(Minghui.org) Almost 30 years have passed since I suffered from many illnesses and was on the verge of death. No one would have believed that I would live into my 70s. I was so fortunate to have been introduced to Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) in 1995. As soon as I took up the practice of Falun Dafa, my body was purified and I recovered from all of my ailments and was given a new lease on life.

From that point on, I put my life entirely in Master’s hands and unconditionally assimilated to Dafa. After the persecution started, I endured tribulations. But I found that as long as I thought of Master, I was able to overcome any hardship. I am eternally grateful for Master’s compassion and protection. With past ordeals put behind me, I now help Master rectify the Fa and save sentient beings with great joy.

Obtaining the Fa

I was born in a mountainous region in eastern Hubei Province, China. Before me, my mother bore three girls, and all three were suffocated by my grandmother who preferred boys. To their dismay, my mother’s fourth pregnancy led to the birth of yet another girl—me. My grandmother spared my life only because she saw a birthmark the size of a bean on my back and believed that I came from a high place. I grew up and eventually got married.

I suffered from many health issues, including heart problems, lung disease, hepatitis, and stomach ulcers. My complexion was sickly and dark like the color of soy sauce. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or even do simple household chores—I was completely useless. My co-workers didn’t want to get anywhere near me and avoided me at all costs. I was treated at nearly all the hospitals in the region, but I only got worse. Desperate, I visited many temples looking for a cure. Instead, I brought upon myself low level spirits and filled my body with dark energy. I would be terrified for no apparent reason just sitting at home. I fell into a state of despair as I saw no hope of making my life better.

I will never forget that day in October 1995 when I was introduced to Falun Dafa. As I stood by the phone booth at the entrance to the factory where I worked, a friend from my hometown said, “Injections and medications haven’t been working for you, have they? You’ve spent so much on medical expenses and endured grueling treatments but haven’t recovered. How about practicing Falun Gong with me?” Without thinking about it, I went with her to the practice site that very evening.

Our group practice was held in a makeshift shelter, where the factory workers parked their bicycles during the day. I looked around and counted at least 100 people. Many were reading a book as they waited. I was illiterate and didn’t think anything that required reading would work for me, so I left.

The friend from my hometown didn’t give up. She visited me again and said, “We’ll be watching Master’s lectures on video today. Why don’t you come join us?” I thought, “So many people practice Falun Gong. It must be pretty special.” I went to the practice site again that evening.

After watching the first lecture of Master’s nine-day seminar on video, I recovered from all my illnesses. I had never felt better. The coordinator played the music and taught me the exercise movements. When I heard words such as Buddhas, Buddha Maitreya, Tathagata, and Bodhisattva in the formula of the first exercise, I knew I had finally found a genuine Buddha Fa. Overjoyed, I decided to never visit another temple again—I would practice only Falun Dafa from now on.

I went home that night and threw away more than 500 yuan worth of medications. Soon, Master further cleansed my body. I had a high fever and diarrhea. My stools were loose and black, sometimes with dark blood clots. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t get out of bed. But in two days, all the symptoms cleared up, and my body felt light.

I got my own copy of Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa. Having never gone to school, I didn’t know how to read. But I was eager to learn all the characters in the book so I could study the Fa. I listened attentively as other practitioners read at the group Fa study and tried to remember as many characters as I could. Back home, I reviewed them until I memorized all of them.

It took me more than a year to learn all the characters in Zhuan Falun, but I was finally able to read it by myself. I enjoy studying the Fa very much. If I had the day to myself, I could study three lectures in a day. I wanted Dafa to grow deep roots in my heart.

Arrested for Traveling to Beijing to Petition the Central Government

Jealous of Dafa’s popularity and rapid growth, Jiang Zemin, then head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), launched a nationwide persecution in July 1999. Words cannot describe how sad I was—such a righteous Master was being slandered and smeared. I made plans to go to the capital and petition the central government. The day I left for Beijing, I saw a big Buddha in the sky. I cried out at the formidable sight. My husband turned around and saw it, too. It lasted only minutes.

