Giving up everything to seek justice for Falun Dafa and Master
After the 20th of July, 1999, we could no longer study the Fa (universal teaching, the teachings in Falun Dafa) or practise the Falun Dafa exercises in public because of the persecution, but we continued with group Fa-study at our home. In late August, two practitioners from Hubei Province came to our home and shared their understandings that we should regard Dafa (Great Law) as our top priority and we should step forward to validate Dafa. We agreed and thought, "Since such grave injustice was inflicted upon Master, we should go to Beijing to restore Master's reputation."
On September 5th, our entire family set off for Beijing with some money and a change of clothes. In order to minimise the attention we might attract, my husband took our son and I took our daughter, and we went to Beijing separately. I was arrested soon after I arrived at Tiananmen Square, and was held in a basement with a practitioner from Tangshan City. "I have to get out because I have to validate the Fa," I thought to myself. As soon as the police officer that was watching us stopped paying attention, I walked out. I saw people guarding each floor, but they were either chatting or joking with one another when I walked past them, and none of them noticed me.
When I was walking towards the revolving front door, I came face to face with a police officer who interrogated me earlier. I thought to myself, "He can't see me." Indeed, he acted as if he didn't see me as he walked right past me. When I had left, I heard people behind me shouting, "One escaped, one escaped." I didn't look back and used all my strength to run. I felt as if my feet were off the ground, and that although I was using all my strength to run fast, I felt as if I was only jogging slowly. Still, the police simply couldn't catch up with me. I waved down a taxicab and went to Beijing's South Railway Station. This escape once again manifested the miraculous power of Dafa, making me feel more determined in my belief in Master and in Dafa.
At dawn, I went back to Tiananmen Square and I thought of my husband and my two children. Almost immediately, I spotted my son standing in the square and smiling at me. In my heart I thanked Master for his arrangements. In the evening when we returned to our temporary residence, we saw a group of police guarding the front entrance. From then on, during the day, our family went to Tiananmen Square to share understandings with other practitioners, and at night we slept at a hotel.
Later the local police department put us on the "wanted by police" list and posted our photos at many hotels. Each passing day brought news about practitioners' homes being ransacked. To be safe, we bought several tents and went to Jiulong Mountain. We lived on the mountain for 58 days. During the day, we still went to Tiananmen Square to talk to other practitioners, and at night we brought practitioners who had no place to stay back to the mountain. Some practitioners didn't have much money, and some were forced to eat leftover food from restaurants. The weather was getting colder, and practitioners who left home early were wearing thin clothes, and some slept on the streets at night. We gave almost all of the money we brought to fellow practitioners. We heard that 100 yuan (the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China) was passed from one practitioner to another and to another, as they didn't want to spend the money on themselves. Many practitioners made tremendous sacrifices.
One day, I met four practitioners from Tangshan City. They climbed over three walls in the Tangshan City Detention Centre to escape. They had nothing but the thin clothes they wore. They had no money, so they begged for food as they walked to Beijing. When I saw them, their shoes were completely worn out and their feet were covered in blood and blisters. They were covered in dirt, and were cold and hungry. We embraced and cried, and we felt like long-parted family reuniting. I immediately bought soft-soled shoes and two sets of underwear for them, gave each of them 300 yuan and took them to a place where they could take a shower. Then I took them to the mountain so they could rest and study the Fa.
Dozens of Dafa practitioners were living at the mountain by this time. Life was hard at the mountain, because it took more than two hours to climb up and down to the campsite, so it was very difficult for us to obtain food and water. We ate instant noodles with cold water, and when our food became mouldy, we dried it in the sun and then ate it. Water was scarce, and we saved most of it for the elderly practitioners and the children. Each practitioner used less than half a cup of water to brush their teeth. A pickled rutabaga would be shared by us all, one bite each. When it rained, life became even more difficult, and we had to sleep on the wet and muddy ground, but none of us minded as we took joy in our tribulation. We shared our experiences and understandings, and we went to Tiananmen Square together to validate Dafa. Later, officers from the city police department came to the mountain and arrested dozens of practitioners. My son was nowhere to be seen and I didn't know his whereabouts.
On October 28th, when we heard the slanderous government propaganda on the radio our hearts were heavy. The next day we went to Tiananmen Square and didn't take anything with us. We were very calm and serene and we felt no fear. I said to Master in my heart, "Master, here I am!" Against the howling wind, we walked to the centre of the square and started to do Falun Gong exercises. Soon, the police came and took us to Qianmen Police Station. We were taken back to our hometown by the officers from the local police department on the same day.
I won't write a Guarantee Statement, and I will leave
At the police department, they interrogated and videotaped my husband and me, saying we were the "key people" in our province. When I was separated from my husband, I held his hand and said, "No matter what happens, we must persevere to the end. Don't forget the title of your experience-sharing article, 'Master saved me, and I will always practise Dafa'. No matter what happens, we'll both persevere to the end." He held my hand tightly and said, "Don't worry." Soon, I heard that my husband was illegally sentenced to three years of forced labour.
