(Minghui.org) Master said:
“You may have noticed that the positive is gaining ground, and becoming a real force, and traditions are being restored; and traditional culture is being more valued around the world, as people come to understand things better. So all the more so should we do well and play the role that we should.” (“2018 NTD and Epoch Times Fa Conference,” Team Yellow Translation)
For thousands of years, almost every Chinese household posted couplets on both sides of doors during the Chinese New Year celebration to worship gods, express their good wishes, and expel evil spirits. This tradition was eradicated, however, along with other traditions, under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule. From the city to the countryside, Chinese couplets are now filled with CCP culture, worship of money, or pursuit of wealth. The traditional couplets have been replaced with CCP slogans and promotion of CCP policies.
I’d like to share how we used couplets to clarify the truth and traditional culture in our county.
Promoting Traditional Couplets and Overall Cooperation of Practitioners
Practitioners in our region realized that it was necessary to spread true information about Falun Dafa by giving rhyming couplets to people. They not only play a role in negating the CCP culture and restoring traditional culture, but also eliminate evil beings in other dimensions. Most people post the couplets for a whole year and replace them only during the next Chinese New Year preparations. Therefore, the facts about Falun Dafa will be seen by people for a long time.
Practitioners in our region write couplets on the spot on the street and give them to passersby as gifts. The couplets are welcomed and have become popular.
Mr. Wang, a nearly 80-year-old practitioner in our county, began to write couplets last year, in 2018, on the roadside and give them to people who were interested in reading them. His couplet-writing on the spot achieved a good result and he couldn't keep up with demand for some time. We decided to start writing and handing out our couplets earlier in the year and use the extra time to write couplets before Chinese New Year of 2019.
More practitioners got involved in the project and we cooperated nicely.
Practitioners worked as a team. Some practitioners collected couplets published over the years on the Minghui website and printed them as references for people to use. To beautify them, 12 practitioners decorated the edges of the paper. Practitioner Mr. Liang provided an electric tricycle to carry a table and three people to the spot where practitioners would write. We felt that this was Master's ingenious arrangement.
We have been talking about Falun Dafa to police officers, legal and law officials, and government officials for many years in our region, making the environment good for people to hear the truth. But after all, writing couplets is different from clarifying the truth by passing out information pamphlets or talking to people face to face, as practitioners usually left after doing so.
Writing couplets is different because practitioners stay in a fixed place for a few hours and the security concerns are greater. The practitioners involved let go of self and cooperate with each other to assist Master in saving sentient beings. Meanwhile, we are very cautious. Some practitioners continuously sent righteous thoughts with high intensity.
On January 19, we started the first on-the-spot couplet writing event for the 2019 Chinese New Year in a nearby town. Under Master’s protection, and the guidance of practitioners with strong righteous thoughts, we greeted people openly and talked about the persecution of Falun Dafa. People passing by came over and asked for the couplets that practitioners had written. Practitioners whose xinxing wasn't stable enough were deeply encouraged and quickly dispelled their concerns.
We understood better what Master said,
“For Dafa disciples as a whole, in the process of validating the Fa, when you work together in concert, the Fa power is great.” (“Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
The next day, practitioners went under the largest overpass in the county where a lot of people pass by. As soon as we set up the table, many people gathered around us. They were deeply impressed seeing Mr. Wang writing the rhyming sentences using beautiful calligraphy. Mr. Wang, although nearly 80, looked fresh and energetic, and did not wear reading glasses while writing.
Mr. Wang had been writing couplets for practitioners for many years, but his calligraphy skills improved greatly after he started writing in front of people. He said that he owed it to Master’s protection and encouragement. He could feel strong energy while writing.
The couplets were amazing but we didn't charge for them. Many people really liked them but initially dared not accept one because they were suspicious of hidden fees. These days in China, the CCP has been promoting a fake, evil, and violent culture, as opposed to Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Social morality has fallen sharply, and different scams and frauds are rampant. So people are wary of being cheated.
