Is Minghui Merely a Free Resource?

(Minghui.org) The Minghui website has come a long way since it was launched on June 25, 1999. Its volunteers have put in tremendous efforts to keep it running smoothly during the more than 8,180 days (over 196,000 hours) of its journey.

Among Minghui volunteers are practitioners outside of China, as well as correspondents in China who have risked their lives gathering information about the persecution of Falun Dafa. Their devotion and commitment have enabled Minghui to fulfill its sacred mission to serve as a platform for practitioners to share cultivation experiences and as the most comprehensive, timely, and important resource for content related to Falun Gong.

Master said, “The Minghui website's role in clarifying the truth is irreplaceable. It's the most important window through which we get the truth out about the persecution and the overall situation of Dafa and Dafa disciples' validating the Fa.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. V)

Therefore, Minghui volunteers have never slacked off in gathering firsthand information about the persecution and creating original content about Falun Dafa. They have overcome all kinds of difficulties and persevered in achieving Minghui’s mission.

In addition to serving practitioners, Minghui has been publishing articles and compiling various forms of truth-clarification materials intended for everyday people. But this has often been overlooked by practitioners outside of China.

As a matter of fact, except for Minghui Weekly, which serves practitioners who have yet to be able to access Minghui, most materials used by practitioners in China to clarify the facts are Minghui products, including magazines, newspaper, pamphlets, flyers, calendars, New Year greetings, and small objects such as amulets. As a result, the role of Minghui is immeasurable in the eyes of practitioners in China.

Minghui and Everyday People

Many practitioners outside of China and tens of thousands of practitioners who have immigrated to other countries from China in recent years are not clear on the content and role of Minghui. Some treat Minghui as merely a free resource with easily accessible experience-sharing articles and persecution news. They use Minghui content in their own projects without giving credit to Minghui. In their minds, their own issues and projects are the most important.

Of course, there are also practitioners who feel that Minghui content is not presentable or suitable for everyday people. Due to their own notions, they like to talk about everyday people’s things in order to attract their attention. It is true that Minghui does not publish non-Falun Dafa related content. While media outlets such as the Epoch Times may publish everyday society’s content compiled or written by practitioners, such content should not be added into Minghui articles or products.

The articles and products published on Minghui are totally free for practitioners in mainland China. Practitioners are welcome to use Minghui content to save people. At the same time, we hope that practitioners, especially those outside of China, can be considerate of Minghui and its volunteers.

Based on my observations, Minghui volunteers have been overwhelmed by the tremendous amount of work required to create original content. As such, they recognize that there is room for improvement. More specifically, they hope to do better in promoting Minghui, just like Shen Yun companies that promote their shows.

As far as I know, Minghui editors are all veteran practitioners who have been through all sorts of tests, whether they work on Minghui periodicals, magazines, books, radio, various subsites, or other languages of the Minghui site. Day in and day out, they work behind the scenes and they really appreciate other practitioners’ reminders, feedback, and criticism, which motivates them to do better in Minghui work and their own cultivation. This in turn makes Minghui a better, more efficient resource and powerhouse for saving people.

Minghui was instructed not to publish everyday content, including articles written by practitioners but intended for everyday people. Even the small number of third-party opinion articles published on Minghui are very likely to be excluded from Minghui’s permanent archive in the future. The fact that Minghui does not publish everyday content should not be an excuse for practitioners to conclude that Minghui content is not suitable for everyday people or not accepted by everyday people.

The bottom line is that we cannot stop talking directly about Falun Gong or citing Minghui content just because some everyday people do not like Minghui content. On the contrary, this requires Dafa disciples to use their compassion and wisdom to save people. We should feel the urgency to help everyday people. After all, no matter how content they are with their comfortable lives, they will have no future if they fail to recognize the CCP’s viciousness and understand that “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Therefore, we cannot avoid clarifying the basic facts that should be made known to everyone, since all people should be given the opportunity to select their future. Of course, how to clarify the basic facts and do it well requires us to have a righteous mind and a sincere attitude (that is, a good cultivation state), just like with everything else we do. Plus, we need to learn and master certain skills.

Giving Credit to Minghui Instead of Plagiarizing

We have seen that many practitioners cite a large amount of Minghui content, including articles, truth-clarification materials, data reports, and greetings, in their independent media channels, websites, books, or even academic papers. But they have always removed references to Minghui and Minghui correspondents’ names before publishing Minghui content on their own platforms. That means that their audiences will never know that Minghui is the creator of that original content.

Some of those practitioner-run platforms are non-profit truth-clarification projects. But there are some that are for-profit entities, which have turned Minghui into a free resource for their daily operations, profits, and accomplishments. Some practitioners have taken the list of about 120,000 key perpetrators, which Minghui spent years compiling, and submitted it to various governments in the name of other projects, followed by high-profile reporting. Such an act may be a “no-brainer” and may bear no ill intention, but it has denied the existence of Minghui and prevented it from reaching a wider audience.

Here is a common scenario. After Minghui publishes its articles every midnight, good articles are immediately stolen by practitioners in different media projects. They remove Minghui correspondents’ names and add their own names as the writers or sources of the articles. They then use these articles to promote their own media.

Such plagiarism violates journalism ethics in everyday society, where media and news agencies clearly indicate the source of their articles. Minghui should be given credit when its content is reprinted by other projects. But the aforementioned practitioners have failed to do so. Their plagiarism has turned most Minghui articles, reports, and materials into “original content” published by their media, websites, or other projects.

It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort for Minghui volunteers to organize, compile, and publish firsthand information about the persecution and other original content. It is especially the case during holidays, when Minghui editors work nonstop to sort and publish greetings. But as soon as Minghui articles are published, they become “breaking news,” “feature articles,” or “special coverage” in other media run by practitioners, who take Minghui for granted and use its content without giving credit. By the time Minghui editors are ready to compile magazines, books, or other types of products, the content has already been posted in those practitioner-run platforms. The various Minghui products based on our original content may even seem repetitive or redundant in the eyes of readers as a result.

The original content creator thus ends up having to compete with those who reprint such content without giving credit to the former. Does plagiarism have a place in the community of cultivators who follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance? If we are considerate of others and put ourselves in others’ shoes, what would be the answer then?

Above is my observation, and I just wanted to bring this up. I apologize if anything is inappropriate or unclear. It is true that we Dafa disciples work together as one body, but our projects are run independently. I suppose practitioners will end up in different places and realms in the future. After all, there is no communism in the heavens.

In the end, I would like to thank practitioners, both those in China and overseas, for their commitment to and support of Minghui in the past twenty-plus years. Without Falun Dafa, there is no Minghui. The persecution can only make Dafa disciples even more indestructible.