At around 11am on Saturday, February 12, a few practitioners in yellow scarves gathered in Place Jean Rostand under a grey sky. By midday, the number of practitioners had increased dramatically, and onlookers had gathered to watch the waist-drummers rehearsing and female dancers in costume warming up.

At around 2pm, after a slow build-up, colourful cars and vans for the floats arrived, and familiar banners brightened up the scene. By the time the parade began, a lot more practitioners had gathered and the atmosphere had become powerful. Passersby showed a great deal of interest, especially after long strings of firecrackers exploded one after another, frightening away evil spirits and waking up the entire neighbourhood. Suddenly the weather began to brighten and the parade, some 300 yards or so long, wound its way through densely-populated streets, attracting smiles from a pleasantly surprised public. Along the way, the firecrackers raised spirits, contributing for the first time, to this event in the busy Paris streets. This long colourful procession and music at last wound up at the Place de la Republique, where for a few hours large crowds gathered to watch the dancers and to talk with practitioners.

Sunday began with distinctive gold and scarlet costumes brightening another grey start, this time at the Eiffel Tower. As on the day before, the energy field became steadily more powerful and drew large crowds wanting to know more about Dafa and the situation in China. A lot of people signed the petitions against the persecution.

It was widely felt that this was a particularly memorable celebration, which succeeded in spreading the truth about Dafa to the people of Paris. Last year’s memories, of arrests and interference from the authorities on the occasion of Hu Jintao’s visit, have been transformed into a happy omen of a much brighter future for the people of Paris, and the rest of the world.

Ms. Liu Yongfang was a Falun Gong practitioner from Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province. She used to suffer from tuberculosis and psoriasis. When her psoriasis got very serious, she lost all of her hair and she had to wear a wig. After she began to practise Falun Gong in 1996, her illnesses all disappeared and she grew a full head of hair again. After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Ms. Liu went to Beijing twice in 2001 to appeal for Falun Gong. Both times she was arrested and sent to Masanjia Labour Camp in Liaoning Province to be persecuted. She was released when she became seriously ill because of the torture she received there.

At the end of 2003, Liu Yongfang was arrested by officers for clarifying the truth (1) to people. The police later released her. Under the tremendous pressure from the police, her old illness of tuberculosis recurred. Even when Liu Yongfang was very ill, the police still attempted to arrest her, but were firmly rejected by her and her family. Soon afterwards, Ms. Liu's health deteriorated quickly. She passed away in the spring of 2004 despite medical treatment.

Former Wenquan Police Station director, Yang Dehai (currently director of Gucheng Police Station), made an all-out effort to persecute Falun Gong while in office. He and his accomplices Zhou Zhenxing and others applied a special torture to practitioners. They twisted practitioners' arms behind their backs and tied them with nylon ropes. Then they inserted a wooden stick under the practitioner's armpits and placed both ends of the stick on a high table. The practitioner was thus lifted up by the stick, with their feet barely touching the ground. The whole weight of their body was painfully sustained by their armpits. Normally, an ordinary person would not be able to endure such torture for more than 20 minutes. But practitioners were often tortured like this for about 2 hours. Each time, after practitioners were taken down from this torture, their wrists still felt numb after two months.

Wenquan Police Station -

Director Zhao Bin: 86-429-5159608 (Office), 86-429-5138666 (Home), 86-13019982822 (mobile)
Instructor Li Chenghe: 86-429-5159516 (Office), 86-429-5155139 (Home), 86-13898295099 (mobile)
Deputy Director Zhang Jun: 86-429-5152882 (Office), 86-429-5138888 (Home), 86-13188548899 (mobile)

Xingcheng City Police Department -

Xingcheng City Police Department Chief: 86-429-5125300
Xingcheng City Police Squad: 86-429-5125237
Xingcheng City Detention Centre: 86-429-5153226

Note:

(1) Clarifying the Truth: Because of the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in China, and the fact that the unrelenting hate -campaign carried out by China’s state-controlled media, Falun Gong publish and broadcast nothing but false and slanderous reports about Falun Gong and cover up the brutal persecution taking place in China, practitioners inside and outside of China have been actively engaged in what is referred to as "clarifying the truth" – explaining to the public the facts about Falun Gong and exposing the evil persecution. Truth clarification activities include face to face conversations with people, posting notices and posters, handing out flyers, and hanging banners explaining the truth about Falun Gong. Outside of China, where Falun Gong is freely practised, practitioners further expose the persecution in China through anti-torture re-enactments, art exhibits, Internet websites, books, magazines, newspapers, movies and letter writing. The goal of clarifying the truth is to help people understand what Falun Gong is and, to raise public awareness and support, in order to dispel the lies of the current communist regime in China and to raise public support to to bring about the end of the persecution. (Variations: "clarifying the truth", "truth clarifying", "truth-clarifying", "truth clarification", "truth-clarification", "clarifying the facts", "clarified the truth", and "clarified the facts")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/19/95750.html

Ms. Liu Fengjie was 38 years old. She was a resident of a village near Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province.

