his followers as employees of a web of private enterprises owned by a parent firm, the Qilin Group.
During the early 1990s, Zhong Gong became the most popular of the various qigong schools, but rumours concerning Zhong Gong started to surface. As controversy about Zhong Gong increased, Falun Gong group gained in popularity, eventually superseding Zhong Gong as the largest movement of its kind.
Its commercial activities were incorporated in China as the Unicorn Group (麒麟集团), a collectively ownership enterprise. In Mainland China, it had numerous operations, branches, and staff. There were six subordinate divisions, including Qigong training, healthy living, travel, education, medical.
Political scientist Patricia M. Thornton at the University of Oxford lists Zhong Gong as an example of a cybersect, due to the group's reliance internet for text distribution, recruitment and information-sharing among adherents.
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