Hongzhi

It was first taught to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in May 1992 in Changchun in northern China.

As the practice began proliferating outside China, Li Hongzhi was beginning to receive recognition in the United States and elsewhere in the western world.

Benjamin Penny, "The Religion of Falun Gong," p 213. Traditional Chinese cultural thought and modernity are two focuses of Li Hongzhi's teachings.

Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi has lived in the United States since 1996, and Falun Gong has a sizable global constituency.

Li Hongzhi began teaching Falun Gong internationally in March 1995.

Li Hongzhi does not discuss a "time of reckoning", and has rejected predictions of an impending apocalypse in his teachings.

Li Hongzhi's teachings are principally spread through the Internet.

Spiritual authority is vested exclusively in the teachings of founder Li Hongzhi.

The practice's founder, Li Hongzhi, was largely absent from the country during the period of rising tensions with the government.