At the end of 2000, Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Liu Fengjie and her husband (also a practitioner) went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They took their two young daughters with them. The police in Beijing arrested them and tortured them. Two days later, policeman Zhang Yunlong from the local police station and Han Xinghou from Ms. Liu Fengjie's village escorted her back and took her to the No. 2 Detention Centre of Shuangcheng City. After detaining her there for a month, the persecutors transferred Ms. Liu to the brainwashing class held in the local police station and subjected her to brainwashing for 50 days. During that time, the Shuangcheng City "610 Office" (1) ordered policeman Zhang Yunlong and 6 or 7 other police officers to torture Ms. Liu.

Because Ms. Liu had suffered such prolonged brainwashing and was at the end of her endurance, she wrote the "Three Statements" (2) against her conscience. The persecutors extorted 4,000 yuan (3) from her before releasing her. Under the inhuman torture, Ms. Liu could no longer live a normal life, study the Falun Dafa teachings and practise the exercises regularly. Her mind and body were deeply injured. On August 12, 2001, Ms. Liu Fengjie went out to sell vegetables (to make a living). She was killed in a car accident.

Note:

(1) "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

(2) "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

(3) "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/20/95854.html

In September 2002, the authorities in Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp of Harbin City formed the Fifth Brigade, also known as the "Transformation Brigade," which specialized in using violence to persecute those Falun Gong practitioners who refused to be "transformed." (1) Gathering a bunch of hatchet men, the labour camp authority used the brigade to execute the order of "forced transformation." In particular, they escalated the brutal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners prior to the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

In the Fifth Brigade, the labour camp first imprisoned the practitioners who upheld their practice, and forced them to squat down on a tiny ceramic tile and to hold their arms around their heads. If anyone stepped outside the designated tile, the guards would beat him badly. They dragged these practitioners to a dark room and tortured them. In addition, they dragged some other practitioners to the men's room, stripped them, and forced them to face the window, which was purposely opened to let in cold air. Then they soaked the practitioners with cold water, exposed them to the cold air all night long, and beat them with electric batons.

After stripping some male practitioners and forcing them to stand in the room, the perpetrators used water to wet the testicles of the male practitioners, and then shocked them with electric batons until the practitioners collapsed or were forced to sign the three statements.

The crimes committed by the authorities in the forced labour camp are too many to record. For instance, the officers shackled the practitioners on iron beds, completely immobilized in the spread-eagle position with all four limbs extended. Wearing gloves and holding towels, the officers then forcefully squeezed the male practitioners' testicles. The pain, the humiliation, and the trampling of their humanity were too horrific to describe with any human language. In the officers' own words, "You're here just for us to play with. We can torture you as we wish." As they admitted themselves, the vicious tortures they used against Falun Gong practitioners would have even shocked the Nazis in World War II.

The head of the Fifth Brigade, Zhao Shuang, led the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Instructed by Zhao and other leaders, the perpetrators persecuted the practitioners at will. They hung practitioners up and beat them day and night without giving them any chance to rest. As soon as the practitioners closed their eyes, the thugs would use the blue light of the electric batons to hurt practitioners' eyes, then they would burn their pubic hairs with cigarette lighters, stomp on their toes and feet with leather shoes, burn their hands and feet with cigarette lighters, and constantly wet their bodies with cold water.

The brigade head and other leaders instructed five to six people to hold down each practitioner's limbs, and to force him to place his fingerprint on the "three statements." (2) The physical and mental torture was so horrendous that some practitioners collapsed mentally. Despite their condition, the perpetrators would put these practitioners into extra tiny cells or send them to the notorious Wanjia Forced Labour Camp for further persecution.

Mr. Zhou Jingsen, a former professor at Harbin Broadcasting and Television University, was once imprisoned in the Fifth Brigade. The brigade head personally shocked him with an electric baton for over four hours, and forced Professor Zhou to sign the "three statements." After he was sent to the Fourth Brigade, the brigade head Hao Wei continued to force him to sweep the ground and do cleanup work. Professor Zhou finally collapsed and died from this persecution.

Also imprisoned in the Fifth Brigade was Mr. Zhang Bingxiang, whose daughter was imprisoned in the notorious Wanjia Labour Camp for practising Falun Gong. Fearing that Mr. Zhang would die in the labour camp after his five-day hunger strike to protest the persecution, the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp authorities sent Mr. Zhang home. At this point he was already reduced to a 35-kilogram bag of bones (approximately 77 pounds). Even when he was finally home, the local "610 Office" (3), the local policemen, and officers from Changlinzi continued to break in and harass Mr. Zhang until he died.

