Stories of Religious Persecution and Its Consequences

(Minghui.org) Faith in traditional values and the common good is a common theme across cultures. Particularly in China, where divine culture has inspired thousands years of civilization, there have been countless stories in which cherishing virtue led to health and prosperity.

From time to time, however, there have been examples of people neglecting the divine and recklessly harming the innocent. Their bad deeds led to their destruction.

Below are some examples, from ancient times to modern day, of the latter.

Deadly Games of Wu Yi

Of all the kings and emperors in Chinese history, Wu Yi of the Shang Dynasty (who reigned from 1147 to 1112 BC) was the only one struck dead by a thunderbolt. What did he do to deserve such a fate?

According to Shi Ji (Historical Records), one of the most authoritative history books in China, Wu Yi was ruthless and scornful. He made a puppet and called it “the divine.” After instructing someone to use the puppet to play chess with him, Wu Yi won. He then insulted and humiliated the “divine” puppet.

Wu Yi liked archery and came up with a new game. He gave instructions for a leather bag of animal blood to be hung at a great height, so that he could shoot it with an arrow. When the bag broke, blood rushed out. Wu Yi called the game “shooting the divine.”

In his 35th year as king, Wu Yi went hunting between the Yellow River and Wi River. A thunderbolt struck him dead.

The Cost of Killing the Innocent

Taishang Ganying Pian (Treatise on Response and Retribution), a Taoist book from the Song Dynasty, contains several instances in which officials wrongfully sentenced monks to death. Both the officials who issued the orders and the ones who carried out the executions later met with consequences.

Li Ruoshui, a judge in Huainan (in today’s Anhui Province), once heard a case of theft involving five robbers. One of the robbers said that a monk was involved in the incident. After the robbers were executed, Li found the monk, who claimed he was innocent.

Since the robbers were already dead and there was no other evidence against the monk, Li could have let the monk go. But Li believed what the robber had said and poisoned the monk to death.

About a month later, prison officer Li Neng called out for no reason, “Monk, it’s not up to me. It was judge Li Ruoshui who threatened me and caused your death!” He then died.

Assistant judge Liu Yuan died the following day.

On the third day, Li himself died.

Modern Day Religious Persecution

It says in the Taishang Ganyi Pian:

Misfortune and blessings do not come to us without reason, we bring them upon ourselves.The consequences of good and evil deeds are like the shadow, following the body wherever it goes.

After the Chinese Communist Party seized power several decades ago, traditional values were nearly wiped out, and persecution of religious beliefs was the norm. The persecution of Falun Gong, a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, began in 1999.

Chen Yuanchao, a Haikou Court judge in Hainan Province, tried four Falun Gong practitioners on November 12, 1999, sentencing them to up to 12 years in jail.

As the first reported trial in which Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced, Chen and the court were honored with a Second-Class Award from Luo Gan, then secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Committee.

Two years later, Chen was diagnosed with lung cancer and died. After this was reported on television, some judges responsible for Falun Gong cases requested sick leave and some wanted to change jobs.

Chen was not alone. Zou Bihua, deputy president of the Shanghai Supreme Court, died at 47 in December 2014 after sentencing practitioners to prison. Because they were tortured in prison, some of these practitioners ended up disabled and some lost their lives.

Chen Jingqiang, deputy president of Kangping Court in Liaoning Province, also incurred karmic retribution after persecuting Falun Gong. He was fired and sentenced to three years with three years’ probation for bribery. In August 2014, he went fishing and was struck dead by lightning.

When Wang Jingye, presiding judge of Hecheng Court in Hu’nan Province, went fishing in July 2013, he fell in the river and drowned. He was 48. Wang had sentenced at least 17 Falun Gong practitioners because of their faith. Among them, Mr. Pan Jianjun was sentenced to seven years and died as a result of torture.

Since Falun Gong was suppressed in July 1999, tens of thousands of practitioners have been persecuted. Many of them were detained, imprisoned, and tortured, and their families discriminated against and mistreated.

A Minghui website report lists more than 20,000 officials who’ve experienced mishaps after persecuting practitioners. We sincerely hope more officials will think about this carefully, for their own benefit as well as their families.