Approved For ReleasTO$$®f£'?CIA-RDP96-00792R000200370004-2
PAGE: 0044
CATHOLICISM AND
- PROTESTANTISM—WERE GIVEN A CHANCE TO REVIVE, ALBEIT
UNDER STRICT GOVERNMENT CONTROL.
THOUGH BRANDED BY THE COMMUNIST PARTY AS A SUPERSTITIOUS RATHER
THAN A RELIGIOUS GROUP,
THE YIGUAN DAO NEVERTHELESS HAS RE-EMERGED
LIKE A GHOST FROM THE PAST TO HAUNT CHINES OFFICIALS.
AN OFFICIAL SURVEY AT THE END OF LAST YEAR FOUND THAT 90 PER CENT
OF CHINA'S 800 MILLION PEASANTS WERE SUPERSTITIOUS AND 60 PER CENT
OF THEM ENGAGED
IN SUPERSTITIOUS PRACTICES.
THEY YIGUAN DAO HAS CLEARLY CAPITALISED ON THE NAIVETY OF RURAL
AND EVEN CITY PEOPLE
IN SICHUAN, THOUGH IT
IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ESTIMATE
HOW MANY FOLLOWERS
IT HAS GAINED.
ONE OFFICIAL REPORT SAID THE ACTIVITIES OF THE YIGUAN DAO AND
OTHER SECRET SOCIETIES
IN SICHUAN OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS HAVE BEEN
"EXTENSIVE," COVERING WIDE AREAS WITH MANY PEOPLE INVOLVED.
THE
YIGUAN DAO HAS PENETRATED EVEN THE BIG,
RELATIVELY SOPHISTICATED
SICHUAN CITIES OF CHENGDU AND CHONGQING.
"THEY (YIGUAN DAO) HAVE ENROLLED MANY FOLLOWERS AND SET UP
"WORSHIPPING HALLS," HELD SERVICES OF WORSHIP AND GATHERING,
AND
SPREAD THE RUMOUR THAT
IN ANOTHER DECADE OR TWO,
THE TIMES OF THE
TAO WILL COME... A SAINT WILL EMERGE,
WHO
IS NONE OTHER THAN AN
EMPEROR," ACCORDING TO THE SAME REPORT.
SOME OF THEIR SECRET MEETINGS HAVE GATHERED CROWDS OF MORE THAN
100,
IT NOTED.
ALL OF THIS HAS ALARMED LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
IN NOVEMBER LAST
YEAR,
AFTER
10 MONTHS OF INVESTIGATIONS,
POLICE UNCOVERED THREE
SECRET SECTS,
ARRESTING SIX OF THEIR CHIEFTAINS, TWO OF THEM FROM
THE YIGUAN DAO.
NEIJIANG OFFICIAL KANG XIANWEN SAID THE YIGUAN DAO RING HAS NOW
BEEN BROKEN, THOUGH SOME OF ITS LEADERS ARE STILL AT LARGE.
NEITHER KANG NOR MAYOR LIANG, WHOSE AUTHORITY EXTENDS BEYOND THE
GREY INDUSTRIAL CITY OF NEIJIANG INTO SURROUNDING RURAL COUNTIES AND
DISTRICTS COVERING A TOTAL AREA
12 TIMES THE SIZE OF HONG KONG,
WOULD REVEAL WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO THE SIX ARRESTED LEADERS, SAYING
THAT WAS A MATTER FOR THE POLICE.
BUT KANG CITED THE OFFICIAL
POLICY:
"WE EXECUTE THE ONES THAT SHOULD BE EXECUTED,
AND JAIL THE
ONES THAT SHOULD BE JAILED.
WE DON'T" HE WAS CAREFUL TO NOTE,
"EXECUTE EVERYONE."
"OUR COUNTRY'S LAWS PROTECT LEGAL RELIGIONS,
BUT THE YIGUAN DAO
IS A POLITICAL ORGANISATION," SAID MAYOR LIANG.
"IT'S FEUDAL,
SUPERSTITIOUS PHENOMENON AND A COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANISATION.
THEY OPPOSE SOCIALISM, THE PARTY AND THE FOUR CARDINAL PRINCIPLES
(THE TENETS OF MODERN-DAY CHINESE SOCIALISM)."
MOREOVER,
ACCORDING TO MAYOR LIANG,
THE YIGUAN DAO HAS CHEATED
PEOPLE OUT OF MONEY BY,
AMONG OTHER THINGS,
SELLING MIXTURES OF
ASHES AND MUD AS MAGIC POTIONS TO CURE DISEASES.
