Falun Dafa Gave My Husband a New Life, but then the Persecution Took it Away

I am the wife of Falun Dafa practitioner Li Jingsheng. Li Jingsheng began practising Falun Dafa at a time when his health was very poor and his life was in serious danger. Upon practising Falun Dafa his health was great, until, after suffering from relentless physical and mental torture during the persecution of Falun Gong in China, he passed away.

Li Jingsheng and his wife performing

Li Jingsheng (original name: Li Qiusheng), stage name: "Reason"

Li Jingsheng started learning the guitar in1984, and won prizes in a city level composition contest, and in an English-language singing competition. Since 1988, he taught guitar at Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, Chinese Medicine University, People's University and Beijing University.

Li Jingsheng	Guitar instruction manuals written by Li Jingsheng

1. From suffering an incurable disease to obtaining a new life upon practising Falun Dafa

Li Jingsheng was born on October 31st, 1965 in Beijing. When he was five years old, he was found to have congenital heart disease and a "ventricular septal defect," causing the vein and artery blood to mix. After exerting only a small amount of effort he would experience shortness of breath and his lips and face would turn black. Because of the high lung-artery blood pressure, surgery would have been too dangerous. He was told that people with this problem usually die in their teenage years. He was excused from all physical education classes in school, and he could never play with other kids. Jingsheng was smart and talented in music, but he could not go to college because his health problem prevented him. Later, he became a guitar player through his own arduous effort.

Li Jingsheng had a crisis of life and death when he was 19. He coughed up a lot of blood, but received medical intervention in time and was rescued.

We wed in February of 1997. In November, in Chengdu, Jingsheng coughed up a lot of blood, and was sent to the hospital. He coughed 200-300 ml of blood every day while at the hospital, and I received two "critical condition warnings" in one month. We had to have somebody carry him home when he left the hospital. During Jingsheng's recovery period in Chengdu, he had gone to some Buddhist temples and learnt some unrighteous Qigong practises, which caused him mental confusion to the extent that he almost wanted to kill himself. (Qigong refers to the cultivation of "qi" or "vital energy")

In April of 1998, we moved to Shenzhen. Shortly after that, Jingsheng started coughing up blood again. Medical experts and doctors said that the functioning of his heart and lungs was already very weak, so he could not do any labour; he could not even sing. He was ordered to stay home and rest. What the doctors implied was that all my husband could do was wait to die. Another possibility was to try to replace the heart and lungs through surgery, but the possibility of success was very small. At that time, he could hardly breathe after walking for only a few hundred feet.

One day in May, Jingsheng ran into some Falun Gong practitioners in a park and borrowed a copy of Zhuan Falun, the core text of Falun Gong teachings. He was intrigued by the book. He said that he had read some other books in the temple that taught people to be kind, but he did not know how to be a good person after reading those books. However, Zhuan Falun very clearly teaches people how to be a good person; thus, he started practising Falun Dafa. He went to the park to do the exercises every morning, and after the exercises he went to the group study of the Falun Gong teachings. After one week of practising, Jingsheng already felt better. He had increased energy when walking, and he stopped taking the medicine for controlling his heartbeat. Later, I also started practising Falun Gong.

After one month of practising, Jingsheng's health situation had improved a lot, so he started looking for a performing job, and got one singing in a restaurant in a 4-star hotel. Together, we performed three and half hours every night, taking a 15-minute break every 45 minutes. At the beginning it was hard for him to maintain his strength, but later he became stronger and more energetic. It is quite exhausting to play the guitar and sing continuously. It is amazing that a person who had been sentenced to death by the doctors was able to do this. This is the manifestation of Falun Dafa's power. Moreover, Jingsheng went from being a selfish person to a selfless person who always considered others first. Because of his health problems, he had a very bad temper, but after cultivating in Falun Dafa, he was able to control his temper and always looked inward when encountering conflicts.

Because we were willing to accept less pay than other musicians, we were able to sing in that hotel for a whole year. That year was the happiest one of my life. We went to a nearby park at 5:30 a.m. every morning to do the exercises, then to the group study of the Falun Gong teachings, and then to the hotel to sing at night. We often attended Fa-spreading activities in our spare time. We were happy and our lives were full and meaningful.

