"Bearing Witness To History": Two Inspiring Scenes

I would like to share with you a couple of the many touching experiences that I have had during that last few years.

Appealing to Government

One day before July 20 in the summer of 1999, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners were appealing on the sidewalk in front of a local government office in a city in Southern China. They were waiting quietly for a representative from the Appeal's Office to appear, but after two hours of waiting, what greeted them was several hundred armed police officers and over a dozen police vehicles.

The armed police officers blocked both ends of the street, preventing any pedestrians or vehicles from crossing. The officers stood in two lines, with only a few feet between them. They stood staring, with cruel expressions, at the Falun Gong practitioners. They wore steel helmets and carried electric batons. The atmosphere was very tense.

Meanwhile, in contrast to the cruel and imposing manner of the police, practitioners were standing peacefully and quietly. Younger Falun Gong practitioners were standing at the forefront of the lines, allowing the elderly, children, and women to stand behind them. Some elderly people were holding the hands of their young grand children and some women were carrying little babies on their backs. Some were reading Zhuan Falun and some were reciting poems from Hong Yin.

Suddenly the loudspeakers from the police van began shouting, "Those who are willing to leave their fellow practitioners are free to go!" One minute passed, two minutes passed, a half an hour passed, but no one left. No one including fellow practitioners that were still coming and even the spectators outside the demarcation moved a bit. It was as if time and space had been frozen. The scene was so quiet and solemn.

Practicing Falun Gong Exercises

In a summer after July 20, 1999, a 4-5 month pregnant woman from a city in Southern China went to Beijing by foot to appeal to the Central Government. In the heat of the summer, she walked across half of China's landmass, enduring much hardship on the way. After returning from Beijing, her baby was born pre-maturely. Soon after her child was born, she went out again to clarify the truth about Falun Gong by participating in a large-scale exercise event of more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners in a park.

During the second hour, as they were doing the standing exercises, the police came. They forced practitioners into their vans. But this young mother did not budge one bit; she remained in the standing stance below a big banyan tree. A dozen police officers stood around her, two of whom were trying to force her arms down. No matter how many times and how hard they tried to push down her arms, she would raise them again. The police were surprised at her determination and could do nothing but back away and stare blankly as she continued holding her arms in the standing stance position. She stood as still as a jade sculpture. Suddenly practitioners that had been thrown into the dozen police vans began shouting, "Stop arresting people! Falun Dafa is Good!" Their voices seemed to reach heaven and earth.