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Renowned Artist's Family Suffers Cruel Persecution in Yunnan Province

December 25, 2012 |   By a Minghui correspondent from Yunnan Province, China

(Minghui.org) Mr. Liu Yong, an outstanding painter and sculptor in Yunnan Province, was arrested on September 1, 2012, in Menglian County. At that time, he was working on a painting and relief sculpture. He was arrested because he wrote “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance is good” on the wall. He is now being held in the Menglian County Detention Center. His wife, Ms. Liu Yan, an associate English professor at the College of Business and Humanities of Yunnan Normal University, was forced to leave home after being persecuted for months.

Mr. Liu was born in Changlin, Jilin Province. He moved to Kunming in 2001. He is a famous painter and sculptor in Yunnan Province. He worked in turn at Chuangchun Telecommunications College, Jilin University, and the Business School of Yunnan Normal University. His family has suffered greatly throughout the 13 years of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong because they have refused to stop practicing.

Ms. Liu Yan is calling for help. Below is her family's story:

I was born in 1969 in Dandong City, Liaoning Province. I received a full scholarship from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio of the United States. I worked at the Second College of Aeronautics in Air Force, Lambton College, Yunnan Normal University, first in the Business School and then in the School of Humanities.

Mind and Health Improved by Practicing Falun Dafa

My husband, Liu Yong, and I started practicing Falun Dafa when we studied at Northeast Normal University. After that, we realized the true meaning of life. We got answers to questions we had always been puzzled about from Falun Dafa. Liu Yong originally had a serious sleep disorder and often had a cough. After practicing Dafa, all of his health problems disappeared. Also he became more friendly and hard-working. He had a good reputation among his colleagues and supervisors. I previously had female problems, liver congestion, and insomnia. They also disappeared after I practiced Dafa. Before I was a snob and egocentric. Dafa changed me, and I became more open-minded and tolerant. Also, I now look younger than my age, often being mistaken for being in my early 30's, despite being in my 40's.

Dafa also bestowed wisdom upon us. Liu Yong was often inspired and developed surprisingly wonderful techniques as he painted. I often felt “blessed by the gods” when I gave lectures or did research. I often had brilliant ideas and wonderful achievements. Since we followed Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance, we improved a lot in treating others kindly. For instance, my dad often verbally abused Liu Yong, but Yong still took care of my dad without resentment until he died. I also took care of my mother-in-law, who was paralyzed, as well as my mother who had difficulty in walking. Neighbors, colleagues and friends were moved by how we honored and cared for our parents. Many people witnessed the great power of Dafa at improving morality.

Detained for Appealing and Fired by the College of Aeronautics of the Air Force

Since 1999, our family has suffered severely as a result of the persecution of Falun Gong in China. We've often seen and heard the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled media slander our Master and Dafa. This makes us very sad since we have benefited so much from Dafa.

In August 1999, our two-year-old daughter, who was playing on the bed, suddenly mumbled, “Go to Beijing, go to Beijing.” The two of us looked at each other and decided to go to Beijing. Two days later, with my mother-in-law, whose diseases had disappeared after practicing Falun Dafa, and our daughter, we arrived at the National Appeals Office in Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. However, we were detained at the gate, which was occupied by police from all parts of the country. My daughter and I were held at the hotel of the Second Aeronautics College for more than 12 days. We were monitored by colleagues 24 hours a day. The evil forces also sent Wang Zhigang and his wife, Song Jianfeng, former practitioners, to brainwash me. I denied what they said and they had to leave. My husband and his mother were sent back to Changchun City and were detained in Daguang Detention Center for two weeks.

In March 2000, the Second Aeronautics College fired me and more than ten other Falun Dafa practitioners.

In December 2000, I went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing alone. I held up a banner that said, “Falun Dafa is good! My Master is innocent!” and shouted the message. Police in uniform and plainclothes rushed over to me and pushed me into a police car. A policeman struck me in the face. Strangely, I did not feel pain, just a little numb. I thought, “Master bore the pain for me.” I was taken to Tiananmen Square Police Station, which was overflowing with practitioners from all over the country. At night, some of us were taken to the Pinggu Detention Center close to Beijing. There, the police force-fed the practitioners who were on a hunger strike by inserting tubes into their stomachs through their noses. It was so painful that I just pulled out the tube, which was stained with blood. In the detention center, we kept practicing the exercises as usual. I remember I strongly felt the energy field. Six days later, those of us who did not give our names and refused to cooperate with the police were released. However, some of us were robbed of all our money by the police before our release. (I did not cooperate with the police, so they did not take my money.)

At the end of December 2000, my husband also went to Beijing alone and shouted his sincere words, “Falun Dafa is good” in the Temple of Heaven. He was detained by Chaoyang Police Station in Daguang Detention Center in Changchun City for 15 days.

