Chen Tao
A group that gave up everything to await the upcoming apocalypse, only to discover that they were wrong
1993 - present
Chen Tao was founded in Taiwan by Chen Hong-min in 1993, mixing beliefs from Christian, Buddhist, and New Age traditions. Hong-min developed pseudo-scientific ideas about the universe's origins and predicted the return of Jesus Christ in 1999. Due to the recent mass suicide of the Heaven's Gate community, Chen Tao received a lot of media coverage, with many falsely assuming that they would also commit mass suicide. As has been the case with many other cults, Chen Tao's predicted date of the apocalypse also passed without the prophecies coming true. As a result, Hong-min admitted that he was mistaken and offered to be executed for misleading his followers. After this, the group essentially disbanded, although a few followers have persisted today.
Religion: Christianity; New Age; Buddhism
Denomination: Syncretism
Founder: Chen Hong-min
Founded: 1993 in Pei-pu, Taiwan
Location: Garland, Texas, US; San Dimas, California, US
Size: 30-150
Also called: True Way; Soul Light Resurgence Association; God’s Salvation Church; God Saves the Earth Flying Saucer Foundation; God and Buddha Salvation Foundation; The Chinese Association of Light of Soul Grand True Way (schism)
Members moved to California in 1995, then to Texas in 1997, to await the end times (source)
Predicted the group would get taken up by a giant spaceship in 1999 (source)
Leader Chen Hong-min wrote a book predicting catastrophic events during the 1990s, such as an attack from China, a war between North and South Korea, and a "Noah's Ark" flood. He predicted only 20% of the world would survive these tribulations (source)
Chen admitted he was wrong when his prediction failed (source)
Leader Hong-min said "he would allow anyone to crucify or stone him to death for the next ten minutes in an attempt to reclaim his religious credibility" and offered "to accept the death penalty in the event of a failed prophecy" on a separate occasion (source)