Academic Papers

Transitional Justice and Religious Liberty in Taiwan

11/29/2021TSAI CHENG-AN A+ | A- The road to rectifying past injustices in the ROC has proved bumpy. The Tai Ji Men case will be a significant test. by Tsai Cheng-An* *A paper presented at the mid-term conference of the Research Committee on Sociology of Religion (RC-22) of the International Sociological Association, Vilnius, Lithuania, November 11–14, 2021.  The Universal Declaration … Read more

Women, Spirituality, and the Tai Ji Men Case

12/02/2021MASSIMO INTROVIGNE A+ | A- The phenomenon of the gender gap in religion, i.e. that more women than men are “spiritual,” is unfortunately known also to persecutors. by Massimo Introvigne* *A paper presented at the webinar “Women, Spirituality, and the Tai Ji Men Protests,” co-organized by CESNUR and Human Rights Without Frontiers on November 23, 2021, in … Read more

Tai Ji Men and the Tai Ji Men Case: Politics vs. Spiritual Minorities

11/27/2021CHEN YI-JING A+ | A- A background of Tai Ji Men’s origins, action, and mission, and a discussion of the Tai Ji Men case as a FORB problem. by Yi-Jing Chen* *A paper presented at the mid-term conference of the Research Committee on Sociology of Religion (RC-22) of the International Sociological Association, Vilnius, Lithuania, November 11–14, 2021. Tai Ji … Read more

Justice Denied: The Tai Ji Men Case in Taiwan – Book in Free Download

There is only one truth, no gray area

A dramatic story of persecution, arrest, detention, and ultimate legal victory—and further administrative persecution by misusing the tax system. The new White Paper by CESNUR and Human Rights Without Frontiers tells the story of the Tai Ji Men case in Taiwan as it is. Watch also the movie “A Question of Justice: The Tai Ji … Read more

Tai Ji Men spiritual school: 24 years of persecution (1996-2020) – Part II: The arbitrary arrest and detention of Tai Ji Men Master Hong Tao-tze

source: HRWF

By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers

HRWF (30.09.2020) – In late August 2020, Taiwan’s National Taxation Bureau (NTB) arbitrarily seized and auctioned properties that belonged to Dr Hong, the founder and spiritual leader of the Tai Ji Men movement and Academy in Taipei. Tai Ji Men is an organization of qigong, martial arts, and self-cultivation. The abrupt intervention of the NTB was allegedly due to a tax bill dating back to 1992, despite this bill having been successfully contested by the Academy through courts.

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TAIWAN: Tai Ji Men spiritual school: 24 years of persecution (1996-2020) – Part I: The 1996 crackdown

source: HRWF

By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers

HRWF (30.09.2020) – In late August 2020, Taiwan’s National Taxation Bureau (NTB) arbitrarily seized and auctioned properties that belonged to Dr Hong, the founder and spiritual leader of the Tai Ji Men movement and Academy in Taipei. Tai Ji Men is an organization of qigong, martial arts, and self-cultivation. The abrupt intervention of the NTB was allegedly due to a tax bill dating back to 1992, despite this bill having been successfully contested by the Academy through courts.

This latest move of the NTB fits a pattern of prejudice against Tai Ji Men and its spiritual master and is likely retaliation for other tax cases concerning Tai Ji Men that the NTB lost.

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Academic Papers | Abrogating the Rule of Law: The Tai Ji Men Tax Case in Taiwan

By Kenneth A. Jacobsen, Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, USA

ABSTRACT: Tai Ji Men, a spiritual school in Taiwan that teaches Qigong based on ancient Taoist traditions, was one of the movements targeted in a local crackdown against “cults” in 1996. Although the school and its founder, Dr. Hong Tao-tze, were eventually declared innocent of all charges, as a byproduct of these events a tax case has continued for the next twenty-four years. The highest jurisdictions in Taiwan concluded that there had been no tax evasion. However, Taiwan’s National Taxation Bureau has maintained its (illegal) tax bill for one year, 1992, and based on this, in 2020, has seized and auctioned properties of Dr Hong. The article surveys the main political and legal institutions in Taiwan and the Tai Ji Men case, concluding that what happened is a serious blow to Taiwan’s image as a Constitutional democracy.

Click to read the full paper: Abrogating the Rule of Law: The Tai Ji Men Tax Case in Taiwan

Academic Papers | Tai Ji Men Report

By Dr. Massimo Introvigne, Founder and the managing director of the Center for
Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), Italy

The Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy is a spiritual menpai (a notion similar to a
“school”) founded in Taiwan by Dr. Hong Tao-Tze in 1966, which teaches Qi
Gong, based on the ancient philosophy of Daoism, and spiritual cultivation. Tai Ji
Men prefers to be called a “spiritual” rather than a “religious” organization. It does
not try to convert believers of other faiths to Daoism, and in fact its members come
from all faiths. It is a menpai, a school of Qi Gong, martial arts, philosophy of yin
and yang, and self-cultivation.

Click to read the full paper: Tai Ji Men Report