(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Zhang Tieyan was known for her determination, optimism, kindness and purity. We all called her "Swallow" or "Yanzi" in Chinese, which is what the last Chinese character Yan in her given name stands for.
On July 25, 2000, we were taken into Daqing City Detention Center in Heilongjiang Province for practicing the Falun Gong exercises in a group. Yanzi had already been held there for almost four months. Her work took her into custody in a subsidiary temporary housing facility for refusing to write statements renouncing Falun Gong. (Zhang Zhong, Yang Qing and He Zhihong were also being held with her.) The practitioners went on a hunger strike protesting the unreasonable detention. Leaders of her work then sent her to the detention center run by the Hulu District Branch Police Department. Authorities there threatened to transfer any practitioners who did not give in to the Daqing City Detention Center and kept extending detention terms. Yanzi's term was extended repeatedly from the original fifteen-day duration. She was eventually transferred to the Daqing City Detention Center. Yanzi, however, became increasingly steadfast, rational and mature. The living conditions in the detention center were extremely harsh. Food was often made from livestock-grade corn, only halfway cooked and hard to chew. The vegetable soup consisted of a few leaves in a thin broth with sand in it. It was especially hot with poor ventilation in the summer. There were only two small vents and cells were lined up along the corridor, so it was difficult for fresh air to enter the cells. There were fourteen or fifteen practitioners in each cell and not all of them could sleep on the bed. Yanzi always took the floor. Sometimes when we were in low spirits, Yanzi would tell us a cultivation story or some humorous episodes to brighten our mood. She brought us happiness in this miserable place.
One day, officials took her away for interrogation. She clarified the truth to them, and the officials could not help nodding. Before they left, the officials came to her cell, knocked on the window and said, "Zhang Tieyan, we are on our way out. Goodbye! Stick to your faith!"
Ms. Zhang spent most of her time reading the Falun Gong books and copying them to distribute to others. She was attentive while studying and very steadfast in her belief. In order to help others improve, she used flattened soap and toothpaste boxes to copy sections of the Falun Gong books onto. She would cut a box into four pieces, and stitched them together for distribution as soon as each of the nine lectures in Zhuan Falun was completely copied. She wrote larger characters for elderly practitioners and smaller ones for younger practitioners. Her copies were of different sizes and material, but without exception, her handwriting was easy to read. Whenever Teacher's new articles were passed into the detention center, she would stay up the whole night to finish as many copies as possible to help spread them to everyone right away. A large plastic bucket holding boiled drinking water was used as her desk. In the heat of summer it didn't take long before her clothes were soaked in sweat. She gave inmates who worked outside the only five yuan she had to purchase pens and paper for copying the books.
In this harsh environment, she realized Falun Dafa practitioners should be "assisting Teacher in his journey in this world" (Hongyin). We should not be detained for extended periods. She shared her thoughts with others and decided to talk with the authorities and demand unconditional release of all practitioners. She started drafting a letter of appeal and was prepared to stand up as a representative to negotiate with the authorities.
It was late at night when she finished writing the letter and went to bed. At 4:00 a.m., she suddenly shouted loudly. Then her pulse disappeared and her breathing stopped. Her face turned a dark purple. She died from lack of oxygen. It was August 11, 2000.
Zhang Tieyan (Yanzi) was only 29 years old when she died.
Yanzi left us, but the lectures she copied continued to be passed among and recited by practitioners. Later, Ms. Chen Qiulan was taken to the hospital because of difficult breathing. Mr. Dai Zhidong in the men's ward was also sent to the hospital. All of us felt somewhat suffocated and could not draw in enough air.
Ms. Chen Liping broke the silence and shouted, "Falun Dafa practitioners! Stop waiting to die here. We demand unconditional release! We demand to attend Zhang Tieyan's funeral!" Her words sent shock waves across the Daqing Detention Center. Falun Dafa practitioners went on a mass hunger strike.
Officials were shocked and they had to open the gates of detention centers in all the five districts and four counties in Daqing City. Falun Dafa practitioners were unconditionally released.
Over six hundred Falun Dafa practitioners who participated in group exercises on June 18 and July 25 or had been to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, were mostly being held in detention centers in the five districts and four counties. All practitioners detained at Daqing Detention Center were released except for a dozen or so. The exact numbers for other detention centers are difficult to determine. The released practitioners immediately joined the Fa-rectification to help save more people.
"All this is being recorded in the history of the cosmos." (The Disciple's Magnificence)
September 25, 2004
Category: Deaths
