ABSTRACT
On 13 May 2012, the Falungong celebrated its twentieth anniversary. 1 Few within or outside the movement had expected the congregation to survive the mortal wound that the Chinese government had inflicted on 22 July 1999, when it banned the seven-year-old congregation, tried and imprisoned its top leadership, decimated its organisational structure in China, confiscated its entire publication stock and issued a warrant for the arrest of its founder, Li Hongzhi (Tong 2009). Thirteen years later, the Grand Master did not find himself languishing in a Chinese prison, but being overwhelmed by good wishes and greetings. There were unique computer-generated greeting cards and hand-drawn paintings, many with classic Chinese poems, sent by 2,788 practitioners from all seven administrative regions in China, in addition to those of more than a dozen occupational groups from law-enforcement to the shipbuilding industry inside China. 2 Inundated by commendations from numerous national and local governments, including new proclamations of Falungong Days in Baltimore, Charlotte, Denver and Milwaukee, a Falungong week from Detroit and a Falungong month from Edmonton, 3 it must appear to be Karmic vindication for the congregation when it compares its darkest nights in July 1999 with its finest hours today.