Contacts information for the Changlinzi Labour Camp of Harbin City:

The First Brigade: Head, Yang Jintang' "instructor"Yang Yu; Li Jinhua, the former head of the brigade and now promoted to be the Associate Director of the labour camp. Tel: 86-451-820370101
The Third Brigade: Head, You Shiqiang; the No.2 head, Li Changchun. Tel: 86-451-82037102
The Fourth Brigade: Head, Hao Wei; "instructor" Zhang Bing. Tel: 86-451-82037104
The Fifth Brigade: Head, Zhao Shuang. Tel: 86-451-82037105

Note:

(1) "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

(2) "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

(3) "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/17/95648.html

Masanjia Forced Labour Camp is in a suburb of Shenyang City. It is divided into several substations and each substation contains large groups and medium-sized groups. The first Female Substation houses all female prisoners who committed common crimes. In the very beginning of the persecution of Falun Gong, the police locked up some Falun Gong practitioners together with ordinary female prisoners, while the Second Female Substation housed only Falun Gong practitioners. As Jiang Zemin's regime intensified its cruel persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, the illegally arrested and detained Falun Gong practitioners became more and more numerous. In order to carry out the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners systematically, Jiang's group extorted common people's hard-earned money and used it to construct a new multi-story building for the Second Female Substation at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, specially used to detain and torture Falun Gong practitioners.

The new multi-story building for the Second Female Substation at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp takes up much land. The exterior of the new building is patterned with red bricks, and the outside looks neat and tidy. The Second Substation of female prisoners is located along the south side of a spacious east-west highway. The front gate, an automated, electric gate made of steel tubes, is 100 meters away from the building. Since you can see through the front gate, the inside and outside look clean from a glance. There is a large placard on the wall of the left side of the front gate with the conspicuous words, "The Ideology Education School of Liaoning Province." Walking through the front gate, one sees a wide pathway proceeding a hundred meters toward the building. There are spacious grassy lawns on either side of the pathway. There are sculptures of a deer and her fawn in the middle of the lawn. In summer and autumn, there are colorful flowers on both sides of the walkway. Along the path and in front of the building there is an aquarium. The appearance gives a casual observer the impression that this place is a serene park. How nice it seems! When ordinary people who don't know the truth come here, at a glance, they will say this place resembles a boarding school and a garden. They'll think it looks so wonderful! How could they know that it is actually Hell on Earth!

In this place, there are over a thousand illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners who believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance." They come from various areas throughout Liaoning Province. At the end of November 2001, the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp transferred over a thousand Falun Gong practitioners from its old site to this new multi-storied building. Every minute of every day, intense brainwashing, cruel physical torture, and extreme psychological devastation by any and all means occurs here, without any regard for humanity!

Just inside the dark, closed, huge steel gates of the new building, there are many virtuous and righteous people being illegally detained. Simply because these innocent people believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance," they have been suffering from cruel persecution, and they have been forcefully separated from their husbands, children, parents, brothers, and sisters. Some Dafa practitioners have been persecuted so viciously that they have suffered mental breakdowns, been badly injured, disabled, or even killed. The detained Falun Gong practitioners have no personal freedom here and they are suffering from inhumane torture and tribulations.

In fact, the name, "The Ideology Education School of Liaoning Province," was given in order to further the persecution of Falun Gong, and to cover up the severe crimes of cruel persecution being committed against Dafa practitioners. In 2000, the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp became notorious throughout the world due to the cruel persecution of Dafa practitioners within. Its name was therefore changed to this new, better sounding one. Its new name, "The Ideology Education School of Liaoning Province," was designed to shirk their responsibility for the cruel crimes against the practitioners. The authorities came up with the name to try to escape investigation from international human rights organizations and condemnation by the righteous voices of the world, to conceal reality from the eyes of people all over the world, and to delude Falun Dafa practitioners. Under the camouflage of "The Ideology Education School of Liaoning Province," the supervisor of the Second Female Substation in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, Su Jin (female), disguised herself as a "principal" of this "school."

Since the inception of this so-called "school," the means taken by the guards at the Second Female Substation to persecute Falun Gong practitioners are constantly changing. The ultimate change is their superficial hypocrisy. To all the people who come here, upon entering the visiting room, the first words you'll hear from them are, "Please sit down," said with affable smiles on their faces. People would assume from this superficial disguise that they are not as evil as the stories have described. Even the newly arrived, illegally arrested Falun Gong practitioners are sent to their rooms by the team leaders with smiles on their faces.

