Heterodox teachings (Chinese law)

Heterodox teaching (Chinese: 邪教; pinyin: xiéjiào) is a concept in the law of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its administration regarding new religious movements and their suppression. Also translated as "cults" or "evil religions", "heterodox teachings" are defined in Chinese law as organizations and religious movements that either fraudulently use religion to carry out other illegal activities, deify their leaders, spread "superstition" to confuse or deceive the public, or "disturb the social order" by harming people's lives or property. What exactly these definitions mean has been interpreted in various ways since their establishment in 1999/2000. Organizations that are found by local police forces in the PRC to be distributing heterodox teachings are targeted for disruption, and its leaders and organizers are severely prosecuted.

The current law regarding heterodox teachings was established by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) in October 1999, based in part on an earlier law from November 1995. A few months later, in April 2000, the Ministry of Public Security published its own guidance on what constituted a heterodox teaching organization, how they would be addressed, and a list and description of 14 religious organizations identified as organizations for suppression (included below). These movements were directly compared to the historical religious movements the White Lotus and the Red Lantern Sect, both widely regarded as cults.

One religious movement that has been consistently targeted is Falun Gong, defined as a "Qigong organization". The passage of the heterodox teachings laws are widely viewed as part of the overall campaign for the persecution of Falun Gong in the PRC. The persecution has drawn condemnation from governments worldwide, with 921 lawmakers and political figures signing a statement in 2020 calling it a "systematic and brutal campaign to eradicate the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong”.

Passage of law

On 30 October 1999, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed the “Decision on Banning Heretical Organizations and Preventing and Punishing Heretical Activities”, which called for a crackdown on “heretical organizations such as Qigong and other forms”, and also applied retroactively to Qigong practitioners.

On the same day, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued a joint judicial interpretation named, “Explanation on Questions Concerning the Concrete Application of Laws Handling Criminal Cases of Organizing and Making Use of Heretical Organizations”. The interpretation reads:

The offenses of establishing or using sects to organize, scheme, carry out and instigate activities of splitting China, endangering the reunification of China or subverting the country’s socialist system should be handled according to relevant laws on endangering State security offenses, as stipulated in the Criminal Law.

2000 Ministry of Public Security list

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Notice of the Ministry of Public Security on Several Issues Concerning the Identification and Banning of Cult Organizations (in Chinese)

The following 14 organizations and movements were specifically named in the 2000 list of heterodox teachings published by the Ministry of Public Security. This list articulated different organizations that the Ministry had investigated or been involved in the suppression of since at least 1983. The first seven groups on the list were organizations identified by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council, while the second group of seven organizations were identified directly by the ministry. A feature of some, but not all, of the Christian organizations on this list is that their leaders claim to be the second coming of Christ or some other kind of unique church authority.

Organizations identified by the Central Committee and the State Council

1. "The Shouters" (Chinese: 呼喊派; pinyin: hūhǎn pài), a Christian movement broadly defined as organizations founded or inspired by Witness Lee, suppressed since 1983 and classified as a heterodox teaching since 1995.
2. Mentuhui (门徒会; méntú huì), a Christian movement founded by Ji Sanbao, classified as a heterodox teaching since 1995.
3. All Ranges Church (全范围教会; quán fànwéi jiàohuì), a Christian house church organization founded by Peter Xu, classified since 1995.
4. Spirit Church (China), identified as the "Lingling Sect" (灵灵教; líng líng jiào), a Christian sect founded by Hua Xuehe, classified since 1995.
5. New Testament Church (新约教会; xīn yuē jiàohuì, founded by Hong Kong actress Mui Yee and based in Hong Kong and Taiwan, classified since 1995.
6. Guanyin Famen (观音法门; guānyīn fǎmén), also organized as Yuan Dun Famen (圆顿法门; yuán dùn fǎmén), a sect of Mahayana Buddhism founded by Ching Hai, currently organized as a cybersect, classified since 1995.
7. Zhushenjiao (主神教; zhǔshén jiào), founded by Liu Jiaguo (a former member of the Shouters and Beili Wang) in 1993, classified as a heterodox teaching since 1998.

Organizations identified by the Ministry of Public Security

Other groups recognized before 2012

In addition to the fourteen groups listed above, scholar Edward A. Irons noted an additional eight organizations identified as xiéjiào groups in various governmental lists and edicts issued before Xi Jinping succeeded Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, for a total of 22 groups. Those additional groups are:

1. The Church of Almighty God (全能神教会), also known as Eastern Lightning (东方闪电), a Christian sect founded by Zhao Weishan in 1989, identified as a heterodox teaching organization in 1995.
2. Mainland China Administrative Deacon Station (中华大陆行政执事站; zhōnghuá dàlù xíngzhèng zhíshì zhàn), a Christian sect founded in 1994 by Wang Yongmin, identified as xiéjiào in 1995.
3. Bloody Holy Spirit (血水圣灵; xuèshuǐ shènglíng), a Christian sect founded in Taiwan in 1988 by Zuo Kun, identified as xiéjiào in 1996.
4. Falun Gong (法轮功; fǎlúngōng), a qigong group founded in 1992 by Li Hongzhi, identified as xiéjiào in 1999.
5. Yuandun Famen (圆顿法门; yuán dùn fǎmén), a branch of Guanyin Famen Buddhism listed above but occasionally recognized as a separate organization, identified as xiéjiào in 1999.
6. Zhong Gong (中功; zhōng gōng), a qigong group established in 1987 by Zhang Hongbao, identified as xiéjiào in 2000.
7. South China Church (华南教会; huánán jiàohuì), a Christian sect founded in 1990 by Gong Shengliang and descended from the All Ranges Church identified above, identified as xiéjiào in 2001.
8. Pure Land Learning Association (jìng zōng xuéhuì), a Buddhist sect founded in Taiwan in 1984 by Chin Kung, identified as xiéjiào in 2011.

2017 designation of "dangerous organizations"

On September 18 2017, a new government xiéjiào website listed a total of 20 groups (all of the 22 groups listed above, but with the notable exceptions of Zhong Gong and the Pure Land Learning Association, whose omission is the cause of some speculation), eleven of whom were identified as "dangerous", as opposed to the nine groups receiving the lesser warning to "be on guard" against them. These eleven groups were:

1. Falun Gong (法轮功)
2. The Church of Almighty God (全能神教会)
3. The Shouters (呼喊派)
4. Mentuhui (门徒会)
5. Unification Church (统一教)
6. Guanyin Famen (观音法门)
7. Bloody Holy Spirit (血水圣灵)
8. All Ranges Church (全范围教会)
9. Sanban Puren Pai (三班仆人派)
10. True Buddha School (灵仙真佛宗)
11. Mainland China Administrative Deacon Station (中华大陆行政执事站)

See also

• Freedom of religion in China
• Antireligious campaigns in China
• Governmental lists of cults

Further reading

• Palmer, David A. (2008). "Heretical Doctrines, Reactionary Secret Societies, Evil Cults: Labelling Heterodoxy in 20th-Century China". In Yang, Mayfair (ed.). Chinese Religiosities: Afflictions of Modernity and State Formation. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 113–34.
• Wu, Junqing (January 2, 2016). "Words and Concepts in Chinese Religious Denunciation: A Study of the Genealogy of Xiejiao". The Chinese Historical Review. 23 (1): 1–22. doi:10.1080/1547402X.2016.1168178. ISSN 1547-402X. S2CID 148536364.

External links

• "The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called 'heretical organizations'", Amnesty International, March 23 2000