Buddhism

Although Buddhism originated from India, it dominated a role in Chinese culture in many aspects. One main idea that is popular among Chinese culture is "Samsara" or "cycle rebirth". People believe that one does not enter afterlife after death; instead, one is either reborn in to society as a different form (animal or insect) or goes to hell or "heaven". This idea is similar to Zhuang Zi's reaction to his wife's death, arguing that death is a form of transformation. In Buddhism, a person's rebirth in to a certain form is determined by a person's "karma". This means that if a person was uncorrupted and acted kindly, there is a higher chance that one will reborn in to a more pleasant state such as an "asura" (demi-god).

The idea of "Samsara" became popular among Chinese society. In hopes for borning in to a better state, it is common among society to believe that if one acts kindly, he/she will born in to a better life. Following this trend, people felt that part of the process is to present incense and participate in buddhist rituals. The intentions that people practices these rituals is because they are asking the buddhas for something in return (good fortune, good health, protection). Though society may believe that they are following, or at least trying to follow the ways of buddhism, their mind set and intentions are contradictory to buddhism.

The reason that people practices certain ways of buddhism is because of the "Samsara". Through acts of kindness, people are hoping for positive deeds in return, specifically, a better life. However, buddhism emphasizes the idea of giving and treating everyone equally and not asking for anything in return (no-self). The common reason among Chinese society practices and follows buddhism is because people want good "karma" and a good "after life". Furthermore, the common belief is contradictory to buddhism since the religion never stated that whether or not a person will be reborn in to society (on Earth) with a better or worse life. In fact, the highest virtue of buddhism is to free one from "Samsara" and enter "Nirvana".

Religious Daoism

Though Religious Daosim had similar ideals and "way" as Philosophical Daoism, there were practices in Religious Daoism that loosely separates the two. One idea is Religious Daoism believes one can achieve "immortality" (xian), a even more perfected version of the "perfected person" (zhen ren). The idea of reaching the state of immortality gave Daoism the religious aspect as it is similar to reaching a god-like state for humans. 

To achieve immortality, one must harmonize with the Dao by practicing breathing exercises that cultivate "qi" within oneself and develop the "inner alchemy". Religious Daoism believed that these pseudo-science practices bring spiritual and physical health to one. Furthermore, cultivating the "inner alchemy" involved other practices such as not eating spicy food, fasting, nurturing the male essence, and more.

Through reading and understanding these Religious Daoist practices, I have realized why these practices have vanished in modern Chinese society today. Since, Religious Daoist practices were never proven scientifically, it certainly has a magical aspect to them. Hence, the Communist Party of China (CPC) saw them as a threat to society, though Daoism is a legal religion in China today. Considering the fact that China has a long history of traditions and people are generally superstitious about past traditions, imagine if the majority of Chinese society began to cultivate "qi" and believing that this could lead to immortality, what could possibly happen in society? It is important to understand that this is valid point of view since it is common among Chinese society to buy into certain practices or religion because it could potentially provide spiritual and health benefits. Furthermore, because these practices are not scientifically backed, the CPC will certainly view these practices can lead to insanity and psychological disorder among society. Hence, it is logical for the CPC to control and ban these activities. Therefore, this could bring out some similarities between Fa Lun Gong and certain Religious Daoist practices to the CPC.

On the other hand, one could also see that the CPC was in fear that these non-scientifical practices could lead to mass gatherings and people following the certain self-claimed Daoist leaders. This is detrimental to the CPC's power over society; hence, CPC initiated mass movements of banning these practices.