Two-year-old Daughter Held Hostage

After I was fired from the Second Aeronautics College , I taught English at Lempton College in Changchun and also worked as a translator. In June 2001, the Changling County police came to the school to arrest me. The principal and my colleagues could not tolerate the persecution and the interruption of the school schedule, so they stopped the police. I ran away with the help of my colleagues.

When the police could not find me, they took my daughter from daycare as a hostage. My daughter was kept there until midnight, when my kind colleagues went to get her.

Uprooted from Home

In March 2001, we moved to Kunming to avoid the endless persecution in our hometown. We taught in the business school of Yunnan Normal University. Our integrity and depth of knowledge were recognized by our supervisors, colleagues, and students. Once a new student and his father arrived at school with heavy luggage at 10 p.m. Liu Young drove them to find a hotel. After they were settled, he left. The student looked for his benefactor for four years and finally found Liu Yong again when he was about to graduate.

In 2004-2005, Liu Yong won the “Excellent Teacher” award in the business school. In 2006, a sculpture made by Liu Yong and his students was set up by the landmark building at school. In 2009, Liu Yong was hired as a visiting associate professor. His many works were published in prominent journals in China. Over 10 of his artworks have been purchased by international collectors. In July 2007 when he attended the “Chinese Contemporary Painter Exhibition,” two of his oil paintings were purchased by collectors on the first day of the exhibition, and he was recognized as “One of the Painters Whose Artworks Have Greatest Potential Value” by the magazine Chinese Collection. His work Tibetan Girl won First Prize in Yunnan.

I won the Excellent Teacher and Excellent Employee Award in the business school six times. I designed and taught key courses. I was Principal Investigator (PI) for many province-wide projects. The book Speeding Up Oral English that I was in charge of editing won the “Excellent Textbook for Universities” award in 2009. The book was also listed as one of the “Textbooks for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan” (2011) and “Key Textbooks” (2012). I also won Third Prize in both the Yunnan Province Teaching Contest and the Yunnan Normal University Teaching Contest. In August 2011, I was transferred from the Business School to the School of Humanities. I reformed the foreign language teaching and improved the passing rate on the CET-4 (College English Test – Level Four) four-fold by December 2011. The passing rate was top-3 in the independent schools of Yunnan Province.

Sincere Words Caused Persecution Again

In September 1, Liu Yong wrote “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance is good” on the wall when he worked on a project of painting and relief sculpture. Menglian Police Station officers then arrested him and kept him in the Menglian Detention Center.

In September 3, six officers from Wuhua Police Station and Menglian Police Station (Li Zhibing, Luo Yun, and Hu Wenwu were three of them) broke into our house in Kunming. They took two laptops, one printer, four boxes of DVD discs, flash drives and other personal belongings. They kept the Dafa books and materials as “criminal evidence.” In September, staff from the Kunming Police Station went to the School of Humanities to threaten the leaders and force them to fire me. To avoid the persecution, I had to leave home for a month. At this point Liu Yong was formally arrested.

The sudden tragedy caused my mother-in-law great pain. She soon became very thin. Because I could not take care of her, our relatives in Northeast China took her to live with them. My daughter, who had just entered high school, had to live in my friend's house for a month. She could not focus on her studies, and her GPA rank fell from #3 to # 28. My younger sister, who was on business trip for two months, took care of my mother. A happy family suddenly fell apart.

There are two other incidents of persecution I want to mention here. My mother, Ms. Qin Guiying, started practicing in 1994. After just one month, all her post encephalitis symptoms, insomnia, and stomach problem were gone. In July 21 she was arrested and held in Dandong Detention Center. Two weeks later she was sentenced to two and a half years of forced labor. She was taken to Dandong Forced Labor Camp for six months. Because she refused to be “reformed,” she was transferred to the notorious Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City. She suffered intensive brainwashing and hard labor, which caused permanent damage to her mind and body.

My mother-in-law lived in Changling County, Jilin Province. After practicing Falun Gong for two months, she quit smoking after almost 40 years. All of her diseases disappeared. However, she was kept in Daguang Detention Center for two weeks after she went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. The police released her, but later extorted more than 10,000 yuan from her. My mother-in-law was also often harassed by the local police station. Since she could not practice anymore, she had severe problems both physically and mentally. In December 2010, she was hit by a truck and became paralyzed.

Individuals responsible for Mr. Liu Yong's arrest:
Liao Xingxiao, head of Menglian Detention Center: +86-13578199200(Cell)
Tao Wenyong, captain of National Security Team at Menglian: +86-18987918543(Cell), +86-13577928986(Cell)
Hu Wenwu, Li Zhibing, and Luo Yun, Menglian Police Station officers
Wu Guolong, head of Menglian Police Station