(Minghui.org)
Part I: http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/7/7/134325.html
Part II: http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/7/8/134336.html
Part III: http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/7/9/134354.html
Part V. Clarifying the Facts to Repay Master’s Compassionate Salvation
1. Changchun Falun Dafa Day
We established our first local Falun Dafa Day on December 22, 2001.
The Changchun Falun Dafa Day was chosen to be the Winter Solstice. This day has always been recognized as the time for the transition between the Yin and the Yang. From this day on, the dark night will become shorter and the daylight will become longer. Heaven and earth will come back to life. This day is chosen as it indicates the evil force has come to an end, and the bright light has started illuminating the human world.
(http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2001/12/22/17033.html)
The day before Changchun Falun Dafa Day, we went to major streets, residential areas, and college campuses in Changchun to hang over 1,000 banners with messages such as “Falun Dafa is Good,” “Falun Dafa is the Righteous Fa,” “Return Innocence to Falun Dafa,” “Return Innocence to Master,” “Falun Dafa is Wronged,” and “Stop Persecuting Falun Gong.”
Banner outside street stores
Banner flying in the wind (other banners can be seen in the distance)
Banner in the first rays of the morning sun (1)
Banner in the first rays of the morning sun (2)
"Restore the Reputation of my Master"
"Restore the Reputation of Falun Dafa"
Banner on campus
Banner outside a window in a residential district
Distant view of a banner outside a window in a residential district
"Falun Dafa is Good" banner on a high-rise building
Distant view of the banner on a high-rise building
Back then, the predominant methods we used to clarify the facts were hanging banners, spray-painting messages on walls, flying helium balloons, and gluing truth-clarification flyers to utility poles. As time went by, we became more and more mature and came up with additional ways to help save sentient beings.
Mass-produced large banners frightened the evil
Small banners reading “Falun Dafa saves people” were everywhere in residential areas
A beautifully made banner
This Dafa practitioner spray-painted the words from the bottom of his heart: “Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa”
Dafa practitioners made sticky-notes with truth-clarification words on them.
Helium balloons with truth-clarification banners attached to them
2. March 5 TV Interception
Around 8 p.m. on March 5, 2002, eight channels on the Changchun cable TV network aired "Falun Dafa Around the World," "Self-immolation or Staged Event," and other truth clarification programs. The broadcast lasted 40-50 minutes without interruption. (http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2003/12/29/43612.html)
"Falun Dafa Around the World"
"Self-immolation or Staged Event"
When videos revealing the truth about Dafa appeared on the TV screen, everyone was shocked. No less than one million people in Changchun had learned the truth about the self-immolation and about Falun Dafa being embraced around the world. Many people called their family and friends and asked them to watch TV. Many people thought the regime restored justice to Falun Gong. (http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2007/3/10/83387.html)
Former communist regime head Jiang Zemin, who singlehandedly started the persecution of Falun Gong, became furious and extremely scared. He gave the order to "kill [those responsible] without pardon."
In less than a year after the TV transmission, around 5,000 practitioners in the Changchun area were illegally arrested and numerous more were forced to leave their homes and move from place to place. All 15 of the practitioners who participated in the TV transmission were given jail sentences ranging from 4 to 20 years. Ten years later, eight of the practitioners had been tortured to death.
On the third day after the TV transmission, Master published a new article entitled “Look at Things with Righteous Thoughts” to commend the act:
“Right now, the Dafa disciples of Mainland China using television to let people know the truth is exposing the evil's persecution, is saving the sentient beings whose minds have been poisoned by the evil's deceit, and is a magnificent act of mercy.”
In the days that followed, practitioners in other parts of the country also used television to spread the truth and enable more people to see the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Five years later, the Asia Pacific Human Rights Foundation awarded Mr. Liu Chengjun with the Fidelity Vindicator Award. After tapping into the TV system to broadcast the facts about Falun Gong, Mr. Liu was persecuted to death by the communist regime.
