February 18, 2002

On a recent legislative session day, state lawmakers, lobbyists and tourists strolling through the Capitol Rotunda wound their way around a dozen yellow-clad practitioners of a Chinese spiritual discipline called Falun Dafa.

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Many times, Durham says, the best way for groups to get noticed is to give legislators written materials that outline their concerns.

"Those are the things that get read."

If chanting doesn't always work, silence might. Dongdong Zhang, a doctoral student in special education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says the Falun Dafa group demonstrated at the Capitol to publicize persecution of followers in China.

Although the practitioners in the Rotunda stood still and mute, many passersby stopped at a nearby information table to find out about the practice.

Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, follows the concepts of truth, compassion and tolerance, its followers say. They say it is not political.

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"We are in Springfield for three reasons," Dongdong says. "To bring the awareness of the practice to local people, to make people aware of persecution, and in the hope that government will take notice and do something."

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