Rhine-Main-Neckar News (a German Newspaper): "Chinese Painting is like Music"

April 5, 2002

Chinese painter Mrs. Zhang Cuiying creates awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong adherents; her artwork is shown at the "Prince Carl" Auditorium [in Heidelberg/Germany].

She was a mere ten years old, she said, when Chinese painter Zhang Cuiying felt drawn to this art form.

"Traditional Chinese painting requires rice paper, but my family could not afford that," related the 39-year-old, "That's why I treated common paper with water until it resembled rice paper." An art instructor at her school recognized and encouraged her talent. Later on, Mrs. Zhang became an apprentice of [some] renowned Chinese teachers: Shen Zicheng, Qian Juntao, Liu Haisu and Xie Ziliu.

"Chinese painting is like music," she says. Among other honors, Zhang was awarded the "Asia-Pacific Gold Medal for Chinese Calligraphy and Painting." The one-woman show of her works in the Prince Carl Palace auditorium lasted only one day. She wanted to use this presentation to raise awareness of the horrible persecution of fellow Falun Gong members in China, her home country.

What connects artist Zhang Cuiying to the Falun Gong movement? She has lived in Australia as a citizen of that country for the past ten years, the wife of an ethnic Chinese Australian citizen. In 1997 she suffered a severe illness that involved all of her joints. " I could barely feed myself or walk," she related, and "I could no longer paint."

Her husband introduced her to Falun Gong. The founder of this movement is Mr. Li Hongzhi, who has since moved to and lives in the United States, has a huge worldwide following. Mrs. Zhang became a practitioner and has since practiced the exercises and the meditation. She attributes the return of her health to these practices.

In 1999, China declared Falun Gong a "danger to social and political stability" and banned it. It was then Mrs. Zhang decided to return to China to intervene for the movement. Her efforts were for naught. She was arrested and spent the next eight months in four different prisons. According to her personal account, the authorities abused, mistreated and tortured her there. Due to the efforts and interventions of the Australian government, the Chinese authorities eventually set her free.

"I want to show the world my paintings and tell them about my life," said the artist, while pleading for help for the incarcerated Falun Gong practitioners in China. For the past year she has already visited 70 cities on a worldwide tour and shown her work at various exhibitions. "Germany is the 21^st country I have gotten to know," she said. Heidelberg resident Mr. Hubert Koerper organized the event, while his wife Edith presided over the opening ceremonies.

In February of this year, Mr. Hubert Koerper and his two daughters, as has been previously reported, participated in a solidarity protest for Falun Gong in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. They were arrested and shortly thereafter deported. Ny Manyan, chairperson of the German Falun Dafa Association (Falun Dafa is another name used for Falun Gong) said, "An individual's inner harmony is reflected in his or her paintings. The paintings can never be better than the person. The Honorable Lord Mayor, Professor Raben von der Malsburg, said, 'Thanks for adding immensely to this exhibit.'" Chen Guohua, Yang Jiashen and Yen Jingfen complemented and added to the show with their musical presentations.

Mrs. Zhang's paintings may be viewed Sunday, April 7, 2002, between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. at the Buergerhaus (community center) in Mannheim-Neckarstadt/Germany, Lutherstrasse 15-17. The artist will also be personally present.

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(Original text in German)