(Minghui.org) Twenty-two years ago the then leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claimed he would “eradicate Falun Gong in three months.” Instead of being wiped out, Falun Gong, a spiritual practice of mind and body, is practiced in more than 100 countries and regions in the world. Many who saw through the Communist regime’s lies have decided to take up the practice. 

Mr. Mu Chuan, a production artist at a Toronto-based media group, shared how he began practicing Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) while studying in Canada despite the CCP’s media smearing the practice.

Quitting the CCP and Its Youth Organizations

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Mu Chuan

Mr. Mu Chuan graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts of China, the country’s most prestigious art academy. While studying in Toronto in 2011, his good friend Mr. Ma told him why it is important to quit the CCP and its youth organizations. 

“I have a special predestined relationship with this friend of mine. We were classmates in middle school and were accepted by the Central Academy of Fine Arts at the same time. In college, we were classmates and roommates. We both came to Canada and now work for the same company.”

“I studied computer animation in Canada. One day during my last semester, my friend Ma encouraged me to quit the CCP. When I took drawing lessons in China, I learned how the Communist regime destroyed traditional Chinese culture in all areas of arts during the Great Cultural Revolution. Since I already had a negative impression of the CCP, I happily agreed to quit the Party and its youth organizations.” 

“Although that went smoothly, it took me a while to finally take up the practice. I was a Christian since I was in elementary school and often went to church with my mother. I believed in Jesus Christ so it was difficult for me to accept a different belief system.”

Slowly Opening Up to Falun Gong

Mr. Mu’s friend talked to him often about Falun Gong. “He told me about the Fa principles he enlightened to and explained them to me from the perspective of faith to help me understand the practice. Although I had been a Christian since I was little, I was influenced by many different cultures and philosophical traditions such as Buddhism and Taoism during my studies and career as an artist. After many conversations with him, I gradually opened up to Falun Gong.”

One thing that really surprised Mr. Mu was that his friend quit smoking after he began practicing Falun Gong. “I knew how bad his addiction was. When we were roommates in college, the floor of our dorm room was always covered with cigarette butts and we couldn’t even see the floor tiles. He contributed most of them. After taking up the practice, however, he quit smoking cold turkey. I thought that was incredible and thus believed that Falun Gong must be something special.”

Mr. Mu continued, “I searched the Internet and read different articles and forums to find “objective evaluations by third parties.” Since there’s no CCP Great Firewall in Canada to filter and restrict the information we have access to, I found articles of different opinions relatively easily. Generally, people have positive things to say about Falun Gong. What one Christian wrote particularly touched me.”

“The author suggested Christians to learn more about Falun Gong and to not limit oneself to a box. I thought about how when Jesus was healing illnesses and spreading Christianity to the public, many witnessed miracles, but still didn’t believe him. To a Christian, those who didn’t believe Jesus were considered ignorant. And now the founder of Falun Dafa is healing illnesses and spreading the Fa, if I can’t believe it, then have I become one of those ignorant people? With this thought, I decided to give Falun Gong a try,” he said.

I Had No Excuse Not to Choose Dafa

His friend later invited Mr. Mu to help with New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD). “I started working for NTD in 2011. One day after work, my co-workers chatted and made plans for Fa study. They spoke in English so I didn’t hear them clearly and thought they were planning to have a meeting. I told them I wanted to join them. My friend was pleasantly surprised and said, ‘Sure. Join us.’”

“It wasn’t until I sat down at this “meeting” that I realized they were going to read the book Zhuan Falun as a group. Since I invited myself to be there, I didn’t feel right to leave right away so I stayed. Although I couldn’t completely let go of Christian beliefs at the time, I began to take in some content of the book as I sat there quietly following along with the reading. There was a first time, then a second time. As I got to know my co-workers better, they always included me in their Fa studies. Some even lent me their books. Nobody forced me, but I didn’t turn them down either.” 

After attending Fa studies for some time, Mr. Mu discovered, “Dafa’s principles are so profound. I decided that if I started [practicing Falun Gong] I would not give up. I felt that whether I choose to cultivate or not, the Fa has a perfect explanation for my decision. Everything in the human society can be explained by Dafa and the fact that I recognized this was wisdom gained by studying the Fa. Then what excuse did I have not to cultivate in Dafa? Just like that, I started practicing Falun Dafa in 2011.”

Miraculous Experiences Reinforced My Faith in Dafa

Mr. Mu recounted what happened to him right after his decision to cultivate. “I got scared upon seeing blood in my stool. It lasted for two days, along with diarrhea. If I had those symptoms before, I would definitely go to the hospital and seek medical attention. However, since I didn’t have medical insurance and was not doing well financially at the time, I decided to do the Falun Dafa sitting meditation for the first time. Miracles really do happen—I no longer had blood in my stool the very next day. I realized later that Master was purifying my body.”

He told another story, “It was winter and I was walking down a back road. Big piles of snow blocked the sidewalk but there was hardly any cars on the road so I stepped off the sidewalk. As I walked along the side of the road, all of a sudden I turned around and saw a big truck charging toward me. I leaped into a pile of snow on the sidewalk just as the truck flew by. I watched the truck and wondered whether the driver saw me but instead of slowing down it sped up. I was amazed that I was able to react so quickly! It was as if someone pulled me out of the road. But there was nobody around. I realized that Master had protected me. The miraculous stories in Zhuan Falun really happened to me and it reinforced my faith in Dafa.”

