In Memory of Fellow Practitioner Ms Zou Guirong

Zou Guirong was from Fushun City, Liaoning Province. She was about 5 feet, 2 inches tall, a little plump, and looked very gentle and sweet. She had big eyes that shone in her round face and she smiled gently all the time. Along with her innocent face, her short, straight hair made her look like a student and not a woman in her 30s. Zou Guirong had a happy family. Her husband, who was her former classmate, was a nice person. Her son was about 11 or 12 years old. One time, I teased her and said that others who didn't know them might mistake them as being big sister and younger brother, rather than being mother and son. I said I would probably make the same mistake, and she laughed about that.

I remember the first time I met Zou Guirong; it was at the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp in February or March of 2000. I was imprisoned there since 1999, and she was one of the practitioners transferred by Fushun Labour Camp. We were first put in the same group, and then about a dozen of us who were steadfast in our belief were detained in the Extreme Control Group. Watched by drug addict criminals, we were forced to work like slaves, making crafts, unloading coal trucks, and gluing foul-smelling plastic covers (for agricultural greenhouses), which were piled several metres high. We had to work over 20 hours a day. Because of our belief in Dafa, we were berated and beaten by the guards and inmates alike. We suffered from bodily injury and mental attacks. About one month later, we were returned to our original group. Because the guards did not reach their goal of "transforming¹" us, an even more intense round of persecution began.

Zou Guirong told me that when she was at Fushun Labour Camp, she tried to do the standing exercises, but the guards beat her to the ground to stop her from practising. She stood up and continued the exercises, and she was beaten down again. She did not remember how many times she stood up and was beaten down. As long as she was still alive, she would stand up and continue doing the exercises. Finally, the guards gave in and let her do the exercises whenever she wanted. The whole Fushun Labour Camp ended up giving in to her, and finally sent her to the Masanjia Labour Camp.

Zou Guirong, the youngest child in her family, was doted on by her parents, as they had her when they were getting older. When she was born, her oldest sister was more than 20 years older than her. It is easy to imagine how well her entire family had taken care of her. Being kind and tolerant was in her nature; she was not stubborn even though the family spoiled her. Zou Guirong was caring, broad-minded, sincere, honest, pure, and strong. She told me a story of hers, about how she almost drowned when she was little. She said her body started to sink while struggling, but a power in the water pushed her onto the shore in what seemed like a hopeless situation. She was saved, and from then on, she felt the existence of divine beings. When she started cultivation practice in Falun Dafa, she realised that her life was for cultivation, and that her escape from death during her childhood was because she would have the chance to return to her true self.

The wicked guards at Masanjia stripped such a kind woman, poured cold water on her, and four or five female guards shocked her with electric batons, and said, "This is fun." However, Zou Guirong did not surrender to the torture, which lasted for more than four hours. All of the inhumane torture was conducted in secret. I witnessed that her body was covered with injures, black and purple all over. Her face lost its roundness because she was forced to stay awake for extended periods of time. She was weak and exhausted, and sometimes fell into a listless state.

The two photos on the website are in sharp contrast to one another. I never saw Zou Guirong wearing glasses when we were together; her smiling face was so pure and innocent. In touching the familiar face on the computer screen gently, tears blurred my vision again and again. I asked her, "What was in your mind during the torture?" She said, "I just thought that Teacher Li was with me; I am afraid of nothing! I gritted my teeth and held on to the very end!"

In a staged inspection at Masanjia, those former practitioners that gave up cultivation due to the pressure said that violence never occurred at Masanjia. Among the crowd, Zou Guirong stood up and said, "This is not true ..." Before she had the chance to finish her sentence, the guards and collaborators² jumped on her and beat her madly, and proceeded to drag her out of the meeting hall. The Focal Point Interview crew from the China Central Television (CCTV), staff from Liaoning Television, and people from other media recorded the scene.

After the meeting, the police beat Zou Guirong severely, then gave her a razor and tried to force her to kill herself. She refused. She told them sternly, "The teachings of Dafa do not allow killing; suicide is also killing, and I will not commit suicide." Several articles on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website exposed the evil persecution against Ms. Zou. After I was released from the camp, I read her article, "My Experiences at Masanjia Labour Re-education Camp." I remember that the last sentence of her article was, "The fire of truth cannot be put out," which exemplifies Zou Guirong's tenacious and strong character.

