Together with the organisation's president Li Jianqiu (李建秋), they set up their establishment of the federation in Beijing as the philanthropic branch of the Chinese salvationist religion Guiyidao (皈依道), the "Way of the Return to the One".

It had an explicit internationalist focus, extending relief efforts to Tokyo after earthquakes and also in response to natural disasters in the Soviet Union.

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

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

Although it seems to have been suppressed during the Maoist rule in mainland China, the Red Swastika Society continues today as a religious organisation focused on charity.