Behind the dark gates of the Second Female Substation of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, all the rooms on the left side of the whole building have windows that are covered with lace curtains. The rooms on the left side of the first floor are used to brainwash the Falun Gong practitioners, to hold anti-Falun Gong propaganda sessions to force the practitioners to give up their belief and to secretly torture them. On the right hand side of the first floor there are storerooms full of the materials for forced labour, rooms for storing drugs, and a supermarket. The First Group illegally detains Falun Gong practitioners on the first floor, while the Second Group detains practitioners on the third floor. Dafa practitioners are detained on the fourth floor by the Third Group. The detained practitioners live and do the forced, slave labour in the same room. On each floor there is an office for the team leaders of the guards, rooms for investigation and surveys, and classrooms used especially to "transform" (1) practitioners. On the left side of the dark gate, there is a multi-storied, multifunctional building. Inside this building there are visiting rooms, meeting rooms, and a cafeteria. On the second, the third, and fourth floors, are the Principal's Office, the Police Offices, and other cells and dormitories. The special solitary confinement cells, in which the guards confine and persecute practitioners, are also inside this multi-purpose building. All these solitary confinements cells are specially designed. Since they have been built, countless Falun Dafa practitioners who believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance" have been confined inside them. Inside this compound full of terror, the painful screams of practitioners who are being cruelly tortured often reverberate. One also hears the heart-shaking exclamation of, "Falun Dafa is good!"

The sadistic guards here inflict severe psychological torture and excruciating physical punishment upon the detained practitioners, to torture their physical bodies and their spirits. Every day and at every minute, each practitioner is under scrutiny by more than two prisoners, who are called "Wrap-Nip," who work for the guards to force them to give up their beliefs. They take turns inflicting severe psychological torture upon practitioners and force them to remain awake or allow them to sleep for only a very short time every night. Among these "Wrap-Nip" prisoners, some of them pretend to be amicable and nice, while others are harsh and severe. The ones pretending to be nice also chime in with others to say that "Falun Dafa is good" with their mouths, yet they actually coax the practitioners to give up their cultivation and their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance," to deviate from Dafa. The ones who are harsh and severe directly assault and frame Dafa by putting political labels on it and threatening practitioners. They say things like, "If you insist on practising Falun Gong and refuse to give up, you'll be sent to Dabei Prison or the prisons in the Great Northwest of China. You'll suffer a lot over there, since Dabei Prison isn't like here, and in the Great Northwest of China there are all boundless deserts. If you are sent there, you'll never run away from there." They use these kinds of means to achieve their despicable goal of forcing practitioners to give up.

If the above means don't work, the guards twist the practitioners' hands behind their backs and handcuff them. Sometimes, they then pull the practitioners' hands over their heads and hang them up in the air so that their feet are lifted off the ground. Other times, they handcuff the practitioners to a steam pipe or underneath iron beds. There are all kinds of physical tortures and punishments, such as forcing practitioners to squat or sit cross-legged for a very long time, or raising their arms in front of or over their heads. The so-called "forceful squatting" is when the detainee is forced to crouch down on their legs, with both arms stretched out evenly. Sometimes their arms are tied with ropes so that the angle between their thigh and lower leg is a right angle. They are forced to keep this posture for a very long time. The so-called "forceful sitting cross-legged" means that the detainee is forced to sit cross-legged with their legs tied tightly by ropes, and are forced to maintain this posture for a very long time.

Under all these kinds of punishments, the detainees are not allowed to sleep, not even to close their eyes, and are not allowed to go to the lavatory for very long time. If the detainee doesn't obey their orders, the guards slap their faces or beat and shock them with electric batons. Sometimes they send practitioners who are holding firmly to their beliefs to the so-called "Helping and Educating Group." The male guards in this group persecute and torture the practitioners severely and inhumanely. Under various sessions of anti-Falun Gong propaganda designed to force the practitioners to give up, forceful brainwashing, and high-pressure torture and persecution, a group of virtuous female practitioners has been suffering from both severe physical and mental torture. And this is still happening right now.

The name of "The Ideology Education School of Liaoning Province" is a mask that is used by the evildoers to cover the surface of the notorious "Masanjia Forced Labour Camp," and to cover up its real identity and nature. Under the disguise of this mask, the evildoers inside Masanjia are committing dreadful deeds - the most evil in history - to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

Note:

(1) "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/15/95542.html

I once had a chance to talk to an official who was trying to persuade me to give up the practise of Falun Gong. Through a number of facts, I told him how Falun Gong is good. After listening to me, he paused and said, "Well, even if it is good, it is still not allowed. This is determined by China's national condition."

At the beginning of the persecution, many Falun Gong practitioners, including me, thought that the reason for the persecution was simply because some individual leaders didn't understand Falun Gong, and that as long as we made it clear to them what Falun Gong was, the persecution would just stop. This unrealistic way of thinking was the result of the fact that although we were in China, we did not have a clear understanding about China's "general condition."

We believed simply that because "Falun Gong is good," the practise should be allowed. This kind of simple reasoning applies to people living in a normal society. But it doesn't apply to China under the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) rules. When the persecution began, Jiang Zemin directed the Chinese media -- using defamation and slander -- to tell a huge lie to the whole world. As a result, many countries didn't know the truth about Falun Gong. However, because practitioners clarified the truth in their effort to resist the persecution, more and more countries have come to understand Falun Gong, and more and more people from different nationalities have begun to practise Falun Gong. Falun Dafa has been spread to more than 60 countries. The core teachings of Falun Gong taught in Zhuan Falun has been translated into more than 20 languages, making it possible for more and more people with predestined relationships to study the Fa (law or principle, the teachings in Falun Gong) and to cultivate. In a normal society, the leader of a party has to work for the good of his own country and his own people to stay in power.

