(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Xu Qingyan is a 47-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner. Before practicing Falun Dafa, she had many diseases including cancer of the thyroid, which normally requires immediate surgery. As her family was poor, she could not afford the operation, so her tumor began to grow every day. She was also constantly in pain due to other illnesses. It was a tragedy that such a young woman should lose her mobility. She was only 30 years old, and she often cried secretly, not wanting to worry her mother further. Ms. Xu's suffering made her impatient and resentful, thus she often vented her anger onto her mother. Her mother loved her dearly, so she was always very tolerant of her daughter. As Ms. Xu's illnesses began to get worse, so did her relationship with her mother. Her elder sister decided to take her mother away.

On December 12, 1997, Ms. Xu Qingyan began practicing Falun Dafa, and before long, all her diseases were gone. That was the very first time in her life that she experienced the feeling of being illness-free. It was a feeling hard to describe. From then on, she quickly read Zhuan Falun and began to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.

Knowing that she had been disrespectful towards her mother, Ms. Xu was extremely remorseful. Without any hesitation, she went to her older sister's house and kneeled down to beg her mother for forgiveness. Her mother was so touched by her action that she cried immediately. Her sister was startled and said, "It has only been a month and it has produced such a great change in you. Falun Dafa is indeed miraculous!" Since then, Ms. Xu was respectful to her mother and caring to the people around her. From practicing Falun Dafa, she regained a strong and healthy body, which allowed her to work in the fields again. She even volunteered to look after her elder sister's orchard. Her family thus became harmonious and happy.

Xu Qingyan's good life, however, did not last long. On July 21, 1999, about a year after she started practicing Falun Dafa, other practitioners told her that Falun Dafa had become an "illegal organization" and was outlawed in China. Ms. Xu was totally shocked and refused to believe that it was true. Immediately, she traveled to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Dafa. When she arrived at Tiananmen Square, she was unlawfully arrested immediately by the armed police after she told them that she was a Falun Dafa practitioner. She was taken to an unknown location where there were many other arrested practitioners from other areas. The police ordered the Falun Dafa practitioners to gather in a big room and each of them would be asked for their name and address. The police even forced them to give their thumbprints. Seeing this, Ms. Xu firmly refused to have her thumbprints taken and tried to reason with the police. Without listening to her, a burly police officer grabbed her by her hair and banged her head against a stone pillar. She was then dragged into a car and sent to Beijing Sports Stadium. Ms. Xu was sent to the city detention center that night by the Beijing police. A month later, she was transferred to Heishan County Detention Center and was held there for more than a month. It was only after Ms. Xu went on a hunger strike for five days in protest that she was finally released.

After seeing how Falun Dafa was being slandered and how people in China were being deceived by the anti-Falun Gong propaganda, Ms. Xu Qingyan decided to bravely clarify the truth about Falun Dafa to the public. In October 1999, the police from Daxue Police Station of Taihe District illegally barged into her house and forcibly took her to the detention center. Then, they transferred her to the Jinzhou City Drug Rehabilitation Center. In the center, Ms. Xu saw many other detained practitioners.

A few days later, the police from the City Police Station took Ms. Xu to an illegal court hearing, but she refused to answer any questions. About 10 p.m. that night, she was sent back to the Drug Rehabilitation Center. All the next morning, the police continued to question her in court and consequently, she was sent to the city's No.1 Detention Center. Ms. Xu then went on a hunger strike to protest the unlawful persecution. After seeing this, a group of seven to eight men pinned her down and pinched her nose, and tried to pour fluids into her mouth. This was of no avail as nothing went in. After this, Ms. Xu was handcuffed by prison guard Jin Liwen and for half a day, she was denied use of the toilet. About five months later, without going through any proper legal procedures, Ms. Xu was sentenced to three years in prison. She was then transferred to Shenyang Dabei Prison.

