The documentary “Plum Blossom in Snow” is about how Falun Gong practitioners are treated in contemporary China. A man’s tragic fate is narrated by his wife and daughter after he was killed for his belief in Falun Gong. The movie will be shown in Hagatheater, the city museum, during the Gothenburg movie festival between the 28th of January and the 5th of February 2005.

William Shakespeare, the 16th century literary giant, spoke these words in his play The Merchant of Venice, “Truth will come to light. Murder cannot be hid for long,” It means that the truth of every event will eventually emerge. "Murder will out," a phrase first used in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales but noticed as far back as the ancient Greeks, means that the crime always shows itself.

During his tenure in office, Meng Xin was free from corruption. When he lost his official post, he became very poor and had difficulty feeding his family each day. His only possession was an old ox. One day while he was gone, his nephew tried to sell the ox to buy some food. As the sale agreement was drafted, Meng Xin happened to return home and found out about the deal when he saw the ox buyer. He told the buyer: “This ox is sick and is unable to do even light labour. It will be useless to you.” When he finished talking, he turned around and punished his nephew by whipping him with a stick twenty times.

A website in four languages about the Swastika symbol is now open to the public. It explains the ancient history of the Swastika symbol and the Falun Gong “Law Wheel” design in detail. The Swastika symbol traces back to more than 1700 B.C. according to historic records. Recent excavations show that the history of America’s use of the Swastika symbol goes back about 80,000 years.

Su Shi (1036 -1101), also known as Su Dongpo, is one of the few figures in Chinese history who were masters of multiple artistic and literary disciplines. He was a great writer, artist and calligrapher. His calligraphy style was based on the traditional script styles but evolved into a new and original style. He along with Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang are known as the “Four Greatest Calligraphers of the Song Dynasty.” Out of the four, he is considered the best.

The German artifact preservation experts’ discovery raised many new questions in the field of archaeology: “How did the ancient Chinese people produce BaCuSi4O and BaCuSi2O6? Transportation limited information exchange in ancient times. Thus, dyes were prepared from materials found in nature in each region. Moreover, today’s people were not able to produce BaCuSi2O6 with modern technology until just a couple decades ago. How could Chinese people possibly have the technology to produce BaCuSi2O6 in 200 B.C.?”

He enjoyed reading books and writing poems in his spare time. However, his wife could not bear a life in poverty and left him. Many people made uncharitable remarks about him, but Du Fu wrote a poem to comfort him. “A white cloud at one moment may look like a grey dog in the next moment. Things in life can change in a most unpredictable manner. It is but the natural course of life.”

Sima Chengzhen left home to become a Taoist priest when he was 21 years old. He travelled extensively over famous mountains and great rivers. Later he dwelled in Tiantai Mountain in seclusion cultivating Taoism. He became well known and people called him “Taoist among the White Clouds.” Several emperors of the Tang Dynasty offered him high positions in their courts and he rejected all their offers.

The mountain had wonderful and remarkable peaks and ridges. The inside of the mountain was hollow and could hold three dou (1 dou equals 10 litres) of wine. A number of “ponds” were arranged around the mountain, and their purpose was to hold wine. Other mountains surrounded the ponds. In the ponds of wine were “lotus plants”. The flowers and leaves of the lotus plants were made of cast iron. The flowers looked like they were blooming and the leaves like they were unfolding.

Not knowing where the temple was,
I travelled miles on cloudy hills,
Through ancient pines, no good tracks,
Toward bells sounding across deep gorges.

Records in an ancient book called, "Travel News", tell us that at the beginning of Emperor Tang Xuan Zhong’s Kai Yuan rule, someone repaired the emperor’s travel vehicle in the palace. Daifeng Ma was an accomplished craftsman of the Eastern Sea region. He rebuilt and repaired such items as the lead carriages, drums for recording the journeys’ mileage, and birds for indicating wind directions. These items were made more delicately than those of even more ancient times.

King Li was very pleased with the result, and gloated to Zhao, “I can make all criticism against me disappear. Now no one has the temerity to speak against my rule anymore.” Zhao replied, “You haven't stopped public opinion, rather you have just stopped your people from expressing it openly to you.” He cautioned King Li, “The consequence of blocking the voice of the people is worse than that of blocking a river from flowing.” King Li still would not listen. Threatened by the King’s terror, the people of Zhou were afraid to talk.

