(Minghui.org) In Chinese, “strong grass” is a metaphor for an unyielding person. I have used the pen name “like grass,” because, to me, this name reflected the 16 years of persecution that my family and I have endured. I recently changed my pen name to “strong grass.”
My parents began practicing Falun Dafa when I was 6 years old. My mother's cancer disappeared, and my father became stronger and healthier. Happiness returned to our family.
My mother was a local official. She was often praised as “talented” by her colleagues and friends. My father was a good schoolteacher. People often called me “princess.”
But our happiness ended abruptly in 1999 when a group of strangers broke into our apartment and arrested my father.
A second group of strangers came and took away our Dafa books, a computer, and our video player. Our phone line was tapped. My mother and I were often followed and harassed by the authorities.
When my mother was detained in a brainwashing center, my grandmother came to take care of me. She was very worried about my parents. She cried a lot.
My mother returned to us looking like a skeleton. Her joints protruded from her body. She was so weak that she could only lay in bed.
My father was released from the detention center for a short period of time before he was jailed again.
When my mother recovered from the torture she suffered in the brainwashing center, she took me to visit my father. It was during summer vacation. The prison guards refused to let us see him.
My mother and I tried to visit him again when it was snowing. This time, we were finally able to see him.
My mother was detained again. She was tortured repeatedly. When she returned home, she had many broken bones and was paralyzed from the chest down. I had to feed her.
I lived in a dormitory while attending junior high school, and stayed with different relatives during my summer and winter vacations. I paid for boarding school with our limited family savings and the support of our relatives.
My parents were both still jailed when I started high school. On one Mother's Day, I waited in line at a public phone booth at school to call my mother. When it was almost my turn, it was time to go back to class. I went to wait in line again after class.
I finally reached her. Worried that all of her communications were being monitored, I dared not call her “mom.” I said, “Hi,” with a low voice. My mother simply answered with an affirmative “Ugh,” and hung up.
My mother read this story in my diary years later. She sighed and commented that a child without a mother was “like grass.” I took the two characters “like grass” as my pen name.
The shadow of persecution hovered over me as I went through college, graduation and the process of finding a job. But I was fortunate that one adviser in college was sympathetic to my family. He awarded me the “National Endeavor Fellowship” scholarship. I really appreciate those kindhearted people.
Some young men stopped dating me when they heard that my parents practiced Falun Dafa and had been jailed.
But I don't hate the people who persecute us. The teachings of Falun Dafa fill my heart with compassion and tolerance. I love my work. I love my life. I am happy to contribute to society. I understand that the source of the persecution and all of my suffering was Jiang Zemin.
Sixteen years into the persecution, I wrote to the Supreme People's Court to report the crimes the former president Jiang Zemin had ordered, including torture, libel, deprivation of citizens' freedom of belief, illegal searches, unlawful incarceration, etc.
I also want to tell those who don't know the truth about Falun Dafa that my parents did nothing wrong. Falun Dafa practitioners have done nothing wrong. And Master Li Hongzhi's teaching us to adhere to “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” is absolutely righteous.
Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice!
This is a voice from thousands of Chinese people who have endured similar experiences.
Category: Perspective
