Presentation and personal testimony of the Taijimen incident.
Tiffany Fang*
*Paper presented at the 2024 Conference of the East Asian Association for Scientific Religion, held at Reitaku University, Chiba Prefecture, July 6, 2024.
As the title of my presentation states, this is Tai Chi from an “emic perspective”. I will now talk about Tai Chi and the legal and tax litigation of Tai Chi from an insider's perspective. I am a Tai Chi dizi, or disciple, and have been practicing Tai Chi Qigong for over 33 years. Tai Chi is an ancient Qigong and martial arts tradition passed down through generations of masters and dizis (disciples). Dizis must obtain the master's approval and give a gift of respect (a red envelope) upon initiation. Once initiation is approved, the master-disciple relationship continues for life. There is a saying that “a master is always a father”. This bond is even stronger than that of a family, and the relationship between a master and a dizi is closer than that of blood relatives.
Tai Chi Men Qigong, practiced in both Taiwan and the US academies, combines movement, breathing, and the intention to strengthen the body, cultivate the spirit, help others, and promote Tai Chi Men culture. In martial arts, Qigong integrates the mind and energy, demonstrating a balance between strength and gentleness. For example, in 1999 I participated in the Seafair Torchlight Parade in Seattle, USA, where I wielded two swords. In Chinese culture, swords are considered the weapons of gentlemen.
Since we mentioned swords, I'd like to share a traditional story from thousands of years ago about Confucius and his disciple Zilu. One day, Zilu came to Confucius fully armed and, brandishing a sword, asked, “Teacher, did not the gentlemen of old use swords to defend themselves?” Confucius replied, “The gentlemen of old pursued loyalty and protected themselves with benevolence. They could understand important events far away without leaving their small homes. When they encountered malicious people, they moved them with loyalty and faith. When faced with violent invaders, they calmed them with benevolence and righteousness. Why should we use swords in this way?”
In modern times, Tai Chi Master Dr. Hong Daozi teaches that martial artists should embody benevolence and righteousness, help others, and use martial arts to defend themselves and the weak, not provoke conflict. The Chinese character “Wu” (martial arts) is made up of two characters, “to stop” and “to fight,” and symbolizes the pursuit of peace and harmony by ending conflict. Tai Chi Masters also teach that we must resolve inner conflicts that harm ourselves and others, such as greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt. Tai Chi teaches that we must cultivate our minds in order to live in peace with ourselves and others.
For 28 years, even when faced with an unresolved tax issue, Master Taiji has taught his Taiji masters to always be patient and harmonious, to overcome stubbornness with flexibility, to clear up misunderstandings with forgiveness, and to enlighten others with true love. Following his teachings, the Taiji masters have never harbored anger, but have remained calm and upheld truth and justice. The Taiji incident was in fact a clash of two moral values.
The case known as the Tai Chi Men incident began in 1996 as part of a politically motivated crackdown on religious groups that did not support the ruling Kuomintang in that year's presidential election. These groups, including Tai Chi Men, were accused of fraud and tax evasion. Hou Kuan Zhen, the prosecutor who brought the Tai Chi Men case, also launched a media campaign portraying Tai Chi Men as a “cult” that was raising funds illegally. As a result, many landowners lost their jobs, marriages and dignity.
The courts subsequently exonerated Taijimen, all the way up to the Supreme Court in 2007. The criminal charges were dismissed and the Control Yuan found prosecutor Hou Kuanzhen guilty of eight serious violations of law, listing the Taijimen case as a serious human rights violation. All of the wrongfully imprisoned defendants received state compensation for their past detention. Based on the criminal charges, and even after the Supreme Court had ruled in Taijimen's favor, the Control Yuan also found seven serious violations by the State Tax Bureau, which continued to issue baseless tax invoices.
The main issue at issue was the contents of the “red envelopes” given to masters, which dozens of martial arts and qigong groups in Taiwan have considered as tax-free gifts, but the IRS considered them taxable as tuition fees for a non-existent school.
Eventually, after lengthy litigation, the ITB reset all tax payments to zero except for 1992, arguing that a final and non-appealable judgment had been made against Taijimen for that year. Apparently, the contents of the 1992 “red envelopes” were the same as those for the other years. However, the ITB used technical arguments to maintain the 1992 tax payment. Based on that tax payment, in 2020, land in Miaoli that Taijimen considered sacred was confiscated, unsuccessfully auctioned, and eventually nationalized, sparking widespread protests by Taijimen landowners in both Taiwan and the United States.
I want to return to the part of my presentation that was intended as a personal testimony. This may seem unusual at an academic conference, but I think it will be useful to supplement the other papers. I was in high school when the Taijimen incident began in 1996. My classmates knew that I practiced Taijimen and began to criticize me. As a teenager, I could not understand why we who only practiced Qigong were being persecuted like that. My father's neurological health improved through his practice, and my mother, who had severe stomach pains and dozens of breast cysts, recovered through Qigong. Her improved health led to better work and home life, and she even started a textile business, beyond her original expectations.
Since my mother joined Taijimon, her temperament and perfectionistic personality began to change. Previously, I had to attend extra classes every day after school, learning English, piano, writing, etc. All exams had to be perfect, and if I didn't achieve that, my mother would scold me harshly. From an early age, no matter how hard I tried, I felt suffocated by my mother's high standards. Thanks to practicing Taijimon, my mother began to change. She became kinder and more open, and allowed me to make my own choices and take responsibility for myself, instead of living the life my parents decided for me. Even when it came to my career and marriage choices as an adult, my parents told me that they believed in me and that I could do well in whatever I chose. Even if I failed, they just laughed and told me it was okay. All this is thanks to the teachings of Taijimon, called the wisdom of Yin and Yang. With wisdom comes balance, and with balance comes true peace – peace with yourself and peace with others, especially your family.
Like many families during the pandemic, my family (with my children ages 4 and 6) was quarantined at home. To ease the fear of COVID-19, I used the Taiji teachings to empower and help others, producing stories and animations such as “The Battle Against the Pandemic” and “The Battle for Immunity” with my family providing the voices and collaborating with a senior brother who has animation skills. The Master of Taiji said these efforts could help many people and urged and encouraged us to complete them immediately.
These animations were shared across various online forums and also shown to around 50,000 students from Montessori schools during an online conference held in India in conjunction with an international meeting of chief justices from around the world.These are examples of seeing Tai Chi Men practice as a way to help others, not just to train oneself.
It has been more than 28 years since the Taijimen human rights persecution incident began. How many 28 years can a person have in their lifetime? I have become a mother of two children from a young girl. No matter how much time passes, martial artists do not fear persecution. We hold the sword in our hearts and believe that justice will ultimately prevail.
We also hope that the government will not abuse its public power to persecute peaceful religious groups, but will truly respect people's right to freedom of religion and cultural choice. We believe that the Taijimen incident should finally be rectified, the innocence of Master Taijimen and Dizi restored, and the illegally confiscated training grounds returned.
