(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Bao Liqing is a pure, beautiful 24-year-old girl. I got to know her in April of this year. I met her the day she went to visit her father, Falun Gong practitioner Bao Yongsheng from Yichun, Heilongjiang Province, who was illegally detained in Jiamusi. When I met her at a small restaurant, it felt as if she was an old friend. She said, “Did you know that I saw my dad today?”
She smiled in complete happiness, “My dad told me again and again, that no matter how bad my mother-in-law treated me, I should always treat her well. I am from a Falun Dafa practitioners' family, so I need to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and think of others all the time.” After listening to her, and although I didn't know the situation between Bao Yongsheng, the girl and her mother-in-law, I admired Mr. Bao's high xinxing level.
She said again, “I know that my dad worries about me. Do you know what I said to him? I told him to rest assured that I didn't resent my mother-in-law in the least. Instead, I'd forgotten about all the unhappy things that had happened between us. I also asked him if he still hated the police who persecuted and hurt him deeply during his horrible prison life. My dad was silent for awhile, and then nodded. I told him not to hate them. The tribulations we'd suffered were nothing. The police are truly the people that need to be pitied.”
The girl's words surprised me. I asked, “What did your dad say?” She replied, “After my dad listened to me, he paused and then nodded sincerely. He said that he'd understood what I said and no longer worried about me. When the police who were monitoring our conversation on the side telephone heard what I said, he immediately put down the phone and turned his body sideways; his eyes were full of tears.”
She said again, “You might not believe this, but a month ago I was still confused, and I even lost some memory. So many unfortunate things happened at my home. I often thought about ending my life. On the most painful days, I couldn't sleep and got up in the middle of the night--just to work and pass the time. Later, fellow practitioners continuously helped me, took care of me and encouraged me. They used Dafa's principles to enlighten me and gave me the strength to survive and see hope. Uncle Qin's two daughters especially helped me (Yichun practitioner Qin Yueming, one of the three practitioners who were persecuted to death at Jiamusi Prison in the beginning of the year. He was brutally tortured to death after just six days of imprisonment). They were younger than me, but they left behind their endless sorrow and pain. In order to help other children to not suffer from the same pain, they kept going to different government departments and told uncle Qin's story to more and more people, giving them the opportunity to see the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) evil nature. I really admire them.”
Our conversation made me pay special attention to her and her father's tribulations. She told me about her family's tribulations during the past twelve years, in that small noodle restaurant. The following is her account.
Worry Turned to Happiness, then Sad Days
I was born in Jinshantun District, Yichun, Heilongjiang Province at the end of the 1980's. My father is Bao Yongsheng, and my mother is Deng Fengxiang.
My dad is very easygoing. He ran a tofu shop with my mom. The tofu that they made was bigger than usual, of very good quality and the price was reasonable. Their business was very good.
My mom had two children before I was born, but neither of them survived. Therefore, I immediately became the center of my family's attention. My dad worked hard to support me with good food and clothing. He also sent me to study painting and play the Erhu--a two-stringed musical instrument. I didn't disappoint them; I studied and painted well, and earned the fifth grade level for my Erhu playing. My parents planned to send me to art school. Unfortunately, my mom suffered from a "cyclic rheumatoid muscle nodule" and was paralyzed, forced to stay in bed. Dad had to carry her whenever she needed to go out. Although she recovered a little after many treatments, she still suffered from the illness in repeated cycles, as it couldn't be completely cured – even after taking countless medicines and injections.
In February 1999 when I was 12, my family was very fortunate to begin practicing Falun Dafa. Dad told us often about the beautiful ways that he physically and mentally benefited from Dafa. He asked mom to recite “Falun Dafa is good” often. Soon after, mom's illness magically disappeared. Our entire family benefited from Dafa and we had a very happy life.
However, the happy life lasted for a very short time. Three months later on July 20, 1999, the CCP started persecuting the Falun Gong practitioners. My father was arrested several times, just because he practiced Falun Gong and tried to be a good person. My mother was brutally beaten. In the end, my mom and dad were both illegally sentenced to prison terms, and we were forced to close the tofu shop. The shop was leaking due to heavy rain, and no one took care of it. The wooden boards were all rotted due to the rain and only four pillars were left. I started an unimaginably difficult life at the age of 12.
Parents Sentenced, I Became Homeless and Destitute
In April 2002, my dad was illegally arrested at home. Later, he was sentenced to four years in prison and then taken to the Jiamusi Prison. During his imprisonment, he was brutally beaten by guards with thick wooden sticks. My mom went to the authorities continuously to appeal for my dad's release, but she was brutally beaten by a group of male officers. Her body was as dark as ash from the beating. She couldn't lay down to sleep for over a month, and she didn't fully recover until six months later. When the police realized that my mother was severely injured, they were afraid that their crimes would be exposed, so they arrested her and secretly transferred her to the Youhao District Detention Center in Yichun. My relatives tried everything they could think of to locate her, but they weren't successful. During the hot summer from May to August, my mom was forced to wear a cotton coat in the detention center. In the end, the CCP didn't even conduct a court session, but worked in secrecy, sentencing her to three years of forced labor. My mom was held at the Heilongjiang Women's Prison.