No Longer Believe the CCP’s Propaganda

The discrepancies between what he learned about Falun Gong in China and in Canada made Mr. Mu see through the CCP’s evil nature. “In China, we learned about the Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident through a TV program broadcast on the China Central Television—the CCP’s mouthpiece and propaganda machine. The way they reported the event to slander Falun Gong was really shocking and people didn’t know it was all lies.”

“When I watched it I also believed their narrative, but I had one doubt. There was one scene in the footage where the practitioners held up a banner that said ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.’ I thought to myself, ‘These are all good things. What makes them bad people?’”

Mr. Mu learned what really happened after coming to Canada. “After watching the documentary False Fire, I no longer believe the Tiananmen Square self-immolation to be true. I was able to see through the CCP’s lies.” 

False Fire is a documentary produced by New Tang Dynasty Television, analyzing the inconsistencies in CCP’s state media’s reporting of the event and exposing the truth surrounding the staged self-immolation on Tiananmen Square in 2001. The film won a Certificate of Honorable Mention at the 51st Columbus International Film & Video Festival on November 8, 2003.

According to the Minghui website, the then leader of the CCP Jiang Zemin launched the nation-wide persecution against Falun Gong on July 20, 1999 and started a large scale arrest of its followers. At the same time, all the state-run media in China including radio, television, and newspapers started a propaganda and smear campaign targeting the practice. 

However, many people, including CCP members, passively pushed back and resisted the persecution policies. To incite hatred toward the spiritual group, Jiang and his gang scripted and directed the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation hoax on January 23, 2001, on the eve of the Chinese New Year. Purposefully setting the tragic event against the backdrop of such an important holiday of family gatherings and celebration, Jiang achieved the goal of deceiving the Chinese people, demonizing Falun Gong, and inciting hatred which provided grounds for the continuation of the persecution. 

A Special Rapporteur of the International Organization for Education Development gave a report regarding the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation incident at the United Nations Conference on August 14, 2001, strongly condemning the CCP’s “State terrorism in the form of government terror against its own people.” The report says, “We have obtained a video of that incident that in our view proves that this event was staged by the government.” To which, none of the Chinese representatives at the conference was able to refute. The report was archived by the United Nations.

From Behind the Scenes to the Big Screen

After he graduated, Mr. Mu began working for New Tang Dynasty Television in Toronto. “With my training in art and a degree in computer animation, my friend Ma thought I was a good fit and suggested I intern at NTD right after I graduated in 2011. I have been working for the network ever since,” he said.

After years of working behind-the-scenes, Mr. Mu made his big screen debut in 2019 because one particular Falun Gong practitioner—Mr. Liu Haibo, was tortured to death for exposing the truth surrounding the self-immolation hoax.

It was during the darkest time after the self-immolation incident. A group of Falun Gong practitioners in China intercepted the Changchun TV Network on March 5, 2002 and were able to broadcast a program clarifying the facts surrounding the self-immolation incident. Through the TV network, footage that uncovers the CCP’s lies reached millions of viewers. 

Infuriated, Jiang Zemin gave the directives to “kill without mercy.” More than 5,000 Changchun practitioners were subsequently arrested. Between March 11 -15, 2002, at least six practitioners involved in the interception of the Changchun TV Network were tortured to death, including Mr. Liu Haibo.

Mr. Mu was cast to play Mr. Liu Haibo in the movie The Eternal Fifteen Minutes in 2019. The movie was based on the Tiananmen Square self-immolation hoax and the Changchun Falun Gong practitioners’ interception of the local TV network. Their goal was to restate historical events truthfully while exposing the regime’s lies. 

Mr. Mu said, “I feel honored to play a Dafa practitioner in this movie. My character was based on Mr. Liu Haibo and Mr. Liu Weiming. Both were killed with extremely cruel torture methods but all they did was to give people the chance to learn the truth and to clear the name of Dafa’s founder. What they did was an unprecedented feat and I played a true hero.” 

Still from The Eternal Fifteen Minutes. Mr. Mu Chuan (center)

Mr. Mu continued, “When I carried Mr. Liu Haibo’s photo while filming the movie’s last scene, I kept thinking that these practitioners didn’t just die for nothing. Besides commemorating them, we have to tell their stories so more people could learn the truth about Dafa. People need to know that even during peaceful times, the Communist regime in China kills its own people ruthlessly.”

Still from The Eternal Fifteen Minutes. Each actor carries a picture of the deceased practitioner his character was based on. Mr. Mu Chuan carries a picture of Mr. Liu Haibo.

“For me, being part of this movie is to remember and honor those who died upholding their belief, and also to have more people learn the truth about Falun Dafa. I feel extremely lucky to work with Mr. Jin Xuezhe on this project as he is one of the participants who helped intercept the Changchun TV Network in 2002. He survived by fleeing China through South Korea. Having worked with Mr. Jin, a witness of history, made me appreciate the authenticity and the weight of this movie.”

Conclusion

When Mr. Mu Chuan came to Canada in 2008 to further his education in the arts, he had no idea that it would lead him on a path of discovery.

Mr. Mu wishes to share a few words with all students from China. “I hope Chinese students will have the opportunity to learn the truth about Falun Gong. Let go of your notions and prejudice, learn more about the practice and objectively examine the information that you have access to that is forbidden in China. After all, as young people studying abroad, you’re here to broaden your knowledge. You have the opportunity to look at Falun Gong from a different perspective than that of the CCP’s propaganda. Learning more about Falun Gong from all angles can only benefit a person and does him no harm.”