At the detention centre, when the police interrogated me, I didn't say anything. I knew that I would never betray fellow practitioners. Then they asked me to write a Guarantee Statement, and I said, "I won't write it even if you shoot me with a gun." When I saw that other practitioners gave in and wrote Guarantee Statements to gain release, I felt extremely sad for them, so I told them not to write the statements. Because of this, the division head slapped me on the face and reported to the head of the detention centre, saying I was interfering with others writing Guarantee Statements.
One day, my son sent me some things, in which I found a slip of paper with the words, "Mom, I miss you." I couldn't hold back my tears when I read it. I put the paper in my pocket and looked at it whenever I missed my son. A few days later, I received a letter from my relatives asking me to write a Guarantee Statement in exchange for my release. I immediately realised that there was something wrong. I was thinking like an ordinary person, and the evil tried to destroy my will by taking advantage of my attachment to family. I remembered Master's words:
"Disciples! As for disciples practising cultivation at home, they will gradually, thoroughly abandon attachments to the secular world. But for disciples who are monks or nuns, this is a prerequisite that they must meet from the very beginning, as well as a requirement for becoming a monk or nun." ("Principles for Disciples Who Are Monks and Nuns," Essentials for Further Advancement)
I had left home, and now I must give up attachments. After I realised this, my family stopped asking me to write the statement. I had only one thought on my mind, "I have done nothing wrong. I will not write a Guarantee Statement, and I will get out."
About fifty days later, people from the street administration office picked me up and held me for another three days. I protested and asked to be released. I told them I would hold a hunger strike if they refused to release me. They were afraid of taking responsibility so they brought in a pre-written Guarantee Statement and asked me to sign it, so that they could hand it to their superiors. I said, "If I do that, you will have completed your assignment but I will have failed as a disciple. If I sign my name I'd be insulting Dafa and myself." They went to my mother-in-law and asked her for 3,000 yuan. I said to her, "Mom, I didn't do anything wrong, they are the ones committing crimes by persecuting me. Why should we give them money? Don't give them a penny, and I will not write any statement. I will get out!" They couldn't get anything from me, so they released me three days later.
I'm a Falun Dafa practitioner, I should not be sent to a forced labour camp
Just after the Spring Festival of 2000, I realised that I should openly practise the exercises outside. Once again, I was arrested and sent to the detention centre for practising the exercises in the park. In the following months, there were so called sensitive days, such as the National People's Congress, "April 25" and "May 13," etc. Consequently, I spent most of the days of those months in the detention centre. Each time after I was released, I went to the park to do the exercises and was again arrested. Many other practitioners were also arrested and sent to detention centres during that period of time. Later, we started a hunger strike to protest such persecution. At that time, although I was already sentenced to forced labour, because of the hunger strike, I was released.
Just before "July 20," a practitioner gave me a leaflet that was produced by Falun Gong practitioners to let people know the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. I thought that it was very good and decided to make more copes for people to read. Along with two fellow practitioners who knew the technique, I bought a PC and a printer. We then set up our first material production site. We were beginners and had no experience at all. It was in the middle of the summer heat and we were wearing short pants and T-shirts while working and our clothes were soaked with sweat. Overcoming many difficulties, we produced several thousand copies of materials. During that period of time, there were always people in front of my house watching me, and they followed me if I went out. However, with the help of Master, I was always able to elude them. Once, one of them asked me, "How come you always disappear when you walk out of your home? Where have you been?" I said, "It is my freedom to go wherever I want to go. You have no right to interfere."
On July 20th, the police were afraid we would go to Beijing, so they set up check points at every road crossing. But they still failed to catch us. In fact, on that day, practitioners distributed a lot of materials in the city. These were the first materials in the area and people found them very refreshing. Many practitioners distributed the materials publicly, clarifying the truth about the persecution with people face to face.
On August 9th, Master published the article "Rationality." Master said,
"Some students suggest that the best practise of cultivation is to get placed into a detention centre or a labour camp, or get sentenced to jail in order to validate the Fa. Students, it is not so. Stepping forward to validate the Fa using many different approaches is a magnificent act, but this absolutely does not mean that you have to be arrested by the evil. ... Getting arrested is not the purpose. Validating Dafa is what's truly magnificent, and it is to validate Dafa that you step forward.... Don't voluntarily let the evil take you away." (Essential for Further Advancement II)
I immediately absorbed Master's words and enlightened to a new principle. Validating Falun Dafa did not mean being arrested. In the past, before I went out to validate Dafa each time, I had the thought that I might be arrested. It seemed to have become a notion. I even wore two sets of underwear to prepare for a stay in the detention centre. Master's article "Rationality" helped me understand a lot of principles, and I realised many of my shortcomings.
On October 1st, two Falun Gong practitioners and I made a three-meter long banner. We opened it at Tiananmen Square and called out loudly, "Falun Dafa is good." We were sent back and detained at a detention centre. I commenced a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention. On the twelfth day of my hunger strike, they wanted to send me to Kaiping Forced Labour Camp in Tangshan City, and asked me to sign the paper work. I refused. They told me they wanted to send me to the forced labour camp as early as July 20th. I said, "What makes you think I should be sent to the forced labour camp? Which law did I violate? I'm a Falun Dafa practitioner. I should not be sent to the labour camp. I didn't violate the law. You are the ones who are violating the law while executing the law."