We arrived in Beijing with five other practitioners from my hometown. The police were stationed on major routes to the capital, and we were intercepted. We were held at a nearby police station that night. Then the deputy police chief from my hometown showed up and interrogated us himself. He shouted, “I told you not to come to Beijing, not to come to Beijing. Why on earth did you all have to come?”

I told him, “Falun Dafa is a righteous cultivation practice, yet it is being slandered and practitioners are being arrested. We’re here to petition the government for our right to freedom of belief.”

Infuriated, he pounded the table and screamed at me, “Petition for your right? What right? Who do you think you are?” He escorted us back to our hometown and threw us in a lockup.

Tortured in the Detention Center

Two weeks later, four of us were transferred to a detention center, where I was held for seven months. The guards did everything they could think of to coerce us to renounce our belief. I was subjected to beatings and torture for staying firm in my belief.

A few days after arriving at the detention center, the four of us did the exercises. A guard saw us and asked who gave us permission to do the exercises. I replied, “We’re practitioners of Falun Dafa; we have to do the exercises no matter where we are. I recovered from all my ailments after I took up the practice. How could I not do the exercises?” The guard whipped my calves so hard with a belt that he was quickly out of breath. My calves were badly bruised and remained blue and purple for quite a while.

After a brief pause to catch his breath, the guard pointed his belt at the other practitioners. I said to him, “It was my idea to do the exercises; it has nothing to do with them. Beat me if you have to.” He hit the other practitioners a couple times before he starting in on me again, until he was tired. Then he left.

The next time we did the second exercise, “Falun Standing Stance.” I stood in front of the door so the guards couldn’t get to the other practitioners without getting past me first. The other three practitioners were about my daughter’s age—I instinctively wanted to protect them as if protecting my own children. I didn’t want the guards to harm them in any way.

The guard had had a few too many drinks that night. He barged in and came straight at me, “You old hag. You’re doing the exercises again. I’m going to whip you to death.” The blows fell on my head like rain, and I felt as if I was going to collapse. Just when I was about to keel over, I sent a thought toward to the guard, “You said you’re both a good and a bad person. Well, today I am going to convert you into a good person.” The guard stopped abruptly.

He paused, turned around, and hit the other two practitioners a couple times before circling back to me. I looked him in the eyes and said, “Take a little break.” He blurted out, “I’m scared of you” and turned around and ran out. That guard never beat anybody again.

A guard tried to make me run laps one time, but I wouldn’t budge. He hit me with a mop handle until my shirt and pants were torn. Eventually he was exhausted and stopped.

The practitioners and I studied the Fa every day when we first got to the detention center. We recited Master’s poems from Hong Yin first thing in the morning and read Zhuan Falun before lunch. When the detention center authorities found out, they confiscated our Dafa books. We went on a hunger strike to protest and were force-fed. The guards forced laundry detergent down a practitioner’s throat and she passed out.

As hard as they tried, they never succeeded in force-feeding me. I clenched my teeth and refused to open my mouth. They used pliers and a wrench to try to pry my mouth open and knocked out a few teeth. I fought back with all my might and would not give in. Once, I spit out whatever they gave me, and it went all over their clothes, so they stopped. One was livid and threw the leftover food all over me. It didn’t bother me a bit, as I could hardly keep my clothes dry anyway with all the food and water they spilled. My cellmates were sympathetic to me because of the savage treatment. They helped clean the food particles out of my hair and clothes.

During the seven months I was detained there, I was beaten almost every other day. Before the old wounds had a chance to heal, new ones were inflicted. I was always covered in dark blue and purple bruises. Regardless how they threatened and tortured me, my heart was not moved even the slightest. I kept Master and the Fa in my heart and had full confidence that the path I followed was the most righteous. I would never “transform” and renounce my belief in Dafa.

A new inmate who had murdered five people was put in our cell and promptly employed by the guards to torture us. When the other practitioners were at an interrogation session one day, I sat down to do the meditation exercise. The new inmate picked up a newly-delivered thermos and poured the whole bottle of scorching hot water in my face. She shouted, “It was you, you old hag. You started the hunger strike. I’m going to kill you.” With Master looking after me ever so compassionately, I didn’t feel any pain or end up with any scars.

