(Minghui.org) I was fortunate to have come across Falun Dafa in January 1999 when I was at the lowest point in my life. As I strove to live by Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, my life experienced a tremendous transformation.
I had a painful life living with my husband's family. I even thought about divorce and suicide, which were not successful and led to a relationship with my husband and his family being filled with hate and resentment.
Within three months of my marriage, my husband had begun going out with friends frequently and rarely stayed home or took care of routine family affairs, let alone caring for me. We had a dozen acres of land to work on. My husband never laid his hands on it. My father-in-law was a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, and he spent most of his time treating patients. My mother-in-law suffered various illnesses.
In the patriarchal society over thirty years ago, my parents-in-law spoiled their son (my husband) and I had to work in the field with his three sisters. Although I was pregnant at the time, I could only rest for half a day when I was very uncomfortable. Fearing others in the family would look down upon me, I had to endure it and painstakingly continue to work in the field. Nobody would pity me or even care how I felt. From then on, I started to hold a grudge against my husband and his family.
My husband did not provide for the family; instead, he would seize money I put away. When I hid the money, he would search the whole house and find it every time. As he took all the money, I could not even buy basic feminine hygiene products. One day my mother gave me three yuan and seventy cents that she had saved when I went to visit her. I hid it under all the clothes in my closet, only for my husband to find it and spend it on treating his friends to a feast (the money would be equivalent to more than fifty yuan today).
When I gave birth to my first son, my husband would not step in the room. He stood outside the room, took a look, and held his nose before stepping away. After my second son was born, he became the local town's Chinese Communist Party secretary, which made him even more arrogant. He started to dress up and walk around town like a VIP. Although he earned a salary, he continued to spend all his money on eating out without any regard for me and his children. It deepened my grudge.
When my younger son was more than one year old, my husband became the sales division head at a fireworks factory. He took me and our two sons to live near the factory, away from his parents. I no longer had to work in the field and thought I could finally live a better life. However, he asked me to work in the factory and withdrew my wages on my behalf, with the excuse that I was illiterate and unable to sign my name on the pay stub. I ended up working with no pay while he squandered my money.
It happened to be the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, when the CCP was promoting its economic reform and open-door policy. The government, especially the police, had a major stake in illegal businesses, such gambling, prostitution, and narcotics. My husband bought sex routinely.
One day, a kind insider told me, “Your husband is gambling and has a mistress behind your back.” I was shocked, as it was the first time I’d heard of it. After he came home that night, I did not make a fuss. Instead, I asked him if it was true. To my surprise, he appeared outraged, denied any involvement, and attempted to hit me.
Later, he infected me with a sexually transmitted disease. He then switched tactics, admitting his mistake and begging for my forgiveness. I could not tell anyone about it since it was such a skeleton in the closet. If my relatives and friends learned about it, they would worry about me. I did not even dare to see a doctor and just took some medicine that my husband had obtained from his father. The agonizing sexual disease made me feel wronged and humiliated, crying and wondering why my life was so painful. I seriously considered suicide.
One day, overcome with hatred, I grabbed a kitchen knife and attempted to cut my husband's fingers off. He ran back to his parents' to hide from me. When I told my mother-in-law about my situation and suffering, she accused me of sowing discord in the family. When I brought my case to my sister-in-law, she said I was spreading rumors. Their lack of support made me even more resentful.
Eventually I lost my faith in my husband and his family. I said to myself, “If I committed suicide, what would happen to my children? If my husband marries again, my kids would suffer even more under the stepmother.” So I decided to divorce and take my children with me. But my husband would not agree to a divorce no matter what. The despair and hopelessness really drove me insane.
My life turned around when a relative introduced me to Falun Dafa in January 1999.
I have many siblings, and our family was poor when we grew up. Before I could finish the third grade, I had to drop out as my family couldn't afford to pay the tuition. I ended up being virtually illiterate, unable to write my own name properly or understand mandarin Chinese.
As I initially joined the study group, I held the book Zhuan Falun but could not read anything in it. Fellow practitioners encouraged me, “No worries. You can listen to others first. Master will help you, and gradually you will be able to read the book.”
So I continued to join the study group every night and did my best to listen as I followed along, page by page. I also listened carefully when fellow practitioners shared their cultivation experiences and understandings.
