Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, arose in China during the early 1990s, at a time when qigong practices were flourishing and being rediscovered. Its origin is closely tied to this broader qigong boom, in which traditional Chinese methods of cultivating body and mind were being revived and reinterpreted. Within that environment, Falun Gong emerged not simply as another health regimen, but as a distinct spiritual discipline that wove together physical practice and moral cultivation. This setting provided fertile soil for a teaching that sought to address both the energetic and ethical dimensions of human life.

The practice was first introduced publicly in 1992, when Li Hongzhi began teaching it in Changchun, in northeastern China. From the outset, Falun Gong was presented as a system that combined elements from Buddhist and Daoist traditions with qigong exercises, under the name Falun Dafa or Falun Gong. Li Hongzhi traveled to different parts of China offering seminars and lectures, through which the teachings and exercises spread rapidly. Word-of-mouth transmission and the support of existing qigong associations helped the practice move from local gatherings to a nationwide presence.

At the heart of Falun Gong’s formation is the fusion of meditative exercises with a clearly articulated moral philosophy. The practice centers on five sets of physical exercises, but these are framed as secondary to inner cultivation based on three core principles: Truthfulness (Zhen), Compassion (Shan), and Forbearance (Ren). Over time, these principles came to define the movement’s self-understanding, marking it as a path of character refinement rather than mere technique. In this way, Falun Gong’s origin can be seen as an attempt to restore a sense of spiritual seriousness to the popular qigong culture of its day.

The codification of the teachings further solidified Falun Gong’s identity as a spiritual movement. Li Hongzhi’s lectures and writings systematized the practice and its worldview, giving practitioners a shared doctrinal foundation alongside the common exercise forms. As the teachings circulated and practice sites multiplied, Falun Gong gradually took on the contours of a modern spiritual movement, distinct from both conventional religion and purely therapeutic qigong. Its origin, therefore, lies not only in a particular time and place, but also in a conscious effort to unite traditional Chinese spiritual currents with a renewed emphasis on moral transformation.