At the labour camp, when they learnt that I had been on a hunger strike for twelve days, they sent me to the labour camp hospital for a routine check-up. In the hospital, I spoke to the doctors, telling them the true facts about Falun Gong. I told them about the improvement I experienced both physically and mentally after practising Falun Gong and the dramatic changes in my husband after he took up the practise. I told them why I was so steadfast even though my husband had already been sent to a labour camp. When I finished talking, the doctor put a big cross above my name on the form and firmly rejected me from being accepted into the labour camp. The police who sent me there got so worried that they even went to buy two packages of cigarettes to bribe the doctor. I sternly pointed to them and said, "You want to further persecute me through a bribe. As long as I can get out alive, I will expose all of you." As it so happened, no matter how much they begged, the labour camp still refused to accept me.
On the way back from the labour camp, the police officers stopped at a large restaurant to eat. They even ordered a warm drink for me and said the cold drink was not good for me since I was on a hunger strike. I refused the drink. While they were eating, I sat cross-legged on a chair and started speak to the waitresses in the lobby about Falun Gong (there were not many guests there since it was an off-peak time for restaurants). The two policemen didn't care what I was doing. They even asked me to drink some water to moisten my throat. After the meal, they decided to send me back to the detention centre again. However, the head of the detention centre firmly refused to accept me. They had to send me back home.
On New Year's Day 2001, five or six of us practitioners who worked at the Falun Dafa materials production site decided to go and peacefully appeal for a stop to the persecution against Falun Dafa again in Beijing. Some were worried that the work might be affected, but I said, "No problem. We will be back after we validate Dafa." By then, practitioners were more mature. At the beginning, practitioners were just arrested and endured the sufferings passively. Later, practitioners refused to cooperate with the evils by refusing to give out their names and addresses, and using hunger strikes to protest the illegal detentions. Therefore, I said, "As long as we hold hunger strikes and refuse to give out our names and addresses, we will be back in several days." Just as we expected, except one practitioner who was detained for a month, most of us came back within a week. Our work on the materials production site was not interrupted.
At Tiananmen Square, I kept calling out "Falun Dafa is good." while casting the materials to the crowd. The police kicked and beat me while pulling me to the police van. Not long after, the van was filled with arrested practitioners. I was at the back of the van. When the van started to move, I opened the banner that I had brought with me but didn't have a chance to use against the van windows. People at the square were so surprised to see the eye-catching banner with "Falun Dafa is good" on the moving police van. The police on the ground were worried, and they chased the van and tried to call the police in the van. When practitioners in the van saw what I was doing, they immediately formed a human wall to shield me. Therefore, the police in the van didn't know what happened until they were informed by the police in the square. They stopped the van and several police raised their rubber clubs and frenziedly beat everyone, including old people and kids, on their way to rush to me. They grabbed the banner from me and viciously beat me with the rubber clubs. When I turned around I saw each fellow practitioner was beaten to the point that their noses and mouths were bleeding and they had bruises all over their faces. One older lady was beaten so badly that her face became swollen and she couldn't even open her eyes. At that time, I felt our fellow practitioners were so great. They protected Dafa with their lives.
More than 100 practitioners were sent to the Dongcheng District Detention Centre. Getting out of the van, I saw police lined up in two lines. One of the officers carried many rubber clubs wrapped in a military coat, and dropped them on the ground. He claimed, "Whoever refuses to give their names will be beaten to death. The higher authorities have already said that death from beating will be regarded as suicide."
After that, they started taking photos and fingerprints, and interrogating Falun Dafa practitioners. I refused to cooperate at all, for which I was brutally beaten. At that time, the persecutors were very rampant, especially in the Dongcheng District of Beijing. You would have to give up the attachment to life and death when not cooperating with any requests or orders. At that time, I thought that since Dafa gave me life, I would give it back to Dafa. I'm ready to risk everything and I will refuse to cooperate with any of their demands.
When I refused to have my photo taken, a female police raised the rubber club to beat me on my head. Immediately, four swollen bumps as big as a fist emerged on my head. Finally we were all sent to cells. Practitioners in each cell all recited "Hongyin" - a collection of Master's poems and "Lunyu" (preface of the book Zhuan Falun) loudly. The evil guards were so angry that they picked up one practitioner from each cell whom they thought was the head, and stripped our outer clothes, removed our shoes, and put us in a very cold cell. We continued reciting Master's teachings. They punished us by forcing us to stand still. We then practised the standing Falun Dafa exercises. One fellow practitioner lost consciousness and was carried out. At that time, I thought I should not stay there and should be released as soon as possible. I pretended to faint, and was carried out. When they checked me, I seemed to not have any blood pressure and pulse, so I was put into a room to have an infusion. I felt extremely nauseous and vomited all over the bed. They told me that if I told them my name and address, they would release me. I said, "I demand to be released without any conditions. We are not wrong to practise Falun Dafa. It is a personal belief. It is you that violate the law. It's Jiang Zemin that violates the law." On the fourth day of my hunger strike, I was released.
(To be continued)
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