In October 2004, renowned collector Ms Dai Meiling and her son Tony Dai, President of the Chinese Culture and Art Association in Australia, brought to New York original paintings by several dozen famous Chinese artists of the 19th and 20th century, which their family has collected. These paintings are priceless. They were acquired through the great efforts of several generations of the family. The exhibition is open to the public and free of charge. Exhibited paintings included Qi Baishi's unrivalled works, "Single Horse" by Xu Beihong, well-known painter Zhang Daqian's works, Daoguang Emperor's calligraphies and Empress Dowager Cixi's paintings. The exhibition was held in the Waldorf Astoria and was open to the public from 9:30 am to 9: 30 pm from October 21st to 24th.
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| Ribbon-cutting opening ceremony |
Why would the Dai family exhibit its large and precious collection free of charge? Why are they willing to exhibit those original works without the protection of glass covers and controlled temperatures? Ms Dai said that one of their wishes was to get support from all kind-hearted people to rescue Ms Qi Bingshu, the granddaughter of the great artist, Qi Baishi. At the same time, she would like to call for an immediate end to the persecution of Falun Gong and restore the reputation of Falun Gong in China.
Calling for the rescue of Ms Qi Bingshu
Ms Qi Bingshu, almost 70 years old, is the granddaughter of the renowned painter, Qi Baishi. She herself is also one of the outstanding artists who were influenced by the "Qi style" of painting. But because she practises Falun Gong, she has been subjected to persecution by the Jiang faction, and her whereabouts are still unclear at present.
Prior to her practise of Falun Gong, Ms Qi suffered from various kinds of illnesses. She often bled heavily and her face was as white as paper. She had to lie on her bed and was unable to move. After she practised Falun Gong, all of her illnesses miraculously disappeared. She looked as if she were in her 40s.
When some officials in the government began denigrating Falun Gong, Ms Qi Bingshu hoped to use her own experience to help more people to learn the truth about Falun Gong, from which she had greatly benefited. On April 25th, 1999, Ms. Qi Bingshu, though in her 60s, stood in the first row of the people who peacefully appealed to the government. Without eating or drinking anything, she stood there for a whole day and did not sit down even when asked to.
Ms Qi Bingshu continued to explain the facts about Falun Gong to people and she is steadfast in her practise. Since July 20th, 1999, the Jiang faction started using all the state-run propaganda machinery, including TV, radio, newspapers and various documents to defame Falun Gong and its founder Mr Li Hongzhi. They also utilised the entire judicial system, including the legislature and law enforcement agencies, to apply the policy of "guilt by association" in order to systematically persecute practitioners and involve the entire society in the persecution. Since July 20th, 1999, a Cultural-Revolution-like suppression of Falun Gong has swept the entire country.
Shortly after the persecution started, just because Ms Qi firmly persisted in her belief of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance", local police and people from the Daliushu Psychiatric Hospital in Dabeiyao Town, Chaoyang District, Beijing conspired with her brother to forcibly lock her up in the hospital. Doctors there said that she suffered from "schizophrenia due to qigong" and forcefully gave her injections and various drugs. They also claimed that "she would not be released until her belief in Falun Gong was gone". The more than one year of persecution in the psychiatric hospital made Ms Qi lose her ability to paint. Her hair turned grey and her hands were shaking. A year later, during the year 2000 and 2001, she was sent to the Third Brigade of Beijing Xin'an Forced Labor Camp and was continually subjected to persecution. Her health was severely damaged.
It was reported that the Beijing Xin'an Forced Labor Camp concealed the facts. When a foreign journalist interviewed the labour camp, the guards hid all the senior citizens and steadfast Falun Gong practitioners. They employed deceptive methods to deceive people inside and outside China.
Ms Dai's story
Ms Dai, dressed in her red cheong-sam and black amice, gently told her stories to the honoured guests at the opening ceremony.
Ms Dai is in her 60s this year, yet she is brimming with energy and vitality. She spoke clearly and powerfully and looked very elegant. One could not imagine that she was on the verge of death seven years ago. Ms Dai immigrated to Australia a long time ago. In May 1995, she suddenly suffered from a very rarely seen auto-immune disease. She had to lie on her bed day and night. Ms. Dai and her family members visited many famous medical doctors and looked into all kinds of folk medicines. She also practised Taichi. But Ms. Dai was still on the verge of death. In just several months, she had to call an ambulance three times. The first time, she recovered her consciousness after she was injected with a strong drug. The third time, the doctors from the hospital told her son Tony Dai to prepare for her funeral.
Perhaps it is really true that "Heaven helps good and virtuous people". When Ms Dai was hospitalised, someone introduced Falun Gong to her and gave her a copy of book Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong. Lying on the bed, Ms. Dai started reading Zhuan Falun. After reading several dozen pages, Ms Dai was pleasantly surprised to find that she was able to stand up and she felt better. Since then, studying the teachings and practising the exercises of Falun Gong has become a part of Ms Dai and her son's life. Ms Dai felt better and better, and she obtained real rejuvenation and good health.
In July 1999, Jiang's faction started the brutal oppression of Falun Gong. Ms Dai felt very upset about it. Falun Gong gave her a second life but in Mainland China, Falun Gong and its founder, Mr Li Hongzhi were unjustly defamed and simonized. For this reason, Ms Dai and her son Tony went back to China several times to peacefully appeal for Falun Gong. Unfortunately, they were imprisoned and then repatriated. During their detention, Ms Dai and Tony were interrogated for a long period of time. They were also threatened.
Ms Dai hopes that more people could be as fortunate as her and benefit from knowing about the Falun Gong and practising it. When she learned that the nearly-70-year-old artist Ms Qi Bingshu, granddaughter of Qi Baishi, was subjected to mental torture for practising Falun Gong, she felt even sadder. Therefore, Ms Dai and her son decided to tour the world and exhibit her family's priceless collection of original artworks of famous Chinese artists, hoping to give people from different countries the opportunity to learn about the real Chinese culture and spirit, and share her personal experiences with more people, so as to call upon kind-hearted people throughout the world to learn about Falun Gong and help stop the ongoing persecution in China.
Response from society
Numerous guests attended the opening ceremony, as a constant flow of people came to visit the four-day exhibition. On the first day, some people were already waiting before the exhibition began. On the guest book, people left words such as: "It is marvellous;" "We really appreciate Ms. Dai for her selfless contribution and hope for more such opportunities in the future..."
After viewing the exhibition, a mother and daughter who came from Mainland China to visit New York had the following conversation. The daughter said to her mother, "Mom, please also practise Falun Gong!"
A western gentleman sighed after viewing the exhibit, "These paintings are so great! Ms Dai's story is so touching!"
A 75-year-old history professor expressed that he would also like to practise Falun Gong after he listened to Ms Dai's story. He said that he was getting aged and he felt pain all over his body.
Ms Dai and her son felt very happy upon seeing the success of their exhibition. They expressed that they would like to hold an even larger exhibition that would include their entire collection so as to share with people from all walks of life those original works of the famous artists and their spirit. They hope to help more people learn the essence of Chinese traditional culture and the miraculous effects of Falun Gong, and at the same time call for the rescue of Ms Qi Bingshu and an end to the unreasonable persecution of Falun Gong.
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| Visitors viewing the paintings |
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