When she first arrived at Dabei Prison, the prison director handed her a book containing the prison rules and guidelines and ordered Xu Qingyan to memorize it. Ms. Xu clearly knew that she had done nothing wrong and was not a criminal, so she threw the book away. The prison director then angrily slapped her in the face and tied her to a bed. After that, she was locked in a restroom. During the several years that she was in the prison, Ms. Xu did not forget to treat others compassionately and she did not bear any grudges towards anyone. She was repeatedly force-fed while she was on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. When Ms. Xu was first force-fed in the prison, about eight police officers pinned her onto her bed and Director Wang personally ordered the criminal inmates to force-feed her. They forced her mouth open and inserted a tube as wide as a finger down her throat. After a while, Ms. Xu began to vomit blood. They could not do the force feeding through her mouth, and decided to do it through her nose instead. Such brutal force feeding was extremely painful and Ms. Xu often cried out during the process, but the cruel Director Wang continued without any hesitation. One day, Ms. Xu Qingyan was tortured until her kidneys began to deteriorate. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and also had shortness of breath. Despite all this, she was still forced to do manual labor every day. Every day after work, she was so tired and exhausted that she could only lie on her bed. One of the inmates told her, "Yan, you are such a good person. If you die here, we will be very upset."

When Ms. Xu nearly finished serving her sentence, Director Wu snarled, "Since you're so persistent [in practicing Falun Dafa], I will not release you!" In these three and a half years, Ms. Xu Qingyan had faced the persecution without any hatred or resentment, and she was always calm and peaceful. Her compassion and forbearance deeply influenced many people in the prison and they respected her greatly. Even the police officers and guards were full of respect for her whenever they mentioned Master Li in front of her. Before she was released, the prison director ordered her to write her "understanding," and she wrote some poems describing how a Dafa practitioner displayed an unwavering belief in Falun Dafa.

In May 2003, Xu Qingyan was finally released from the prison, and she stayed at the home of her second sister. Ms. Xu continued to study the Fa, practice the exercises, and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa to many people in her village. Soon, she recovered from her injuries and illnesses and became healthy again. About 8:30 p.m. on February 4, 2004, Ms. Xu was arrested when she was at home chatting with another Falun Dafa practitioner, Ms. Wang Yulan. A group of police from the Daxue Police Station of Taihe District, led by Zhang Wenxin, barged into her house. They illegally ransacked her house and one police officer found Master Li's photo. Ms. Xu tried to stop them from taking the photo away, but she was slapped in the face instead. The blows were so harsh that she suffered from temporary hearing loss. These police officers then sent both Ms. Xu and Ms. Wang to the city's No.1 Detention Center. On February 28, Ms. Xu Qingyan and Ms. Wang Yulan were sentenced to one year and three years of forced labor respectively. Both of them were sent to Masanjia Labor Camp.

When she first arrived in Masanjia Labor Camp, Ms. Xu was approached by several criminal inmates and collaborators. They tried all means to "transform" her. They tied her onto a bed and deprived her of sleep for many days. Whenever Ms. Xu tried to advise them not to do bad deeds, they covered her mouth with a handkerchief, pried her mouth open with a ladle and stuffed it with garlic. Her teeth thus became loose and the garlic made her eyes water. They did that to her for forty days, but Ms. Xu refused to give in. One morning in May, when they found out that she was still not "transformed," Zhang Xiurong, the director, and Yang Xiaofeng, the deputy director, brought four to five people with them and taped her mouth. Then they handcuffed her on the bed. After they left, Ms, Xu felt tightness in her chest, shortness of breath, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Subsequently, her faced turned white and she lost consciousness, with her left leg kneeling on the floor and her hands cuffed to the bed. Her handcuffs were not removed until 8 p.m. that night, and she was then allowed to go to the toilet and have her dinner.

