Taiwan: Paintings Speak of Things of Heaven and Earth

The exhibit, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance International Art Exhibition--Speaking of Things of Heaven and Earth" was held on August 27th, 2005 at the Zhenlan Palace Cultural Relics Museum in Tachia, Taichung County. The art exhibition will last for two weeks until September 10th. Through the medium of art, the artists, all of whom are Falun Dafa practitioners, exposed the brutal persecution of Falun Gong happening in Mainland China and showed the uncompromising courage and noble character of these cultivators who believe in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." The artists hope that more people, by viewing the art, can learn about the facts of Falun Gong and pay attention to and help end the persecution as soon as possible.

Distinguished guests attend tea party at opening ceremony

Among those attending the tea party at the opening ceremony were the following distinguished guests: Chiu Tai-san, former deputy minister of Mainland Affairs Council of Executive Yuan, Huang Pei-yi, chief executive officer of Banxian Culture Foundation, Huang Wen-hong, oldest son of the head of Taichung County Huang Jhong-sheng, Tiachung County Councillors Yang Yong-chang and Lin Su-zhen, Tachia Town people's representatives Yi Jin-long and Ji Zi-da, Village Head of Fenghua Village, Tachia Town, Bai Jian-fa, and Township Head of Waibu Township, Huang Ri-sheng, Township representative Liu Chen-wen, assistant to legislator Cai Qi-chang, and Daan Primary School Principal Yang Shuming and Parents' Council of the Daan Primary School Chen Ming-yu.

There were musical performances including a waist drum performance, which won warm applause from the audience.

Waist drums playing

Professor Chang Ching-hsi from the Falun Dafa Association expressed that there are three aims for holding the Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance International Art Exhibition: Through these outstanding artists' paintings, practitioners hoped to introduce beautiful and righteous art to the people in Taiwan. They also wished to demonstrate Falun Dafa's purity and peacefulness to the public through their personal experiences and understanding of life. Finally, the exhibition exposes the brutal persecution of Falun Gong happening in Mainland China.

Chiu Tai-san, former deputy minister of Mainland Affairs Council of Executive Yuan, expressed in his speech that he already had a considerable understanding of Falun Gong. Falun Gong is conducive to people's good health both physically and mentally. That the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has even conducted such an inhumane suppression of innocent and kind Falun Gong practitioners is an absurd act, intolerable for people living in free world. He is very supportive of Falun Gong practitioners' firm resolve in resisting the evil. Expressing their belief by means of paintings is better than ten thousand words. Chiu Tai-san stated that the art exhibition is also inspiring to children. They can learn how to join everyone's strength together to suppress the evil in a peaceful manner. He wished the art exhibition much success, and hoped that the "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" of Falun Dafa can continue to spread worldwide.

Guest makes a speech to congratulate the exhibition

Huang Pei-yi, chief executive officer of Banxian Culture Foundation, expressed in her speech that from the relationship between the arts and social issues, many artistic works aimed to make the living environment even more beautiful. From the standpoint of artists, this Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance art exhibition held something special; that is, these artistic creations both reflected things happening in reality and embodied many upright values in life. So she felt that the art exhibition had great social significance.

Township representative Liu Chen-wen also expressed that he had read books written by the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi, and also told his daughter that if we put Mr. Li's teachings into practice in our daily life, we will become genuinely good people. On the special occasion of the opening ceremony of the art exhibition, he all the more felt the preciousness of freedom of belief. In Taiwan, anybody can do the Falun Gong exercises freely at schools or in public places, just like the exercise demonstration held on Zhenlan Palace Square. Liu Chen-wen highly commended the Falun Gong cultivators' dedication and commitment, for the sake of people's physical and mental well-being and for educating the next generation. These cultivators are spreading such a good cultivation practice for true health of mind and body, which is truly a life goal that everybody hopes to pursue.

Visitors listen to a guide's explanation of the art works' contents

Voices of visitors

A woman viewed all the paintings and then said that she had learned about the exhibition from the Internet. She felt the art exhibition was very good, in that besides telling people about the persecution facts, these works also demonstrated outstanding artistic talents. She specifically mentioned the Gongbi paintings (traditional Chinese realistic painting). They are marvelous masterpieces no matter how one appreciates them, either from the purely artistic conception or the content.

Another woman happily told the reporter that she had a pure and serene feeling while viewing these paintings. She felt at a loss on how to describe it. As a whole, the art exhibition made people feel very comfortable, and the feeling was so good that some had a desire to learn Falun Gong immediately.

Visitors attentively appreciate the paintings

Several older men and women said that the paintings are so vivid and lifelike, and some are so touching that one could not help shedding tears. At the same time, the paintings expressed clear and inspiring content. They felt that the torture methods used by Jiang Zemin's regime and the Chinese Communist Party showed how inhumane and vicious the persecution is.

A young middle school student said that he knows why the CCP persecutes good people, because the CCP is afraid of anything that they feel is likely to threaten it. Even though Falun Gong is a good cultivation practice that teaches people to be good, and it has no interest in politics and political power, they would still frenziedly persecute it; this is the nature of the CCP.

Another student looked at all the paintings. When he learned that the paintings were the creation of practitioner artists, he marvelled at their skill. He also expressed that the paintings depicting the brutal torture methods used on practitioners shook him to the core. For example, the scene of the torturer burning a practitioner with a lighted cigarette butt is lifelike, and one can truly feel how very painful this torture is.

A father who brought the whole family viewed the paintings and expressed that speaking from the viewpoint of freedom of belief, the CCP authorities' act of persecuting innocent people is too inhumane. Once everyone knows the truth, people will definitely stand up against the authorities' deception and lies. The importance of freedom and human rights is known to all people. As for the artistic works themselves, he said they were painted done well.

A practitioner who was one of coordinators of the art exhibition said that this exhibition is different from ordinary art exhibitions. It expressed Falun Dafa's peacefulness, purity and righteousness. He hoped that everyone could make the best use of the next two weeks to come to appreciate the paintings. He had received many visitors who travelled from other places specifically for the exhibition, which affirmed all the more the significance and magnificence of the art exhibition.