(Minghui.org) I’m 76 years old and I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. My husband and I own a store in town. In 1999, former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) head Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Dafa. The CCP’s lies and propaganda mislead countless people.
A 30-year old man in my town lied on television and said that he practiced Falun Dafa. He claimed that practitioners charged him more than 3,000 yuan, but did not give him any materials. Immediately afterwards, the head of the township police station led a member of the city 610 Office to my house. They said that they were ordered to get me to cooperate with them and say on TV that Master Li Hongzhi (Falun Dafa’s founder) collected money from practitioners.
I knew that they were deeply misled by the CCP’s lies. I had only pity for them. So I invited them to sit down. I told them, “I practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and I can’t tell lies. I only spent 12 yuan for a copy of Zhuan Falun.” As soon as I spoke, the police chief became angry. He yelled, “If you continue practicing, we will arrest you.”
I thought to myself, “I will not allow you to commit a sin.” No matter what he said, I kept smiling. Finally, the 610 Office personnel said, “Let’s go.” Before I closed the door, I heard them telling the police chief, “You need to visit her more often.”
A few days later, the police chief came to my shop alone and said apologetically, “The last time we came we were following our superiors’ orders to make you lie. We must do whatever they say.” He repeatedly apologized to me. I said, “It’s Okay as long as you understand what I told you [about Falun Dafa].”
Protect Practitioners’ Rights
In 2008, the provincial officials saw that the electric poles in our town were covered in posters which read: “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and, “Heaven Will Destroy the CCP.” They told the town government to do something about it.
A few days later, many people from the 610 Office, national security, and the police station, came to my house. As soon as they entered, they threatened me: “Everyone says that you pass out Falun Dafa materials!”
A young practitioner from a neighboring city happened to be visiting. The police dragged him into the police car, and I could not stop them. A few more police came in. They searched all the rooms. In spite of my strong resistance, they took away the portrait of Master. They forced me to go with them.
At the police station, I saw that two other local practitioners were also there. They left me alone in the office, so I started to send forth righteous thoughts. A policeman came in and said, “Are you practicing?” I didn’t answer. After more than an hour, a deputy director came to ask questions. I did not answer any of their questions. Instead I tried to tell him the truth about the persecution. He said, “I cannot listen to you.” I said, “You policemen are the ones who should listen to the truth the most. You are all good in nature. You do wrong things because you don’t know the truth. You are the real victims of the persecution.”
After I said this, he was silent and listened quietly. A local 610 Office staffer came in and asked the director if he’d completed the interrogation record. The director said, “She only has three words: ‘I don’t know.’” In fact, I didn’t even say those three words. The man walked up to the portrait of Master and kicked it. I immediately got up and straightened the portrait. He looked at me impatiently. I thought to myself, whoever kicks Master’s portrait will be punished. After a while, he limped over to the director and said, “Hand me the report.” I knew that he’d received karmic retribution. He took the report without saying anything.
Then, a policeman asked all of us to sit together. The young practitioner wanted to go to the bathroom. A sheriff said, “If you practice Falun Gong, you cannot use the bathroom.” I stood up and said loudly, “Which law says that Falun Dafa practitioners are not allowed to go to the toilet?” The two policemen were silent, and the sheriff called in two police officers to take the practitioner to the bathroom.
Awakening the Police Officers’ Conscience
They forced us onto a bus, which took us to the detention center. I stood up and shouted, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness,-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” A policewoman said, “Sit down, everyone heard you.”
At the detention center a female inmate named Xiaohong asked us who we were. We replied that we practiced Falun Dafa. She exclaimed, “I have heart disease, but now they send these people here to scare me.” She huddled in a corner of the room and held her head in pain. I knew that she was frightened by the CCP’s lies. I calmly asked her what was wrong. She said that according to the TV, Falun Dafa kills. I told her it was all lies. I asked if she knew anyone who practiced Falun Dafa. She said no. I said, “Then I will tell you the truth.” She answered, “I don’t want to listen.”
But I still talked to her because the other detainees were listening. I said that Falun Dafa practitioners are good people and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They do not do anything to harm others; not only do we not kill, but we must also “not fight back, nor talk back,” when insulted.
I talked about many things and mentioned that Falun Dafa also has five sets of exercises, which are beautiful and soothing.
Everyone listened. Xiaohong gradually understood. She said, “Please show us the exercises.” I said, “This room is small. Tomorrow I will show you outside.” The next day she asked me again, so I did. After a while, the police called everyone into the office, except me. When they came back, no one spoke. I didn’t ask them what happened. I didn’t think much about it, I just continued to send forth righteous thoughts.
The next day, a female police officer told us to stand in line as soon as she entered the door. A girl suddenly pointed to Xiaohong and said, “Yesterday she asked her [referring to me] how to practice [Falun Dafa].” Xiaohong looked frightened. To protect her I said loudly, “No, I wanted to practice myself.” As soon as I said this, the officer took me to the office.
The director and many other people were there, as if they were waiting to hear the truth. I told them that Xiaohong was frightened by the propaganda on TV. “She was scared when she saw practitioners brought in. I know that many people in this town practice Falun Dafa, and everyone knows that practitioners are good people.” The director said calmly, “You can go back.” When I returned to the room Xiaohong said, “You are such a good person. You should not be locked up here. Your son will take you back.”
