Zhong Gong

In the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, relocated to a remote area in Sichuan, where he restructured his organization within a network of private enterprises under the Qilin Group. This allowed his followers to continue practicing and studying within an organized framework. During the early 1990s, Zhong Gong became the most popular of the various qigong schools. Its commercial activities were incorporated in China as the Unicorn Group (麒麟集团), a collectively ownership enterprise. In Mainland China, it had numerous operations, branches, and staff. There were six subordinate divisions, including Qigong training, healthy living, travel, education, medical. Political scientist Patricia M. Thornton at the University of Oxford lists Zhong Gong as an example of a cybersect, due to the group's reliance on the internet for text distribution, recruitment and information-sharing among adherents. == Beliefs and teachings ==

Palmer, citing Ji Yi, said Zhang developed a style of Qigong which was based on automation, physics, relativity, bionics, and with distinctive use of mechanical engineering jargon, and founded Zhong Gong in 1987, launching it on the auspicious date of 8 August 1987. ==Qilin culture==

'Qilin Culture' philosophy was developed by Zhang Hongbao, the master of Zhong Gong, and proclaimed during public lectures in Beijing. According to a well-known account by Ji Yi, a journalist and enthusiastic qigong practitioner himself, "the qilin combines in a single body the essence of different species of living beings: the dragon's head, the pig's nose, the serpent's scales, the deer's body, the tiger's back, the bear's thighs, the ox's hooves and the lion's tail." ==Organizational techniques==

Zhang Hongbao established two organizations that laid the foundation for what eventually became a highly structured network of interrelated enterprises, powered by a Qigong practice, as noted by Patricia Thornton. More than any other Qigong system, Zhong Gong developed a systematic training program with eight progressive levels, providing practitioners with a clear and structured path for advancement. Unlike other Qigong schools, which focused primarily on sitting meditation, movement practices, and inner alchemy, Zhong Gong’s approach emphasized the acquisition of specific skills through targeted workshops. Each workshop was designed to ensure that participants could fully grasp and apply a new skill within a few days of training. Zhong Gong attracted a large and dedicated following across China, elaborating a highly organized structure that led Chinese Communist Party authorities to suspect it may turn into an opposing political force. this system was designed to be applicable to various aspects of life, including family, business, and governance. It aimed to integrate and harmonize key aspects of human social development, drawing insights from different historical models, including primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, and communist society. ==Ban in China==

The 12th session of the NPC Standing Committee passed a resolution allowing the government to take action against groups classified as "heretic cults." However, Zhong Gong has been much more low key than Falun Gong, and the government crackdown on it is almost unknown in China. Palmer describes how Zhong Gong effectively ceased to exist once the organisation was no longer able to provide material and social benefits to its followers. As a sign of Zhang's acumen, Thornton notes that when the Beijing daily reported that his Beijing-based International Qigong Service Enterprise had been shut down pending an investigation into possible criminal activities, Zhang hired the team of lawyers who had defended Mao's widow during the Gang of Four trial, and managed to gain a public apology from the paper. A five-year string of unsuccessful legal actions against the government followed, during which Zhang managed to elude arrest. After Zhong Gong was officially declared illegal, the organization’s assets and those of its 3,000 affiliated entities within the Unicorn Group were confiscated, and 600 key figures were detained. When an arrest warrant was issued for Zhang, he fled to the United States, where he applied for political asylum. While his request was not granted, he received Protective Resident Status on June 13, 2001. Zhang died in a motor accident on July 31, 2006, at the age of 52. While Zhong Gong’s public presence faded after his death, the movement remains active in China today, operating in secrecy due to ongoing repression by the Chinese government. ==References==