(Clearwisdom.net) 53-year-old Yang Fan (not her real name) started practicing Falun Gong in October of 1998. On October 17th, 2000, she went to Beijing to appeal for the first time. Shortly after this she was detained for the first time. Over the next year and a half she endured many detentions, beatings, and numerous acts of torture. However, even after all this, she did not compromise her principles. She continues to practice and work tirelessly to clarify the truth and save sentient beings.
Yang was arrested for the first time on October 18th, 2000, when she went to Tiananmen Square to validate Falun Dafa. She was taken to the Xuanwu district detention center in Beijing and was held for seven days. In December, she went to Tiananmen Square again to validate Dafa. Yang was arrested again and detained at the Qianmen District police station of Beijing. After that, she was transferred to the Xicheng district detention center in Beijing. Because she resisted the persecution and would not give her name, she was transferred to a detention center in Shenyang on December 30th. At Xicheng she had endured one month of administrative detention; she was switched to criminal detention when she was moved to Shengyang. She was held there for four months. During these months of detention, she was beaten many times and the policemen and guards repeatedly pulled her hair out.
In May 2001, she was sentenced to three years of forced labor and sent to the Longshan Forced Labor Camp. Even in this harsh environment and enduring this cruel persecution, Yang Fan remained firm in her belief in the principles of Falun Dafa (Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance) and Falun Dafa's founder. At last, the evil people from the Longshan Forced Labor Camp felt there was nothing they could do but send her to the Liaoyang City detention center. After Yang Fan went on hunger strike for 10 days, she was transferred to one of the most evil places in China, the notorious Masanjia Women's Labor Camp.
At the Masanjia Labor Camp, Yang Fan not only resisted the persecution on her own, but also took advantage of all chances given to her to expose the evil hypocrisy of the persecution, eliminate some of the evil factors behind the guards and administrators, validate the Falun Dafa principles; and encourage other practitioners to resist the persecution together. She went on hunger strike a couple of times to resist the persecution. She was then sent to Shenyang's Medical School for emergency treatment, ostensibly to relieve her weakened condition. Once there, doctors and guards barbarously force-fed her. They pulled some of her teeth out and she was spitting lots of blood. Her hair turned completely gray due to the persecution and she was temporarily disabled. However, throughout all she endured, Yang Fan only had the thought that she would never compromise with the evil people's persecution, and she would validate the Fa principles as long as she lived. Due to her strong righteous thoughts and resistance through hunger strike, the authorities were unable to coerce her into renouncing her belief. After the last hunger strike, which went on for 100 days, she was able to quickly leave the evil environment of the Masanjia Labor Camp with a righteous mind and her dignity intact.
Yang Fan was extremely weak after she went back home and it was almost impossible for her to get out of bed. Despite this, she kept studying the Fa, practicing the exercises daily, and sending forth the righteous thoughts at the recommended times. Her health was quickly restored and she plunged into the current of Fa-Rectification after only a couple of days.
No matter how cold or how hot the weather, she always explained the facts of the persecution to everyone she met along her way. She has said, "As long as the day of Fa rectification has not come, I will stand by my oath to follow the Falun Dafa teachings and validate the Fa." No matter where she goes, she will take VCDs, tapes, and other materials that clarify the truth about Falun Dafa. Sometimes when she meets somebody that she feels she has a strong predestined relationship with, she will tell them about the persecution she encountered. Because she has such strong righteous thoughts and is so benevolent, there are countless people who have learned the facts after she spoke to them. The following stories tell how she has acted upon the opportunities she has been given to clarify the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong.
1. One day, while shopping, Yang Fan was listening to the Teacher's lecture on her portable player. A saleswoman that knew her well asked her what she was listening to when she saw that Yang had an earplug in her ear. Because there were so many people in the shopping mall, Yang Fan did not answer the question directly. After she went back home, she felt more and more uncomfortable; "I should validate Dafa with a dignified and upright manner at any time. I should not miss the next chance."
A couple of days later, she went to that shopping mall again. That familiar saleswoman happened to be there again and asked her, "What were you listening to the last time you were here?" This time, Yang Fan took a moment to collect her thoughts and told the saleswoman calmly, "I was listening to Teacher Li's lecture," and then clarified the truth of Falun Gong in front of many people in the shopping mall.
2. One day was considered by authorities to be a "sensitive day" [a date that the authorities have increased accountability to prevent Falun Gong practitioners from clarifying the truth to the public]. It was heard that the police were preparing to arrest practitioners on that day. Some practitioners went into hiding. However, Yang Fan had enlightened to the fact that evil beings appeared on the surface to be very malevolent but in fact were actually very weak. She knew that a practitioner's righteous thoughts and righteous actions could destroy the evil factors in the other dimensions. She thought, "I should definitely eliminate the evil factors in other dimensions."
It was raining very hard that day. She put the double stick tape and the truth-clarifying materials in her pocket and went to a police station, which was the local place that harbored the most evil. She posted many flyers around the police station while sending forth righteous thoughts, and also distributed many truth-clarifying fliers. Because her mood was so pure and righteous, some taped signs were left on the wire poles opposite the police station for a couple of months.
3. In the middle of September 2003, after two local practitioners were persecuted, Yang Fan went to the police station and wrote down the names of the practitioners that were persecuted as well as the name and number of the head of the police station. She also obtained the home phone number of the head of the residence building where the practitioners lived so that she could tell him the facts of Falun Dafa in person. Later, other practitioners made phone calls to that person who was responsible for reporting these practitioners to the police, and explained the facts of Falun Dafa to him. The list of names and the phone numbers of the people that persecuted these practitioners were later exposed to the world.
4. One day in November of 2003, Yang Fan and over 10 fellow practitioners held a Fa conference. It was very cold in Northeastern China this time of year and on this day the road was very icy. When it came time to go home, Yang Fan was unable to ride her bike, so she had to walk along, pushing it. It was very far to her home and very dark. She was not familiar with the direction and she accidentally went into another district in that city without even knowing it. When she realized she was not going the right way, she did not feel anxious and thought in her heart, "It might not be accidental to be lost. Maybe somebody with a predestined relationship is waiting to be saved." So she started giving out truth-clarifying materials and VCDs to people she met along the way, while asking for the directions.
At one point she asked a young man on the roadside for directions. That young man said with southern accent, "I am from Hunan and am not familiar with the road. I plan to go home tomorrow." Yang Fan was very happy after she heard this, and said to that young man, "Today, we two have a predestined relationships. Have you heard about Falun Gong?" That young man said, "I know a little bit. It is spoken about one way on the TV, but meeting you makes it seem like something else. I don't know who is right." Yang Fan told him the story of her persecution; the grand occasion of Dafa spreading to the whole world, and the overseas lawsuits against Jiang. At last, that young man kept nodding and said, "I believe what you have told me." He also asked for the truth-clarifying materials and the VCDs. During the couple of hours that Yang Fan was lost, she kept clarifying the truth to the people who had predestined relationships, and five or six new people understood the truth that day.
2003-12-8