(Minghui.org) People doing the Falun Gong exercises were seen on the lawn beside the lake at National Chung Hsing University on Sunday afternoon. A large "Falun Dafa, Truth-Compassion-Forbearance" banner hung from a tree. Passersby paused to watch and take photos. Some asked where to learn the exercises.
Practicing the Falun Gong exercises at National Chung Hsing University
“National Chung Hsing University is a place where local residents come to exercise and to visit. We set up a practice site on the campus so that predestined people could see us,” said Hou De-yi. She is the director of the Student Falun Gong Club at the university. To let more students and visitors learn about Falun Gong, the student club was established three years ago.
De-yi recently got a notice she was accepted to a graduate school and will soon graduate from the university. She recalled that, in her third year in high school, her mother started learning Falun Gong. She accompanied her mother to a nine-day lecture series to watch Master Li's lectures. She thought Master Li's teachings were good and started practicing Falun Gong.
No more insomnia
Many passersby paused to watch the graceful exercises. Hong Yu-jian, in his 30s, works at the water bureau. He used to have insomnia and would get up early and walk through the campus, where he saw practitioners doing the exercises. After he started practicing Falun Gong, his health improved a lot and his insomnia disappeared. He has practiced for seven years. He is kind to everyone and examines himself whenever he is faced with a conflict. He often comes to practice on Sundays and tells passersby about the practice. He said, “Many people have heard of Falun Gong but don't know the details. I like to explain Falun Gong to them.”
Falun Gong practitioners in Taichung have a group practice site at National Chung Hsing University.
Mainland students need to know the facts
As more and more students came from the mainland, the club decided to hold a group practice site in front of the library every Thursday evening. “Because Falun Gong is being persecuted in China, students from the mainland are suspicious of Falun Gong due to the regime's misleading propaganda. Some think they are neutral and don't believe the regime propaganda but still don't know what Falun Gong is. So we hope that they can see Falun Gong on campus and come talk to us if they have any questions,” said De-yi.
De-yi learned from talking with the students from the mainland that they were victims of the communist regime's propaganda that defames Falun Gong: "They were afraid of talking to Falun Gong practitioners. After they are here for a while, they change as they meet practitioners. They get information and think it over."
The club also conducts seminars, lectures, and exhibitions so that students from the mainland can get more information.
Falun Gong is being persecuted in mainland Chinese. Practitioners face illegal arrest and imprisonment. “In Taiwan, one can practice Falun Gong freely. We hope students from the mainland come to learn and think it over. I believe that they will explain the facts to their family and friends when they return. I've found that mainland visitors like to take photos when they see Falun Gong activities. They share what they see in Taiwan. That does indeed bring about change.”
From their experiences over the past few years and sharing with others, De-yi said that the club plans to focus not only on informing mainland Chinese students about Falun Gong, but also on holding events so that all the students on campus will know the facts. When the majority of students know the facts, they will then in turn make the facts known more widely.