A True Story: Nine Pairs of Shoes

Once there was an old woman who was very poor. She was so poor she could not afford to take a taxi and even bus fare was beyond her means. So when this little old lady decided to go to appeal to the government to end the persecution of Falun Gong she had to walk the whole way.

Now, China is a very is large country. If a person needs to go someplace and they don’t have money for bus fare, they just start walking. From the village where this little lady lived to the capital city of Beijing was a long journey. Day in and day out she walked, all the time thinking to herself how wonderful Falun Dafa’s Teacher is, how much the teachings have helped her become a better person in her own life, and how important it is that she share these teachings with her fellow Chinese countrymen. Day in and day out she walked along, thinking of Zhen, Shan, Ren (Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance) the whole time.

Finally she came to the capital city, Beijing, centre of the government. She calmly walked into the public area of Tiananmen Square where she could announce her opinion that people should be allowed to practise the most beneficial system of Falun Dafa. The Square was full of people, some tourists, some city-dwellers going from place to place and some policemen looking for anyone planning to commit a crime. With deep compassion, truthfulness and forbearance in her heart she sat down and crossed her legs in the Lotus position to show the citizens the wonderful Falun Gong exercises. Immediately two policemen rushed up to her, yelling for her to stop her exercise demonstration and come with them to the police station. She said, ”OK, I’ll go with you, but first let me tell you something”. She opened her bag and carefully laid out a pair of very worn shoes. Then she pulled out another pair and laid them on the ground beside the first pair. Seven more times she did this, laying out nine pairs of worn-out shoes. “You see these,” she continued. “In order to come to the capital to ask the government, as is provided in the Constitution, to repeal a law that I feel is unjust I have walked enough steps to wear through the soles of nine pairs of shoes.”

The policemen just stared. Then one said softly, “You have made your point to us. You can go home, we won’t arrest you.”

And the kind old lady walked out of the Square.