HOLDING PEOPLE
AGAINST THEIR WILL AND RAPING WOMEN ARE TWO CRIMES OF WHICH THE
YIGUAN DAO HAS BEEN ACCUSED.
WHY THE YIGUAN DAO AND OTHER SECTS HAVE MADE A COMEBACK,
AND WHY
IN SICHUAN, HAS TO DO IN PART WITH THE "LOW CULTURAL LEVEL OF MANY
PEASANTS AND CITY DWELLERS," ACCORDING TO MAYOR LIANG.
BY OFFICIAL STATISTICS,
ABOUT 23 PER CENT OF CHINA'S ADULT
POPULATION WAS STILL ILLITERATE DURINCL THE
1980S.
THE PROBLEM OF
ILLITERACY IS MOST ACUTE AMONG PEASANTS.
SICHUAN,
CHINA'S MOST
UNCLASSIFIED
Approved For Release 2003/09/09
: CIA-RDP96-00792R000200370004-2
Approved For Releasffl(^§i^¥
:PciA-RDP96-00792R000200370004-2
PAGE: 0045
POPULOUS PROVINCE,
HAS
A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF FARMERS THAN ANY OTHER
PART OF CHINA—82 PER CENT OF THE PROVINCE'S
107 MILLION PEOPLE.
THE YIGUAN DAO'S RETURN- FROM THE PAST
IS ALSO DOUBTLESSLY LINKED
TO THE DISILLUSIONMENT WITH SOCIALISM THAT HAS SPREAD ACROSS CHINA,
NOT ONLY AMONG THE YOUTH AND INTELLECTUALS WHO HAVE CLAMOURED FOR
MORE POLITICAL FREEDOM, BUT ALSO AMONG THOSE
IN REMOTE,
IMPOVERISHED
AREAS OF THE COUNTRY WHO FEEL THAT HAVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND AS OTHERS
PROSPERED UNDER DENG XIAOPING'S ECONOMIC REFORMS.
MANY HAVE TURNED TO THE OFFICIALLY-RECOGNISED RELIGIONS,
YET
SOMETIMES THE LINES BETWEEN- RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION BLUR.
AT THE SHENGSHUI BUDDHIST TEMPLE
IN NEI JIANG,
FOR INSTANCE,
A
MASTER OT~QIGONGV A^MYSTICAL TRADITIONAL" ART APPROVED BY THE
GOVERNMENT^ OFFERSOACK CURE WITIJQUT AS MUCH AS TOUCHING HIS
patient".
“ 'iSSTBAU', 'ThI "doctor makes the patient stamp with his. exes
CLOSED, FEET TOGETHEIT, AM*AI^_STRETCHED_5UT
IT ALL SEEMS XIKE MAGIC AS HE MAKES INCANTATIONS AND BLOWS AND
WHISTLES,
THUS TRANSMITTING HIS "QI."
THE DOCTOR HAS ORDERED THREE
LOCAL cmCtttS" TO 'STllKCt^3^tt03i, AS US .PATIENT .
THEL
OFFICIALS t WHO HAVE TAKEN NOTE OF THE DOCTOR'S PHOTO OF VETERAN
CHINESE LEADER, BO Yipp^EING., TREATED IN mONGNANHAI BY
A QIGONG
MASTER, COWCy WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A WHIMPER.
ON THE STREETS OF THE PROVINCIAL CAPITAL,
CHENGDU, DO-IT-YOURSELF
FQRTUNE-TELLING IS ON SALE.
FOR INSTANCE . ONE CAN BUf WHAT“l3“
CALLED A "PSYCHOLOGICAL RHYTHMIC SLIDE RULE" TO"CAL(^ATE,
BASED ON
ONE ' S BIRTHDATE . AUSPICIOUS AND INAUSPICIOUS DAYS. Tf MAY LOOK LIKE
SUPERSTITION,
BUT THE "RHYTHMIC SLIDE RULE" BUSINESS IS NOT LIKELY
TO
COME UNDER. POLICE SCRUTINY:
THE DEVICE
IS MANUFACTURED BY THE
people's..liberation.abiy.
—~~
ADMIN
SGI
I
rENDALL)
12 NOV
IE/I
I2/0507Z NOV
BT
#3831
NNNN
UNCLASSIFIED
Approved For Release 2003/09/09
: CIA-RDP96-00792R000200370004-2