Then why is China so different? What is going on? The totalitarian rule of the CCP determines China's "national condition." Throughout its history, the CCP has always taken extreme measures to mercilessly attack or even kill those who speak the truth, especially those who firmly insist on speaking the truth. From the examples below, we can see how the CCP persecutes people who dare to speak the truth.

During the 1942 "Rectifying the Atmosphere" movement in Yan'an, Mr. Wang Shiwei from the Institute of Marxism-Leninism wrote an essay entitled, "Politicians and Artists" and a series of essays under the pseudonym, "Wild Lily," which criticised some officials for their bad behaviours. He later wrote an essay criticising the leaders in his own workplace. Because he dared to criticise those in power and spoke the truth, he was labelled as a Trotskyite and an "anti-revolutionary spy," and was assassinated in March 1947.

From 1953 to 1955, a fierce movement against the so-called Hu Feng Anti-revolutionary Group swept the country. Hu was a frank and unyielding theorist of literature and art. In July 1933, he was the secretary and "Director of Propaganda" of the Chinese Left-wing Authors Union in Shanghai. He and Lu Xun came up with the slogan to promote "the popular literature and art of national revolutionary wars." Because he had a unique theory of literature and art, Hu frequently got into conflicts with leaders of the literary and art circles, and as a result he automatically became the target of criticism during the "Rectifying the Atmosphere" movement. Under those circumstances, Hu Feng wrote the "Three Hundred Thousand Words" to express his own opinions. Mao Zedong then escalated the issue and decided that Hu was "anti-party" and "anti-revolution." Hu was arrested and jailed on May 16th, 1955, and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He didn't formally leave the prison until January 15th, 1979. His case also implicated more than 2,000 people, causing them to be persecuted. Many of them had dared to speak the truth out of a sense of justice.

During that same movement, Liang Shuming was also subjected to similar criticism. Liang was a scholar who possessed high moral character and was held in high esteem. On September 11th, 1953, his superior invited him to make a speech at a meeting to "discuss state affairs." He frankly and honestly talked about his own opinions, out of a sense of responsibility toward the country. But it resulted in an unexpected calamity - he became known as "the representative of capitalist ideas" and was widely criticised.

During the "Airing Views Freely" movement, which initially encouraged speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great debates and writing large-character posters, nearly six million intellectuals from various circles, under the repeated mobilisation and encouragement of their supervisors, voiced their complaints and suggestions to the leaders of their own organisations. They were then labelled as Rightists who had "outrageously attacked the Party," and the result was "life-and-death conflicts between two opposing groups."

During the Lushan Mountain Meeting in the summer of 1959, Marshal Peng Dehuai, who had investigated the terrible plight of the lower classes, wrote a letter presenting their situation to the authorities. He did so out of sincere concern for the people and the country. Unfortunately he was immediately labelled as a member of an "anti-party group." During the nationwide "Anti-Right Deviation" movement triggered by the Peng Dehuai incident, 3.65 million Party members and officials were defined as "Right-wing Opportunists."

During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Mr. Yu Luoke, who was only 24, disagreed with the popular belief that a person's political inclination is completely determined by his family background. He wrote an article entitled "On Family Background," which demonstrated a deep understanding of the issue. He was arrested and sent to prison. During the interrogation, he again dared to insist on his own opinion. He was charged with "viciously attacking the great leader Chairman Mao" and was executed.

Ping-pong player Rong Guotuan, out of a sense of duty to the athletic reputation of his country, resolutely gave up his high-paying job in Hong Kong and went back to Mainland China. He won the first world ping-pong championship for China in its history of international sports. On May 12th, 1968, when he was called on to disclose other people's problems, he only made an honest remark, "They are all good people, and they love Chairman Mao." Simply because of this honest statement, he was framed as "a spy trying to subvert the homeland" and was taken out to be criticised and humiliated in public. He suffered greatly, both physically and mentally. As a result, he chose to commit suicide by drowning himself in a lake.

Ms. Zhang Zhixin was an ordinary official in a propaganda department. She disagreed with many tenants of the Cultural Revolution and raised some questions and opinions during the CCP's group meetings. As a result, she was criticised for "viciously attacking" Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution, attacking Jiang Qing, etc., and was sent to prison. During interrogations, she firmly refused to compromise the truth and firmly insisted that she wasn't wrong. She was executed on April 4th, 1975. The executors cut her throat before the actual execution so that she would not shout out the truth.