In 2011, The Weekly Standard, a U.S. magazine, published a long report entitled, “Into Thin Airwaves” in which they praised the TV transmission as a brilliant feat that helped the Chinese people to access information available to the free world.
So what kind of people were these heroes who were involved in the Changchun TV transmission?
Mr. Liu Chengjun was from Nongan County and worked at a crops warehouse. Prior to cultivating he was an imposing, quick-tempered person who liked to pick a fight. After he began his cultivation, however, he was able to be tolerant and resisted the urge to fight back when others beat or swore at him.
His mother-in-law often scolded him for no valid reason and even hit him sometimes. Once he felt he could no longer endure her abuse. He felt his head was going to explode with anger. Just when he thought it was impossible to endure the abuse anymore, he thought, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner. How can I lose my temper?" Then his rage started to subside. He brought a stool next to his mother-in-law and sat down next to her. Then he said, "Mom, it's perfectly all right that you curse me and hit me to let off the steam, but I urge you not to hurt yourself because of the anger." His mother-in-law smiled upon hearing his words, and stopped the abuse right away. But Chengjun burst into tears after he returned to his room. (http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2004/12/24/55885.html)
Mr. Liu Chengjun and his family
Mr. Liu was 28 when the persecution began in 1999. In order to let people know the truth and not be poisoned by the CCP lies, he tried everything possible to clarify the facts, which brought him tremendous suffering at the hands of the police. While trying to escape an illegal arrest on March 24, 2002, he incurred severe burns all over his body and was also shot in the leg by police. Once in detention, he was made to sit upright on a bench with both legs tied to the bench and his hands cuffed behind his back for 52 consecutive days. Afterwards, he was tied down on a tiger bench for a few more days. He was also beaten numerous times, but with strong willpower, he never yielded.
By the end of 2003, after having suffered from countless atrocities, Chengjun was at death's door and barely breathing. He was as thin as a skeleton. His eyes were sunken. He had blurry vision and could not see things clearly. His heart and kidneys were failing. His throat was severely infected. His body was covered with wounds. He had difficulty speaking and could barely utter any sound. When his family went to visit him, he pointed at a guard and said, "This man...took care of...my going to the bathroom. After I die, you must...be kind to him. You must...save...him..." Everyone was deeply touched and burst into tears. The guard's eyes were filled with tears, and said, "It's nothing. It's something I should do." (http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2004/12/24/55885.html)
When Mr. Liu’s family saw his body on December 26, 2003, they noticed blood in all the openings on his head. The vein on his leg was broken and blood flowed onto the floor. He left the world at the age of 32. Despite strong resistance from his family, the guards cremated his body against the family's will.
Mr. Liang, born in 1964, was a water-heating engineer in Changchun City, Jilin Province. He once picked up bad habits from the big dye vat of the declining society, and his family was on the verge of collapse because of his low morality. After he began to practice Falun Gong upon a neighbor’s recommendation in 1998, however, he gradually learned how to conduct himself and was able to break his bad habits and enjoy a harmonious family life. Witnessing the tremendous changes in him, his wife and daughter also became practitioners.
Mr. Liang Zhenxing
After the TV transmission, Mr. Liang was sentenced to a 19-year term and incarcerated in a number of different prisons including Jilin Prison, Tiebei Prison in Changchun, Shiling Prison in Siping City, and Gongzhuling Prison. The guards at these prisons did all they could to make him suffer.
By the end of 2009, Mr. Liang’s health condition had become extremely worrisome and he often lost consciousness due to the non-stop beatings. In an effort to shirk responsibility, Siping Prison transferred him to Gongzhuling Prison on January 1, 2010.
Mr. Liang went on a hunger strike again when the guards at the new prison demanded he give up his belief in Falun Gong. His protest was met with brutal force-feeding, which led to rapid deterioration of his health. He died on May 1, 2010, at the age of 46. It was said that the guards inserted the feeding tube into his lungs by mistake, causing his death. By the time he was sent to the Gongzhuling Hospital, he already had no signs of life, and his ankles were black and purple and swollen.
