I know this is pushing up against the 20year limit, but its historiography as much as anything. As a Google historian living in Zhengzhou, I recently heard about the Falun Gong. It was introduced to me by some Americans as a weird religion that did organ harvesting. Our Chinese friend mentioned that it was a cult, which immediately made me realize that it was probably a source of huge propaganda. Ive talked to many chinese, some of whom have been afraid to talk over weixing (possibly irrationally), about it. The accounts vary wildly. Some say they were a cult; some say they were a scam; some that they were a cult that pretended to be a religion and puts out propaganda. No one defends the Falun Gong, not even the progressive Chinese college students who know about tianamen and whatnot. Yet the online propaganda (ie Wikipedia, which is years out of date) paints a harshly negative view on China, as does some US resolutions it seems.
My question is how a historian would go about unraveling this. I ask this both for a professional historian (ie, do you rely on chinese documents/leaks that may never come or be falsified? Do you interview people who may be biased or "brainwashed"?) and for a google historian (what websites do you trust, how do you weigh evidence, etc). What are the problem solving skills I am missing to form an opinion, or is the problem intractable?
This is old enough to not violate the 20 year rule, kinda, but I'll keep this short because it's a problematic question for AskHistorians for other reasons.
FG is based off Qigong which became popular after the communists took power. FG itself didn't really get started until the 1990s. They weren't really on the radar of the Party until they made some pretty large demonstrations to intentionally get the attention of the state. I've heard it analysed as a cynical play by the leaders of FG.
(important clarifying edit: The previous sentence was an aside, not my thesis. There was an implied "make of that what you will" which I thought was obvious but then I guess there's no tone in text so I should have known better that it wouldn't be interpreted how I meant it. The point that I was trying to make with that was that no part of this topic is free of conflicting information and incomplete data because we just don't have the records of the actual events from either side, either FG or the Central Government. The point that this statement (the one references in the now-stricken sentence) comes up at all in conversations with well-read well-educated otherwise-knowledgable people is an indicator of just how messy the subject is when you're looking at the interaction between two parties that are very opaque dealing in this part of the world. That's all. Sorry it caused so much confusion. Also I'm writing this edit for a second time, because screw you Reddit.)
Their propaganda is exactly that, propaganda, and not something to be addressed as factual even in cases where it might be correct.
not even the progressive Chinese college students who know about tianamen and whatnot.
(edit: misread that. Thanks /u/crazedmongoose) Oh they know. I can assure you that they most definitely know. They just aren't going to be willing to talk to a foreigner about it, especially someone who's there as a foreign teacher. It's not a safe move on their part, nor would it do you any good. Especially in places like Zhengzhou where the influence from Beijing is going to be stronger.
It was introduced to me by some Americans as a weird religion that did organ harvesting
Wow that's wrong. Even for the unfounded accusations that's wrong. It's the FG people that accuse China of live organ harvesting on FG practitioners.
Anyway, historiography:
As to how something like this would be analysed, you really only have the records to go on. You can look at the leaders past claims, as people do with Scientology elsewhere, and see how things match up. If you happen to have a quote of one of them saying it's a scam, then there you go. Otherwise you have to look at the various records and rulings surrounding the events, which is going to be impossible at this point if you're not a fluent reader of Mandarin, and you're also not going to have access to the things that would really matter, such as internal communications within the government or within FG.
Otherwise you're just looking at the Qigong movement in the past 70 years, comparing the FG leader's relationship to that, looking at their actions, looking at the state's actions and so on. It's all about comparison of events and connecting the dots.
I couldn't help joining in. I am a history / world religion major in North America. My wife is From Wuhan China. Your question's starting point is based in the desire to uphold the integrity of truth which is very commendable. I empathize with your plight because, with this issue, it is very difficult to find unbiased reports, or even know in your heart the truth of what actually happened, so as to base your result.
I have followed this issue for many years. My investigations started in 1999 so I have at hand referenced reports and news pieces from international media, China experts and human rights groups that were not yet banned in China and were able to investigate the issue for a few years before the Chinese regime's media blockage. In the interest of space I am leaving out all references but they are available if desired:
It is interesting to note that the independent investigations back then had a different view of the situation where the crackdown on Falun Gong seemed to echo campaigns from history where world dictators targeted mass groups of people resulting in atrocities, rather than the victim group being the one at fault.
According to an April 26, 1999, New York Times report Falun Gong had over 70 – 100 million people practicing it (based on Chinese government records) making it the single most popular approach to health and spirit at any one time in China’s history. Due to its health benefits it brought to the people, Falun Gong reaped the praise of various official bodies, including the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Health.
Reports suggest that in 1999 the Chinese communist party (CCP), specifically past leader Jiang Zemin started an illegal and violent persecution against Falun Gong because of his political insecurity and Falun Gong’s mass popularity. Falun Gong was a better target than other popular Qigong practices because it was not controlled by the regime where every religion and spiritual practice in China must be governed and controlled by the CCP or it is banned a “heretical organization” and it is persecuted.
As you have read, for the past 16 years researchers, western media, the United Nation and almost every human right organization has documented terrible atrocities happening to Falun Gong in China including over 65000 being potentially murdered for their organs to fuel a state-sponsored multi-million dollar organ harvesting campaign where state hospitals and the military are involved.
Amnesty International is one of many organizations that has rebutted the labels by the CCP against Falun Gong. in 2000 they stated: “The government banned Falun Gong on 22 July 1999 and launched a massive propaganda campaign to denounce its practice… the impartiality of the government's information is questionable. Furthermore, the information published by the government leaves many essential questions unanswered.”
One of the most powerful weapons used in every genocide campaign in our history from Hitler’s elimination of the Jews in WW2 to the slaughter of the Tutsis in Rwanda, and central to the persecution of Falun Gong has been propaganda campaigns of enormous proportions. Propaganda, like calling Faun Gong an “evil cult,” or "anti-China" is used to vilify those who practice Falun Gong The aim is to have everyone think controversial thoughts about Falun Gong so that they will turn their backs on the persecution and allow the attack to continue unabated because they are influenced to believe that “these Falun Gong people deserve what is happening to them.”
I then found a report about a Senior Chinese Embassy official named Mr. Chen Yonglin who was stationed at the Chinese Embassy in Australia and defected from the Chinese communist party in 2006. He stated, “The Chinese Communist Party has always relied on violence, lies, and advocating atheism to maintain its power. They could not understand Falun Gong practitioners’ peaceful efforts to protect their freedom of belief. Now they feel they cannot let international community know about what has been done to Falun Gong in China.”
From my investigations it is now very hard to find any independent information as the media blockage campaign is still in full force and the influence of propaganda from both sides have permeated the world. Therefore, I would focus some of my attention on reports from before and just after the persecution started in 1999 where everything was still free to access and not permeated by either side.
As historians our mission is to get the facts right so I feel it is important to open our own eyes first. Otherwise we may do an injustice to the issue that will have lasting effects. This is why I admire your question to this list and felt compelled to reply.