For a whole week, Ms. Xu was tortured this way. One day, she was sent to Shenyang Mental Hospital for further persecution. On the way to the hospital, Ms. Xu constantly shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" but Director Li tried to stop her by hitting her head with a drink bottle. When she arrived at the hospital, Ms. Xu tried to clarify the truth to the people there, telling them that the "Tiananmen Square self-immolation" incident was staged. In the patient's room, she also dashed to the window and clarified the truth to the people outside. The doctor tried to give her injections but her struggling made it impossible to do so. Thus, they decided to send her back to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. In the labor camp, Ms. Xu was severely slapped and lost her hearing (even today, she still suffers from partial hearing loss). She was again handcuffed to the bed and her mouth was taped. Director Yang Xiaofeng said, "This time your medical fee is 200 yuan." Ms. Xu Qingyan knew that they tried to use this as an excuse to extort money from her, despite the fact that no treatment was done.

The next morning, Ms. Xu was locked in a restroom on the fourth floor. On the fourth floor, there were also nine other rooms with double beds (four of these were locked and unused and anyone who went in would have breathing difficulty from the lack of air circulation). Initially, Ms. Xu was locked in a restroom in one of the five rooms that were frequently used. Two minutes after she was there, she was dragged to the room that was unused and handcuffed to a tall stool. As she was having her menstrual period at that time, blood flowed all the way onto the floor. Ms. Xu was also having breathing difficulties. The abuse was agonizing.

Finally, the perpetrators dragged her out from the unused room into the restroom of the regular room, and handcuffed her again to a tall stool. About ten days later, Ms. Xu was forced onto a tiger bench. Then, twenty days later, she was finally released from the restroom. Knowing that her physical condition had deteriorated rapidly from the torture and remembering how she regained her health before, Xu Qingyan decided to continue practicing the Falun Gong exercises. On September 1, she was handcuffed to a shelf in a storage room because she was caught practicing the exercises. She was forced to stand there for nine consecutive days, and her lower legs became swollen and developed boils. This torture also made her right leg lame. One midnight, Ms. Xu suddenly leaned forward and the noises from her handcuffs woke up the inmates. One of the inmates saw her agony and empathetically told her, "Yan, your actions have moved heaven and earth." At this time, Ms. Xu noticed that there was a thunderstorm. Nine days later, she was finally released back to the prison cell.

On December 1, the prison authorities made the practitioners attend a class that forced them to slander Falun Dafa. In order to avoid being brainwashed in the class, Ms. Xu Qingyan tried repeatedly to escape from the class. As a result, she was often called to the prison directors' offices (directors Zhang Xiurong and Zhang Zhouhui) for beatings. She endured the pain and suffering and tried many times to clarify the truth to them. She said, "Who doesn't have parents, brothers and sisters? Just because you have such a special job doesn't mean that you should miss such a historic opportunity. When the new era comes, ask yourself deep inside if you all can face your families and neighbors?" At this time, both Zhang Xiurong and Zhang Zhouhui were tired from beating Ms. Xu and decided to lock her in the restroom again. In the winter, the unheated restroom was like a freezer. Again, she was locked inside for nine days. When she was finally released, Ms. Xu was so cold that she had difficulty moving. A month later, she needed support from others to walk. All her bones were aching, she could on longer lie down, and she was often awakened by pain in the middle of the night.

In January 2005, the Fifth Division of the Second Team was formed and it was named the "Strictly Monitored Team." Ms. Xu and thirty other Falun Dafa practitioners were sent to this team. They were not allowed to wash their clothes or take showers, and they were served the worst food. The cells were also unheated. Everyone decided to go on a hunger strike to protest this persecution. Every practitioner shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" in unison and subsequently, more than ten prison officials came, trying to separate the practitioners by locking them into different cells. The practitioners formed a human wall and thus preventing any one of them from being taking away. One day in February, Ms. Xu Qingyan and another practitioner managed to open the window in their room and shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" towards the canteen. She was locked in the restroom again for doing that. A few days later, Ms. Xu suffered from both a mental collapse and heart problems. She lay on the floor in extreme agony. This time, Ms. Xu was locked up for ten days before being released. After returning to the "Strictly Monitored Team," all the practitioners were still on a hunger strike and constantly shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Soon, they even refused to wear the prison uniforms.