I was just a teenager at that time. Facing the huge tribulations of my parents being sentenced to prison, I didn't know what to do. I laid down on my cold bed at home alone for six days. I didn't eat or drink; I could only cry. I held my dad's clothes in my left hand and mom's in my right. I also put their photos on top of their clothes. I was so afraid of losing them. After six days, I didn't remember if I'd even slept. I cried so hard at times that I fainted. Then, I woke up crying out my parents' names. I even lost the will to live. I hit my head against the wall.
Without any other choice available, I became homeless and dependent on others. My relatives discussed it, and allowed me to live in their homes in turn, each home for one month. I couldn't go to school, and they didn't buy any clothes for me. I only had a place to sleep and eat. I had to drop out of the fifth grade of elementary school.
My relatives lived in Harbin, Jiamusi, Bayan and Dafeng in Yichun, and I traveled back and forth between all their homes. My relatives agreed that I could stay at each place for only one month at a time, so on the last day of each month, they usually pushed me out early in the morning without any breakfast. If the two relatives' homes were in the same city, I had to walk there. Very few people lived between the villages, and there were times when I walked through seemingly endless cornfields. Occasionally, I accidentally fell into big holes in the fields, and it took all my strength to climb out. I had only one pair of shoes that had to last the whole year. The shoes were worn out, and my feet were exposed. In the winter, some relatives had me sleep on a temporary cold bed composed of bricks and stones. The wall was covered with frost.
The pain I felt and the difficulties of living were nothing compared to how my relatives considered me a burden, and always gave me bad looks. Once when I was staying at my second uncle's (my dad's second elder brother) home, my second aunt kept money inside a biscuit box. She covered the outside of the box with oil, in order to keep me from touching it. Once, my uncle was in a hurry to purchase a motorcycle. He took the money and left for the city to buy something. I thought that he was going to buy some delicious food for me, so I cleaned up the whole house including the biscuit box. My aunt came inside the room, rushed to the biscuit box and shouted, “Great! You really thought it through. You took my money and got rid of the evidence.” I kneeled down and told my aunt that I didn't take the money, but she still didn't let me go. She called all the people in the village to find out where I hid the money. I asked them to search me, but my aunt said, “No one is stupid enough to hide the money on his body. Your parents all went to the prison. I would send you there too.” My uncle came home and saw this. He immediately said that he'd taken the money to buy the motorcycle. However, my aunt kept scolding me. The next morning, she told me to take the pig-transporting vehicle and sent me to another relative's home.
Another time, I was in my fourth uncle's home, close to the Chinese New Year. My fourth aunt told me in advance, “Let me tell you something. You can't cry at my home during Chinese New Year; if you do, you'll leave.” I had to put a smile on my face and eat the Chinese New Year dinner with them, but I really missed my parents. I quietly ran to the bridge 30 meters outside of the village and cried loudly. I knelt down on the ground and begged heaven to let my parents return home as soon as possible. I almost couldn't bear it any longer. I was 16 then, and I didn't have anyone to talk to about my sadness and sorrow. Later, I couldn't help telling these things to my grandmother. She was 78 years old, and could barely take care of herself, but when she saw how much I'd suffered at the other relatives' homes, she took me into her home. This finally ended my homeless life.
Finally, my mother returned home. Later, my father also finished his four years of unjust prison sentence, and my family was finally reunited. I was afraid that my parents would be sad, so I didn't tell them what happened to me during the past few years. However, my grandfather couldn't help from telling them about my life. My parents didn't hate my relatives for this, but instead, they bought gifts and took me to thank them, one by one. My parents said it was not that my relatives were bad, but rather, that the CCP used the “guilt by association” system to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. My relatives treated me badly, because they were all afraid of the CCP, so they were also victims.
My Father Sentenced to Prison Again; Humiliation at My Husband's Home
In order to survive, my dad traveled around for work as a laborer. I also found a job. In order to reduce my family's burden, I got married in the winter of 2008. On December 2, 2008, the eighth day after I was married, my father was arrested by police from Jinshan Police Station in Yichun at the sawmill factory where he worked. The police kicked him without cause, but he only asked them not to do this, and clarified the truth to them. They detained him in the criminal brigade, then ransacked my home and confiscated 500 yuan. Officers Tao Xuwei, Wang Hailong, Sun Lilong and Cao Wancai from the criminal brigade used wooden sticks and hard plastic tubes filled with sand (also called “little white dragon”) to beat my dad. They took off his clothes and shoes, then handcuffed him on the ground. They then dragged him outside, in a cold November in Yichun. They poured a dozen barrels of cold water on his body. They also filled mineral water bottles and let them freeze. Then, they wrapped the bottles around his arms. My father lost consciousness a few times from the extreme cold shock. They tortured my father continuously from 7:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. the next morning, as he went in and out of consciousness. Then, the police fingerprinted him and placed it on fabricated evidence that they'd prepared. On December 23, my dad was taken to the Xilin Detention Center, where he underwent continuous persecution. He kept vomiting due to the torture, and his mind wasn't clear. Even so, the CCP officials still illegally sentenced him to 11 years in prison. My dad was imprisoned again at the Jiamusi Prison.
