(Clearwisdom.net) My family members have been Catholics for several generations. My grandfather died a long time ago. My uncle, father's oldest brother, joined the army of the government of the Republic of China(1). After the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) takeover, my uncle left home and went into hiding. Consequently, the CCP regime agents branded my family "anti-revolutionary." The CCP regime shows no mercy toward those who are different from them. My father recalls they often held "criticizing meetings" then, that publicly persecuted landlords. The CCP fostered and magnified humanity's evil side during those meetings. During one of those meetings, some people in the crowd even took a breast-feeding baby from a mother and smashed the baby to death on the ground. Because the priest in our parish remained firm with his belief in Catholicism, the regime agents forced him to do hard labor in a coal mine. The priest eventually died as a result of torture.
Grandmother and father lived in extreme fear. Grandmother died from a heart attack. Father then decided to leave his home and become destitute. The CCP officials did a "history search" on my father during the Great Cultural Revolution(2). Because my family members were practicing Catholics and my uncle used to be a soldier in the Republican Army, they framed Father, branding him "anti-revolutionary." Hence, Father was imprisoned. He almost died in prison. My family has lived under the dark cloud of the CCP's persecution for 50 years. This is the reason for my family to be especially terrified when the CCP decided to persecute Falun Gong, which I practice.
I started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. It has changed my life. That time in my life is the most unforgettable. After the persecution started on July 20, 1999, I went to Beijing twice to appeal for justice for Falun Gong, but was escorted back each time before I ever got there. Facing my boss's persuasive arguments, my elderly father's worries, and my child's innocent eyes, I was momentarily almost moved. But after calmly studying the Fa, I gradually became steady again and held on to my belief. As Master said, "Firmly cultivating Dafa, the heart unmoved" ("Seeing True Nature" from Hong Yin II, Translation Version B)
Hearing that the CCP regime had declared Falun Gong an "evil cult," I decided to go to Beijing to appeal. Expressing my thoughts to a few fellow practitioners, I felt my past worries suddenly disappear. I was quite relieved. After making arrangements at home and at work, I went to Beijing that same day.
However, deep in my mind I had many selfish thoughts, and I was arrested and detained in the Qiliqu Police Dispatch Station in Changping, a suburb of Beijing, where I was brutally beaten. The police promised to release me immediately if I told them my home address. Because I wanted them to stop beating me, I told them my home address. They had lied! Instead of releasing me, they escorted me to a temporary jail they had set up specifically to detain Falun Gong practitioners. There I met other practitioners from all over China who had also been detained and refused to tell the police their home addresses. Following a few days of experience sharing I found my weaknesses. The experience further strengthened my determination to explain the truth of Falun Gong.
Once escorted home I was sentenced to forced labor. I was the first practitioner in my area sentenced to forced labor. Back then, those prison guards who only guarded practitioners were fond of using electric batons to torture practitioners. This guard regarded me as his opportunity for a promotion or a salary increase. To "reform" me, he took me to a room and used an electric baton to hit the metal bars on the door. I could see very strong shimmering and a loud "shriek." I could also hear a terrifying sound from outside the room. My heart sank: I had never seen anything like this before in my life. My legs felt weak but immediately I remembered that a Falun Gong practitioner should not be afraid. I called to Master. The prison guard was stunned. He ordered me to return to my cell and pretended that nothing had happened. I did not see him for a long time after that. I eventually heard from certain prisoners who were ordered to "sandwich" practitioners that this prison guard had violated the law and had hence been degraded to a lower ranked correction guard. I was later on transferred to the team where he worked and explained the truth to him. He showed some understanding for the practitioners.
The prison guards constantly tortured and mentally tormented practitioners. One day I suddenly was unable to move my lower extremities. To shirk responsibility, the prison guards intended to blame a personal cangue. I firmly refused to accept their ulterior motives and told them practitioners do not merely speak of "Truthfulness." From then on, until his release, this specific individual stopped participating in the persecution of practitioners. After I left the prison, he even helped me forward some of Master's lectures to the still imprisoned practitioners.
Home from the labor camp, I learned that, because of pressure from the 610 Office, my former employer had fired me. I had no other alternative but to go to Beijing to get help from a relative there. I did odd jobs to support my family. I slept in a large work shelter with 20 other workers. I would have to wait until everyone else went to sleep before I could study the Fa in very dim light. I did the sitting exercise on a bed.
What worried me most was having lost the opportunity to share experiences with fellow practitioners. I was unable to find practitioners in Beijing. Everyone around me was from out of town. I was even more worried about not having access to Master's latest lectures on time, and neither could I get the "Minghui Weekly." I could only rely on fellow practitioners from my hometown to mail me the lectures. I felt sad the whole time and wanted to go home, but for many reasons I could not. Sometimes I would ask Master to help me.
Afterwards, the company where I did odd jobs merged with another company, and I was transferred to a computer storage room. This enabled me to start learning computer skills. Later on, I could use the Internet at home. Certain practitioners from my hometown told me how to open an email account from the overseas websites. They also sent me the software that helped me to break through the Internet blockade. It only takes a few seconds for me to get on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. In addition, I can also browse the websites that the regime has blocked.
Master once again has helped me to overcome tribulations and further enlarged the areas for me to cultivate.
I browse the Falun Gong websites daily, download truth-clarification information, and sometimes write articles for the websites to expose the persecution that practitioners suffer. At the same time I also find my own drawbacks so that I am constantly correcting my mistakes.
Notes:
(1) The Republic of China was the official government of China before the CCP took control in 1949.
(2) The Great Cultural Revolution lasted for ten years, from 1966 to 1976. Everything stopped, and the CCP government led by Mao Zedong led the Chinese into the "Revolution" against Chinese traditions, philosophies, and culture.
