(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Gong in 1997 when I was 26 years old. I specialize in architecture, and my outlook on life changed greatly after I understood the principle of “no loss no gain.”
After I began practicing I remembered a gold ring and other presents I was given as bribes from construction bosses and decided to return them. I told them that I had begun to practice Falun Gong and I would not take advantage of others. They were all very surprised. One of them said, “I've been in the construction business for over 20 years and have never come across anyone like you.”
After the persecution began, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary of the discipline and inspection department at work tried to "transform" me. I told him my story and asked him, “I returned all those presents after I read Zhuan Falun a few times. Don't you think this practice is good?” He was speechless and never tried to “transform” me again.
A young colleague was transferred to work in our company after the persecution started. When he was purchasing a house we had designed, he made sure to choose an apartment I had designed. He said he had done some research and found that houses designed and constructed under my supervision were of good quality and he would have no worries.
When I was illegally detained, an elderly lady living downstairs said to my mom, “Your daughter is a good person, who is also clever and intelligent. Look, these buildings she designed are so good and comfortable to live in.”
I was one of the people under strict surveillance by the local 610 Office. They told my employer to assign a female colleague to monitor my movements. Because I often gave her and our supervisors truth-clarification DVDs and materials, she asked me where we got all the money to make them. I told her about a time in my life when I was forced to leave home:
"Before I left home, I took all my savings and the jewelry and rings my family gave me when I got married so that I could change them into cash if needed. A fellow practitioner rented a place near a vegetable market for us to live. Our life was very simple. We mostly ate vegetables and tried not to spend anything."
She listened to my story and sank deep in thought. She never monitored me again.
I was sentenced to forced labor in 2003 and went on a hunger strike to protest. The forced labor camp later notified my family to take me home.
The 610 Office tried to suspend my professional credentials, which might mean that I could lose my livelihood. I decided to report their behavior to the bureau of human resources.
However, I felt rather uneasy. Before I started practicing Falun Gong I was very sensitive and thin-skinned. I asked myself, "Why do you want to do this? Those officials are so used to having people beg them for things. Will they listen to you?" But then I thought, "These officials are really pitiful. They have no idea what Falun Gong is about and they have unwittingly gotten involved in the persecution. You're going there to clarify truth." With this thought I began to feel upright and dignified. I kept telling myself, "You must be compassionate, be compassionate."
I talked to the person in charge. When he heard that I had been sentenced to forced labor before, he immediately said that there were regulations and that I couldn't keep my professional status. I reasoned with him and said, “You cannot treat innocent Falun Gong practitioners the same way you treat ordinary inmates in forced labor camps, because we didn't violate any laws. I hope you will hear me out.” He agreed.
I told him how I had returned the gifts. He said, “If you think Falun Gong is good, you can practice at home. Don't be political.” I said, “I was illegally arrested and the police used thin nylon rope to tie my hands behind my back and hung me up from a window bar. I could barely touch the ground, and all my body weight fell on my arms. It was excruciatingly painful. With the slightest movement, the strings would become even tighter. I was sweating all over due to pain. The police told me that this was the method they used to interrogate murderers and that a strong young man could only last for half an hour at most.”
He looked at me as if he could not believe that I lived through such an experience. I saw that he was listening carefully and continued, “Later they took me to the province female forced labor camp. As soon as I got there the team leader: 'We'll make your life a living hell unless you “transform.”' I was forced to stand still for a whole week until I couldn't even urinate. I was also cuffed to a window for 24 hours, and after that I was deprived of sleep for four days and nights in a row. Two drug offenders were assigned watch on me so that I would not doze off.”
He asked me, “Why did you endure such suffering? Why didn't you just say that you would give up the practice?”
I said, “The principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are worth suffering for. Safeguarding the basic right to believe in these principles is safeguarding what's most precious in the world. If we gave in to the guards' demands and wrote the guarantee statements to stop clarifying the facts and give up practicing Falun Gong, even if we did it against our conscience, we would have betrayed those principles. This is what they want to achieve."
"I went on a hunger strike, and I truly felt that it was worth giving up my life to safeguard these principles. That's what I thought when I was painfully force-fed. They inserted a thick tube into my stomach through my nostril and used a syringe to force drugs and food through the tube. I was held down on the bed, and my hands and feet were cuffed and my head and mouth were held tightly. The guards also told them to use a thicker tube.”
I could see his eyes glisten, and he murmured, “Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. Not many people could endure such suffering. I've seen Falun Gong DVDs before. I got one in Hong Kong about the 'self-immolation.' The Chinese Communist Party is capable of all kinds of bad things. There are so few people like you. You deserve respect. I will help you."
I told him, “I earned my professional status based on national exams. It wasn't awarded to me based on an evaluation.” He said, “That's right, objective exams. It wasn't based on anyone's evaluation. We cannot suspend it. I shall report your case to my superiors.” With the help of this kindhearted section head, I did not lose my credentials as a registered construction-cost assessor.
Leaders at work and my family were all stunned that I didn't lose my professional status. I told my parents and my classmates about what happened, and they changed their attitudes. They stopped rejecting the facts of Falun Gong and were less worried about me. The section head who helped me also received rewards and was promoted to the position of head of the organization department of a county council.
My parents and my husband always got uptight whenever the Party's “sensitive dates” rolled around. I kept clarifying the truth to them, and their attitudes changed a lot.
In 2012, my husband came home in a very good mood. He said, “Guess who praised you today?” I had never heard him say that anyone where he worked praised me before. He said, “Your general manager! In front of several people he shouted at me, 'Send my regards to the Falun Gong person in your family!' He said you are an extraordinary person and told me to be kind to you. He said it's a good thing that people have beliefs, that what the Chinese people are lacking today is belief.”
I remembered that the general manager used to be the boss of the bank where my husband worked. Because he was capable, he was later transferred to work in the provincial capital city. He came to pay a visit to his old subordinates. My husband had a lot of respect for him. I had given the manager's phone number to fellow practitioners before to clarify the facts to him, and I felt he was so happy now, after learning the truth.