I got married at the age of 21. I originally thought that this would end my miserable life, and that I'd have my husband's love and care. However, my husband was a simple man who had a hard time even buying things on the street. He rarely talked to me and he mostly listened to his mother. They didn't give me any money for everyday expenses, nor did they buy me any new clothes. When something was needed at home, they'd only give me the exact amount of money to buy it. I tried to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance that my parents taught me, and to be strict with myself. Before I got married, my mom washed the clothes, so after I moved into my husband's home, I took care of washing all the clothes, including my mother-in-law's.
I became pregnant at the age of 22. My mother-in-law didn't help me keep up my nutrition. They also asked me to pick mushrooms with them when I was over seven months pregnant. Later, they sent me to the hospital for a physical examination. When my mother-in-law found out that it was a girl, she claimed that it was an abnormal child. She privately gave the doctor some money, and asked him to exaggerate the situation, so that she could force me into having an abortion. I refused. Later, the doctor told my mother-in-law to take me to the big hospital in Harbin for an examination. After my examination in the Harbin hospital, the doctor said that the child was quite normal and that I should prepare to give birth. My mother-in-law was very angry, realizing that she couldn't force me to do the abortion, and she didn't want to spend money on this child. Therefore, she forced me to go back to Yichun. I was hospitalized for three to four days. One night, my uterus dilated and I had pain throughout my body, but she checked me out of the hospital and bought a train ticket leaving at 10:00 p.m. that night, which would arrive home at 5:00 a.m. the next morning. I was afraid that I might deliver the child on the train and I begged her to not do this. My husband crouched on the side, and held his head, sighing. My mother-in-law also spread the rumor in the hospital lobby that I was pregnant with an abnormal child and that I refused to have an abortion, to bring trouble intentionally to her family. The people around her heard that the fetus had already moved into position for birth. They all persuaded her with the fact that it was too dangerous to do an abortion at this time, and most important to keep me alive.
At that moment, Xinlin Police Station officials called and told us that my father was illegally sentenced to 11 years in prison and would be taken to prison the next day. They asked us to go back and see him for the last time. My mom and I both cried over this news. My mother-in-law also set aside her agenda since we had to go at that moment. After we went back to Yichun and visited my dad, I delivered the baby in the hospital. My mother-in-law never visited me in the hospital. I saw that my baby was crying, so I reached over to hug her, but didn't realize that blood in the injection tube was flying out. Since I was very weak, I almost fell off the bed. I didn't know how to cover up my baby. My mom was busy preparing things for my dad in prison. She called me to ask how I was doing, and I pretended that I was fine. I actually was trying very hard to hold back my tears.
After I checked out of the hospital, I went back to my mother-in-law's countryside home. The conditions there weren't very good. I needed to do the housework and take care of my baby. During the cold winter, I had to carry the baby with me whenever I went to the city to buy things. After I returned home, I had to prepare a fire in the stove too. My mother-in-law never gave any affection to my child. She rarely came to my room to see me, for four to five months. Since I needed to bring my child in for a medical examination, I had to move in with my mother, and she helped me a lot.
Now, my child is almost two years old and she's very pretty. During these tribulations, the practitioners in Yichun helped me considerably. They quietly sent rice and flour, and put money in my yard. Afterwards, I asked many of them where the money came from, yet all of them said that they didn't know. My mother and I were very touched. A practitioner couple opened a small restaurant, but they didn't need any help. However, when they saw that I was having difficulties, they asked me to help them so that I could earn an income with a minimum amount of effort.
Yesterday (August 27, 2011), the female owner of the restaurant was arrested by Qin Handong of the Yichun 610 Office, and I'm really worried about her. I really can't understand why it has become a crime for a woman to operate a business with honesty, and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person.
These last twelve years of tribulations have made me unwilling to think about the past. In sharing my personal experiences, I only wish for the public to understand that Falun Gong practitioners continuously clarify the truth to the public in order to save people. I truly wish that you won't be deceived by CCP's lies and propaganda any longer, and not act indifferently towards the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners occurring around you. I hope that you remember to treat Dafa kindly, and receive happiness and peace bestowed by heaven.
