(Minghui.org) I was arrested in January 1998 for kidnapping, and imprisoned for 13 years. I was affected by the moral turpitude in society, but I was also trying to get revenge on the victim. I reasoned that there were many bad people doing worse things than this without repercussions. I had also done some good things for people, but now I was suffering nonetheless. It seemed that it wouldn't be worthwhile to be a nice person in this society, because nice people were always taken advantage of and bullied. I was very confused about what I should do.

One of my friends visited me in prison in May 1999, and he gave me two books, Zhuan Falun and Essentials for Further Advancement, and he asked me to read them when I had time. I wasn't very interested when I heard that the books were about qigong, but my friend recommended that I take a look at them anyway. So I took the books to my cell and read them when I had time. After I read them, I found that my confusion was gone. I had received the answers to the questions I had previously. I believed in the saying, “...doing good deeds is met with good rewards, and being evil is met with evil returns.” (Zhuan Falun) I now believed it to be true. I knew I could only gain good results in life if I was a good person. I decided to be a nice person as instructed in the books.

I tried to practice the exercises as well, but I didn't know the exact movements. I learned some things from one person, who said that he had seen people practicing Falun Dafa. So I practiced in the way he taught me. I later discovered that those movements were wrong. Two months later, the persecution of Falun Dafa began. I saw that what was propagated on TV about Falun Dafa was totally different from what I had learned from the books. I believed that the books were correct, so I kept on reading the books and being a good person. After a while, I found that my physical problems, including neurasthenia and insomnia, had disappeared. I became healthier and had more energy. I felt that Falun Dafa was good indeed!

Some people reported to the guards that I was practicing Falun Dafa, and the guards talked with me about this. They told me that if I gave up practicing Falun Dafa, they would find me a good job and release me from prison early. At that time, I thought that if I could not practice Falun Dafa, I would not be able to tell right from wrong, and I would also not be a good person. I would probably do bad things as before and end up back in this place again. Therefore, I told the guards that I would continue practicing. I was then transferred to another jail, the place where the Falun Dafa practitioners were persecuted in our province. This place was also called the “strict management team.”

I was imprisoned separately in a small room. I was ordered to fold a pile of bags, which I refused to do. I was then beaten by several men with clubs. I felt no pain at the time because Master helped me suffer through it. I still refused to fold the bags and they had to give up on me that day. I was held in a room and not allowed to go out. I was given only very little food at each meal. They did whatever they wanted to me. In June 2001, I was told that if I wanted to get out of that place, I had to write a repentance statement, but I refused to do so. They tried to force me to write a repentance statement by threatening to prolong my years in jail and increase my physical suffering.

Facing ten more years of life in jail and physical suffering, caused me indecision. I was fighting with myself in my mind and I didn't know what to do. I had no idea what to do, even after I thought about it for several days. I finally realized that I would not find answers by thinking about the situation in this way. I had to release all thoughts and empty my mind. I asked myself from the bottom of my heart, what did I really want? Continuing to clarify the truth and acknowledge that Falun Dafa was good was what I wanted most. I then decided to persist in clarifying the truth and validating Falun Dafa no matter what I met with, even if it meant sacrificing my life.

As soon as I thought about the situation in this way, I felt more at ease and happier. Two weeks later, I was assigned to a group. It was a group in which a dozen criminals lived together. The guard asked a criminal named Song to force me to write the repentant statement, but I refused. Then they found a way. They asked a mentally ill criminal to “take care” of me and make me listen to him, but I would not. Song shut me in a room and slapped me around several times. He blocked the door to the room and didn't allow me to leave. I told him to get out of the way three times and finally he did. I went out to report the abuse to the guards, but the guards hid and would not come out. I later saw guards in another room and I went there to try to talk with them. However, the criminal guarding the door would not let me pass through. Hearing the noise at the door, all the police officers came out and approached me with handcuffs and truncheons. They didn't ask me any questions or say anything to me, and proceeded to beat me. I was hung up from an iron pole by handcuffs and wasn't released until I lost consciousness. I was then sent back to my room.

I was later transferred to another team where I was treated with even more contemptible ways. Two criminals were assigned to be my “personal monitors” and they harassed me. However, they still couldn't make me give up practicing Falun Dafa.

