BEIJING, Jul 21, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) A year after China outlawed the spiritual Falungong movement, its followers remain staunchly faithful to their beliefs and to the movement's founder Li Hongzhi.

"It's the basic reason for living," said a 29-year-old Falungong adherent surnamed Zhang days before the anniversary of the ban Saturday.

"Even if they put me in prison, they can't control my heart."

Zhang, who lost her job, nearly broke up with her husband and soured relations with her mother for refusing to detach from Falungong, said she was not afraid to sacrifice more.

"I found the answers to the meaning of life through Falungong. Now I'm not materialistic and I've learned to be kinder," Zhang said.

"I didn't even get upset when my husband's relative took an apartment meant for us. I just thanked her for helping me strengthen my character."

Ten thousand followers have been sent to labor camps, another 450 sentenced to prison and 24 died in police custody since the Chinese government banned the group on July 22, 1999, according to a Hong Kong-based human rights group.

But that does not discourage followers from continuing to defy the Chinese government by protesting in Tiananmen Square, practicing the group's meditations secretly at home and distributing group founder Li's essays via the Internet.

A year after the ban, followers continue to flock to Beijing to protest, with an estimated 100 protestors detained in the capital daily.

And the New York-based founder, Li, despite not having made any public appearances since shortly after the ban, still wields tremendous influence via the Internet, to the chagrin of the Chinese government.

"His influence is definitely very strong. There are more protests after he issues new essays on the website," said Frank Lu, who runs a Hong Kong-based group, which monitors human rights violations in China.

Lu said more protest broke out after an essay put out by Li on June 16.

In it, Li indirectly praised followers who defended Falungong and were punished by Chinese authorities. He called the crackdown against Falungong a test for his followers to see if they could reach the ultimate goal -- immortality.

He warned some people's "fundamental attachments" were keeping them from making similar sacrifices.

Without saying specifically they should go out and protest, he made it clear he frowned on inaction.

"Despite the situation in which a large number of disciples who are genuine followers are suffering severe hardships, the time of conclusion has been repeatedly postponed so as to wait for those people to recognize their own fundamental attachments," Li wrote.

"Disciples are waiting to reach consummation, and I can wait no more."

Li's essays have led many followers to believe things will reach a climax or conclusion this year, Lu said.

They believe in supernatural powers -- emanating from the "wheel of law" -- and out-of-body experiences.

Followers say mastery of Li's teachings enables them to become completely selfless and to reach a nirvana-like state in which they would no longer face life as mortals.

They do not question Li's teachings, even his theory that French prophet Nostradamus predicted the crackdown centuries ago.

They do not question a superimposed picture of Li on a mountain scene with the caption on the website: "Master Li quietly watching practitioners and people in the world amidst the mountains after leaving New York last July."

"To us, Teacher Li is like a God," said one Beijing practitioner.

The Chinese government says the group is a cult, and blames the deaths of 1,400 people on Li. It says he fooled people into believing they could cure illnesses by practicing his teachings, without seeking medical attention.

A year after the crackdown helped Falungong rise from anonymity to international attention, Li's influence and the group's inner workings remain mysterious to even veteran human rights activists trying to tell the world about the abuses inflicted on believers.

"The more I come in contact with them, I realize their beliefs are unusual. I ask them what's the use of going out there if they're arrested, they say getting arrested is like paying a tribute to the movement," Lu said.

The government, shocked by a 10,000-strong protest by the group in April 1999, considers Falungong the biggest threat to political and social stability since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations. It has ruthlessly tried to suppress the group.

"We may not necessarily agree with what Li Hongzhi says, but we can't ignore so many human rights abuses against his followers that it's comparable to what happened during the Cultural Revolution," Lu said.