Peaceful Appeal of April 25, 1999: A Monument to Morality

(Minghui.org) Twenty-six years ago, a gathering formed near the State Council Appeals Office in Beijing on the morning of April 25, 1999. People stood quietly along the road, taking care not to block pedestrians or vehicles.

They were practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline which consists of five sets of exercises and the guiding principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Days before, dozens of practitioners were arrested in the nearby city of Tianjin. When other practitioners sought their release, officials told them to go to Beijing since the arrest order came from the central government. So practitioners went to the State Council Appeals Office. Though they did not know each other, they all went with the same wish.

One practitioner’s friend worked in the police department. The evening before, the friend called the practitioner and explained why she shouldn’t go. “The higher officers told us to arrest whoever goes there,” he said. The practitioner thanked him but went anyway the next morning.

The practitioners who participated in the silent appeal came from all ages and all walks of life. Some of them were in their 60s or 70s and had gone through the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) numerous political campaigns, such as the Land Reform Movement, the Anti-Rightist Campaign, and the Cultural Revolution. They knew very well how ruthless the regime was.

Some practitioners were in their 20s or 30s. Fresh in their minds was the Tiananmen Square Massacre: When college students peacefully protested for reform, they were met with tanks, rifles, and death.

Some practitioners who worked in government agencies were familiar with how the CCP abused the Chinese state apparatus to suppress people, and some even had a hand in carrying out those campaigns.

But these practitioners went to appeal anyway. After they began practicing Falun Gong, they experienced improved health and spiritual elevation firsthand. Many broken families were healed, and misfortune turned into renewed hope. Some of their amazing stories were reported in China’s major newspapers, including China Economic Times, China Youth Daily, and Yangcheng Evening News.

Unfortunately, the CCP–which sustains its power by promoting class struggle, hatred, and lies–could not tolerate traditional values such as Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) began to “investigate” Falun Gong in 1996 and tried to find evidence to frame the practice. When dozens of practitioners were later arrested in Tianjin in 1999, many Chinese people already knew that the CCP could prohibit practicing Falun Gong at any time.

Falun Gong practitioners have no political pursuits and are not attached to material interests. They only want to improve themselves and become better citizens, thereby benefiting all of society. Such a noble practice should be promoted instead of being suppressed, they thought. Many practitioners concluded that whoever issued the order to arrest practitioners must have misunderstood Falun Gong.

That’s why practitioners went to the State Council Appeals Office to voice their opinion. Some were pregnant women, and entire families also went. They wanted to tell officials that “Falun Gong is good” and that “the practice has given us a good health and teaches us to be better people.”

Some practitioners used the plastic bags they had brought and cleaned the streets by picking up fruit peels, garbage, and even cigarette butts the police officers discarded, and neatly placing them in trash cans. From laborers to farmers, from scientists to professors, though their professions and social status differed, they shared the same identity–Falun Gong practitioners.

One police officer on duty pointed to the clean ground and told the others, “Look at this. Do you know what virtue is? This is virtue!”

Many people said they saw hope for China from this event. “We’ve lived in Beijing our entire lives and we’ve seen all kinds of petitioners–crying, yelling, fighting, and dashing forward into the office–but we’ve never seen a peaceful group like this,” said one local resident. “I have not lived in vain.”

After the CCP took power in 1949, it wiped out traditional values and suppressed independent thought. The regime drove people to pursue material gain at all costs. For those who had drifted along with decades of moral degeneration, it was hard to imagine so many people going to the same place at the same time for the same noble cause–to be better citizens without any concern for their own safety. Local residents and police officers witnessed a kindness and sincerity that was rarely seen in China. That is why the peaceful appeal on April 25, 1999, serves as a monument to morality.