I received Master’s articles from other practitioners who had been illegally sentenced, and I realized that Dafa practitioners should come out and validate Dafa. However, I was in prison, so how could I go out and validate Dafa? I was enlightened by the stories of how fellow practitioners worked at exposing the persecution and validating Dafa. I also found my own ways to do so. The prison usually held a flag raising activity and allowed prisoners to celebrate and pledge together when the holidays came. I decided to use this chance to pledge my thoughts as well. After preparing and practicing several times, I called out, “Falun Dafa is good!” just before other criminals were about to recite a pledge at the “Labor Day” (Chinese holiday) flag raising ceremony. At first I was hesitant, but after I called out, I no longer felt scared. I felt energized with power and refreshed. It was so good! The guards were frightened by my actions. They pulled me away from the ceremony and put me in the confinement room.

In the confinement room, the guards tried to make me stand facing the wall, but I refused to do that, so they beat me with a wide wooden stick with thorns on it. They beat on my legs and back with all their strength. I used the supernatural power given to me by Master to resist the beating and let the pain return to the guards. I felt no pain. The stick broke after several minutes and the evil ones threw it away and left.

At another time, I was practicing the Falun Gong exercises and the guards caught me and sent me to the confinement room. I continued practicing, even with the handcuffs on my hands. I was forced to stand facing the south wall. I remembered what Master had said,

“No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil’s demands, orders, or what it instigates. If everyone does this the environment won’t be this way.” (“Dafa Disciples’ Righteous Thoughts are Powerful,” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)

So I refused to stand facing the wall. The police officer beat me with his truncheon, but I was still not conquered. Then he left angrily. Several other men handcuffed me and hung me from the door beam.

They later transferred me to another squadron. I stayed there for 7 to 8 years and contested with the evil the entire time. The guards said that if I was so firm in my practice just through reading the books, what would I do if I had another practitioner to study with? They feared it would be more difficult to "transform" me. They found that they could not make me waver and eventually gave up. Later, another practitioner really did arrive.

The practitioner was in his sixties. When he arrived, he was persecuted and attempts were made to force him to write the three statements (“repentance statement," "guarantee statement" and "dissociation statement"). We talked with each other and decided we would never “transform,” never write the statements, and never do anything not in accordance with Dafa. We sent forth righteous thoughts together to disintegrate the evil. The guards ordered two murderers to “personally monitor” the practitioner and promised to reduce his sentence by four months if he wrote the statements. The two criminals started to persecute the practitioner unscrupulously. They forced him to stand in front of the window in the cold of winter, beat him with clubs, forced him to stand for long periods, etc. I sent forth righteous thoughts and reported the beatings to the prison authorities. They pretended that they didn't know this was happening. So I told them the whole story. They could no longer deny it so they said they would take care of it. The criminals then brought the practitioner to a secret room and I could not hear any noise. Whenever I had a chance to meet with my fellow practitioner, I encouraged him with Master’s Fa.

One afternoon after that, the practitioner fainted because of the abuse he was suffering. He was sent to the hospital and with the protection of Master, he was fine. Afterwards, the guards got rid of those two criminals and stopped the severe persecution of this practitioner. Later, three more fellow practitioners arrived and the environment became easier for us. We communicated, learned together, sent forth righteous thoughts, and resisted the persecution together. We all came to understand how to oppose the evil persecution.

With the progression of Master’s Fa-rectification, I feel that the evil factors are less than they were years ago. We should seize the time to clarify the truth and save people by persuading them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We all cooperated and worked together. While some clarified the truth, the others helped to send forth righteous thoughts. The environment became better and better. By the time I left that place, more than half of the prisoners had already quit the CCP. I know there was still much more to do compared with some fellow practitioners who had persuaded almost all people in the prison to quit the CCP.

There are more stories to be told during this long journey. It seemed that I suffered a lot during the 13 years in jail, but I feel very fortunate to know and study Falun Dafa. The greatest lesson that I learned is that if we can do what our Master tells us to, we can find the way to get through. I now know that I can stay with Master’s righteous Fa and be a Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioner. It is my long-time dream and sacred vow. It is also the mercy and kindness of Master. I will cherish the opportunity to take on the responsibility and mission of a Dafa practitioner and help save the people lost in the lies.

Due to my limited knowledge, I welcome suggestions from fellow practitioners.