(Minghui.org) Mr. Shu Anqing started practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice also known as Falun Dafa, in college. His rhinitis soon disappeared and his once poor memory improved. He was so impressed that he introduced Falun Gong to his parents upon returning to his hometown in Lu County, Sichuan Province, after graduation.
His parents soon regained their health too. His father, in particular, experienced his 90-degree hunched back straighten out, and his asthma disappeared. He was able to do farm work again.
Living by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the family also became more harmonious and considerate of others.
After the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, however, Mr. Shu was not only fired from his job, but also sent to labor camp detention twice, followed by three and half years of imprisonment. His father died worrying about his repeated arrests.
Mr. Shu was widowed when his son was 4 years old. His mother helped take care of the boy when Mr. Shu was at work or in detention for his faith. The boy grew up in fear.
At present, local police repeatedly harassed Mr. Shu and his mother, Ms. Yang Wenxiu, 77, during the recent “zero-out” campaign aiming to force every Falun Gong practitioner on the government’s blacklist to renounce their faith.
The latest harassment episode took place on May 24, 2021, when police first flew a drone over the residence shared by Ms. Yang and her son. Upon confirming that someone was home, they came to harass Ms. Yang. She refused to renounce her faith, and the police installed surveillance cameras around her apartment building days later.
Stunned by Amazing Experience with Falun Gong
Growing up in a small town called Shima in Lu County, Mr. Shu went to college in 1991. But the clash of traditional values and the materialism in the modern life made him confused and lost. To make things worse, he had been bothered by rhinitis for six years when he started college. The illness also resulted in a poor memory. He also suffered from a bloated stomach from time to time.
He became worried about his future as he knew he needed good health and good memory to pursue whatever dream he had.
He thought about qigong practices, but realized he couldn’t afford the tuition. Fortunately someone recommended Falun Gong to him in 1995 and said it was free of charge.
He jumped at the opportunity and learned Falun Gong exercises from a volunteer. That night he went to watch an outdoor movie on campus and the temperature suddenly dropped. Even though it was very chilly, he was surprised to find that his body was enveloped by energy and he didn’t feel cold at all. Moreover, he suddenly smelled some flowers even though he had suffered from rhinitis for years. The smell followed him to his dorm and lingered for quite a while. He was amazed that all this happened just hours after he learned the Falun Gong exercises.
Several days later, a practitioner lent him a copy of the books Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun. After reading the books, he realized that Master had been purifying his body.
Even so, he was still influenced by modern science and notions and didn’t really believe that what had happened was real. But another experience about a week later totally changed his mindset.
It was a Sunday morning when he was doing the second set of Falun Gong exercise alone on campus. When he was changing the pose from “Holding the Wheel in Front of the Lower Abdomen” to “Holding the Wheel Above the Head,” he suddenly saw a round object (Falun) rotating clockwise and counterclockwise between his arms. The force of the rotation even made his arms shake slightly. He felt his arms become very light and unbelievably wonderful. He used his palms to gently press the Falun to not float upwards. Such a state lasted until he was done with the second exercise set.
He was stunned by what he experienced and became totally convinced that what Master said in the books was all real. It suddenly dawned on him that the ancient principles of good and evil being rewarded accordingly were also real. His atheist view of the world crumbled right away and he came to believe the existence of the divine.
Parents Also Benefit
Mr. Shu graduated from college about one month after he picked up the practice of Falun Gong. He landed a job in his hometown and introduced the practice to his parents.
His mother, Ms. Yang, soon recovered from her chronic illnesses. His father’s 90 degree curved back returned to normal and his asthma also disappeared. The older Mr. Shu was able to do farm work too.
The moral improvement of the family was also significant. One time, a neighbor released water in the family’s paddy field to irrigate his own land. Instead of arguing with the neighbor as most villagers would do, the family simply dismissed it.
Another time, Ms. Yang ran into Mr. Shu’s mother-in-law, and cursed at the former for “mistreating her daughter.” This took place at a farmer’s market with many people watching. But Ms. Yang remained peaceful and didn’t fight back. Later on Mr. Shu’s mother-in-law realized it was a misunderstanding and her daughter had never been mistreated. So the two families got along well again.