The guards used a fan to blow cold air directly on us in the freezing cold winter. The new inmate, who was assigned to monitor us, took all of our comforters and wrapped them around herself. She was still so cold that she could no longer stand it, so she called for the guards to turn the fan off.

Because I did the exercises, the guards put a pair of 20-pound shackles on me. I didn’t let it stop me. Each day when they took their two hour lunch breaks, I meditated as usual. When my local fellow practitioners came on visitation day and saw me in shackles, they cried. To me, it was not a big deal.

After a few weeks in the shackles, I saw Master coming toward me one day while I was doing the exercises. Excited beyond belief, I opened my eyes and tried to stand up to welcome Master. As soon as I moved my legs, one of the shackles fell off. The guards heard the stir and came to check on me. One guard examined the lock on the shackle that fell off and saw that it was still locked—how did it come off without being unlocked? The guards unshackled me later that day.

At Wuhan Shizi Mountain Rehabilitation Center

I was taken to Wuhan City Shizi Mountain Rehabilitation Center in March 2000. I was put in solitary confinement in a small cell. Because I would not give in to their demands to renounce my belief, I was beaten and deprived of sleep. I was forced to stay in a squatting position from morning til night. If I moved ever so slightly, someone pounded me on the head with a glass bottle and kicked me. I didn’t waiver in my belief no matter what they did.

After spending an entire day beating and torturing me, a guard told me the next day, “You made me lose sleep last night. I had the worst headache, and I was sore all over.”

Resisting the Persecution in Hubei Province Shayang Forced Labor Camp

As I continued to refuse to renounce my belief, they escalated their efforts to coerce me by moving me to a stricter labor camp. I was moved to the notorious Hubei Province Shayang Forced Labor Camp in September 2000. The guards there were known to relentlessly torture Dafa practitioners until they gave in and “transformed.” The day I arrived, I saw many Faluns rotating in the courtyard. I sent strong righteous thoughts: “Master, this is not where I am supposed to be. I want to go home.”

A female guard tried to get me to renounce my belief shortly after I got there, but I ignored her. When she tried again a few days later, I told her, “Please stop pushing it. If you don’t, things will inevitably turn around upon reaching the limit.” As soon as I said that, she started coughing violently and went into uncontrollable spasms. She got scared and gave up.

Soon after, a decision was reached concerning my case and I was sentenced to a year. Since I had already been detained at various facilities for over a year by then, I was due to be released. A few days before my scheduled release date, I heard talk about keeping me there longer. I thought, “I have Master. Your plans don’t count.”

I went to the center authorities and said, “My term has ended. I am going home.” They told me I wasn’t because I didn’t renounce my belief. I said, “The CCP never keeps its promises. My husband will pick me up and I will go home as scheduled.” I was determined and uncompromising. I never renounced my belief or promised anything to the guards during my detention. I had let go of life and death long before, so they couldn’t do anything with me.

After I was in the Shayang Forced Labor Camp for only two weeks, my husband came to pick me up as planned. The day started out dark and gloomy. As we were leaving, we spotted a bright pink light peaking through the clouds—it was such a beautiful sight. It was an encouragement from compassionate Master. I decided, “Master, I will cultivate even better moving forward.”

Helping Master Rectify the Fa and Saving Sentient Beings

After I was released from the labor camp, I was pressured by the management where I worked, the police, and my family to give up practicing Falun Dafa. With so many people monitoring and watching me, I was essentially under house arrest and couldn’t even leave my home whenever I wanted to. My elderly mother said I should have never gone to Beijing. She was heartbroken after learning how much I suffered. I said to her, “Mother. If you were wrongfully accused, I would speak up for you, wouldn’t I?” She had no reply.

