A Government Official’s Turn of Fate

(Minghui.org) I was born in 1953, and grew up in a very poor, rural family in China. During the Great Famine (1959 - 1961), I almost starved to death. The Cultural Revolution started when I was in elementary school in 1966, and classes were often stopped. The students were encouraged to join the political movement, so I was a part-time student for five years. Because my family was poor, I left school and went to work in the production team. Because there were few people who were literate in our small village and there were no teachers, the village Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary asked me to teach.

My wife and I were very poor, so we ate at my in-law’s house. My wife was hardworking and capable. She was the village doctor, and also did farm work. She didn’t rest for a day even when she was pregnant. Our son was thin, but was lively and adorable.

The CCP Turned Me Into a Demon

I felt unqualified to teach because I only attended school for five years, so I resigned in 1978 and went to work in the township government. I passed the exam and became a civil servant. One would expect that circumstances would improve; however I learned to smoke and drink from the other government officials. They all used government money to purchase alcohol. I drank more and more, and eventually got drunk every day.

One day, I was drunk and kicked my two-month-old son in the head while he was in my wife’s arms. He cried so hard he couldn’t catch his breath. His face turned purple. Fortunately, my wife was a doctor, but it still took some time for him to recover. I was frightened by my behavior and wanted to quit drinking—but I didn’t have the willpower. Instead, I just drank more. I no longer cared about anything at home and just drank.

My behavior wasn’t rational when I was drunk. I yelled, cursed and hit others. I once even grabbed a kitchen knife and threatened to kill people. I destroyed countless things at home and in restaurants. I beat my wife and her body was covered with bruises. I also slapped her face, and she still has the scars. My sons were terrified of me, because I often came home drunk in the middle of the night and woke them up by cursing at them loudly. I often grabbed my youngest son’s feet and held him upside down. Whenever they saw me coming home drunk, they trembled in fear, hid in the corner of the yard, and dared not enter the house.

After I did many crazy things. I fell asleep—sometimes I slept under a table in the restaurant or at my work. I also slept outside. Sometimes I had alcohol poisoning and had to be taken to the hospital. On countless occasions, the people wherever I passed out called my wife in the middle of the night. She had to clean up my vomit and change my pants when I wet them. Since my kids were too young to be left at home alone, my wife had to bring them with her.

My wife just smiled and apologized to others, but once we were home, she wept. During the day she was busy working for our family, including taking care of our parents. In the first half of the night, she was worried about what troubles I was making. In the second half of the night, she was beaten and cursed by me when I came home drunk. She usually couldn’t sleep. Her health deteriorated and she had many illnesses.

I had no energy when I woke up in the morning, and just smoked. I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. When I wasn’t drunk, my wife tried to persuade me to quit drinking. She asked me to recall the love letters I wrote to her and the sweet words I said to her before we married, my promise to work hard together to live a good life, and that I wanted to write a love memoir later in life.

Now, my wife was doing everything we planned, but I was too addicted to alcohol and couldn’t control myself. I caused so much trouble when I was drunk that I was notorious throughout our county. My family was being torn apart by my addiction.

Because of all the suffering my wife endured, she developed several health issues: neurasthenia, insomnia, rhinitis, and chronic tonsillitis. She later suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, which eroded her heart. After examination, it was confirmed that the rheumatoid arthritis was caused by the tonsillitis, so her tonsils were removed, but her throat still hurt, and it turned into chronic pharyngitis. Her joints hurt so much that she couldn’t even comb her hair, and she couldn’t lift a bowl to eat. She also had severe pain in her knees, sciatica, chronic urinary tract infections, dysmenorrhea, severe stomach problems, and more. Because she was plagued by so many illnesses, she was extremely weak, and always felt cold. Other than during the hottest days in the summer, her feet were always cold. In winter, sometimes the heater would burn the back of her clothes without her realizing it.

The harsh family environment caused my wife’s condition to continue to worsen. By April of 1997, she was unable to do any work, and couldn’t even take care of herself. When the children came home from school there was nothing to eat. Despite this, I continued to get drunk as usual. One day, after I got drunk, I kicked a restaurant table and broke my leg. Someone brought me home in the middle of the night. My wife was lying in bed and was no longer capable of taking care of me—she had to call her sister for help. Her sister and her fiance called a taxi and took me to the hospital. They took care of our family while I was hospitalized.

I was sometimes filled with regret. When I recalled my behavior I felt I acted like a demon. I believed it was because I fell in with the wrong group of people that I became like this. None of my so-called friends came to visit me, let alone helped me. I ruined my body with alcohol. I had severe hemorrhoids, both internal and external, and a fistula that bled constantly. I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, which caused serious bronchitis. I also suffered from severe neurological headaches.

My Life Takes a Positive Turn

When our situation seemed hopeless, my wife’s friend visited and told her about a type of qigong practice called Falun Dafa, which was said to be extremely effective in resolving illnesses and improving health, but my wife didn’t believe that qigong could help her. Over the years, she’d tried every kind of treatment—both Western and Chinese medicine. Nothing helped and her health continued to deteriorate. But, she was worried that our two children wouldn’t be able to survive without her, so she decided to give it a try. She began reading the book Zhuan Falun. Surprisingly, just by reading the book, her health began to improve day by day. After four or five days, she was able to stand up and try the exercises. She was gradually able to cook and do other housework again, and we no longer needed her sister to take care of us. She was later able to begin making handicrafts.

