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ITEM NO=00558869
ENVELOPE
CDSN = LGX5T9 MCN = 90316/03240 TOR = 903160522
RTTUZYUW RUEKJCS3831 3160523-UUUU--RUEALGX.
ZNR UUUUU
HEADER /---,w4rN
R 120523Z NOV
FM JOINT S WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEALGX/SAFE
R 120303Z NOV 90
FM FBIS HONG KONG
TO AIG 4581
RUEHBF/AMEMBASSY BEIJING
RUHHHMA/CDRWESTCOM FT SHAFTER
RUMJBP/FBIS, OKINAWA JA
ACCT FBHK-EWDK
BT
CONTROLS
UNCLAS 1Q
SERIAL: HK1211030390
HI//APIN-IN//
BODY
COUNTRY: PRC
SUBJ: RETURN OF SECRET SECTS-ALARMS SICHUAN AUTHORITIES
SOURCE: HONG KONG SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST IN ENGLISH 12 NOV 90 P 21
TEXT:
//((BY JOHN KOHUT))
((TEXT)) THEIR WORLD IS FULL OF GHOSTS AND DEVILS. THEY RAPE,
AND THEY SWINDLE. BUT IN THE MIST-COVERED HILLS OF SICHUAN,
INHABITED BY SIMPLE TOWN FOLK AND SEMI-LITERATE PEASANTS, THE YIGUAN
DAOIS SEDUCTIVE PROMISE OF A NEW MILLENNIUM HAS WON IT FOLLOWERS,
AS WELL AS A POWERFUL ENEMY.
"THEY WANT TO BE KINGS111 SAID LIANG CHANGFEI, MAYOR OF NEIJIANG,
WHERE POLICE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CRACK DOWN ON THE YIGUAN DAO, OR
"WAY OF BASIC UNITY SOCIETY," A SECRET SECT WHOSE PHILOSOPHIES
CONTAIN ELEMENTS OF TAOISM AND BUDDHISM.
AFTER TH&COMMUNISTS CAME TO POWER IN 1949, THEY STRUCK WITHOUT
MERCY AT SECRET'SECTS LIKE THE YIGUAN DAO, WHICH, DESPITE ITS
PHILOSOPHICAL PRETENTIONS, WAS PRIMARILY A NETWORK- OF THUGS THAT
TYRANNISED PEASANTS AND WORKERS IN CHINA'S UNGOVERNABLE-CITIES
BEFORE LIBERATION.
IN THE NORTHERN PORT CITY OF TIANJUIN, FOR EXAMPLE-f SOME 4,000
YIGUAN DAO LEADERS WERE ROUNDED UP IN 1950. BY THE END OF THE
CAMPAIGN AGAINST SECRET SECTS IN 1951, MORE THAN A QUARTER-MILLIOR
PEOPLE IN THAT CITY ALONE HAD ADMITTED, AND THEN DUTIFULLY
RENOUNCED9 THEIR AFFILIATION WITH THE YIGUAN DAO.
THE SECT WAS SILENCED, UNTIL THE 1980S., YEARS OF RELATIVE
POLITICAL RELAXATION WHEN-FIVE RELIGION$-r-BUDDHISM, TAOISM, ISLAM,
UNCLASSIFIED
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CATHOLICISM AMU-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 CHONGO.ING.
"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@11 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 It
"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 WHICIt 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 CHINAfS ADULT
POPULATION WAS STILL ILLITERATE DURING-THE 1980S. THE PROBLEM OF
ILLITERACY..IS MOST ACUTE AMONGPEASANTS. SICHUAN, CHINA'S MOST
UNCLASSIFIED
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POPULOUS PROVINCE, HAS A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF FARMERS THAN ANY OTHER
PART OF CHINA-82 PER CENT OF THE PROVINCEtS 107 MILLION PEOPLE.
THE YIGUAN DAOIS 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 XIAOPINGIS 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 NEIJIANG, FOR INSTANCE, A
c 6 V E R N MEN. T I _0F F E R'S 111@@K
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CALLED A "PSYCHOLOGICAL RHYTHMIC SLIDE RULE" TO CALCULATE, BASED ON
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-IT- MAY LOOK L IKE
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TO COME UNDER.POLICE SCRUTINY: THE DEVICE,IS.,0ANUF D_,BY THE
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PEOPLE@',,$
_,.__L.IBERATj
SG11 TE-NDALL) 12 NOV IE 2/0507Z NOV
BT
#3831
UNCLASSIFIED
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