These are just a few examples of the ruthless persecution of truthful people in China at different times in the history of the CCP. The actual number of people subjected to persecution is uncountable. After former President Liu Shaoqi was removed from his position, one slogan described the issue very well: "Liu Shaoqi, if you don't surrender, we'll destroy you." What does that mean? That's to say that if you, Liu Shaoqi, admit the fabrication is truth, we may allow you to continue to live. If you insist on facts and refuse to lie, then what's waiting for you is only one choice: Death. Liu was indeed persecuted to death. To save himself, Deng Xiaoping cunningly admitted his "crimes" and promised that he "would never try to overturn the verdict," and this saved his life.

Cultivating the principles of Falun Dafa, "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance," means one should insist on speaking the truth. That is a big taboo, given China's "national condition" under the control of the CCP. Imagine fearing truthful people like that! Then what exactly is China's "national condition?" Everything in China has two sides. One side is the truth, the fact, which is something that should be hidden and dare not be known or talked about. The other side is a false image, which is something that needs to be made public with every effort. It is made up to deceive people, such as the election of Chinese government officials or party officials. The election results are already arranged by a few people at the top, but they still put on a show, claiming that these people were "solemnly elected" by the National People's Congress, and, at the same time, doing their utmost to pretend that "the people are masters of the country," and they "cast a solemn vote" and so on and so forth. The purpose is to hide their true totalitarian nature. Jiang Zemin bought a special plane for his own use, built the grand theatre in Beijing, and promoted all his relatives to high positions with significant power. Which "master" did he consult with about any of the things he did? Jiang used several hundred-billion yuan of public money to persecute Falun Gong. Did he ever discuss that with you? Even leaders of the CCP such as Premier Zhu Rongji didn't have the power to raise an objection, let alone an ordinary citizen.

Nowadays, the Chinese TV and radio stations make a big noise every day about "ruling by law," "establishing a harmonious society," "maintaining human rights," and "the best period of human rights in China," as well as other empty slogans. These remarks are actually reminding you of the following correct explanation: Now is a time when illegal ransacking, illegal arrests and illegal killing throughout the country are worse than at any other time in the past, and it happens every day. The same old tactic of saying one thing publicly but doing what a hooligan would do covertly, an approach that is completely at odds with international society, is an essential characteristic of the CCP; so it is obvious why the CCP is so much in fear of people speaking the truth.

Jiang Zemin and his group wants to copy Mao Zedong and completely suppress all Falun Gong practitioners, just as was done to the millions of "Rightists" who suffered all kinds of humiliations and hardships. They want to suppress Falun Gong just as they persecuted other people in history who dared to insist on their opinions. However, such suppression is a fantasy. Cultivating Falun Dafa is based on a noble faith in Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. Human hearts can never be changed by violence.

An eighty-year-old man from North China, who used to be a heavy smoker and who was in poor health, quit smoking and became stronger after he started practising Falun Gong.

One day, not long after he just started practising Falun Dafa, the old man went to attend a local group Fa study session - Fa translates as 'law or principle - the teachings taught in Falun Gong. As soon as he stepped in the door, he smelled cigarette smoke and asked if someone had been smoking. No one in the room answered, but everyone smelled it. Curious, they started looking for the source of the smell of smoke. Finally, they found that the smell was coming from the old man's hands. The elderly man suddenly came to understand that Teacher was purifying his body for him and letting the dirty stuff out through his hands. This situation continued for a week. Before he started practising Falun Dafa, the elderly man had relied on medications every day for years. After a week of practise, he also experienced a smell of drugs emitting from his hands as the bad residues were eliminated from his body. Since practising and cultivating Falun Gong, this man has never smoked again and remains in good health without requiring any pills or injections. Although he is over eighty years old, this gentleman's eyes are clear, his hearing is good and he walks as if full of energy.

In 2004, several miracles happened to this practitioner.

One day, he wanted to build a doghouse. Since everyone in his family except him was busy, he decided to do it by himself. He found a ladder and climbed up to the roof. It was kind of slippery and he fell to the ground and lay there until the neighbours rushed over to him after they heard him fall. They insisted on sending the elderly man to the hospital, but the old man refused and insisted that he was fine. Without any medication, just two weeks later, the old man was back to normal.

Another time, the elderly practitioner and his son were cutting some stones to fix their house. The father was holding the chisel, and the son had an eight-pound iron hammer in his hands and was pounding the chisel. However, the hammer went off target and it struck the old man's head, right on the temple. Blood gushed out from his head. The son was frightened and begged him to go to the hospital, but the old man refused again and said that he was fine. Just like the last time, in less than two weeks, he recovered without any medication.

A person in the elderly practitioner's neighbourhood had taken a negative view of Falun Dafa, and constantly verbally abused Teacher and Falun Dafa. One day last summer, he did it again in front of the elderly practitioner's house. The old man warned him about karmic retribution, but the neighbour would not listen. That night, the neighbour suffered from a terrible migraine headache. He came to the old man's home the next day and told him about the karmic retribution he received and promised that he would never say bad things about Falun Dafa again.

