Lifechanyuan International Family Society

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  • Community Living, Commune, Taoism
HeadquartersVancouver, British Columbia
Membership
Approximately 150 members worldwide
Key people
Xuefeng (founder)Websitehttp://www.smcyinternationalfamily.org

Lifechanyuan International Family Society (Chinese: 生命禅院; pinyin: Shēngmìng chányuàn (listenⓘ); lit. 'Life Zen Temple') was a community founded in April 2009 by Xuefeng in Yunnan province, China. From 2009 to 2016, it had been called “the Second Home”.

Between 2016 and 2021 the organization was forcibly disbanded by the Chinese government, which has since declared the group an illegal cult. Xuefeng claims moved to Canada and set up a new community.

History

Xuefeng was born Zhang Zifan in Dongxiang, Guizhou province, the son of a local cadre. In 1995 he was sent to Zimbabwe by the Gansu Geology and Mineral Resources Bureau. After living and doing business there for some years, he claimed to have a near-death experience in which he was reborn with the same spirit that had run through other key figures in world religion. He took the name Xuefeng and started Lifechanyuan in 2005.[1] [2]

In 2009 Xuefeng up a commune in China's southwestern Yunnan Province, a "rural communal utopia".[2] The commune claimed to have about 150 members, to share property in common, and to reject marriage, with couples sleeping separately.[3][4] The commune was blockaded by police in 2014 and eventually broken up.[5] Further raids occurred in Guizhou in 2021.[2] As of July 2021 Lifechanyuan is classed as an illegal cult in China.[1]

Xuefeng fled to Canada, and those who could not follow him may be in hiding in China. There are also followers in Thailand.[2] In 2017 the organization claimed to be building a new community in Canada.[6] As of 2024 the organization claims to invite new members who are "under 58 years old, and wish to become immortal."[7]

Doctrine

Lifechanyuan claims to integrate thought from Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, and other sources.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Anonymous (2024-04-29). "自称上帝使者，鼓吹性爱自由……"生命禅院"非法组织被依法取缔！_新闻中心_中国网 (Claiming to be a messenger of God and advocating freedom of sex... the illegal organization "Shengmin Chanyuan" was banned according to law!)". web.archive.org (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  2. ^ a b c d Introvigne, Massimo (2022-01-01). "Religión, "sectas" y control social en la China de Xi Jinping" [Religion, "sects" and social control in Xi Jinping's China]. Revista Internacional de Estudios Asiáticos [International Journal of Asian Studies] (in Spanish). 1 (1). University of Costa Rica. doi:10.15517/riea.v1i1.49606. Archived from the original on 2024-04-29. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  3. ^ "Communism Is the Goal at a Commune, but Chinese Officials Are Not Impressed - The New York Times". web.archive.org. 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  4. ^ Sigley, Gary (2016-02-09). Asian Highland Perspectives 40: Research Articles, Folklore Collections, Reviews. Asian Highlands Perspectives. pp. 240–41.
  5. ^ Levin, Dan (2023-03-24). "Communism Is the Goal at a Commune, but Chinese Officials Are Not Impressed - The New York Times". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  6. ^ "Let Us Unite as One – Lifechanyuan International Family Society". 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  7. ^ EIN Presswire (2024-04-15). "Lifechanyuan Canada's New Home Awaits Residents". FOX8 WGHP. Retrieved 2024-04-29.