Ms. Yang once said, “We not only became healthier, but also changed our outlook on the world after we began practicing Falun Gong. We became more upright, kind, and tolerant. We no longer complain about unjust things or resent others for mistreating others. As a result, we have a harmonious family and get along well with our neighbors. We live a happy and worry-free life.”
Impressed by the family’s changes, many villagers joined them in practicing Falun Gong. Sometimes 70 or 80 villagers did the exercises together at Ms. Yang’s home. Those with stubborn illnesses recovered. Many smokers and heavy drinkers quit their bad habits.
Loss of Job
After graduating from college, Mr. Shu worked in the electric power bureau in his hometown. As the director of Linzhuang Transformer Substation, he did not take home any items from work. When some employees took light bulbs home and it affected work, he even brought his own light bulbs from home to avoid work delays.
In addition, because of a mistake by the Labor and Management Office, he earned the title of engineer one year later than his peers, resulting in about a 10,000 yuan loss in pay raise given to people promoted to engineers. Some coworkers told him to fight to get the money back, but Mr. Shu just dismissed it. He said, “Had I not been practicing Falun Gong, I wouldn’t have been able to handle this matter this way. I realized that the person in charge of the promotion thing didn’t cause the delay on purpose. I can’t make his life harder because of me.”
Being less obsessed with his own personal interest made him a happier person, said Mr. Shu.
Before Mr. Shu became the director, there were two to four paid positions in Linzhuang Transformer Substation. After he came, however, all other positions were cut and he ended up doing the work of two or more people all by himself. Furthermore, he earned the title of province-level Excellent Technical Expert during a technical competition, and won first place in the Luzhou City power transformation technology competition. His substation was also given the Excellent Substation award for the city.
However, Mr. Shu was not given any prize money despite his achievements, even though all award-winners received financial awards. Mr. Shu didn’t feel upset at all and kept working hard at his job. He said he felt joy from the bottom of his heart by taking lightly personal fame and interests.
But all these things changed after the suppression of Falun Gong began in July 1999. Officials then talked with Mr. Shu every day and urged him to give up the practice. They later threatened him to resign, otherwise, they said they would withhold everyone else’s bonus. In order to prevent other employees from resenting Falun Gong, Mr. Shu was forced to resign.
The day he tendered his resignation, he was stopped by a colleague the moment he walked back to his apartment building. She asked him to sign a document to transfer the new apartment unit that had been assigned to him to her. She had permission from the higher-up. Thus, Mr. Shu lost the employer-sponsored apartment even before he moved in.
Arrest, Detention, and Harassment
Both Mr. Shu and his mother Ms. Yang suffered tremendously during the past 22 years after the persecution started on July 20, 1999.
Two days after the persecution began, officials went to Ms. Yang’s place and confiscated her Falun Gong books and the portrait of Falun Gong’s founder. They returned to harass her from time to time.
After losing his job, Mr. Shu found a teaching job at a vocational high school. One day on the way home from work, he was stopped by agents from state security bureau and 610 Office. They ransacked his residence and detained him overnight.
In December 2000, the mother and son went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Ms. Yang was detained for over three months before returning home. Mr. Shu was kept at the Xicheng Police Station in Beijing where he was beaten by police along with dozens of other detained practitioners. After being sent back, he was given a one and a half year labor camp term.
The guards at the Xinhua Labor Camp tortured Mr. Shu, trying to force him to give up his belief. The torture methods included beatings, humiliation, standing still for a long time, squatting, and brainwashing.
Beating
One day in November 2002, agents from the Lu County 610 Office and Yunjin Police Station came to Ms. Yang’s residence. They searched the place, confiscated an exercise cassette, and sent her to the Lu County Detention Center. She was later transferred to Nanmusi Labor Camp for a one year term. During Ms. Yang’s detention, the guards threatened her, swore at her, left her under the sun for long periods of time, and forced her to sit still on a small stool for a long time.
Forced to sit still on a small stool for a long time.
The frequent harassment made Mr. Shu lose his job at the vocational high school. To make a living, he helped people repair home appliances. Mr. Shu gradually earned a good reputation for appliance repair. His customers were very satisfied with his high quality work, dedication, and reasonable price, and they often recommended him to others.
But the Jiangyang District 610 Office in Luzhou City did not give up persecuting Mr. Shu. They stationed agents outside his repair shop and monitored him for a long time. In order to avoid being arrested again, Mr. Shu had to leave his elderly parents and young child behind, and go to other places.