Han Zhihe was originally from Japan. He later moved to China during the period of Emperor Xianzong of the Great Tang Dynasty and worked as a security guard in the Chinese royal court. He was also an excellent mechanical engineer who could create mechanical birds carved out of wood. He created phoenixes, cranes, crows, and magpies, all in wood, that would drink, eat, chirp and warble just like real birds.

That same night, another government official named Feng Changming had a dream. In the dream, he went to a place where the dead gathered. Feng Changming asked, “According to Buddha’s scriptures, the good and the bad will be rewarded accordingly. Is this true or not?” The dead answered, “Of course it’s true.” Then Changming asked, “What will happen to someone like Fu Yi who does not believe in Buddhist scriptures after he dies?” The dead answered, “The good and the bad will surely be rewarded accordingly. As for Fu Yi, he has already been condemned to the Ni Li circle of hell.”

Ancient Chinese mechanical engineering technology was very advanced. Distinguished mechanical engineers at that time were able to create many marvellous types of robots. For example, King Mu (976 – 922 B.C.) of the Western Zhou Dynasty (10th century - 771 B.C.) once conducted an inspection tour of the west of his empire. A skillful artisan named Yan Shi made a robot to entertain King Mu during the inspection tour. This robot could sing and dance like a real person. It also had extremely realistic organs, bones, muscles, joints, skin and hair

After Lang Dharma’s death, his two concubines, with the support of imperial kinsmen and others, fought for the throne for their sons and split the imperial court in two. During the rule of Lang Dharma’s grandsons, the two imperial courts suffered attacks from the populace and slave uprisings. The Tubo Kingdom, which once rivaled the Tang Dynasty, the zenith of all Chinese dynasties in terms of culture, wealth and military power, thus collapsed with the last Tibetan king, Lang Dharma, due to his ruthless persecution of Buddhism.

Mr. Sunshu Wushu once made a remark: “Zi Gong is more talented and virtuous than Confucius.” Zi Gong responded saying: “I will use a wall as an analogy. The wall of my house is of a shoulder’s height. A man standing outside of the wall can have a full view of my expensive and splendorous home. However, Confucius’s wall is much higher than that of mine by many meters. One standing outside the wall will be unable to see his grand and magnificent mansion unless he is admitted to the mansion. There are but a few people in this world that have the privilege of entering the door.

The zither is one of the oldest musical instruments. Its rich, deep sound, its lingering, faraway quality, give it its distinctive national features. Traditionally, zither playing allowed ancient scholars to express their feelings and aspirations.

Duke Xuan of the Qi State during the Spring and Autumn Period (722 – 481 B.C.) asked him, “Can you tell the difference between the lack of effort and inability?” Mencius replied, “If someone asks you to carry Mount Tai under your arm and leap over the North Sea with it, and you say, ‘I am unable to do it,’ it is because you are truly unable to do it. If someone asks you to snap a branch off a tree and you say ‘I am unable to do it,’ it is from a lack of effort. Governing a kingdom is not as difficult as carrying Mount Tai under your arm and leaping over the North Sea. It is as easy as snatching a branch off a tree.

The Wild Goose Pagoda, located at the southern end of the Great Compassion Temple, has become a symbol of Xi’an, a former historical capital of China. Wild Goose Pagoda was built for Monk Tang Sanzang to organise and translate the Buddhist scriptures that he brought back from India. Wild Goose Pagoda was originally named Goose Pagoda after a similar pagoda in India. Later on, a smaller Goose Pagoda was built inside the Blessings Temple of Changan City. In order to distinguish between the two, people call the one in the Great Compassion Temple Wild Goose Pagoda and the one in the Blessings Temple Small Goose Pagoda.

One summer during a civil war in China, a rebel army was about to pass through and maraud the City of Yangzhou. Cheng prayed to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara for her blessings. Then he had a dream in which Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara told him, “All seventeen people in your family except you will survive this tribulation.” Cheng woke up and remembered what Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara had said in the dream. Having learned that he could not escape this tribulation, he prayed to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara for mercy. The next night he dreamed of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara again.

