(Minghui.org) In 2004, I was arrested and sent to one of the most notorious forced labor camps in China. Since I refused to “transform,” I was put in solitary confinement for a month in a room without sunlight. Two people who called themselves practitioners came to see me. They recited Master’s new articles for me. I thought they were practitioners. They helped me write a letter without the word “cult” and said, “I will help you press your handprint. If you are released, you can help Master rectify the Fa.” I didn’t know it was a trick, so I agreed.
When I was put in another cell and met practitioners who hadn’t “transformed,” I realized that I had fallen for their deceit. I wept. A practitioner told me to write a solemn declaration to express my firm determination to practice Falun Dafa. I wrote it quickly. When captain Liu came to me, I said that I would continue practicing. I said that I had been deceived and did want to cultivate.
The guards beat practitioner Xu, who’d also written a declaration to resume cultivation, with three electric batons. Her legs were covered in wounds and bruises. I felt I had to protect the practitioners and couldn’t let the guards do such evil, so I took an everyday person’s approach to protest the persecution. I took out my clothes and belongings and gave them away. I wept and shouted, “Why do you beat us? You see her legs are all purple. I cannot live this way. I will jump off the building. If I don’t die that way, you will beat me to death anyway.” (Editor’s note: This is entirely the result of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. Falun Dafa strictly prohibits killing, including suicide and self-harm. Practitioners are asked not to protest the persecution this way.)
I went to the door and shouted. They stopped me, so I went on a hunger strike. I didn’t eat for three days. The forced labor camp contacted my family and told them to pressure me to give up practicing. My sister came to see me, sobbing when she tried to convince me to give up practicing. I thought, “When I reach consummation, they will have a good future. If I listen to them, they will sin, and it will be over.” So my heart was not moved.
Standing up for Falun Dafa
I knew the pain of being “transformed.” There were 27 forcibly “transformed” practitioners in the second brigade at that time, so I wanted to help them write a solemn declaration to resume practicing. I knew that a single person opposing the persecution would not succeed. He or she would be persecuted even worse. We should join together and declare our intent together. Could they beat all of us?
At that time, the prisoners were forced to make gypsum products for export. The products had to be delivered in a box after they were done. The boxes weighed over 60 pounds, so no one wanted to do this work. I said I would, because I could hide things in the box. This would be a chance for me to connect with other practitioners.
I hid a small copy of Zhuan Falun and Master’s other new articles and notes for practitioners who were forced to “transform,” encouraging them not to listen to their persecutors. I wrote, “We must announce our declaration to practice Falun Dafa, go home with dignity, and help Master to rectify the Fa.” I also went to the other brigades and talked with the diligent practitioners.
Twenty-six practitioners were ready to make a solemn declaration together—only one practitioner did not agree. I said, “You’re the only one who refuses. You must not miss this opportunity.” She said she was worried because her husband threatened to divorce her.
Twenty-six people declared that they would resume practicing Falun Dafa. Captain Liu talked to them one by one, but no one was badly beaten. Twenty-six people declaring together was not a trivial matter. Who was the organizer? There must be someone. They interrogated the practitioners. One young practitioner could not withstand the pressure and reported me. Captain Liu came to me and said, “You are too powerful. You spent months going back and forth. You convinced 26 people at once. This brigade cannot hold you; you have to go somewhere else.”
I smiled at her. I was protected by Master and she didn’t dare touch me. In fact, the guards also admire Dafa practitioners in their hearts. They were just doing what they were being paid to do.
The practitioners who refused to “transform” had to wear red tags. Their families were not allowed to visit them, and they were only allowed to access limited areas. There were over a thousand people in the seven brigades. When I saw the red tags, I knew that they were dedicated practitioners. Although I helped more than 20 fellow practitioners resume cultivation, captain Liu, who was on the list of perpetrators to be investigated on the Minghui website, treated me well.
The forced labor camp tried to slander Dafa. A guard gave a lecture, and we were forced to listen. I thought, “I am not going to fall into your evil trap. Your words have nothing to do with me.” Master gave me wisdom. I raised my hand and said, “What you say is not right. I will tell the truth.”
When I went back to the cell, I went to captain Liu and said, “Thanks for letting me go to that lecture. It turned out that what she said was false. Falun Dafa is good. I must go to more lectures like that to tell people what is false.” As a result, I was not allowed to go to any lectures.
Later she said, “I had you attend the lecture because I want you to be the head of the propaganda committee of the second brigade. Except for the guards, you will have the final say.” She tried to tempt me. I said, “I’m not interested. Find someone else.”
True Compassion
The brigade organized a trip to a park. I thought, “Now I’m free. I can go home today.” After I took off my labor camp uniform, I had another thought. Some time before, a practitioner had successfully escaped, and the labor camp interrogated everyone. I thought, “Practitioners are already suffering here. It would be selfish of me to cause them more stress. I can’t leave.” I put the uniform back on. Then I thought, “Such an opportunity will not come again. I have to go.” So, I took it off again. But I then thought, “Captain Liu is quite ruthless. If she loses her job because of me, she would hate Dafa even more. Aren’t practitioners supposed to have consideration for others?” I put the uniform back on.
After I returned to the labor camp, I said to captain Liu, “I am very grateful to you today, because I almost escaped. I wanted to go home. I took my uniform off three times but put it back on. Then I thought, ‘I can’t be selfish. Captain Liu would lose her job if I escaped.’ I miss my family, but thinking about you, I decided not to escape.” She hugged me, grabbed my hand, and said, “You are the best in the whole brigade.”
A fellow practitioner who refused to “transform” was locked in a room and forced to stand for a month. Her feet swelled. I went to captain Liu and said, “Please release her now. She has been standing for a month. Release her now.” She was indeed released. Captain Liu treated practitioners a little nicer than she did before.
When it was nearly time for me to be released, the labor camp had all the detainees sing CCP songs. I refused. I told myself that I had to tell them why I refused. I said, “Captain Liu, I follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I can’t tell lies. How can I sing the evil Party’s songs on stage? My mind is full of thoughts that Falun Dafa is good. I can only sing those songs. If I sing those Party songs, I am allying myself with the Party. What kind of Dafa disciple is that?” My term was extended for over ten days because I refused to sing.
Because I refused “transform,” the guards instructed the prisoners to torture me. An inmate twisted my arm. I laughed, “Why do you hate me so much? If you want to twist my arm, then you can twist this one, too.” I held out my other arm. But after she tortured me, her stomach hurt. I said, “If you recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,’ the pain will stop.” But she went to the guard and reported me. The guard didn’t do anything to me. I saw that she was cold, so I covered her with my quilt and cotton jacket. I treated her kindly. When she was about to get released, she grabbed my hand and cried, saying, “The guards told me to beat you.” She told the others, “Don’t beat her. She is a good person.” She told me, “I will never follow this evil path again. I will also practice Falun Dafa.”
Some of those who tortured practitioners started to practice Falun Dafa. The power of compassion can really save people!
Twenty-two years is a long time in the human world, but in the Fa-rectification of the universe, it is only a moment. At first, I just thought that I should cultivate well, expose the persecution, and wait for Master to return to China. Now I understand the sacred mission of Dafa practitioners in this period and that Dafa practitioners have no role model to follow. We must leave our experiences and lessons for the people of the future, so I must follow a good and correct cultivation path. Master, please be confident that I will!
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