Roger Ames Part 1 - PCC Focus on China
Portland Community College focus on China. April 2012. Lectures on culture and change. Roger Ames presents, 'Confucian China in a Changing World Order' - Part 1. Made possible in part by the International Initiative. Introductions by Sylvia Gray, Craig Kolins, and Peter Hershock.
2019 Asian American Literature Festival
Four events at the Library of Congress celebrated Asian American literature during a three-day city-wide festival. Novelist Monique Truong gave a personal tour of Asian American literature through a mix of social/intellectual history, anecdotes and short readings by writers both celebrated and overlooked. Poets Jennifer Chang and Cathy Park Hong uncovered the work of lesser-known senior poets who importantly shaped Asian American literary culture. Mini-lectures were followed by readings of poets' work inspired by these secret histories. Poet Arthur Sze gave a personal tour of Asian American literature through a mix of social/intellectual history, anecdotes and short readings by writers both celebrated and overlooked. Poets Kazim Ali and Ching-In Chen uncovered the work of lesser-known senior poets who importantly shaped Asian American literary culture. Mini-lectures will be followed by readings of poets' work inspired by these secret histories.
For transcript and more information, visit
Falun Gong | Wikipedia audio article
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Falun Gong
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
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Falun Gong (UK: , US: ) or Falun Dafa (; Standard Mandarin Chinese: [fàlwə̌n 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 forbearance (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 that saw a proliferation of similar practices of meditation, slow-moving energy 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.
The practice initially enjoyed support from Chinese officialdom, but by the mid to late 1990s, the Communist Party and public security organizations increasingly viewed Falun Gong as a potential threat due to its size, independence from the state, and spiritual teachings. By 1999, government estimates placed the number of Falun Gong practitioners at 70 million. During that time, negative coverage of Falun Gong began to appear in the state-run press, and practitioners usually responded by picketing the source involved. Most of the time, the practitioners succeeded, but controversy and tension continued to build. The scale of protests grew until April 1999, when over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered near the central government compound in Beijing to request legal recognition and freedom from state interference. This demonstration is widely seen as catalyzing the persecution that followed.
On 20 July 1999, the Communist Party leadership initiated a nationwide crackdown and multifaceted propaganda campaign intended to eradicate the practice. It blocked Internet access to websites that mention Falun Gong, and in October 1999 it declared Falun Gong a heretical organization that threatened social stability. Falun Gong practitioners in China are reportedly subject to a wide range of human rights abuses: hundreds of thousands are estimated to have been imprisoned extrajudicially, and practitioners in detention are subject to forced labor, psychiatric abuse, torture, and other coercive methods of thought reform at the hands of Chinese authorities. As of 2009, human rights groups estimated that at least 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners had died as a result of abuse in custody. Some observers put the number much higher, and report that tens of thousands may have been killed to supply China's organ transplant industry (see Organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China). In the years since the persecution began, Falun Gong practitioners have become active in advocating for greater human rights in China.
Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi has lived in the United States since 1996, and Falun Gong has a sizable global constituency. Inside China, estimates suggest that tens of millions continued to practice Falun Gong in spite of the persecution. Hundreds of thousands are estimated to practice Falun Gong outside China in over 70 countries worldwide.
CCP Insiders' Open Letter to Hu and Wen Urge Investigation
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Recently, sixteen CCP regime insiders from Zhao Tong City
of Yunnan province wrote to Hu Jintao to call for dismissal of Zhou Yongkang and Liu Yunshan.
They pointed out that Jiang's faction members Bo Xilai
and Zhou Yongkang were sacrificing the future of the Chinese
to benefit themselves by spending huge amount of funds
for the stability preservation office to suppress civilians.
To cooperate with Bo and Zhou, the propaganda department
also concocted fake history to deceive Chinese people.
Overseas scholars consequently remarked that they hoped
this open letter would urge Hu and Wen to take down Zhou and his followers.
Recently, sixteen CCP regime insiders from Zhao Tong City
of Yunnan province announced an open letter online.
They called on Hu Jintao to dismiss Zhou Yongkang
from the Politburo Standing Committee and the Political
and Legislative Affairs Committee (PLAC), and put him
under investigation of the Central Commission for Discipline.
The letter also suggested removing Liu Yunshan from his post
as head of the Propaganda Department, as well as blocking his entry to the Politburo Standing Committee.
Yu Yongqing, author of the open letter: the Wang Lijun
incident revealed that the conspiracy behind Bo Xilai's Chongqing mode was indeed to plot a coup.
Bo himself also publicly said that his plan was approved
and supported by Zhou Yongkang.
From this we can see that Zhou and his followers were
only considering how to protect their private benefits
and those of the Jiang's faction, even at the cost
of sacrificing the future of our people and country.
After Wang Lijun's defect to the U.S. consulate, the U.S.
government exposed Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang's coup plot via media.
According to their plan, Bo and Zhou aimed at overthrowing
Xi Jinping and replace him with Bo.
Since Bo was dismissed and put under investigation, there
have been constant voices requiring dismissal of Zhou as well.
Yu Yongqing, author of the open letter: As head
of the PLAC, Zhou Yongkang and his system spends
more money than the military expenditure
under the name of stability control.
However, what they are doing is only to suppress our people
rather than protecting real social stability.
It's indeed what they are doing that makes
our society unstable.
Chair of China Social Democratic Party, Liu Yinquan
remarked that the open letter from Zhao Tong had shown an accurate understanding of the situation in China.
Liu Yinquan, Chair of China Social Democratic Party: In my
opinion this letter hits the key points.
There is a faction behind Bo Xilai with even more darkness
and evilness, and Zhou Yongkang is one of their leaders.
You have to handle them together to bring Bo's crime
to justice.
If you don't root out their gang-like corrupt group,
the situation will definitely become even worse.
Therefore this open letter is a really a good one
which comes at the right time.
The open letter also pointed out that the head of CCP's
Propaganda Department, Liu Yunshan,
has helped Mao leftists in building the current
dictatorship regimevia media propaganda.
Yu Yongqing, author of the open letter: In 2009, Liu Yunshan
threw out a brochure called Six Why, which tried to give partial credit to Mao's crime.
He made up false history to deceive Chinese people
so as to compliment Mao, despite the fact that the damage
which Mao brought to our country has been
universally acknowledged.
The open letter stated that, under the name of
stability control, Mao leftists purchased weapons,
built up security forces and tried to control the army
in preparation for the coup.
They also secretly collected information on Wen Jiabao
and Xi Jinping, aiming at creating public confusion of their images via media propaganda.
In summary, the letter remarked that all these dirty tricks
were only to help Bo Xilai enter the Politburo Standing
Committee, succeed the position of PLAC secretary,
and even become the second Mao in China;
they would never have stopped until the goal is achieved.
Liu Yinquan: Their ultimate goal is to bring China
back to the dark and evil times rules by Mao.
If Hu and Wen don't pay enough attention and make
a determination to completely take them down (Bo Xilai
and Zhou Yongkang), they will even be unable to protect
themselves.
I think Hu-Wen should investigate Zhou Yongkang's crime
as suggested by the open letter.
The open letter also mentioned Mao's numerous crimes,
the June 4th Tiananmen square massacre and Jiang Zemin's persecution of Falun Gong.
《神韵》2011世界巡演新亮点