Persisting in Clarifying the Truth and Protesting the Persecution Even in Detention

(Minghui.org) I finished reading Zhuan Falun in one day. I wish I’d found this book earlier! I was so moved that I wept as I read. My perspective on life and on many things changed after I started practicing Falun Dafa.

After the persecution started on July 20, 1999, I was arrested more than ten times. I didn’t have much compassion at that time, but I didn’t miss any opportunities to clarify the truth to people.

Clarifying the Truth in a Detention Center

I was arrested and sent to the local detention center on January 15, 2000. Even though it was freezing cold, I was strip-searched and I had to walk down the long corridor barefoot. Several inmates poured cold water over me as soon as I entered the cell. They said that I needed to be washed because I was bringing in filth from the outside.

The cell was about ten meters square and held more than ten inmates. They slept in two rows. I wasn’t given a blanket and I had to sleep in the toilet area. I slept with my clothes on. The inmates had two meals a day which consisted of two moldy corn buns and a bowl of vegetable soup. The vegetables were not washed, so there was dirt in the bottom of the bowl and bugs floated on top. I was given only half a bun and a little soup.

Most of the inmates where there because they’d committed fraud or other economic crimes. I clarified the truth to them. One professor was sentenced to life in prison. She told me that she got a copy of Zhuan Falun when she was on a trip to the U.S., but she didn’t read it. She said she regretted this after I clarified the truth to her. I told her it wasn’t too late for her to practice Falun Dafa, and she started practicing. The other inmates said Falun Dafa’s principles—Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance—were good.

I was handcuffed because I meditated. Then, three practitioners were sent to my cell. They had been arrested in Tiananmen Square on New Year’s Eve. We insisted on doing the exercises, but the detention center director said, “I know Falun Dafa is good, but please don’t cause me trouble. You might be vindicated in fifty years but I need to keep my job.” We asked if we could sit in the lotus position (a meditation posture, sitting with both legs crossed, one on top of the other). She agreed, and said, “I know sitting with one’s leg crossed is not practicing meditation. My mother also does the exercises.” She removed my handcuffs. The inmates looked us differently from then on, and almost all of them became supportive of Falun Dafa.

Released Early

I was arrested again on June 20, 2001. I was handcuffed to a heating pipe from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., in a position in which I was not able to stand straight or squat. My clothes were soaked with sweat. When the police interrogated me, they said that I was the head of the local Falun Dafa group because they found a letter that I had written in the coordinator’s home. I told them we were all just practitioners and we didn’t have a coordinator.

One young policeman asked me why I went down to a city in Southern China. I said it was for personal reasons. He was not satisfied with my answer and threw away my slippers. He said, “Jiang Zemin said that it is counted as suicide if a Falun Dafa practitioner is beaten to death.” I said, “Please show me the legal clause.” He didn’t say anything more and stopped the interrogation.

The guards accused me of motivating inmates, even the one accused of murder, to practice Falun Dafa, so I was transferred to another detention center. When we arrived at the other detention center, I refused to step out of the car and I demanded an explanation. They said I was hard to deal with and asked the Party secretary to come out to talk to me. I demanded that they release me immediately and said I would go on a hunger strike if I wasn’t released. The Party secretary said they would not beat me. The officer from the first detention center said that they would pick me up in three days. I said, “If you break your promise, I’ll go on a hunger strike.” The Party secretary agreed to my terms.

By the morning of the fifth day, no one from the first detention center had come to pick me up. I notified the Party secretary that I would go on a hunger strike immediately. He was sympathetic with Falun Dafa practitioners and phoned the first detention center. The officer from the first detention center came to pick me up the next day and released me soon after.

Practitioners No Longer Required to Be on Duty

I was detained in the district detention center on September 16, 2001 for distributing information about Falun Dafa. The young practitioners were persecuted brutally and paid a big price if they violated the rules when they were on duty at night. Before the October 1^st National Day, one inmate committed suicide due to the strict prison management. All prisons, detention centers, and custodial centers stepped up their monitoring methods. The detention center escalated the persecution of practitioners and their efforts to have us renounce our belief. Some practitioners were hung up by their handcuffs and others were force-fed. Some were fined. Yet the practitioners didn’t give in.

It was my turn to be on duty and practitioners declared that they wouldn’t be forced to follow the rules. The guards swore at them. I refused to take the duty. The head of the inmates threw my blanket on the floor. I didn’t argue with her and sat on the floor. Everyone lay down when the signal to sleep sounded. I also lay down. The monitoring device on the wall made noises and everyone knew that it was because of me. They shouted at me and told me to sit up and get to the duty post. I didn’t move. Soon, the guard arrived and patted my shoulder. I told her that I felt dizzy. She didn’t say anything and left.

