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POWER OF THE WHEEL: The Falun Gong Revolution. By Ian Adams, Riley Adams and Rocco Galati. Toronto, New York: Stoddart Publishing Company. 2000. xviii, 158 pp. (BMW photos.) US$32.95, cloth. ISBNO-77373270-5.
Falun Gong, which refers to a type of qigong created by Li Hongzhi has been openly condemned and banned from the PRC since 1999. Judging by the continuing protests of its practitioners within and without China, however, the iron-fisted policy against Falun Gong has yielded little result other than pointing to the deficiencies of China's human-rights situation. The Falun Gong phenomenon is therefore not only a religious problem but also involves political and social issues, and Power of the Wheel is a welcome effort to address these concerns.
The main body of the book is divided into four chapters. The first, and the most intriguing, chapter, "The Rise of Falun Gong," pieces together a biography of Li Hongzhi. To explain Li's initial success, which came immediately...