Since the reading was done in Mandarin and the experience sharing was held in the local dialect, I initially learned the benefits of practicing Dafa from others' sharing. I learned that Falun Dafa teaches people to be kind and considerate. I learned that my tough life was likely a result of bad deeds I had committed in past lives.
I realized that the more one wrongs others, the more suffering one would have to endure later because everything has to be repaid. Therefore, the only path to a happy life is to become a good person. I grew closer to Dafa's teachings day by day. The more I listened to it, the more I wanted to learn more.
One night I followed along with the others to read the book. Suddenly, I realized I could recognize some characters. I checked with others to see if I was reading some characters correctly. They told me, “You are correct. You can read now.” I said, “I still have so many characters to learn.” They encouraged me, “It is definitely a good start. You will improve quickly from here.”
Amazingly, I could read more words day by day. After over a month, I could read the whole book with others. What a great joy! I could not express how elevated I felt at that moment. Master changed me into an educated person. I could not help but thank Master in my heart.
I spent the days that followed in utter happiness. All the pain and suffering became a thing of the past. My mind was peaceful, and I started to smile all the time.
My family, including my husband, were all shocked to see my tremendous change. I told them, “This is a result of my practicing Falun Dafa. Dafa teaches me to be a person of high morals according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Only by becoming a better person can one find meaning in life and be responsible to their family. I have practiced Dafa for about a month, and now I can read already.”
Seeing my changes, my mother-in-law, three sisters-in-law, and even my husband wanted to practice Dafa as well. Our whole family started to go to the group practice site together.
I never dreamed that my in-laws, who I had resented so much in the past, could become my fellow practitioners. What an earth-shaking change, and what a tremendous blessing! Master's benevolence and Dafa's power truly manifested themselves.
Through studying the Fa, I learned that my husband's mistake was a result of the prevailing moral degeneration of our society. He was merely a victim, so I let go of my hatred and wanted to study the Fa with him together. Our relationship made a turn for the better. He also regretted his wrongdoings in the past and stayed away from gambling, drugs and prostitution.
Both of our bodies were purified, and within a few months we started to enjoy good health. We worked during the day and studied the Fa together at night. When the fireworks factory went bankrupt, I started to work at a sewing shop, and my husband drove a motorcycle to transport customers. Although his income wasn’t much, he did his best to feed the family.
Right when we were enjoying our practice and family life, former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999. Propaganda slandering Master and Dafa became overwhelming.
I went to Beijing to speak out against the injustice but was arrested and taken to a labor camp twice by the local 610 Office (an extralegal agency created specifically by the top CCP leadership to persecute Falun Dafa).
When I was released from the labor camp in 2005, I learned that, under great pressure from the local police, my husband gave up the practice of Dafa and returned to his previous addictions. My younger son was about to enter college but did not have the money to pay his tuition. Fortunately, my younger sister provided several thousand yuan to cover the first semester's tuition and sent him to college. My older son went out of town and was said to have started gambling.
It was extremely painful for me to learn that my otherwise perfect family was broken under the persecution. I pleaded to Master to save us. I first persuaded my husband to come back to Dafa. Through studying together, his good side was revived.
We began to rebuild our family. My husband went back to driving his motorcycle, while I made money by picking tea leaves and growing vegetables for sale. We started to tell our neighbors about Falun Dafa and urged them to quit the CCP and its youth organizations. We also visited relatives with gifts and took the chance to talk to them about quitting the CCP.
Under Dafa’s guidance and Master's protection, our environment has become more and more relaxed over the years. We seized the opportunity to talk to everyone we met about Dafa and quitting the CCP.
After breaking through the CCP's persecution time after time, our lives became better and better. Our children’s situations improved as well. Our older son stopped gambling and started a normal job. Our younger son also found a good job after graduating from college. My husband and I worked as temps at a local company. Our family income increased, and we managed to pay off our prior debts. Our children bought cars and came back to visit us whenever they had a chance.
Two years ago, we built a new four-story house. Our sons got married, and we now have a granddaughter. My husband and I took different work shifts so one of us could take care of our granddaughter at home.
I have come a long way from nothing to everything and from bitterness to happiness. Everything is gifted by Master. Master gave me Dafa, wisdom, health, the ability to help provide salvation to others, and a family full of good people. I have nothing to repay Master, but I will continue to improve myself in cultivation.