• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • ABOUT CHINA
    • NEWS
    • TESTIMONIES
    • OP-EDS
    • FEATURED
    • GLOSSARY
    • CHINA PERSECUTION MAP
  • FROM THE WORLD
    • NEWS GLOBAL
    • TESTIMONIES GLOBAL
    • OP-EDS GLOBAL
    • FEATURED GLOBAL
  • INTERVIEWS
  • DOCUMENTS AND TRANSLATIONS
    • DOCUMENTS
    • THE TAI JI MEN CASE
    • TRANSLATIONS
    • EVENTS
  • ABOUT
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • TOPICS

Bitter Winter

A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

three friends of winter
Home / Tai Ji Men

Education By and About Tai Ji Men

02/20/2023Karolina Maria Hess |

Tai Ji Men plays a crucial role in educating the world to peace, love, and conscience. It is time to educate the world about the injustice vested on it.

by Karolina Maria Hess*

*Introduction to the webinar “Educating Human Rights Activists to Understand the Tai Ji Men Case,” co-organized by CESNUR and Human Rights Without Frontiers on January 28, 2023, after the International Day of Education (January 24).

Tai Ji Men founder, dr. Hong Tao-Tze speaking in Washington DC at the International Religious Freedom Summit 2023.
Dr. Hong Tao-Tze speaking in Washington DC at the International Religious Freedom Summit 2023.

January 24 was the International Day of Education. The United Nations added this one to their international days of observance in 2018, and the first International Day of Education was celebrated on January 24, 2019.

There are two important reasons why this seminar of our series about Tai Ji Men is connected with the International Day of Education. The first reason is to reflect on the important role of Tai Ji Men as a global community devoted to peace and conscience education. Almost all United Nations documents on peace emphasize that there can be no peace without peace education. Particularly in these days and months, we are all aware that in our world there is no peace. Can this be because peace education failed? There is much talk about peace everywhere, but many perceive the discourse on peace as empty and lacking foundation.

Tai Ji Men and its Shifu (Grand Master), Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, reminds us constantly that peace is connected with love and conscience. Love is another word that is used too often, and the idea of connecting it with peace may be received with skepticism by many. However, Tai Ji Men constantly mentions together love and conscience as the basis for world peace. Love without conscience may indeed be an empty world. Love with conscience is a demanding concept. It excludes selfishness, arrogance, and manipulation of others. And it can create true peace.

As a consequence, Dr. Hong teaches, peace education should be based on conscience education. During a virtual event for the International Day of Education 2022, Dr. Hong explained that, “The core value of education lies in inspiring people’s conscience and self-awareness, thereby shaping individuals and the landscape of future society. The most important education for everyone from birth to death is conscience education.”

He added that, “Conscience is a constant reminder for people to restore their true hearts, do the right thing, and make wise decisions. Everyone is an important educator of conscience. Everyone should respect, tolerate, understand, forgive, appreciate, learn from, and care for one another. Each kind thought and each good deed can have a critical influence on global citizens’ well-being.”

Tai Ji Men performers at the International Religious Freedom Summit 2023.
Tai Ji Men performers at the International Religious Freedom Summit 2023.

The second reason why it is appropriate to held one of our events in connection with the International Day of Education is the Tai Ji Men case. The title of our webinar is “Educating Human Rights Activists to Understand the Tai Ji Men Case.” This requires some explanation, as dozens of these seminars have ready been organized, and many in the international human rights and freedom of religion or belief community are now aware of the Tai Ji Men case. However, more is needed, as evidenced by the fact that the Tai Ji Men case has not been solved yet.

An international movement was created in the last few years that took the Tai Ji Men case to international media, magazines, scholarly journals, academic conferences, and the United Nations themselves. One positive effect of this movement is that hundreds of international scholars and human rights activists now know about Tai Ji Men and its teachings about peace, love, and conscience. It is not an exaggeration to say that a true community has been created, with a new awareness of the relationship between conscience, justice, and peace, and even new friendships.

Tai Ji Men protests in Taipei.
Tai Ji Men protests in Taipei.