In 2012, police from Gulin County arrested Mr. Shu and planned to sentence him, which dealt a heavy blow to his father, who had already lived with stress and worry about Mr. Shu and the family all the time. The elderly man became ill and later died while Mr. Shu was in prison.
After Ms. Shu’s wife died at a young age, his son was raised by Ms. Yang. When he was forced to stay away from home and detained, the family had no income. Ms. Yang and her grandson led a poor and miserable life. A once happy family was now broken.
On July 30, 2012, the Gulin County Court tried Mr. Shu and two other practitioners at the Luzhou Detention Center. Ms. Yang and her grandson also came to tell people the facts of Falun Gong outside the courtroom.
Ms. Yang told her grandson to tell the police that his father was a good person and had broken no law. The boy relayed the words to the police. Saddened by their tragic life, someone offered 200 yuan to Ms. Yang to help the family financially.
Frequent Harassment
It was not until May 2016 that Mr. Shu returned home after three and half years of imprisonment. Since then, the CCP officials have kept coming to harass him and his mother, especially after they moved to a community in Longnan Road several years ago. The agents came often and at any time, even at 9 p.m. in the evening.
One day in 2020, local police asked Mr. Shu to come for a “talk” after work. When one officer was talking with him, another officer was taking pictures. There was a red header policy that requires police to collect practitioners’ personal information, ID card number, phone number, address, and picture as well as conduct periodic “talks.”
In addition, police also called Mr. Shu at work and went to his place to harass his mother.
Harassment During the “Zero-Out” Campaign
This harassment worsened in 2021. Sometimes the police came once a week, but Ms. Yang refused to open the door.
On May 24, 2021, police first flew a drone over Ms. Yang’s house to check if anyone was home. Upon confirming that someone was home, they descended on her house at around 4 p.m. in the afternoon. Mr. Yang did not open the door.
When she went outside to dump the trash one hour later, 7 or 8 men came up and surrounded her. Only one of them was wearing a police uniform.
These people said they were from the Hongxing Police Station and asked her to go inside her apartment unit to have a talk. Ms. Yang replied that they could just talk outside, and an officer said it would not be good for others to overhear their conversation.
Ms. Yang said there was nothing to hide from the public, but the police insisted they go inside her apartment. She agreed to allow just three of them inside, but all of them followed inside. She protested and the one in uniform drove away the rest of the police.
Ms. Yang demanded to know the three men’s names and titles. No one responded. The one in uniform wasn’t wearing a police badge. They said they came to have her sign statements renouncing Falun Gong. Ms. Yang explained to them what Falun Gong is and how she had benefited from it over the years.
She gave two examples, “I was once hit by a car and had blood in my stool for several days. I recovered without any medical treatment. I knew my Master had protected me. After my son and I moved to this apartment, I took a fall and broke my lumbar spine. I became bedridden, but Master helped me again. One day I heard sounds coming from my spine. Soon I was able to get out of the bed and stand without any help. Had it not for Master’s help, how could I, an elderly lady in her 70s, recover so quickly?”
She also explained how Falun Gong taught her and other practitioners to be good people who never take advantage of others.
The police responded by saying that Falun Gong did the self-immolation on Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001. Ms. Yang refuted that this was a hoax staged by the communist regime to defame Falun Gong.
The police refused to listen and took out some prepared statements. One officer said, “This is the task given to us to accomplish ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial anniversary. Every practitioner must sign. I say you just sign the statements. I don’t care if you do your exercises at home. As soon as you sign the documents, we’ll leave and will never bother you again.”
Ms. Yang refused to comply and the police threatened that her grandson may have trouble getting into college or landing a job because of her. They accused her of being selfish.
They questioned why she moved to their jurisdiction and didn’t just stay in her own village. She said it was totally normal for parents to live with their grown children. She moved there to live with her son, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The police then said she could just draw a circle or press her fingerprints instead of signing her name.
She replied, “Even if you force my son to kick me out, I still wouldn’t sign my name.”
Days later, several surveillance cameras were installed around Ms. Yang’s apartment building.
From the experience of Ms. Yang and Mr. Shu, we can tell how the police and local officials have kept harassing innocent Falun Gong practitioners. Instead of blindly following the CCP to persecute people, we hope more officials will come to understand the situation and support practitioners and their basic rights.
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