All of these incidents happened to this elderly practitioner. They have made a big impact in his region. Even the 6-10 Office (an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems) members, those who still have a good heart, told the old man in a whisper, "Falun Gong is great! Go ahead and practise it!"

I call myself "Gratitude." I feel that this name suits me, as I am so grateful to Master and Falun Dafa!

At age of six I developed a strange disease. At first my stomach felt uncomfortable, and then the pain reached all my toes. The pain was unforgettable. It was deep in the bones. Every time the symptoms flared up, I screamed and cried, and was unable to bear it. My parents took me to doctors, but they had no clue what the problem was. The pain deepened while I was growing up. It spread from my feet to my lower legs, my whole legs, and even my arms. My parents went to many places to seek doctors' advice, but none of the doctors knew what was afflicting me. I took loads of medicines, but nothing worked. The disease quickly spread to my whole body. My arms and legs developed the same uneasiness that I felt in my stomach at the beginning. The symptoms occurred more often than before. It felt as if millions of ants were digging into my bones. It was unbearable. I begged my mother many times, "Just let me die!" My mother cried and felt helpless.

It was not only physical pain, but also a mental stress. My disease was so strange that no one had ever seen it before. When I did not have the symptoms, I looked no different from a healthy person. The symptoms usually occurred during the night. Those who did not know about my symptoms thought I was pretending to be sick! Because of this disease, since the 2nd Grade, I went to school only part-time, sometimes attending school for only a week during a whole semester. Most of my friends, neighbours, and even relatives thought that I was pretending to be sick in order to skip school. Later even my mother had doubts; "He was fine on Sunday, so why did he suddenly become ill on Monday?" My mother was convinced that I was pretending! That day, she took a broom and hit me hard. I wanted to die.

I was on the verge of mental collapse due to the physical pain and the misunderstanding from others. I cried, and wrote a long letter to my mother. In the letter I wrote, "If I really were pretending, why would I take the medicine and have those injections? If I didn't have a disease, it would have been known." Later I was told that tears flooded down my mother's face after she read the letter.

After that incident, my parents were determined to find a cure for me. We went to many hospitals in big cities. Still no one knew the cause of the disease. Medicine did not work. The symptoms were worsening. My hands and feet would sometimes start to shake uncontrollably while my breath became laboured. A little noise could startle me, causing the symptoms to return. People around me had to talk softly. My mother wouldn't let me to go outside. I officially quit school.

Day by day, I lived in this ordeal. When we could not find any other alternative, my mother, who had almost given up all hope, took me to see one healer after another, in hopes of curing my disease. Every one of them said there was a mysterious force behind my back, which they couldn't subdue. They also said that in the future I would have the ability to treat illnesses just like them.

My parents certainly didn't buy it. My hope of survival seemed to be no more. No one knew what to do. Over the years, I suffered all kinds of hardships, taking various medicines, and undergoing numerous examinations. Once, a doctor stuck a needle into a pressure point that corresponded to the nerves of my leg. The needle was connected to an electric current. The pain I felt was worse than the symptoms themselves.

To treat my disease, my parents spent nearly all their savings. In the process, I became semi-illiterate with only an elementary-level education.

At one time, I hid myself, and was afraid of going outside. People all looked down on me. I was even teased to my face. They said that I pretended to be sick to skip school, and I was a freak. Even my uncle once said to me, "The family has a few acres of farm land, why don't you do the farm work from now on." To cope with all those things, I created a psychological barrier around me. I became very sensitive, and saw myself as inferior to others. A simple remark from somebody could easily hurt my feelings. I hid myself all them time and did not meet anyone. Sometimes I thought, "I wish I would get hit by a car." I despised this world for its coldness. I did not talk or go out, and lived a life without purpose.

In 1997, my mother started to practise Falun Gong, and she asked me to practise with her. I was a 12-year-old kid without any concept of cultivation in my mind. So I refused her, preferred taking medicine.

Then the persecution against Falun Gong was officially launched on July 20th, 1999. This made it even more difficult for me to have a chance to find out about Falun Gong, until 2004, when my sister got cervical vertebra disease, which caused half of her body to be paralysed. My mother persuaded her to practise Falun Gong. Not long after she began, her illness was gone. I was then convinced that Falun Dafa was good. I wasn't against them practising, but I couldn't figure out why they always wanted me to practise with them. Every time they mentioned practising together, I got angry. I did not know why I was so angry. Fearing they would trigger my symptoms by upsetting me, they did not keep insisting that I join them.

At the end of last year, something strange happened. Suddenly, I could not eat meat, green onion, ginger, or garlic. Simply smelling these things made me feel nauseous. I had no clue why it was so. I thought that I might have a liver disease. But a physical examination showed that my liver was healthy. I wondered what happened. My mother asked me to cultivate. Impatiently, I refused again. I didn't know why, but I just didn't want to do it. The pain was getting worse. The symptoms came back again. My mother took me to a practitioner's home. The practitioner asked me to read through Zhuan Falun - a book containing the core teachings of Falun Gong. I agreed.

