Being Jailed for Supporting Falun Gong Strengthened My Resolve to Carry on Practising

The following is very special experience that I will never forget.

I was an ordinary citizen from Jieyang City, Guangdong Province in China. I met several Falun Gong practitioners before 1999 and from our conversations I learnt of some wonderful stories about Falun Gong cultivation. I was moved by their compassionate words and deeds derived from their cultivation of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." I had always had the opinion that it would do society a lot of good if we had more Falun Gong practitioners.

However, on July 20th, 1999, the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at that time, Jiang Zemin and his regime began a persecution of Falun Gong in the name of the "government." All of a sudden, all media in China were flooded with slanderous reports that denounced Falun Gong. At that time a lot of practitioners thought that the government misunderstood Falun Gong so they went to the different levels of appeals offices. However, they did not expect to be handcuffed, kicked, and punched. They were also detained and their homes were ransacked. Many were sentenced to forced labour camps or imprisonment and some were even tortured to death.

What was wrong with the government? Didn't the government want its own people to be fit and healthy? Wasn't it better to have more good people in society? Wasn't it the Chinese Communist Party that always boasted about how great, glorious, and correct it was, disregarding the truth and confusing right and wrong? With the escalation of the persecution, the questions in my mind grew stronger. Eventually, I borrowed a copy of the book, Zhuan Falun, and read it eagerly. I learnt that Falun Gong was actually teaching people to improve their moral standards, and it stressed virtue and doing good deeds. It turned out that Falun Gong practitioners had spoken the truth and the government propaganda were all lies. I had a very strong feeling that I must tell the truth to the people around me.

In September of 2001, I was illegally arrested for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and was held at Jiedong Detention Centre, Guangdong Province and then transferred to Beijing Prison in Shaoguan City. The unforgettable experience I had in prison let me see more clearly how the"People's Police" "serve the people." The Chinese Communist regime always boasted, "All are equal before the law." My experience made me understand how empty a sentence that was.

In Jiedong Detention Centre, practitioner Ms. Cai Hui was badly beaten for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. She was often dragged out to be beaten at midnight under the pretext of "questioning." In the dead of night, her heart-rending screams sent cold shivers down my spine. Mr. Huang Yongzhong was also badly beaten by a group of guards for clarifying the truth to them. The head of the detention centre, surnamed Wu, whipped Mr. Huang until he was covered with cuts and bruises. Since Mr. Huang was unable to move, he was carried back to the cell. Several days later at a court hearing he still could not stand up or walk. As a matter of fact he had to be assisted by others to appear in court.

In the hall of Beijing Prison there was a plate inscribed with, "Civilised Work Unit." However, from the inhuman way it dealt with Falun Gong practitioners I could not find any trace of civilisation there. The practitioners were forced to stand still for a long time, to be in the horse riding step, were handcuffed and hung up, and were deprived of sleep and the use of the toilet. These are common practices. The various inhuman torture methods can be compiled into a book entitled, "Complete Collection of Torture Methods." For example, the practitioners who were forced to do manual labour during the day were then handcuffed and hung up until midnight before they were allowed to go to sleep. Before dawn, they were forced to get up to do military marching. Thus, the practitioners only had about 2 to 3 hours of sleep a day. Whenever they felt sleepy and dozed off they would be beaten. In the scorching summer heat, practitioners were exposed to the sun for long periods of time and in the biting cold of winter they were forced to stand outside in the ice and snow.

One day, one of the criminal inmates assigned to watch the practitioners stuffed a pair of dirty socks he had worn for three days into a female practitioner's mouth simply because she could not recite the prison regulations. The criminal also stripped off her padded clothing, and her shoes and socks, and then handcuffed her and hung her up under the eaves outside the building. In winter the temperature drops to more than 10 degrees below zero Celsius. The prison guard who monitored the female practitioner was shivering with cold in her warm clothing but the practitioner was handcuffed and strung up for the whole night without a coat, socks, or shoes.

Practitioner Mr. Huang Yongzhong was dragged outside to be exposed to the sun because he refused to give up his belief in the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" and because he praised Falun Dafa when he was forced to write "ideological reports." It was midsummer and the surface temperature reached 50 to 60 degrees Celsius. Mr. Huang lost consciousness because of the heat. A group of people charged forward. They punched and kicked him, but still he did not come to. Then he was dragged into the bathroom and doused with cold water to revive him. As soon as he came to he was dragged outside to be exposed to the sun again. When Mr. Huang was unable to stand any more they let him sit on the ground. Mr. Huang was left in the blazing sun for five successive days. The skin on his buttocks was burned. On the fifth day Mr. Huang was in critical condition and was sent to a hospital. His family was informed that he was sick. When Mr. Huang's parents rushed to the hospital they saw that he was black and blue all over. His lips were very dry and chapped. Mr. Huang was not lucid. Even though he was dying he was still handcuffed to all 4 corners of the bed. This previously healthy young man died from being tortured.

Several practitioners in my ward were well-educated and had bachelor's degrees. They were inhumanly tortured for steadfastly practising Falun Dafa. Xu Xian was locked up in a small cell for a month but he still refused to give up his beliefs. When one group of prison guards were at their wits end, another group of guards would come to replace them. The newcomers would use various new tricks to torture the practitioners. However, these practitioners tirelessly clarified the truth to the guards and inmates alike about the goodness of Falun Gong and the principle that "Doing good deeds is met with good rewards, and doing evil is met with retribution." Gradually some guards realised the evilness of the persecution and some of the inmates also learnt a lot about how to be upright people. They all said that they would abandon the evil deeds and start doing good deeds and being more upright.

After I was released from the prison, many of my family and good friends advised me to make more money to support the family and not to "make trouble" anymore. I always smiled and told them, "In the past I did not practise Falun Gong for a day nor did I study any principles of Falun Dafa. What I did was only to clarify the truth to others. I was taken as a practitioner and locked in the prison for several years. However, I witnessed the goodness and preciousness of Falun Dafa through these practitioners. At the same time I also saw the true evil nature of the CCP. It also strengthened my confidence and determination to cultivate Falun Dafa. Luckily I came across such a wonderful great law and such good practitioners. I am determined to be a noble and righteous Falun Dafa practitioner."

I wrote down the experience of that period to wake up those people who are still lost in the lies fabricated by the Communist regime: Hurry up and wake up! Be clear about what is right and what is wrong, sever yourself from evil forces and stand on the side of justice and conscience to choose a bright future for yourself!