Although the persecution was running rampant in our region, the local practitioners continued to distribute Dafa fliers and clarify the truth despite the risks. Newly released, I was eager to catch up with Master’s Fa-rectification progress. Besides studying the Fa and reading Minghui periodicals, I learned how to clarify the truth in person by watching other practitioners. I tried to do the three things Master expects of us well and became more and more mature and rational in Dafa cultivation.

Facing the Police with Righteous Thoughts

Unaware that the police were following her, a local practitioner came to my home one day in July 2001 and brought us a copy of Master’s new lecture. Four other practitioners who were at my house and my husband were arrested. That night, over 20 officers from the local Domestic Security Division and the National Security Bureau came back for me. The first officers who came through the door grabbed my hair and twisted my arms behind my back. More officers joined them, and together they dragged me out the door and kept going for about 50 feet. I shouted with all my might, “Everybody, come take a look! These bandits beat me and are taking my personal belongings!” A lot of people from the neighborhood came out to watch and criticized the police. As the pressure mounted, the officers let go of my arms. I got away and went home.

In 2003, the police chief, the head of the Domestic Security Division, and several officers came for my husband and me. It was right before lunch and after we had worked all morning to remove the windows and doors in our house in preparation for a renovation. The police said someone reported us for distributing bags of Dafa fliers in a mountain village. I was calm and didn’t let it move my heart. With a smile, I greeted them warmly and invited them in. I went into the kitchen for a minute to prepare tea for the officers. As soon as I returned, I realized they had taken my husband.

With pure compassion in my heart, I told the head of the Domestic Security Division calmly, “Everybody has a heart. My son is getting married soon and we’re about to renovate the house. We still need to get materials and get the project started. If you take us away, how are we going to move forward with the renovation and the wedding? My husband and I worked all morning, and I haven’t even started making lunch yet. That poor old man has an empty stomach. You have to bring him back.” I went on and explained the benefits of Dafa cultivation and told them that Dafa practitioners are all good people. I filled every officer’s tea cup as I clarified the truth to them.

They finished their tea and left. Two hours later, my husband came back. The officer who brought him said, “Ma’am. Here is your husband, safe and sound.”

Saving Sentient Beings in a Mountainous Region

I grew up in the mountains and know the area very well. I’d always wanted to save sentient beings in the villages deep in the mountains. I believed that it was my calling and wanted to fulfill my mission. I’ve had countless tests and tribulations while delivering the truth to sentient beings in that region, but with ample righteous thoughts and unwavering faith in Master and the Fa, I’ve overcome them all.

On our way into a remote village one time, a few practitioners and I sat down to send forth righteous thoughts at noon. As I entered a state of tranquility, I saw that all the trees in the mountains became human beings. They were tall men in suits and bow ties, smiling at me. When I opened my eyes after sending righteous thoughts, they all had turned back into trees but still seemed to wave and smile at me. I realized all beings in the region were grateful and wanted to thank Dafa practitioners for saving them. The practitioners and I moved on and continued to clarify the truth that afternoon. We ended up missing our bus that night and had to take shelter under the eaves of an abandoned house.

The next morning, we hiked down the mountain and clarified the truth to whomever we ran into along the way. A pack of dogs started to chase us, so I said to them, “You’re also beings that we’re saving. Go away.” The dogs dispersed. A truck driver stopped to ask for directions and ended up giving us a ride. He dropped us off in the nearest town, where we caught a bus home.

My cousin who is also a practitioner told me that there were over 30 families in her mother-in-law’s village. After a recent mudslide, the village seemed to be doomed with bad luck. A villager had been recently diagnosed with cancer and a few young men had just died out of the blue. She asked me to go with her to the village to clarify the truth and save sentient beings there.

We set out during the day and arrived there at night. We went from house to house to clarify the truth to people there. Most were receptive and agreed to quit the CCP and its youth organizations. A man in his 50s didn’t want to listen to anything we had to say and refused to quit the CCP, of which he was member. Since we couldn’t change his mind, we left.