(http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2011/8/6/127256.html)
Mr. Sun Changjun was only 26 when he participated in the TV transmission.
After college, Mr. Sun passed the civil service examination and became the mayor's assistant at a town government as part of the management training program. Mr. Sun is known to be a very kind man. It is "every man for himself" in prison, but not with Sun. After all, Falun Gong teaches its practitioners to be kind at all times. There was a prison inmate who suffered from cerebral cysticercosis and was paralyzed. He was filthy and smelled foul. Everyone avoided him. When Mr. Sun saw that his outgrown fingernails and toe nails had cut into his flesh, he decided to trim them for him. Mr. Sun soaked the inmate's hands and feet in warm water before he trimmed the nails.
When Mr. Sun lived with his parents, he trimmed the toe nails for his elderly mother as well. His mother was subjected to the cruel "foot binding", which had caused her feet and toes to arch unnaturally. His mother tried to stop him. "You are now a government official. People might make fun of you if they see you." Mr. Sun replied, "You are my mother. I am showing filial piety to serve you. Who will make fun of me?"
Mr. Sun was sentenced to 17 years and sent to Jilin Prison. As of now, he has spent close to ten years in jail.
Mr. Sun Changjun has endured many types of torture, including the Tiger Bench, electric shocks, fractured ribs and more. The long periods of torture have taken a severe toll on his health. He suffers from tuberculosis, pleural cavities as a result of his late-term tuberculosis, tuberculous peritonitis, pleural effusion and ascites (accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity, causing abdominal swelling). Authorities have refused to allow his release on bail for medical attention even though he is in immediate need of medical help. (http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2011/10/24/128957.html)
Mr. Lei Ming became disabled after being brutally tortured at the Changchun Police Department, Division One, and Jilin Prison. He passed away on August 6, 2006.
Mr. Lei Ming
Mr. Wei Xiushan went through the same torture at Jilin Prison as Liu Chengjun, Liang Zhenxing, Lei Ming, and Sun Chengjun. On October 21, 2003, he was taken to a hospital and never returned.
Mr. Liu Haibo and Mr. Hou Mingkai died the day they were arrested.
Mr. Yun Qingbin became mentally disordered after being brutally tortured at Jilin Prison.
Mr. Zhou Runjun was sentenced to a 20-year term, and is still suffering in prison. Mr. Liu Weiming clearly understood the possible consequences of being involved with the TV transmission, yet he went ahead and accomplished the feat with other practitioners. He was also sentenced to 20 years. Mr. Zhang Wen, an electrician, devoted his youth and professional skills to the sacred mission of helping save sentient beings.
3. Blossoming of Truth-clarification Materials Sites
At the beginning there was only one truth-clarification materials site in Changchun. A group of practitioners dedicated all their time to producing materials. To ensure everyone’s safety, they went from one rented place to another and had to remain isolated from the outside world. What they went through as a result of tight finances and the monotonous nature of their job was beyond an average person’s wildest imagination. Their sacrifice enabled us to obtain copies of Master’s teachings and Minghui Weekly articles at a time when the persecution was running rampant. These practitioners certainly played a key role in maintaining our righteous belief in Master and Dafa.
This materials site, however, was totally destroyed by the evil regime of the CCP after the March 5th TV incident. Changchun practitioners were not deterred, though, and many people began to establish materials production sites in their homes.
It was no easy task to run a materials site independently. There were just so many obstacles to overcome, including family tensions, tight finances, and technical problems, all of which could get in the way.
One practitioner cried quite a few times since she didn’t have enough money to set up a materials site in her home. When she finally managed to purchase a laptop computer, she realized she still needed a printer. After learning of her difficulty, some fellow practitioners chipped-in with donations to help her get all the necessary equipment.
