Similarly to other Xiantiandao sects, Guiyidao is focused on the worship of the universal God (Tian), which it defines as the Holiest Venerable Patriarch of the Primordial Heaven (Zhisheng Xiantian Laozu), as the source of salvation.

Guiyidao is related to the Japanese Shinto sect of Oomoto (大本 "Great Source")[2] and is a proscribed religion in the People's Republic of China, thereafter being active as an underground church.

The Red Swastika Society is the philanthropic branch of Guiyi Daoyuan founded in 1922 by Qian Nengxun (錢能訓), Du Bingyin (杜秉寅) and Li Jiabai (李佳白).

The establishment of the federation was set up in Beijing together with the organization's president Li JianChiu (李建秋) drawing on Western examples such as the Red Cross to build charitable institutions grounded in Chinese religion.

The rampage of the occupying Japanese forces through the city left thousands of bodies in the streets, and the Red Swastika stepped in to assist in burials.

Records of these activities from the Red Swastika have provided important primary resources for research into the scale of the atrocity and the location of mass graves.