The ancient meditation practice of Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public in China by Master Li Hongzhi in 1992. Mostly spreading by word-of-mouth, it became so popular, that within 7 years, 70 million to 100 million people were practicing (by Chinese state estimates).
This immense popularity also attracted negative attention from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which broadly suppresses freedom of thought and belief. And in 1999, under leader Jiang Zemin, the CCP launched a brutal persecution of Falun Dafa that continues until today.
Falun Dafa practitioners have always responded peacefully yet resolutely to end the persecution. Above is a timeline of key events in the spread of the practice and movement to expose and stop the persecution.