The next day, a team leader came in to see me and asked if I was still felt dizzy. I said, “Yes. We practitioners aren’t given enough to eat. The inmates eat everything, so there isn’t much left for us. They distribute the food and only give practitioners some vegetable soup. We don’t complain. Before I practiced Falun Dafa, I had high blood pressure and other illnesses. You don’t allow me to practice the exercises so my illnesses might relapse at any time. It’s your duty to monitor the inmates. But you assign inmates and practitioners to do it. We practitioners haven’t committed any crimes. You detained us illegally. Now you force us to be on duty but we are strongly against it. The young practitioners have sacrificed a lot, even their lives. I’m old, so I have no fear. If you people are too harsh on the inmates, they might harm themselves. Whose responsibility will it be? Your manager was demoted and transferred to another position because one inmate committed suicide.”

The team leader didn’t argue with me. Instead she gave me an apple. She came to the cell next day and announced, “Going forward, you need to book your meal orders. When you distribute the food, a Falun Dafa practitioner must be one of the distributors. And practitioners are no longer on the duty roster.”

Stopping the Inmates from Beating Practitioners

The persecution became more severe after I was sent to a forced labor camp. Practitioners were not allowed to speak and had to report to the team leader if they had to do something. The message then would be relayed to the head leader. If the head leader didn’t agree, the practitioners were not allowed to do it.

The practitioners who were not transformed were beaten. One young teacher who was a postgraduate student was locked in the cell and dragged around and beaten severely by the inmates. She was forced to squat behind the door and was not allowed to use the toilet.

I went to the head leader and told her the inmates beat the practitioner. She pretended to be surprised and asked who beat whom. I told her what happened, and said, “Beating people is violating the law. But when people beat practitioners there are no consequences. When Falun Dafa is vindicated one day, those people will be held accountable.” I gave several examples of how those who did evil during the Cultural Revolution were punished. She said, “I didn’t know about the beating, but thank you for telling me. Keep an eye on them. They shouldn’t do this.”

When I returned to the cell, I told the inmates loudly, “The leader asked me to watch you. You’d better not beat practitioners!” The deputy head leader who was on duty one night woke me up and asked me how the inmates beat the practitioner. I could see that she knew the truth. When the forced labor camp was moved, she stayed at the custodial center.

“If You Walk Righteously, Everyone Will Respect You”

I was arrested and detained in September 2004 for distributing information about Falun Dafa. I was sentenced and sent to the female prison in August 2005. The prison was applying for the “Model Prison” award. The cell leaders ordered all inmates to help by creating fake records and minutes. Everyone had to create records of what they did every day. It was a huge project.

One day, a team leader asked me to complete a survey dated back in June 2003. I said, “I wasn’t here in June 2003. I won’t do it.” She said, “Please make your contribution so that we can be awarded ‘model prison.’” I refused. She said, “You are selfish. Everybody else is doing it. You’re not thinking from the prison’s perspective.” I said, “I don’t care what others do. I practice Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. I don’t tell lies.” She said, “You must obey.” I said, “But I have freedom of thought. I have my belief. I won’t falsify documents. I hope you respect my decision.”

She looked at me. I continued, “You’re young. You should also have your own thoughts. If you walk righteously, people will respect you.” She didn’t say anything and left.

Afterwards, she was polite to me and was no longer rude to the other practitioners.

Leaving of the Detention Center with Righteous Thoughts

I was arrested before April 25, 2010, because I was on the CCP’s wanted list. Because I had broken no law, I refused to wear the prison uniform, so the guard cut my up clothes. I didn’t go to the interrogation session, didn’t sign their papers, didn’t let them take my blood pressure, and didn’t take any medicine. When they forcibly administered the medicine, I spat it out. I didn’t cooperate with them at all. I went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. The guard took me to the hospital. I didn’t let them put IV drips in me. The doctor and the guard said they would tie me to the bed and give me drips. I told them they would not succeed. They didn’t say anything. I was sent back to the detention center.

A team leader told me, “Your behavior is hurting our female guards here.” I said, “I haven’t hurt anyone. By not eating, I only hurt myself.” He said, “We will no longer take care of you. Can you please eat and take medicine even for a few days?” I refused and demanded that I be released immediately. He said that what I was doing would hurt my son. I said, “The CCP persecuted me financially. My son has his own fate. What he can learn from me is my determination to do the right thing.” The team leader said he would talk to the director.

The next day, the prison director came to see me. He asked me why I went on a hunger strike. I said, “You have met many practitioners. They are all good people. But so many young practitioners were beaten harshly and their organs were harvested. Jiang Zemin [the CCP head at that time] is inhumane. I don’t want to die, but I’m not afraid of death.” He said, “You cannot die here. You have to be in good health when you leave.” I demanded my immediate release. He said, “Give me one week. Please eat and drink.” I refused. I was released the next day.

I’ve had so many experiences over the past 29 years. I’ve been to many places, known many practitioners, suffered a lot, and have many stories to tell. I clarified the truth to many people. I try to meet the requirements Master set for us.