(Clearwisdom Database resource)
[Note: we are still in the process of collecting, sorting and perfecting the materials that reflect the journey of Falun Dafa. Readers, please make sure to download the most recent edition when citing facts from our website. Many events have taken place since the early preparation stage of Falun Dafa's public introduction. Under the current circumstances, the editors have collected and compiled the following facts to allow people to search for information. We welcome additional feedback from Dafa practitioners around the world to further complete and correct the chronicle.]
During the seven years from May 1992 to July 1999, the number of Falun Gong practitioners reached 70 to 100 million, based on internal investigations conducted by the Ministry of Public Security. The following chronicles are positive reports about Falun Gong published before the persecution started in 1999:
June 1993: The Chinese Qigong magazine published a special report on Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi.
April, May, August 1994: Window to Art magazine published special reports on Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi in three monthly issues.
March 17, 1997: Dalian Daily, a local Chinese newspaper, published an article titled "The Elderly Good Samaritan Makes Contribution Quietly." The news article described how an elderly man, Sheng Lijian, built a road that was over 1,100 meters long for his village on his own after he started to practice Falun Gong.
February 21, 1998: Dalian Evening, a Chinese newspaper, published a story praising the courageous action of Yuan Hongcun, a Falun Gong practitioner at the Dalian Naval Vessels Academy. He rescued a child who had fallen under a crack in ice that was 3-meters thick in the Dalian Freedom River.
July 19, 1998: China Economy Times published an article titled, "I Can Stand Up!" This article reported a story of Xie Xiufen, a housewife from Handan City, Hebei Province, who had been paralyzed for over 16 years, but was able to walk after she started practicing Falun Gong.
August 11, 1998: Beijing Daily published an article describing Beijing citizens practicing various exercises, especially Falun Gong, in the morning. The article included a photo of practitioners practicing the Falun Gong exercises.
November 1, 1998: China Leshan Evening published a photo report saying that over 1,300 Dafa practitioners participated in a Falun Dafa experience-sharing conference in Leshan and Meishan.
November 10, 1998: China Yangcheng Evening published an article titled, "Both the Elderly and the Young Practice Falun Gong," that reported about 5,000 practitioners participating in the large-scale morning exercises. The article also told a story about Ms. Lin Chanying, a statistician at Guangzhou Leather Diwei Co. Ltd., who had been paralyzed and lost control of 70% of her body, but being able to walk again after she started practicing Falun Gong.
November 24, 1998: A Shanghai TV station broadcast two reports on Falun Gong's immense popularity in Shanghai, as well as other countries all over the world. In one of the reports, the TV station said that there were already one hundred million people practicing Falun Gong in China.
December 31, 1998: Shenxin Times devoted a whole page of the newspaper to a special report on Falun Gong. The headlines in the page included a summary of Falun Gong, "Falun Gong's Mind Body Cultivation Becomes Popular in Pengchen; 3,000 Practitioners Enjoy Practicing Falun Gong," "Falun Gong Group Practice Sites in College; College Professors and Students Want to Learn Falun Gong," "Falun Gong's Miraculous Healing Power; Many Patients Benefited from Falun Gong," etc. The stories were accompanied by seven color photos of Falun Dafa experience-sharing conferences and group practices.
