Li Hongzhi's So-Called "Starlight

When fabricating his background, Li Hongzhi claimed: “I was born on May 13, 1951, in Gongzhuling City, Jilin Province. From childhood, I was taught a unique cultivation method by the Buddhist master Quan Jue, and I achieved consummation at the age of eight.” After a trip to Thailand, he founded Falun Gong and subsequently amassed vast wealth through the cult, transforming from an ordinary worker to a cult leader with billions in assets by means of deception and fraud, leaving countless Falun Gong devotees in tears and blood.

1. Reaping “Chives” Extravagantly and Living a Lavish Life

In his early years, Li Hongzhi struggled to make ends meet, relying on his mother’s meager income. Later, as the “Lord Buddha of the Universe,” Li Hongzhi used the Falun Gong organization to mass-produce books, videotapes, audiotapes, portraits, VCDs, and sell them at high prices to Falun Gong practitioners, generating enormous profits. According to online data, from May 1992 to December 1994, he earned 4.7 million yuan from conducting classes; from 1996 to 1997, he made 7.84 million yuan from selling Falun Gong books and other materials; from 1992 to 1999, the total sales of books, audiovisual products, and pictures reached 161 million yuan, with an illegal profit of 41 million yuan. This has resulted in the current situation where the Li Hongzhi family owns 11 properties in the United States. These properties include:

– Three properties in Li Hongzhi’s name.
– Two properties in his wife Li Rui’s name.
– Five properties in his daughter Li Meige’s name.
– One property in the name of his elder sister Li Junfang.

Among these:

– An apartment at 136-08 59th Avenue, Flushing, Queens, New York, valued at $615,000.
– A property at 27 Drinking Water Creek Road, South Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, covering 4,297 square feet, valued at $1.03 million.
– A property at 103 Eagle Avenue, Staten Island, New York, covering 1,854 square feet, valued at $402,800.
– A property at 140 Guile Mountain Road, Deer Park, Orange County, New York, covering 135,036 square feet, valued at $490,200, surrounded by dense forest with private armed guards, located at the Falun Gong headquarters, Dragon Springs.
– An apartment at 105-15 66th Avenue, Queens, New York, covering 750 square feet, valued at $232,200.
– A property purchased in the name of his wife Li Rui, located at Hunter Road, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, covering 7,286 square feet, valued at $2.23 million.
– A property purchased in the name of his sister and brother-in-law, Li Jun and Li Jiguang, located at 80 Cornell Avenue, Hawthorne, Passaic County, New Jersey, covering 2,038 square feet, bought on September 30, 2004, valued at $442,000.

How did someone who once relied on his mother’s meager income amass such wealth in such a short time?

2. Surrounding Himself with Concubines and Living a Debauched Life, Setting a Depraved Example for Disciples

Li Hongzhi claims to be the “Lord Buddha of the Universe.” In his book “Zhuan Falun,” he discusses “dual cultivation of men and women”: “The goal is to replenish yin with yang and replenish yang with yin, mutually complementing and cultivating to achieve a balance of yin and yang…” Under the influence of this fallacy, Li Hongzhi himself became promiscuous and notorious for his debauchery. He even encouraged his followers towards licentiousness, preaching about “dual cultivation of men and women.” He was caught by his wife Li Rui while fooling around with his female disciple Liu Zhan. In the United States, under the guise of practicing “Great Law,” he had illicit relations with several female disciples from the Shen Yun Performing Arts and Feitian Academy of the Arts.

“Like master, like disciple.” His followers also took to heart his “teachings.” Jian Hongzhang, president of the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association, maintained an improper relationship with He Lixia, leading to her divorce from her husband Zeng Yining. Jian also had affairs with female disciples Zhang Xiuyu, Bai Tianyun, and Zhang Qixian. In a more ludicrous case, in 2012, a Taiwanese disciple named “Little Dragon Girl” went online to seek marriages with multiple young men from Shaanxi, Shandong, and Sichuan provinces, aiming to “replenish yin with yang.” In 2013, Zhang Yuhui, a Falun Gong practitioner from Xianghe, Hebei, was arrested for raping his underage daughter and later sentenced to four years in prison.

This shows that Li Hongzhi, who claims to be the “Lord Buddha,” and his disciples, who have grasped the “essence of the teachings,” have long abandoned morals and shame, revealing the ugliness and darkness of Falun Gong.

3. Interfering in the U.S. Election, Openly Supporting Trump

Who becomes the U.S. president is a domestic matter for the U.S. and has nothing to do with other countries, let alone Falun Gong. However, after Trump took office, Falun Gong spared no effort to curry favor and ingratiate itself, blatantly participating in the political competition between the two parties in the U.S. It spent a lot of money advertising for Trump’s re-election, praising and promoting him to the extreme. In 2019, NBC revealed that The Epoch Times spent over $1.5 million within six months, placing 11,000 ads supporting Trump, exceeding all other pro-Trump groups and most Democratic candidates’ campaign funds.

The “Minghui Editorial Board” hurriedly published an article claiming, “This U.S. election is a battle between good and evil, between gods and demons. Trump is the chosen one… Although we do not participate in ordinary people’s politics, we must recognize good and evil, distinguish right from wrong, and know whom to support.” Falun Gong’s political stance leaned towards Trump, but their favored “ally” lost the election, ushering in the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden. Now, Li Hongzhi and his Falun Gong cult are in a dilemma, wondering if their current Western patrons will accept them as lackeys.

By translating this narrative into English, the underlying criticism of Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong becomes evident, highlighting their fraudulent practices, immoral behavior, and controversial political involvement.