Dafa Practitioner Zhao Dewen Died from the Persecution

Ms. Zhao Dewen was a 52 year-old resident of Beichen District in Tianjin City. Because of practicing Falun Gong, she was arrested at home on January 19, 2001, and later sent to a forced labor camp for one year. She was detained in the Banqiao Women Labor Camp in Dagang District of Tianjin City. During the illegal detention, with her righteous thoughts as solid as rock, Zhao did not yield to any of the vicious people's requests. After one year, her term was extended. After Zhao was detained for an extra seventeen months, she was still held there until she was persecuted to death.

In order to force Zhao give up her belief in Dafa, the police often tortured her by means such as beating, kicking, handcuffing, shocking with electric batons, depriving of sleeping, and forcing her to stay outdoors while being bitten by mosquitoes. Zhao did not yield at all in front of the brutal persecution and torture.

On February 16, 2003, when Zhao was detained for more than one extra year, her elder sister came to visit her. Zhao told her sister, "I have suffered all kinds of tortures. I do it for practicing Falun Dafa, and I will never commit suicide. Our teacher has said Falun Gong practitioners cannot kill other beings, let alone kill themselves. If I die here, it will be due to the persecution."

On June 3, 2003, the forced labor camp suddenly sent a van to pick up Zhao's husband and children, saying that Zhao had died. Later, it was learned that Zhao was tortured to death in the fifth division. In the afternoon of June 2, 2003, two policewomen Wang and Kou instigated four inmates to "handle" Zhao. After beating and kicking, four of them lifted Zhao by her limbs, and then dropped her hard on the floor. After doing this several times, Zhao's internal organs were severely damaged, and her lower body was bleeding. Zhao passed away soon afterwards.

After Zhao died, the vicious police faked a suicide scene in order to shirk their responsibility. They tied ropes around her neck, and cut open the blood vessel in her wrist. However, even after three days of being frozen, Zhao's lower body and wrist (which was cut opened) were still bleeding without end. Failing to fake the suicide scene, the labor camp's office gave Zhao's family 5,000 Yuan (about $600 USD), and acquiesced that Zhao was tortured to death. After Zhao's death, several unusual and magnificent things happened, which had awakened people.

Magnificence at the Funeral

After Zhao was persecuted to death, her family held a funeral. One of her colleagues went to buy some fruits for the funeral. After buying several kinds, she wanted to buy more. At that moment, she heard Zhao's voice say to her, "All right, they [the fruits] are enough." The voice was very clear, and the colleague was shocked. After her return, she told this to others. Many people said, "Falun Gong practitioners are really extraordinary."

In the evening during the funeral, many people came to mourn Zhao. An entire bundle of incense was lit. Soon after that, the entire bundle of incense suddenly blasted open at the top. It formed the shape of a lotus flower, with some of the incense as petals; the petals formed a layer of the lotus flower. The burning flame emitted a dazzling ring of light. Some people saw that, Zhao was sitting inside the light ring with a compassionate look, and one hand erect. The incense continued to burn. After each time it burned one and a half inches, the ash would form another layer of the lotus flower. It continued like this until the entire bundle of incense was finished. Layers upon layers of the lotus flower formed by the ashes remaining there without collapsing. Everyone at the funeral, and this includes five or six policemen, were all shocked when they witnessed this. They all saw Zhao sitting in the lotus flower layers formed by the burning incense--sitting with her leg crossed and with one hand erect. A niece asked curiously, "What is aunt doing in the light ring erecting her hand?" Everyone was amazed upon seeing this scene.

On the day Zhao was sent for cremation, three sticks of incense were lit at the ceremony. When the first incense was lit, it shook from the top, although the bottom did not move. When the second incense was lit, all of the incense shook. When the third incense was lit, all of the incense, together with the incense burner and the table all started to shake. People were shocked when they saw this, and could not find explanations for it.

Before the cremation, when people changed Zhao's clothes, they noticed Zhao had many bruises on her back. Her wrist and lower body was still bleeding bright red blood. A policeman was whispering, "How come it is still bleeding after freezing for three days? It is really strange!" Normally, after one's corpse has been frozen for a few hours, the blood inside the blood vessels will be frozen. However, even after Zhao's body was kept frozen for three days, the blood did not freeze but instead her corpse continued bleeding. During the entire process that day, from departure to the cremation, it was raining continuously. The rain did not stop until the cremation was completed.

Awakening the People

The magnificent phenomena at Zhao's funeral soon spread to the local community, and people started to talk about it. Some were thinking, some were regretting, and some had changed their attitudes toward Falun Gong.

Throughout the whole process of Zhao's funeral, Dafa disciples kept clarifying the truth to the people who had been deceived by lies. Many practitioners, who did not step forward or did not do well previously, also actively participated in validating the Fa.

After a government officer witnessed these unusual and magnificent incidents, he was shocked: "In the past, I only believed in the government's propaganda and did many bad things. Now with my own eyes, I have seen what it is. In the future, if the government continues to lie about Falun Gong, I will no longer believe it. Plus, I will tell others the truth about Falun Gong. Falun Gong is indeed extraordinary, and it is indeed good." Some said, "In the past, I believed the propaganda from the government and signed into the campaign against Falun Gong. I really regret it. From now on, I will never believe what the government says."

People who attended the mourning were also talking about it, "The newspaper and television has repeatedly claimed that Falun Gong practitioners kill others or themselves. Now, wasn't Zhao killed by the government? [The police] even attempted to fake a suicide scene, although it did not work out in the end. From this, it seems that the government's propaganda are all lies." "Yes, I agree. As far as I know, Falun Gong practitioners are all upright and healthy. And they are also kind to others. I heard Falun Gong teaches people to become better. Jiang even says bad words about them. How come he just keeps lying?" Some whispered: "I also want to practice Falun Gong." "Falun Gong is so good, why can't we practice it?" "Do you know if it is too late to practice now?" "It should be ok. We need to find practitioners to teach us. It will work out."

There is also one person, who was somewhat greedy and sometimes stole merchandise from the store. After seeing the magnificent sights at the funeral, he was shocked, and decided to begin a new life. He told his relatives, "I also want to practice Falun Gong." He also found several relatives who want to learn Falun Gong as well. Right now, after hearing the magnificent things at Zhao's funeral, with the help with local practitioners, many people have started to practice Falun Gong.

There were about five or six policemen who came to monitor Zhao's funeral. They either witnessed these magnificent things, or heard about them. These shocked them and made them fearful. The Party has continued to spread atheist propaganda, and considers cultivation superstitious. Now, they have witnessed these things in person. Some realized they had been deceived by Jiang, and decided to correct previous faults and stop doing bad deeds. Some stood out courageously, unveiling all kinds of crimes in the labor camp that persecuted Zhao. Some policemen also came to know it was wrong to follow Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong. So, when seeing Dafa disciples clarifying truth at the funeral, they kept quiet and listened.

Soon after this, the notorious Division 5 of Banqiao Women Labor Camp at Dagang District in Tianjin City ceased to exist.

September 14, 2003