The Three Character Classic is a children’s reader written by Wang Yinglin in the 13th century. Every line of the book is composed of three characters, and every four sentences form a group. Children love to read its rhymed verses. The book also is very interesting to read and very educational. It has remained a popular teaching text over the past hundreds of years.

The Emperor had a very good relationship with Deng Tong and visited him often. One day, he ordered a famous fortune-teller to tell Deng Tong’s fortune by reading his face. The fortune-teller said that Deng Tong would die from starvation and exposure to the cold. The Emperor said with great anger, “I am the one who turned Deng Tong into someone rich and honoured. How can I let him die of poverty and starvation?” He then bestowed the Yandao Copper Mountain in the Shu prefecture to Deng Tong along with the authority to mint coins. The Emperor was very pleased with himself believing that Deng Tong wouldn’t die of starvation with such a great amount of wealth.

Actually the phrase “You shouldn’t question the whole thing, but neither should you believe in everything you’ve been told or have seen” came from the cultivation community and reflects an objective view that cultivators had of cultivation. But as human society became more and more degenerate, people’s righteous faith in gods gradually disappeared. Thus this proverb’s meaning has become twisted and it has now become a phrase to express people’s lack of belief in gods or Buddhas.

The legend has it that once upon a time in ancient China, a person started a project to build a nine-ren mountain. He moved one basket of soil after another and kept piling them up. When he had almost finished building the nine-ren mountain and needed only one more basket of soil to call it a success, he aborted the project due to a lack of persistence. Because of the lack of one last basket of soil, the entire effort to build a nine-ren mountain was spoiled by a narrow margin.

The Dragon, with its special implications, has been pervasive in all aspects of ancient Chinese culture, and it has become a strong spiritual symbol for the Chinese people. Do dragons really exist? Are they merely imaginations in the realm of spirituality, or do they have physical existence? It is still a mystery to us today. I was surprised that many eye-witness accounts about the appearance of dragons can be found in our history books, which entices me to re-examine whether dragons truly exist

Duke Wen was deeply worried. He said, “What do you congratulate me for? This is not a good sign. This is just like the man who wore his fur coat inside out while carrying firewood. He liked the fur so much that he forgot it was more important to protect the lining in order to preserve the fur. By the same token, the amount of farmable land in Dongyang has not increased in the past year, and the population in Dongyang has remained the same, but the taxes and grain collected have increased by tenfold. The abrupt increase must have been the result of extortion by local officials.

Baozang himself had previous bouts with dysentery, so upon hearing news of the emperor’s condition, he submitted the prescription for the cure he had used. The medicine consisted of stir-frying piper longuml with milk. After taking this medicine, the emperor immediately became well and subsequently issued an imperial order for the prime minister, Wei Zheng, to appoint Zhang Baozang to a government position of official with the fifth highest rank. Wei Zheng, however, didn’t like Zhao Baozang and decided on his own not to issue the promotion order for Zhang Baozang.

He moaned, “How can I be impervious to the locust plague in Wu County and still focus on my Taoist cultivation in seclusion?” He travelled to the Wu County on foot and moved into a local home. After the arrival of He Chang, the locusts in Wu County either died or disappeared. A story of how pests such as locusts flee from a Taoist cultivator shows that a genuine cultivator will bring people around him tremendous good fortune.

Do you still remember the myths about God making humans, the Chinese legend of Nuwa making humans and Pangu opening the sky, as well the story of Noah’s Arc? When the theory of “man evolving from apes” took over the view of gods making humans, these myths were either gradually forgotten or regarded as ancient human beings’ fantasies from their lack of scientific understanding of nature. But what is the nature of a myth? Many unearthed relics and ancient books show that, no matter whether East or West, ancient human beings believed in and adored gods.

Why does Chinese food have such universal appeal? Granted, most of the delectable food served in Chinese restaurants in the U.S.A. is actually festival food and not representative of the daily Chinese diet. But what makes Chinese food so tasty? Why has its popularity lasted so long, and why have the types of food served and their methods of preparation not changed much for hundreds of years? Quick cooking of seasonal foods over an intense heat source, flavored and perfectly spiced, makes for tasty, healthful meals.

