I Was Only 13 Years Old When the Persecution of Falun Gong Began

(Minghui.org) I was 13 years old in 1999. Around July of that year, many compassionate people around me whom I knew and cultivated Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance suffered the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) unprecedented persecution. Though over 20 years have passed, what I saw and experienced have left a deep impression on me to this day. In this upcoming month of July, I would like to share a few memories. 

The Beginning of the Persecution

The CCP started the persecution during my summer break in July 1999. All of the male practitioners in my town, including my father and Uncle Yang, were all illegally detained by the town government. My mother prepared meals one afternoon and wanted Hua (Uncle Yang’s daughter) and me to take them to my father and Uncle Yang. 

I was only 13 and had never been to the town government. We rode our bikes under the scorching sun on the paved blacktop and I felt very uneasy. I did not know where my father or Uncle Yang was detained, nor did I know how the town officials would treat us and let us visit them. 

It was not a long ride, but thinking about all the unknowns made it feel like an eternity. I felt helpless but I still had to brace myself to do it; the hot summer weather did not bother me as much amidst all the uncertainties. 

We did not know where to go after arriving at the town government. Only after hearing Uncle Yang calling for Hua, did we feel a bit more at ease. 

We headed upstairs and went to the room where my father was illegally detained. The room was not locked and no one was supervising him. Upon seeing my father, he looked quite surprised and asked, “Why are you here?”

I was somewhat upset when I heard what he said but shrugged it off by saying, “I am just here to give you some meals.”

That summer, on the road to the town government, I experienced tribulations instigated by the CCP.

Commemorating My Aunt Yang

At about 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., special police officers climbed over the wall, let themselves into my yard, and started knocking on our door on October 1, 2002. They searched the house and even went into my bedroom and rummaged through my blankets and sheets. They did not find anything and wanted to kidnap my father. A female secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee hypocritically said to me, “It is okay. We are just ‘educating’ them for a couple of days and they will be coming back.”

Autumn had already set in and my mother wanted to pass on some seasonal clothing to my father. I stopped my mother and pointed to the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and said, “She said that my father will be back soon, so there isn’t any need for us to take him any clothing.”

On October 1, also known as National Day of the People’s Republic of China, however, I call it a “National Tragedy Day” with the CCP officially taking over the country, special police officers climbed over the walls and got into our yard, kidnapped my father and scared my young brother. 

After a while my mother came to her senses and said, “We cannot let them take your father away. What crimes have we committed?! We headed to the town government and wanted to bring my father back. On our way there, we saw that Uncle Yang and Aunt Yang’s home was locked up with one women’s shoe left by the door. 

My mother and I hurried over to the town government. The secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee informed us that my father was sent away and did not want to tell us where he was. 

When a big special police officer brought Aunt Yang out to us, I saw that she had handcuffs on. When Aunt Yang saw my mother, she stopped her and gave her the house keys. At that point, Uncle Yang had already been illegally detained for a period of time. 

The secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee tried to curry favor with my mother and said that when Aunt Yang was picked up, she only had one shoe on so she “kindly” lent her a pair of shoes and even told me to “set my mind at ease” and go to school.

I went to a boarding school and would only come home once every three weeks. A mother of my classmate picked me up at the bus station when I came back home three weeks later. She told me, “Aunt Yang has been beaten to death!” Tears started to well up in my eyes but I still had to hide them from everyone. 

It was not until after dinner that my mother told me, “I want to tell you something. Your Aunt Yang was beaten to death.” At this point, I could not control my tears and both my mother and I felt a deep sorrow and mourned for a long time.

When Uncle Yang and Aunt Yang’s grandson entered primary school, the school required everyone to join the Chinese Communist Party’s Youth League. Aunt Yang’s grandson said, “I do not want to enter the Party’s Youth League. My grandmother was killed by them!” He was still reprimanded by the teacher and upon hearing this, I still had tears in my eyes. 

My Family Members and I During This Persecution

My uncle steadfastly believed in Falun Dafa and he went to appeal in Beijing and spoke out for justice. He became the “Focal Target Group” locally. The police searched his house, illegally detained him, beat him, and fined him numerous times until he had to travel from place to place in order to avoid persecution. It was not until the night of his son’s wedding that he came home.

The morning after his son’s wedding, when everyone was still fast asleep, the officers from the county’s Domestic Security Division let themselves in the room and kidnapped my uncle. We did not know the whereabouts of my uncle and when we went to the county’s police office, one officer from the Domestic Security Division arrogantly said, “I am not telling you anything. Get out.” The leader of the Domestic Security Division was even more unreasonable, saying, “You can go ahead and sue us.” My uncle was illegally sent to a forced labor camp for a year. 

In addition, my father-in-law and sister-in-law were also sent to forced labor camps for not giving up their faith. My sister-in-law was also identified as a key target, and she was forced to travel from place to place to avoid being persecuted.

During the time when my husband and I were about to get married, my sister-in-law came back home. Fortunately, we became more alert and sent her away the night before we got married. As predicted, in the morning after we got married, many people from the village government came looking for my sister-in-law. When they did not find my sister-in-law, they demanded we tell them where she lived. My husband had no choice but to randomly give them an address my husband found on his cellphone. We found out later on that they really did go to the address we gave them to look for my sister-in-law. 

The CCP has been persecuting Falun Dafa since July 20, 1999. Above are some memories that I recollect. However, these are more than enough to prove how evil and inhumane the CCP is. I have documented these memories in July 2021. These are my memories, the truth, and proof of the persecution.