Falun Gong

5 9.1

A spiritual movement from China that teaches meditation and moral ideas from Buddhism and Taoism

proper noun

: Falun Gong

Many followers of Falun Gong practice meditation and gentle exercises daily.

Examples

Many people have found peace and purpose through Falun Gong meditation practices.
Falun Gong teachings emphasize truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
The Chinese government has faced international criticism for its treatment of Falun Gong practitioners.
Many people practice Falun Gong for its health benefits.
Is Falun Gong popular outside of China?
In the late 1990s, Falun Gong gained popularity in China as a method of spiritual and physical wellness.
She attended meetings to learn more about Falun Gong and its teachings on compassion and truthfulness.

Surface Forms

Falun Gong main

Morphology

falun + Gong

Falun Gong is a proper name for a specific spiritual movement and its overall meaning (a movement combining Buddhist/Taoist elements and meditation) is not compositionally derivable from the given constituents. ‘Falun’ is a culture-specific religious emblem and ‘Gong’ is undefined here, so even a learner who knows the parts would not reliably infer the full sense, making it idiomatic/opaque in this usage.

Etymology

Falun Gong comes from two Chinese words: Falun meaning 'wheel' and Gong meaning 'practice'. The image of a 'wheel' together with regular 'practice' helps explain why it is a spiritual movement focused on meditation and teachings about right and wrong today.