In order to save time, my wife asked me to read Zhuan Falun to her while she worked. Without realizing it, my leg pain disappeared, and I was able to ride my bike to work. My wife’s complexion became rosy and she smiled. She used the teachings of Falun Dafa as well as traditional values to educate our children, helping them become outstanding students with good conduct and academic performance.

The Persecution Begins

On July 20, 1999, the CCP began the persecution of Falun Dafa. Under the intense pressure, my wife was frightened and stopped doing the exercises and studying the Fa. In less than a year, she developed several new illnesses, including insomnia, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cervical spondylosis, eye problems, and menopause syndrome when she was only 40 years old. When nothing else worked, she remembered Falun Dafa and began practicing again. Miraculously, after just a few days, all her illnesses disappeared without treatment.

My wife was overjoyed and began to share her experience with others, telling them the truth about the persecution of Falun Dafa. Without discussing it with me, she went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. The police arrested her when she returned and she was taken to a detention center. This terrified me. On top of that, the CCP Secretary at my workplace pressured me, urging me to participate in the persecution. He insisted that I stay in a village where there were Dafa practitioners, forbidding me from returning home. If any practitioners from that village went to Beijing to appeal, I would be held accountable.

Our youngest son was still in elementary school at the time. During the day, his classmates looked at him strangely, and at night, he returned home and had no food. He was hungry and scared, and hid under his blanket and cried. My wife’s older sister found out about the situation and came to help take care of him, getting him through this difficult time.

I was desperate, and lacked the courage to stand up for justice although I knew that Falun Dafa was being wrongfully persecuted. My wife had done nothing wrong and was merely speaking out based on her conscience. Instead of supporting her, I held a grudge against Falun Dafa and my wife because of my grievance, pressure and unfairness. I cursed her and the other practitioners, and even said that anyone who went to appeal for Falun Dafa should be executed. I ignored her suffering and even considered divorcing her if she were imprisoned for a long time.

Soon, I suffered retribution. In less than a week, my eyes became inflamed and bled, swelling to the size of sweet potatoes. The pain was unbearable, and I couldn’t open my eyes. Even though I had medical treatment, my condition worsened. At the same time, my hemorrhoids became extremely painful. I hated my wife even more, blaming her for bringing this disaster on me. Two weeks later when my wife returned home, I refused to see her. She was forced to pay nearly 10,000 yuan by the police and local government, but I didn’t care.

After hearing about my situation, my wife didn’t hold any grudges against me. She called me and urged me to return home. Once I was home, she treated my condition while also clarifying the truth to me, encouraging me to ask for forgiveness from Master, and to sincerely recite “Falun Dafa is good.” I listened to her.

In less than a week, my eyes and my health were fine. However, even though I experienced the power of Falun Dafa, I didn’t change my bad habits. I continued drinking heavily, and my health continued to deteriorate. My bronchitis and hemorrhoids worsened, causing constant coughing, blood in my stool, and excruciating pain. I took injections, infusions, and topical treatments, but nothing helped. Even worse, I developed alcohol-induced skin rashes all over my upper body, and they were terribly itchy. I scratched them until they bled and scabbed over, and then I scratched them until they bled again.

In 2008, I retired and finally distanced myself from my old drinking buddies. With more time at home, my wife encouraged me to read the precious book, Zhuan Falun. I read it over and over again.

Master said in Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun:

“Drinking alcohol is definitely addictive. It is a desire and stimulates one’s addictive nerves. The more one drinks, the more one becomes addicted to it. Let us think about it: As practitioners, shouldn’t we give up this attachment? This attachment must also be removed.”

“As a cultivator, why don’t you take it as an attachment to be abandoned, and see if you can quit? I advise everyone that if you truly want to cultivate you should quit smoking from now on, and it is guaranteed that you can quit.” 

I repeatedly memorized this part of Master’s teaching. The power of Dafa is immense, and I finally managed to quit my bad habits of drinking and smoking that had plagued me for half of my life. My health gradually returned to normal. I truly began to practice Falun Dafa.

Falun Dafa Illuminates My Family

Other than the persecution and harassment we suffered, everything has been very smooth for our family. Our two sons succeeded both in their academic studies and careers. Our sons and daughters-in-law have very good jobs and benefits. Our two grandsons excel in their studies and receive awards every year. They are intelligent, sensible, lively, and adorable.

My wife gained wisdom from practicing Dafa and became a very good doctor. She was able to open a clinic, even though she only has a primary school education and studied for a few months at a rural doctor’s training program. Her clinic became increasingly popular, with people coming from as far as a hundred miles away and even from the city. What’s even more unbelievable is that before practicing Dafa, she never rode a bicycle and couldn’t use a computer well, but she is now able drive and use a computer.

As for me, since I began practicing Falun Dafa, I gradually eliminated all my bad habits and corrected myself according to Dafa’s standards to become a truly good person. Although I’m not skilled at clarifying the truth, I do all the household chores in order to lighten my wife’s load, allowing her more time to go out and clarify the truth. Now, our family of eight people are all healthy, live in harmony, and are full of happiness. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude on behalf of my entire family to Master for his compassionate salvation and boundless grace.

Since my level is limited, if anything is not in accordance with the Fa, please kindly point it out.

Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!