During that period of time, practitioners shared equipment with one another. Whoever needed a certain piece of equipment just borrowed it from the one who had it, and the one left without the component then managed to purchase a new one. Some practitioners had better finances, so they sponsored whoever wanted to set up a materials production site at home. One practitioner’s materials site might look like an independent family-run site, when it was actually a joint effort. These small-scale materials sites all functioned together as a whole body. One site focused on printing, another one on burning CD’s, while the third one-downloaded materials or uploaded lists of the three withdrawals (lists of people withdrawing from the CCP and its affiliated organizations). This is how things have been done since 2005.
Not every materials site could count all family members as cultivators, yet they were still able to have a site because the practitioner in the family usually cultivated very well, and their non-practitioner family members were very supportive of their efforts. Two elderly practitioners’ children didn’t practice, yet they helped purchase copy paper and distribute copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.
Master was always watching over these sites and numerous miracles occurred. One practitioner recalled that after one year of running his materials site, he came across two practitioners who were computer experts. When they learned what software and computer system he used, they were amazed that he had figured out everything by himself. As a matter of fact, it was all thanks to Master’s help. Another practitioner had no idea of how to install a printer driver, but when she asked Master for help, the driver was installed in no time.
4. Wide Distribution of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and Persistent Efforts to Do the Three Withdrawals
There was a farmers’ Expo every year that attracted many visitors from both inside and outside the province. In the eyes of practitioners, this was a golden opportunity to distribute materials and clarify the facts. Such a task required wisdom, courage, determination, and compassion. Some practitioners worked in groups and walked around to pass out materials. Everyone seemed to want a copy as the knowing side of them knew this was the most precious thing they could ever have.
Many more practitioners went to the Expo alone. One practitioner described his experience, “I went on the second morning of the Expo. On my way there I talked to everyone I could. All those I was able to strike a conversation with did the three withdrawals. When I arrived at the Expo parking lot, I saw huge crowds and thought to myself that I'd better hurry to save people. I went through all the exhibition halls and lobbies. In the end I got a total of 88 people to do the three withdrawals. On the last day of the Expo, I went again and helped 90 more withdraw.
5. Deep Gratitude for Master’s Compassionate Salvation
During all these years, we’ve never forgotten to send our greetings to Master on important holidays, especially World Falun Dafa Day. All the praises we sing to Master and all the greeting cards we make come from the bottoms of our hearts. Some greetings were from either a family of practitioners, while others were from a certain Fa-study group. There are also well wishes and greetings from local exercise sites, workplaces, government organizations, and certain industries. Even detained practitioners managed to let others convey their greetings to Master. Their firm belief in Dafa and their strong determination to break through the evil are evident in their words.
There are also greetings from children. Even though they grew up amid the persecution, they were fortunate enough to enter the door of cultivation with their parents’ guidance. They study the Fa and practice the exercises just like grownups. They also help their parents make materials and clarify the facts. They also watch Shen Yun every year as well. Once when a young practitioner saw the scene in the show where a group of gods followed Master down to the human world, he pointed at the last god and said excitedly, “That last one is me!”
The greeting card shown above has many handmade lotus flowers with colorful beads made by young practitioners. These children wished to express their gratitude and well wishes to Master. After they were done, adult practitioners snapped a picture of these flowers and made a greeting card out of it to send to the Minghui website.
Concluding Remarks
Changchun is Master’s hometown and the sacred origin of the spreading of Dafa. When a group of out-of-town practitioners came to visit Changchun in 2006, they made a special request to see all the places where Master once held Fa-teaching classes and explained the Fa to Changchun assistants. Some of our local veteran practitioners showed these visitors the places that Master once graced. As everyone walked through these places, they deeply felt that there were no words that could express their gratitude for Master’s compassionate salvation and immense grace.
(The End)
From the Call for Submissions to Commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary of Falun Dafa’s Introduction