We moved on to the next household. By the time we got to the fifth house, the man’s wife came looking for us. She said that, as soon as we left, her husband felt excruciating pain in his lower abdominal area. We went back and clarified the truth in depth to him. He took several truth-clarification booklets and asked us to help him quit the Party. As he verbalized this request, his pain instantly went away. The couple were amazed, “Falun Gong is so powerful.”

The only teacher in the village was also a member of the CCP and refused to quit the Party. We didn’t give up and tried clarifying the truth to him again the next morning. He still wouldn’t change his mind.

My cousin gave me an update a few months later and said that most of the villagers had been blessed in one way or another. Some of the high school seniors did surprisingly well on the college entrance exams and are going to good colleges in the fall. Some young people made a fortune with their small businesses. Things had turned around for most of the villagers, except for the teacher who wouldn’t quit the Party—he was diagnosed with cerebral thrombosis.

My cousin said her mother-in-law often recites, “Falun Dafa is good.” She is over 100 years old and is still very healthy. The centenarian liked to tell people that she appreciates Dafa: “I’ve been blessed by Falun Dafa.”

Escaping Great Danger

Late in the fall one year, on our way to the countryside to clarify the truth, two local practitioners and I ran into two other practitioners. The five of us traveled together, talking to people about Dafa, distributing truth-clarification fliers, and putting up Dafa posters along the way. Before we knew it, night had fallen and it was getting dark.

Then the police suddenly showed up—someone must have reported us. A few officers grabbed the two practitioners who were walking in the front, and more officers came straight toward us. With them fast approaching, I looked around and told the remaining practitioners, “There is only a dirt road over there. If we go there, we’ll get caught for sure. I see a pile of hay in that field. Let’s hide in there.” We ran to the field and climbed under the pile of hay.

There was a narrow water channel to the left of the haystack and rice paddies to the right. As it got darker, the boundaries started to blur. The three of us got down low and sent forth strong righteous thoughts. Over the next couple hours, groups of officers walked back and forth and around the haystack, shining their flashlights in all directions, but they never found us.

The night quickly grew chilly in the high altitude. I took off my sweater and put it on an elderly practitioner. Although I only had on two layers of long sleeve t-shirts, I somehow didn’t feel cold at all. After the police finally left the area, we got out of there and spent the night in the village. The next morning we made a detour to a neighboring county, and then went home from there. Along the way, we clarified the truth all the same.

Another time a local practitioner and I distributed Dafa fliers in a village. It was late at night and so dark that we couldn’t even see if a person stood right in front of us. We set out separately to cover different parts of the village. As I walked, I saw a furry thing by the gate to a house but couldn’t tell exactly what it was. Once closer, I saw that it was a big dog lying on the ground. The dog was very smart and didn’t bark—it must have known that I was there to save its owners. Another time a dog took the flier when I pushed one between the door panels. The dog ran with it and dropped it on a table in the courtyard.

One time after distributing fliers in a village, another practitioner and I passed a school on our way home just as the students were being released for the day. We stood by the gate and passed out Dafa fliers and amulets to the children. They were excited to take them. All of a sudden, someone grabbed us and wouldn’t let go. We tried clarifying the truth to him, but he wouldn’t listen. He asked a well-dressed young man who just happened to be walking by to call the police. The young man said, “These two ladies didn’t take anything from you, nor hurt you in any way. Why won’t you let them go? It is going to get dark here real soon. Just let them go home.” The person let go, and we got away.

Conclusion

After the persecution started over 25 years ago, I have always clarified the truth with joy. I love telling people about Dafa, clarifying the facts about the persecution, and helping them quit the CCP and its youth organizations. It is what Master asks of us, and therefore it is my cultivation path.

I’ve run into people who were grateful for what we do, people who tried to donate money, and people who invited us to stay and eat with them. On the other hand, I’ve also encountered people who tried to hit us with a hoe, cursed at us, and even reported us to the police. We’ve seen all kinds of people. Whatever the circumstances, we remained calm and dealt with the issue with compassion and in an unhurried way. We knew that all these people were sentient beings that we needed to save and that we had to save them in an upright and dignified way.

With compassionate Master watching over me, I’ve never encountered real danger. Thank you, Master.