However, we need to reach more politicians and opinion leaders—certainly in Taiwan, but internationally as well, as perhaps only an internationalization of the case may offer hopes to solve it. We need to elaborate a simple, clear, and persuasive discourse, explaining what the Tai Ji Men case is all about. And we certainly need to involve even more scholars, activists, journalists, friends through the world.

In the process, we will educate ourselves even more to conscience and justice. And let us hope we will educate others, and move towards a solution of a case that has not been solved in more than 26 years.

Tagged With: Tai Ji Men, Taiwan

Karolina Maria Hess
Karolina Maria Hess

Karolina Maria Hess is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilizations, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. She holds PhD in Philosophy and works on her PhD in Sociology. She specializes in New Religious Movements and Western Esotericism in Central and Eastern Europe.

Related articles

  • Mobilizing the Media for the Tai Ji Men Case

    Mobilizing the Media for the Tai Ji Men Case

  • Spirituality, World Peace, and Tai Ji Men: The Long Road of Transcultural Dialogue

    Spirituality, World Peace, and Tai Ji Men: The Long Road of Transcultural Dialogue

  • Tax Reform Volunteer Walks Around Taiwan for Love and Justice

    Tax Reform Volunteer Walks Around Taiwan for Love and Justice

  • The Power of the Media and the Tai Ji Men Case

    The Power of the Media and the Tai Ji Men Case

Keep Reading

  • Peace for Tai Ji Men Means Peace for All Taiwan
    Peace for Tai Ji Men Means Peace for All Taiwan

    Peace is the most important expression of human sociality, and always goes hand in hand with justice. Peace in Taiwan needs a solution of the Tai Ji Men case.

  • Tai Ji Men—and Their Case—Go to Australia
    Tai Ji Men—and Their Case—Go to Australia

    Three academic events offered the opportunity to present the Tai Ji Men case to numerous Australian and international scholars. Young Tai Ji Men dizi (disciples) also offered beautiful performances. 

  • “War and Peace” and the Tai Ji Men Case
    “War and Peace” and the Tai Ji Men Case

    Falsified by Stalin and now Putin, Tolstoy’s thought was that war is senseless but injustice remains intolerable and should be resisted through non-violent means.

  • Machiavelli, Diplomacy, and Tai Ji Men
    Machiavelli, Diplomacy, and Tai Ji Men

    A diplomacy without conscience may achieve short-term results, but normally fails in the long run. A citizen diplomacy with conscience is needed to solve the Tai Ji Men case.

Primary Sidebar

Support Bitter Winter

Learn More

Follow us

Newsletter

Most Read

  • Chinese Muslims Told Mosques Should Preach Communism Too by Ma Wenyan
  • Hebei: Friends Pray in Your Home, the CCP Cuts Off Your Water and Electricity by Lai Mingxia
  • China’s “Query System for Islamic, Catholic, and Christian Clergy,” Another Tool for Repression by He Yuyan
  • Christian Students Asked to Study 20th Congress and Celebrate “Heroes” Who Betrayed the Church by Zhang Chunhua
  • Russia: Two Evangelical Pastors Prosecuted, Falsely Accused of Raising Money for the Ukrainian Army by Massimo Introvigne
  • Filipino Catholic Priest Arrested for Slandering Unrecognized Marian Apparitions by Massimo Introvigne
  • Pakistan, Young Christian Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy by Massimo Introvigne

CHINA PERSECUTION MAP -SEARCH NEWS BY REGION

clickable geographical map of china, with regions

Footer

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

MASSIMO INTROVIGNE

Director-in-Charge

MARCO RESPINTI

ADDRESS

CESNUR

Via Confienza 19,

10121 Turin, Italy,

Phone: 39-011-541950

E-MAIL

We welcome submission of unpublished contributions, news, and photographs. Each submission implies the authorization for us to edit and publish texts and photographs. We reserve the right to decide which submissions are suitable for publication. Please, write to INFO@BITTERWINTER.ORG Thank you.

Newsletter

LINKS

orlir-logo hrwf-logo cesnur-logo

Copyright © 2023 · Bitter Winter · PRIVACY POLICY· COOKIE POLICY