(Clearwisdom.net) From January 18 to 25, 2005, Toronto Falun Dafa practitioners held the "Uncompromising Courage" Art Exhibit at the University of Toronto, one of the largest universities in Canada. All exhibited works were created by artists who practice Falun Gong. They mainly introduced what Falun Gong is and depicted the persecution suffered by the practitioners in China. The exhibit attracted a great number of students and local citizens. Several thousand Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials were quickly distributed. More than a thousand signatures were collected for postcards calling for support to bring Jiang to justice and to rescue Falun Gong practitioners' orphans. "The Independent Weekly" and "The Varsity," two student newspapers, ran reports on the exhibit.

Students and faculty members learning the facts about Falun Dafa

Xiaonan Zeng relating the persecution his mother experienced

Artist Xiaoping Chen introducing the exhibited artwork

Kind-hearted people signing the petition calling for an end to the persecution

People were shocked upon learning about the cruel persecution that Falun Gong practitioners in China are currently experiencing. They could not understand why such a peaceful and beautiful practice would encounter such inhuman persecution. People asked, "What is Falun Gong exactly?" "Why does the Chinese government suppress Falun Gong?" "Such brutal atrocities have been going on for more than five years. How come we never heard about it before?"

After learning the facts, many people asked, "What can we do to help you?" "What should we do to stop the suppression?" Many visitors wanted to donate money, hoping to help Falun Gong practitioners in China, especially those orphans whose parents were tortured to death as a result of the persecution. Practitioners who participated in the exhibit expressed their gratitude to these kind-hearted people and told them that Falun Gong does not accept donations. They explained that the purpose of holding such an event is not for the sake of money. Rather, practitioners hope that more people will become aware of the truth, condemn the persecution and help stop the atrocities. They explained that anyone who would like to lend their support could sign the postcards that call for an end to the persecution. Falun Gong practitioners' previous experiences have demonstrated over and over that people's appeals and the support given from their bottom of hearts are truly powerful and surpass the power of money.

People were surprised upon hearing that Falun Gong practitioners do not accept donations and that all Falun Gong materials are free of charge. Learning that it is helpful to sign the postcards, people were delighted to sign them to express their support. The postcards call upon the Canadian Minister of Justice to support Professor Zhang Kunlun's lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and other chief perpetrators who have participated in the suppression of Falun Gong. They also call on the Canadian Prime Minister to try his best to help rescue those orphans whose parents were tortured to death because of their practice of Falun Gong.

Kind-hearted people expressed themselves from the bottom of their hearts, through the postcards, calling upon the Canadian Prime Minister and Minister of Justice to help stop the persecution:

"Canada must lead the world to end this kind of torture and human rights violations."

"We must reach out to help stop this persecution!"

"All people should enjoy freedom of belief!"

"This kind of thing is really intolerable!"

"Are we really able to bear the responsibility for turning a blind eye to such a vicious thing?"

"Now it's time to take persistent action to stop this oppression. Turning a blind eye to such a persecution will result in our being unable to stop it."

"I've seen Falun Gong supporters holding 24-hour appeals outside the Chinese Consulate. Why haven't such atrocities and so much persecution aroused more attention in Canada?"

"Please make human rights a priority when considering mutual trade and economic interests between Canada and China!"

"Now it's time for Canada to openly condemn the Chinese government's atrocities and call for an end to the persecution!"

Because over the past few years, the Chinese people have heard too much of the Jiang regime's deceptive propaganda, some Chinese visitors did not want to believe that these persecution facts were true. They even misunderstood the Falun Gong practitioners' effort to expose the suppression as opposing the Chinese government. With righteous thoughts and a peaceful, compassionate attitude, practitioners who joined the exhibit patiently explained the facts to them. With smiles on their faces, practitioners told the Chinese visitors not only that the persecution of Falun Gong is wrong, but also that it is as great as history has ever known. They explained that practitioners are not against any government, but that what they oppose is the persecution. When visitors understood the facts, many Chinese students and professors signed the postcards and expressed that they are willing to explain the true situation to their friends and family members.

Several young students from Mainland China did not believe that these persecution facts were real. They said that in China, it is not possible for these kinds of things to happen. They asked practitioners to show evidence. One of the Falun Gong practitioners, Xiaonan Zeng, told them about the persecution that his mother personally experienced and used that as an example to explain the persecution facts to them.

Xiaonan's mother Ms. Xin Huang is a retired technician for the army. Because she practices Falun Gong and clarifies the truth to her neighbors, she has been detained several times. She was sentenced to 8 years in the Liaoning Provincial Woman's Prison, where she is forced to take debilitating drugs in massive doses every day. The large amount of drugs she is forced to take every day caused her memory to fail and her movements and thinking to become slow. Although the photos depicted real victims and the practitioners related their personal stories, these Chinese students felt that it was impossible and wanted to verify things on their own. After the exhibit ended that day, Xiaonan Zeng brought these students to his home and called the prison where his mother is detained. From the conversation and the other party's rude attitude, these students gradually understood who is right and who is wrong. They started pondering. When they left, they said to Xiaonan, "It seems that the Chinese Communist regime's words cannot be trusted anymore!"

During the exhibit, a lady who came from an African country was very shocked upon learning about the persecution. Practitioners told her that Jiang's faction did not hesitate to spend a quarter of the nation's financial resources on this persecution. The woman immediately understood the situation. She said, "It seems that foreign countries' investments in China have actually aided the persecution." She also told practitioners that her family in Africa has a very big business and does many transactions with a number of Chinese corporations. She said, "I will tell my family the facts of the persecution. I'll also tell them to do business only with corporations that did not participate in the persecution."

Pure and simple students were shocked by the suppression. Even more so, they were deeply moved by the uncompromising courage of the practitioners depicted in the paintings in the face of such brutal violence. Many people carefully viewed the paintings. Some were reluctant to leave. Many visitors carefully took pictures of each painting. They observed that both the colors and skills used in these paintings are exquisite. Many visitors appreciated these paintings very much, asked about the artists and hoped to buy these works. Ms. Xiaoping Chen, one of the artists, came to the exhibit in person and introduced her works to visitors.

Over the several days of the exhibit, some participating practitioners stayed there from early morning to late evening to explain the paintings and the persecution facts to people. They felt very happy upon seeing that so many people learned about the truth and reached out their helping hands to help stop the evil and support justice. This laid a good foundation for their future. The "Uncompromising Courage" Art Exhibit will be held at the end of this month and in February in Ottawa, the Queen's University, and other cities in Ontario so as to help more people learn about the truth and not be deluded by the Jiang faction's lies. At the same time, it will widely awaken people's conscience to stop the persecution.