(Minghui.org) In May 2018, I was illegally arrested and detained for clarifying the facts to people about Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa). I went on a hunger strike in the detention center to protest the persecution by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) regime.
There were around seven or eight inmates in my cell at the time, and I thought to myself, “I will save them!”
I greeted them politely, and one of them smiled at me and said, “Auntie, you look like a well-educated person.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m a Falun Gong practitioner. It’s my master, Master Li, the founder of the practice, who has taught me to be a good person.”
“Your master?” she looked at me curiously.
“Yes, he teaches us to be kind to everyone,” I said.
“Why are you so different from what I saw on TV?” she asked again, looking rather confused. “Why did your people commit suicide by self-immolation on Tiananmen Square?”
“It was a hoax orchestrated by the CCP to frame Falun Gong and deceive people,” I replied and clarified the facts about the incident to the inmates and told them that Falun Gong prohibits killing and suicide.
“Master Li tells us that killing and committing suicide are both sinful. Falun Gong requires us to cultivate our character, observe morality, and be good people according to the universal principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. But then Jiang Zemin and his followers, out of fear of losing power, started persecuting tens of millions of innocent people across China. Don’t you think they are truly vicious!”
I also told them that I used to suffer frozen shoulders, migraines, and constipation, and would catch cold frequently due to my poor health. However, all these physical ailments disappeared after I started practicing Falun Gong.
“I took up the practice in 1997, and since then, I have never needed to take any medication because I have been very healthy,” I said.
They listened attentively and kept nodding. I also told them about the criminal history of the CCP and its numerous political campaigns, during which more than 80 million Chinese people lost their lives.
“The CCP has committed so many crimes that Heaven will destroy it,” I went on, “In June 2002, a stone was discovered in Pingtang County, Guizhou Province, with six characters carved on its surface that read, “The Chinese Communist Party Will Perish.” Experts who investigated the stone concluded that the characters were naturally formed around 270 million years ago.”
I also told them about the movement to quit the CCP and that we are descendants of Emperors Yan and Huang, not Marx and Lenin. I told them we have to keep away from the CCP so that we can have a safe future.
They agreed with what I said and I helped each one of them quit the CCP organizations (using a pseudonym) they had once joined. I was very happy for them.
Three days later, we had a newcomer in our cell. She looked like a career-oriented young woman. It turned out that she was also a local (I will call her Mei). I introduced myself to her and said, “I practice Falun Gong.”
To my surprise, as soon as she heard the words “Falun Gong,” she waved me away and snarled, “Don’t talk to me about Falun Gong. We aren’t involved in politics!”
I thought to myself, “She must be pretty upset to be detained for what she did. I shouldn’t be bothered by what she said. I will help her understand the truth later.”
The next day, after she learned that I had been on a hunger strike for four days, she said to me, “If you don't eat or drink, you can last up to four days at most. You will definitely not be able to survive five days.”
On the fifth day, when she saw that I was still full of energy and in good spirits, she declared, “You will definitely be gone by the sixth day.” Yet I remained well.
On the sixth day, my son, my daughter, and my son-in-law visited me in the detention center. They brought me homemade porridge and asked me to eat it. I explained to them why I was on a hunger strike and told them not to worry.
When I went back to the cell, they wanted to know how things went with my family visit, so I told them what happened. I could see the admiration in their eyes. Mei in particular had changed a lot over the last few days. She saw with her own eyes that Dafa practitioners are different.
The toilet is the dirtiest place in the cell, with so many people eating, drinking, and defecating in the same room. I cleaned the toilet every day and made sure it didn’t smell. Even though I was on a hunger strike, I ordered food with my own money and gave it to my cellmates. When someone was in a bad mood, I would have a heart-to-heart chat with her and encourage her with the Fa principles I’d learned. Mei observed me carefully every day.
I was in a happy mood all day long, and they could not see that the hunger strike was causing me any pain or physical discomfort. I was not moved at all when I saw other people eating.
Seeing how well I was coping, Mei couldn't help but ask, “Auntie, don’t you feel hungry or thirsty?” I said, “No, I don’t. I just feel normal.”
“That’s incredible, truly incredible!” she murmured to herself.
Suddenly she seemed to remember something and whispered, “You know, the police didn't believe you hadn't eaten for so many days. They even called me out and asked if you got up in the middle of the night to eat secretly.”
I laughed and said, “You should believe me now since you have witnessed the miraculous power of Falun Gong!” She also laughed in admiration. So I went on to clarify the facts about Falun Dafa. “I believe you! I do!” she kept saying. Then she quit the CCP’s Youth League she’d joined. I was so happy that another life that had been deeply poisoned by the CCP propaganda had been saved.
On the eighth day of my hunger strike, I was taken against my will to the hospital for an intravenous drip. When I came back to the cell, Mei said to me nervously, “Auntie, while you were away, the police came and threatened us that if you still refused to eat, all of us would be put under strict control.”
I knew that the police were capable of doing all manner of evil. Seeing the scared faces of my cellmates, I thought to myself, “I’m a Dafa disciple and I must do as what Master has taught us.” I said to them, “Don’t worry. For your sake, I will start eating tomorrow.”
They were all moved to tears and said, “Auntie, you’re so great!”
“It’s not me. It is Master Li who has taught us to always be considerate of others.” It was a very touching scene.
At lunch the next day, I was going to eat for the first time in nine days. A female police officer came to our cell with a tiny monitor on her shoulder. She stood over me and watched me eat.
“Why are you watching me like that?” I asked, but she didn’t say anything. She left after I’d finished.
At dinnertime, she came again, still with a tiny monitor on her shoulder. She stared at me until I finished eating my dinner.
When I saw her the next day, I asked her again why she had kept staring at me while I was eating.
“Well, people who end hunger strikes cannot eat like that right away, because their stomaches cannot handle it and they vomit,” she said.
Indeed, that might be true for an everyday person, but I was a Dafa practitioner. Once again, I experienced Dafa’s extraordinary power.
One morning when it was time to do exercises, my cellmates lined up as usual. Suddenly, Mei called me, “Auntie, come here. Could you teach us how to do the Falun Gong exercises?”
I was deeply touched by their sense of justice and courage in a CCP detention center. I stood in front of them and started teaching them the first exercise, Buddha Showing a Thousand Hands.
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