The police at Masanjia persecuted Ms. Zou in the following way: they brought in her husband and tried to force him to divorce her, but her husband refused. Back when Ms. Zou and her husband were dating, Zou Guirong did not care about the poor financial state of her fiance's family. She valued his high moral quality. In spite of her family's opposition, they got married. They built up their own family from nothing. They shared happiness and woes and respected each other. The police in Masanjia once again tried to force her to divorce her husband and she refused. The police arranged for them to stay in the same room for one night and wanted to change her attitude by using spousal affection, but it failed. Her husband felt sadness and grief when he saw those countless scars on her body. He knew that Dafa was good and he understood his wife's determined nature. Since he knew that the authorities would not let them see each other again in the future, before he left, he asked her whether she still loved him. She replied yes. Her husband asked her to give him a kiss in front of all the guards and the other prisoners. Ms. Zou took hold of his hand and kissed it. Her husband left with tears in his eyes. Later on, Ms. Zou told me that her husband understood her firm belief in Dafa. He felt sad that they had to be separated and he felt sad for her suffering. Ms. Zou's husband encouraged her to be strong.

Later on, I was taken to another team and separated from the team Zou Guirong was in. Intermittently, I would hear some news about her from others. In Masanjia Labour Camp, no matter whether it was day or night, people would suddenly hear miserable and desperate cries coming from someone being brutally tortured. Sometimes, elderly fellow practitioners would have a heart attack due to the brutal torture. Some people were persecuted to the point of suffering a mental collapse. Once, we had a 78-year-old practitioner in our team; she was a very kind, older woman. She was in the same team with me and I still remember her name. As for practitioners who were around 68 years of age, there were quite a few of them. Once, I looked at those fellow practitioners' family members who came from all kinds of places. I told the guard who often tortured Dafa practitioners, "You beat up people here. If their family members found out, they will hate you." One guard replied sternly, "They will appreciate me, the one who "transformed" her and let her go home to reunite with her family." I looked at him and said in a dignified tone, "They won't." In the face of my calm expression and simple words, that guard who had repeatedly tortured Dafa practitioners stared at me with anger, but could not say anything. However, the brutal persecution has never stopped and they constantly do evil deeds behind closed doors.

I remember that the guards once spread a rumour, saying that I had become insane. Even some fellow practitioners from my hometown had heard that rumour. Later on, I heard that it was because when Ms. Zou Guirong heard a collaborator reading some materials slandering Dafa, she stood up and snatched literature away and tore it up. Since she did it so fast, the collaborator was frightened and stood there for a while and did not know how to respond. Once the collaborator realised what had happened, she went to the police and said Ms. Zou Guirong was out of her mind. After hearing that, the police did not even ask the reason and carried out no investigation; they ordered the collaborator to drag Ms. Zou downstairs to have some unknown injections. We heard her cries of persecution and terrible suffering. She wasn't affected mentally by the injections. When I saw her again, she was still firm and in full control of her mental faculties. In contrast, I saw those guards who persecuted Ms. Zou get very angry and shout loudly, "I want to kill her! No matter what we do, she will not "transform." What should we do?" At that time, I smiled and silently said, "She is truly firm, like a diamond. She cannot be broken no matter what happens to her." I applauded her in my heart. Later on, utterly embarrassed, the Masanjia authorities sent Ms. Zou and nine other steadfast fellow practitioners away. Later, I heard that they were sent to Zhangzhi Forced Labour Camp in Shenyang City. I could not imagine that I would be separated from her forever at that time.

One time, tragic cries came from downstairs. The air seemed to become frozen. Then, there was no sound at all. I heard some collaborators say that it was Ms. Zou Guirong. They pressed her down and forcefully gave her some injection, as they said she had become insane and was out of her mind. I absolutely did not believe that Zou Guirong suffered a mental collapse. I understood that her mind was very firm and resilient. It must be a plot that the guards wanted to use as an excuse to persecute her to try to make her become insane.

On July 2nd and 3rd, 2002, during the midsummer season, around 7:00 p.m., it rained and snowed constantly for over one hour for two consecutive nights. I noticed it first and told other people in the same cell to watch silently. Standing in front of the window, looking at the rain and snowflakes, I felt a coldness. At that moment, looking at that scene, being locked in that cell, I looked at the sky and remembered a legend I had once heard, that was now becoming a reality. "A snowfall in June indicates a most outrageous wrong that occurs perhaps once in many millennia." I felt an indescribable sorrow. At that time, I did not know my fellow practitioner and close friend Ms. Zou Guirong had passed away two months before. The snowfall in June was for those thousands of Dafa practitioners who were persecuted to death and those who are still suffering severe and inhuman torture as Dafa practitioners.

Once, Ms. Zou Guirong asked another Dafa practitioner to write a remembrance for her in a small notebook. I was a pretty good writer, but at that time, I held her notebook and did not know what to write. I smiled and told her that I would not write anything for her. Looking at her face, which had lost its original soft shape and colour, I felt pain in my heart. I have now lost the chance to write anything for her.

At that moment, I felt I could hear the music of "Plum Blossoms in the Snow" played by a Dafa practitioner. The sound of the flute was clear, deep and pure. It seemed to come from Heaven. I saw the smiles of deceased fellow practitioners in the plum blossoms. Everything became so outstanding and beautiful, brilliant and pure.

Note

1. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

2. "Collaborators": Former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/1/17/118848.html