After learning there was no charge, however, people happily took the couplets. They were very pleased to see how Mr. Wang wrote them. Some excitedly said, “This is a real couplet. This kind of rhyme can truly represent the Chinese New Year.” Some older people said, “Such couplets have not been written for decades. They are really amazing, this is authentic traditional culture.” Some immediately threw away the couplets they had been given by others and asked for the couplets written by practitioners.
Traditional Couplets Appreciated
This winter the temperatures were low. It took time for the ink to dry after the couplets were written. People waited in the cold wind patiently for the ink to dry before taking the rhymes home, otherwise they would freeze and stick together. While waiting, some were excited and took pictures of the lively scene with their phones, and sent them to their friends. Some excitedly asked practitioners to take photos with them in front of the table, and said, “You are doing a good thing. I will send the photos to my friends to promote your couplets.”
Mr. Wang saw a man holding a couplet that said “Fortune Enters from All Directions,” and said to him, “The CCP has destroyed traditional Chinese culture. Many Chinese characters lost their original meanings after the CCP promoted the use of simplified Chinese characters. Look at the word ‘enter’ in ‘wealth enters from all directions.’ In simplified Chinese it literally means walking to a well. How can a fortune get to you if you post such a couplet at the gate? Look at the traditional Chinese character of ‘enter,’ as written on our couplet. It means walking better and better. It was Dafa's Master who told us the difference between the simplified and traditional characters for ‘enter.’” Upon hearing that, the man immediately understood. He threw his couplet into the trash and asked for one written by Mr. Wang.
We practitioners went to a large town where a fair was being held. Some practitioners suggested that we go to a secluded alley in order not to affect the business of other merchants selling couplets because our couplets were free of charge. Surprisingly, as soon as practitioners set up the table in the secluded alley, a group of people gathered and vied for our couplets.
We worked as a team and cooperated with each other. Mr. Wang wrote the couplets, and other practitioners talked about Falun Dafa with the people who were waiting. It worked very well.
There is a large industrial area next to the town. An employee of a plastics factory passed by and saw the practitioners writing and giving out couplets. He was very pleased and asked the practitioner to write couplets for the gates of the factory and doors of several offices. The practitioner asked him to take photos of the couplets and send them to his boss so the boss could choose the ones he wanted.
The boss chose the long couplet published on the Minghui website in 2018 for the gate and a few short couplets for the offices. The left side of the long couplet read, “Divine civilization has a long history and the Fa illuminates people from all over the world.” The right side of the long couplet read, “Calling for conscience, awakening from a deep sleep to see the Fa boat set sail.” The top couplet said, “Dafa blesses everyone.” The employee happily took the couplets back to the factory and posted them on the gate and office doors.
It was raining one day when we went to another town. The practitioners could not find a protected place to keep the paper dry. A man in his 60s came over and invited us to his tea house to write the couplets. He said that there were many people in his tea house and it was very lively.
We went to his establishment, where he helped us set up and asked the customers to line up for couplets. He arranged two waiting lines to receive the couplets in the order they were produced. The day went smoothly.
Practitioners wrote couplets in about ten different places in the county, and gave away nearly 1,000 pairs of rhyming couplets before New Year's Eve of 2019. Dafa practitioners involved in this project shared the feeling that people were becoming more and more awake. Wherever we went to write and distribute couplets, no matter how remote the place, as long as we set up a table and unfolded the couplets, people soon came to us from all directions as if they had been waiting for us. The whole project was not harassed or interrupted by police or people from any 610 Office.
We originally only intended to give away couplets. Later with more practitioners’ active involvement, not only did we give away many more couplets than we originally expected, we took advantage of the opportunity to talk about Falun Dafa to people waiting for couplets and help them quit the CCP with righteous thoughts. As a result, a large number of people learned the truth.
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Category: Traditional Culture