That same night, I began to learn the Falun Gong exercises from my mother. The next day, I started to read Zhuan Falun. I realised many things from reading the book. I realised that I might have had spirit possession in the past. Also I realised the reason that I was unable to eat meat. Even though I didn't cultivate, Master was already looking after me. My heart gradually became peaceful.

After that, I learnt all five exercises and read "Hongyin," Essentials for Further Advancement, and Master's other writings. I felt I was becoming a Falun Dafa practitioner. I finally said goodbye to the sickness that plagued me for so many years, and felt the joy of good health. The most important thing was that I had never known the meaning of human life, and always felt that life had no purpose. Now, I understand many things, including the real meaning of human life. Falun Dafa has all the answers. Master is here to save sentient beings. I realise the sacredness of Falun Dafa and the vast compassion of Master. I thank Master for saving me. At the same time, I realise the persecution against Falun Gong is so violent and brutal, but Falun Dafa practitioners are indomitable.

Falun Dafa has given me health, peace and patience, and Falun Dafa has given me wisdom and a new life. How can I not be grateful?

However, many people are still living in confusion. Revealing the true facts about Falun Dafa and the persecution is every Falun Dafa practitioner's responsibility. I wrote my experience to help more people awaken from the confusion.

My personal experience has proven the amazing power of Falun Dafa and the greatness of Master.

On February 26, 2005, the US West Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference was grandly held at the Paramount Centre in San Francisco, with about 2000 practitioners from around the world in attendance. At 1:35 p.m., our benevolent great Master came to the conference hall and received warm applause. Master Li gave a lecture for about 35 minutes, and then answered questions for about two hours.

In his lecture, Master Li stressed many issues mentioned in previous lectures, including that the cultivation way of Dafa practitioners is different from all other methods in history. The persecution has not ended and we need to move forward along the path. We need to cultivate righteously and in a dignified way. We should not be moved by a favourable turn due to the current situation, or the appearance of a new situation. In the validation of Dafa, everyone should be more clear-headed. Dafa practitioners cannot reach Consummation while their thoughts are still in accordance with that evil Party.

After the 35-minute lecture, Master Li considered that practitioners would have questions in cultivation and wished to have them answered, and therefore stayed for two more hours and answered all of the questions that were turned in.

After the lecture, a dozen young practitioners from pre-school to high school age presented fresh flowers on the stage. Master Li accepted the flowers and had a group photo taken with the young practitioners.

Before leaving, Master Li walked to the microphone and said to all practitioners on site, "I will wait for your good news."

At the conference, a total of 11 practitioners gave speeches and shared their cultivation experiences in how to keep up with Fa-rectification and rectify oneself in validating Dafa. A lawyer practitioner shared her experience in participating in the lawsuit against Jiang. A practitioner clarifying the truth in Manhattan summarised recent cultivation experiences and narrated people's changes. A practitioner steadfastly validating Dafa in China during recent years talked about his cultivation experiences, about how to recognise the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party and how he cleared the Party culture from himself after reading the "Nine Commentaries." A practitioner of two years talked about how he began his path of cultivation and the changes in his life after cultivation. Another practitioner shared experiences on getting rid of attachments in the validation of Dafa.

A practitioner from Northern California has practised Falun Gong for two years. Dafa has brought tremendous changes to his life. In his sharing, he said that he could not express his appreciation to Master Li and Dafa with human language, not only because of the improvements in his health, getting out of depression, and improvements in his relations with family members, but that Dafa could save a man like him. Dafa has changed him. Dafa can save anyone.

Another practitioner shared her experience in personal cultivation and cultivation during Fa-rectification and in clearing away contamination from the evil communist spirit. She said, "Believing in Master and studying the Fa, there is no barrier in cultivation that we cannot pass."

A practitioner who clarified the truth in Manhattan narrated the experiences of her group in maintaining an anti-torture exhibition in both the hot summer and cold winter. Many local people were moved by the practitioners' peacefulness and persistence. They came out of tall buildings to learn the truth and sign their names on signature collection forms to call for an end to the persecution. She mentioned that when facing interference during truth-clarification, we need to study the Fa, exchange opinions and look inward to find our shortcoming. Practitioners clarifying the truth also need to cultivate themselves well.

Participants of this conference also included some practitioners' family members and friends. Along with the progress of the Fa-rectification and truth-clarification of practitioners, in addition to supporting Dafa, more and more people wish to learn about Dafa and how to practise.

A staff member at the Paramount Centre said that she felt a strong energy field in the conference hall. She said, "There must be a great enlightened being here. My legs were hurting but now I don't feel pain. I am fortunate to be here today."

A republication of the Hebraic version of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa, will be available to readers in Israel this week.

Cover of the Hebraic Version of Zhuan Falun