2. Upholding the true nature of Falun Dafa with his own experience, what did Jingsheng encounter at Tiananmen Square?

We moved back to Beijing in June 1999. The evil persecution started after July 20--just one month later. Jingsheng wrote letters based on his own experience of cultivating Falun Dafa, and went to the Beijing City government and appeals' offices to appeal for Falun Gong. He was detained, and the leader of his workplace bailed him out. My husband was later detained again and jailed for two weeks. In June 2001, he was unlawfully detained for several days. After being released, he went to Tiananmen Square. The following is Jingsheng's experience in his own words:

"On June 25th, 2001, I went to Tiananmen Square to do the Falun Gong exercises and appeal for justice for Falun Gong. A policeman jumped out of a police car and ordered me to stop doing the exercises. I shouted, 'Falun Dafa is righteous. Give us a peaceful practise environment.' I shouted several times. The policeman then violently kicked me in the ribs before I was forced into a police car and taken to a police station. In the police station, I was in so much pain that I could not breathe. Later, they took me to another police station. I was still in severe pain. When they were taking me to the detention centre, I asked them to check my ribs. They took me to a police doctor. The doctor said, 'You Falun Gong practitioners aren't ill. You are just pretending.' After I insisted again, they examined my ribs and found the underlying tissue injured, but I was still unlawfully detained. I went on a hunger strike to protest and kept doing the exercises. Thirty-seven days later, I was able to sleep on my left side (I had been unable to lie on my left side due to the injury to my ribs). I was taken to Tuanhe Labour Camp. Since I was not allowed to do the exercises in the labour camp, I felt pain in my left ribcage now and then. I asked for a comprehensive physical examination, but I was ignored. After I was released, my body never recovered. Since October 2001, my body started swelling and it has become very serious now. I cannot take care of myself. I cannot walk up or down the stairs, and I cannot lie down on my back. Eating a little food causes stomach pain, and moving a little bit makes my face turn black with shortness of breath."

After Jingsheng was arrested, his family and I lost contact with him. We didn't know he was jailed in the labour camp until several months later, when Tuanhe Labour Camp asked us to send money for his living expenses. We heard that he refused to be "transformed," and often went on hunger strikes. His sentence was one and a half years, but it was unlawfully extended. It was the beginning of 2003 when I saw my husband again. I was told that I could go visit him because he had already been "transformed." When I saw him, he was very weak. Even walking was hard for him because he had just ended a hunger strike. It is said that he had been on more than 50 hunger strikes, which is the most in Tuanhe Labour Camp. Because we were being watched, we could not express our real thoughts, but I could tell that he was in serious pain.

After being jailed for two years and four months, Jingsheng was released on October 24th, 2003. When he got home, he was so weak that he had to lie in bed all the time. He was also very depressed because he had given in to the pressure to renounce his beliefs. Under the torture in the labour camp, he wrote the three statements to renounce his practise in Falun Dafa. He was overcome with regret and self-blame. He knew that Falun Dafa had benefited him so greatly, but he gave in to the evil under torture and did things that betrayed his conscience. He was suffering severe physical pain and mental anguish.

The evil Chines Communist Parties (CCP's) terror is everywhere. The residents' committee and police were still watching Jingsheng, putting him under a lot of pressure. He was not able to step forward to clarify the truth. He was in such agony that he wanted to kill himself, yet he knew that suicide was wrong. He nearly suffered a mental breakdown due to the pressure. Fortunately, fellow practitioners were still taking care of him, and helped him to make it through that difficult time.

After being released, Jingsheng suffered endless mental torment. He said that he was not afraid of death, but he was afraid of being forced to say and do wrong things. He told me that, in the labour camp, when the torture was most serious, he was deprived of sleep and food. He was beaten by several policemen and his arm was almost broken. Even long after his release, he could not stand any pressure on his wrist. In the intensive brainwashing class, he was forced to sit on a small stool for more than 10 hours, and he was tied onto a big wooden board, not able to move a bit. His sight and hearing were badly damaged due to the torture, and his brain was also damaged. As a result, his reactions were very slow.

With fellow practitioners' help and through studying the Fa (Law or Principle, the teachings in Falun Dafa), his situation improved gradually. After studying the Fa intensively and communicating with fellow practitioners, Jingsheng had the courage to write a "Solemn Declaration" to invalidate the renunciation statements that he had been forced to write. He also made VCDs showing the truth about Falun Gong. He did all he could to clarify the truth and save the sentient beings who had been deceived by the evil CCP's lies.

However, after suffering the long-term imprisonment, the brutal torture, long-term confinement in a small cell and having all contact with others cut off, both his body and mind were badly injured. After his release, the huge mental pressure and pain caused by the evil CCP's terror made him unable to completely recover.

In June and July 2004, Jingsheng told me that he felt that he could not live anymore. I didn't pay enough attention to it. I thought that he was just imagining things. In October, his body started swelling, and in November the swelling became very serious, starting from the legs, and spreading to the whole body. He could hardly move, and moving just a little made him breathless. At the end of November, Jingsheng moved to his parent's place, and his situation became very serious. He was not able to fall asleep or lie on his back, because he could not breathe.

On November 30th, we took him to the hospital. The doctor said he had a serious kidney disease, and he needed to stay in the hospital. However, there was no bed available at that time. At 7 a.m. on December 13th, my friends and I were about to take him to the hospital again, but when we tried to wake him up we found that he had already left us in his sleep.