Later a policewoman said, “Tell me your son’s number. I will tell him how to get you out. You can fake an illness. That would be a good excuse for your son to help you.” I told her that all my illnesses were resolved after I began practicing and I was healthy. I saw that she was sincere, and I realized Master sent her to help me leave. So I said, “My heart is beating fast and my head feels swollen now.” She said. “Okay, you can leave.”
After a while, two national security guard officers came to take me to the hospital. I said, “I will go, but I will not be hospitalized or take medicine. I had many illnesses before practicing Falun Dafa. It is you who do not let me practice and now I feel sick. If I can practice the exercises, I will be fine.” One man said, “Your daughter-in-law is waiting outside.” My son was actually waiting in the car.
At the hospital, they found that my blood pressure was very high. The doctor said I needed to be hospitalized immediately. They give me medicine. I refused to stay in the hospital and would not take the medicine. The national security guard told my son, “Your mother refuses to be hospitalized, so don’t blame us if she has problems. You can take her home.”
The Deputy Chief Stops Harassing Me
As soon as my son took me home, a deputy director of the police station found out. He was surprised and upset. He suspected that I faked an illness. He said that he must send me back. The practitioners also heard his plan, and asked me to stay home and not go out. I was unmoved. Three practitioners were detained in the detention center, so I had to talk to their families and encourage them.
Master said,
“When we encounter that kind of situation we should resolve it. Remember: Wherever a problem occurs, that’s where you need to clarify the facts. (Applause) As for whether the result is good, don’t look at the other party, it comes from your minds. If you want it to be good then it will be good. And if you don’t intend to make it good, or if your mind is unsteady, then it won’t be easy to rectify things. In other words, you need to have strong righteous thoughts. If you’re thinking, “I’m truly saving you. I’m truly telling you the facts,” then the result will be good.” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)
I went to the police station and town government every day to talk to them about Dafa and the persecution, and send righteous thoughts. I talked to everyone at the police station, and they all said, “It’s Okay. You just practice at home, we don’t care.” However, the deputy director who tried to send me back in always disappeared when I went.
About two months later, the deputy director and officers from the 610 Office knocked on my door. I thought, “You avoided me before, but today you’ve come to me. I will give you the truth.” I opened the door while sending strong righteous thoughts. As soon as I stepped out, the deputy director turned and left quickly, as if he was afraid that I would catch him. As he walked away he said, “I was looking for someone else.” The other two followed him. I thanked Master for helping me resolve this tribulation.
Breaking the “Zero Out” Persecution
Several years back, the CCP tried to carry out a persecution policy call the “Zero Out Campaign,” to force every practitioner on their list to quit cultivation. The deputy director of the police station, the one who wanted to persecute me, was now the chief. He claimed that there were only two practitioners in our town (he doesn’t know about other practitioners), and after the Zero Out policy was implemented, there would be none. He often sent police officers to harass me, saying that the county 610 Office and the National Security Bureau asked me and my husband to go to the county government office. I always refused.
Later, the mayor, police chief, and some community staff members, a total of four people, took three forms to my store to find my husband. They asked him to persuade me to sign them, and asked for my sons’ phone number. My husband said, “I don’t know their phone numbers. Don’t get them involved.” But they returned every two or three days. They threatened him: “If you don’t get her to give up her cultivation, it will have an impact on your son and grandson in the future. You let her know that no one can sign the letter for her. We will take her and another practitioner to the county office to sign. It’s an order from the county government office.”
After my husband told me, I thought I must save them. I mailed truth-clarifying letters to the police chief and the community secretary. But I never met the mayor of the town and the new secretary. I told my husband, “Let them come to me, and I will tell them the truth.”
The next day, the secretary came to my house and asked me if I had time to talk to the mayor. I said yes. He called the mayor and made an appointment. The mayor came to my home and said, “You just say that you don’t practice. We don’t care if you practice at home. We are following orders from above, and we can’t help it.”
I said, “Many high-ranking government officials who persecuted Falun Gong have been sentenced to prison. This persecution was initiated by Jiang Zemin. At present, all the members of his gang are using others to promote the persecution of Falun Dafa. Their crimes are heinous. You are now at a crossroads, and you must choose a better future.” The mayor nodded constantly as I spoke, and finally said, “We understand, we will not come again, but other officers may come again.”
Twenty days later, the county 610 Office and the National Security guard wanted to come to my house. The mayor only brought one of them. As soon as they arrived, I greeted them with a smile and asked them to sit down. The mayor said that the county 610 Office wanted me to sign the letter, “You can still practice after you sign it. We don’t care.”
I said, “I practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I can’t tell lies. My illnesses were resolved after I began practicing. Falun Dafa is beneficial to society and the family, so why should I not practice it? I cannot deceive you, and I cannot deceive my Master. It’s not good for me if I sign it, but if you force me to sign it, then it’s even worse for you. No matter how much money you have, no matter how high your position is, you won’t have peace. I wish you peace and happiness.”
With Master’s blessing, my kindness touched them. They left and never came back.
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