On April 17, 2005, Ms. Qui Li was dragged from her cell for force-feeding and Ms. Xu Qingyan repeatedly shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Upon hearing this, head chief Li Yuming grabbed Ms. Xu's hair and said, "Force-feed her! What are you shouting?" Ms. Xu replied, "My Master said that one practitioner's business is everyone's business." At this time, every practitioner shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" in unison but Ms. Xu Qingyan was pulled out of her cell and sent into a room. Xie, the principal director, closed the door and gave Ms. Xu a severe beating, which loosened her teeth and impaired her hearing. When Xie became tired from beating Ms. Xu, he handcuffed her to a heater. She could barely breathe and soon lost consciousness. Her body slid down the heater and her handcuffs became tight. This was extremely painful and her perspiration seeped through her clothes. After a while, Ms. Xu regained consciousness and tried to stand up, but everything became dark and she lost consciousness again. The second time when she regained consciousness, she saw Director Li Yuming come into the room to get her statement. Ms. Xu tried to clarify the truth to her and refused to sign any document. The frustrated Li beat her again before taping her mouth and ears. When Ms. Xu asked to go to the toilet, Liu Jing, the officer in charge, refused. At 10 p.m. that night they released her back to the "Strictly Monitored Team." Due to the brutal abuse, Ms. Xu's abdomen became bloated with fluid and her lungs and heart were seriously damaged. Even after other practitioners told the police that Ms. Xu was ill, the police completely ignored them.

On April 20, 2005, Ms. Xu Qingyan was taken to the hospital for a medical examination. They found five large tumors, two 12 cm wide and three 5-6 cm wide. She was diagnosed with terminal uterine cancer, as well as myocardium anaemia. On April 24, 2005, Ms. Xu began to develop symptoms including shortness of breath, protruding tongue and the inability to move her head. When she arrived at the hospital, the doctor said that she had to have an operation immediately, so the police decided to call up her family members, informing them that Ms. Xu was very ill. They lied, "Xu Qingyan had uterine cancer for nine years." Ms. Xu's family members replied, "If she contracted it nine years ago, why didn't the forced labor camp manage to diagnose it?" The police insisted that her family members should come and pick her up, but they refused. On that very day, Ms. Xu was sent back to the forced labor camp.

On the early morning of April 26, 2005, Director Zhang told some practitioners to help Ms. Xu put on some clothes, and she was sent back home in a car. While they were in the car, the police told Ms. Xu, "When we arrive at your house, you have to ask your family members to allow you to stay home. We can no longer keep you." When the car arrived at Liushui Village, Ms. Xu's elder brother, sister, nephew and niece came out to check her condition. To their astonishment, they could no longer recognize her. They asked the police, "Only after you have tortured her to such a state will you send her back?! In her current state, she can no longer live. Why do you bring her back? Take her back to your camp! We refuse to keep her at home!" At this point, tears flowed down Ms. Xu Qingyan's face as testimony to the brutal persecution she had suffered. Zhang Wenxin, a police officer from Daxue Village Police Station, tried to console them. After much discussion amongst Ms. Xu's family members, they decided to keep Ms. Xu despite her current condition. This was how Ms. Xu Qingyan escaped from the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp after being tortured for more than a year. The camp was indeed a living hell.

An average farm woman experienced the worst type of persecution in history carried out by the Chinese Communist Party. At the same time, she demonstrated an indomitable spirit and will that were as strong as diamond. That should remind people that there is no way to change a person's heart by force. No persecution in the history of mankind can ever shatter a person's true faith

After seeing how many ordinary citizens were being persecuted for believing in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance," can we act as if nothing has happened? Do Falun Dafa practitioners have to suffer such inhumane persecution just because they refuse to give up their beliefs? Every voice is powerful. When all the voices combine together, it will frighten the evil. After escaping death, Ms. Xu Qingyan is currently trying her best to study the Fa and practise the exercises. Even her swollen abdomen is beginning to recover slowly. We all hope that she will be healthy and safe soon.