During the Han dynasty (25-220 A.D.), the paintings featured not only images of gods and tigers, but historical heroes as well. One such hero was the king of Guan Chuan, Liu Yue, who was well known for his bravery. His image was commonly used as a motif in Nian Hua to keep away illness. The most popular door god characters during the Han dynasty included Shen Tu and Yu Lei.

One day, while Shi Jing was playing the Chinese zither for Marquess Wen of the Wei State, the King was very happy and started dancing and singing with the music. Gradually he got lost in exhilaration, and shouted, “Everyone must obey me! Whoever dares to go against me will be punished!” Upon hearing this, Shi Jing stopped playing the music and threw the zither at the King. The zither hit the King’s crown and broke the jade tassels on the crown into pieces. The King was very angry and ordered Shi Jing executed right away. Shi Jing said, “Please let me say something before I die.” The King granted his wish.

Liu Xiang, a scholar from the Han Dynasty, once told a fable to illustrate the moral: A man who seeks inward for his flaws does not blame his problems on others. “An owl plans to move to the East” is a metaphor that one must face the root cause of one’s problems to truly solve the problem.

When he was fifteen years old, his uncle on his mother's side, Song Guang, was falsely charged with tampering with an imperial edict and sent to prison because he impartially enforced the laws and offended some influential officials. Huo Xu knew that his uncle was a righteous person and would never commit such a crime. So he wrote a letter to General Liang Shang to plead the innocence of his uncle.

One day in mid-July, the three of them went to get water during their leisure time. Standing by the pool, they saw a giant snake slowly rolling and crawling in the rock basin. It measured dozens of feet in length and had a jet-black body with glittering white patterns all over it. The three men were very frightened. After watching for a long while, Wang and Dong brought up the idea of taking it home to eat. Wei Sigong said, “No, we can’t do that. How can you be sure that no dragon hides on this famous mountain and in this big town?

The Magistrate was extremely attentive to Su Zhang and was boastful to the other banquet guests about his friendship with this high ranking official who he believed would cover up his crimes. The Magistrate was very nervous at the beginning of the dinner. But as the dinner went on, he became more and more relaxed because Su Zhang didn't say anything about his wrongdoings. Instead, he just recollected their good old days together as old friends. The Magistrate even bragged, “Everyone has his own guardian above him to protect and watch over him but I have two.” He implied that Su Zhuang was that second guardian from saving him from a fate of death for his crimes, and he was expressing his deep gratitude to Su Zhuang.

Next, the patient saw the general leading his men in ramming the gate of the city. The general also ordered the soldiers to lay ladders against the outer wall of the gate and made them climb up the ladders to raid the city with spears and shields. The enemy’s force guarding the city was very brave, and the battle turned into a stalemate. Suddenly, an arrow flew through the air and hit the general in his stomach, piercing the lower part of his liver, which was the exact problem area of his liver tumour in this life. As my patient witnessed in the hypnosis the general suffering from excruciating pain, he also felt a sharp, intense pain in his own liver. Because the general commanding the army was badly wounded, the attack on the city was suspended. The entire army retreated to its base camp, and he was placed in a clean tent.

Han Que had loved to eat fish since he was a child. He often bought fish from a low-level official. One night Han Que had a dream that he was a fish. Unaware of the net cast into the water by two fishermen, Han Que the fish swam traight into the trap and was caught. They then threw him into a barrel, and covered him with hay. Soon he was laid on a cutting board and he then felt the knife chop his body and remove his scales. It wasn’t until they chopped off his head that Han Que woke up from the nightmare.

I used to be one of these Chinese who misinterpreted much of ancient China’s concepts and values, and regarded them as dross. Later, I had the opportunity to read many ancient Chinese classics with a peaceful, unbiased and non-judgmental mindset. Then, I realized that I actually knew nothing of ancient Chinese culture. My prior knowledge of ancient Chinese culture was the twisted version that the Chinese Communist Party had planted in the minds of the Chinese since it took over China in the 1949. I realized that the genuine, ancient Chinese culture was immensely profound. The ancient Chinese culture has been distorted, leading to the disappearance of many precious Chinese traditions.

“Good is rewarded with good, and evil is met with evil” is an old maxim passed around by Chinese people. People in ancient times also recorded such examples to caution people in the world. Those who believed in and followed the maxim were called “families who accumulate virtue and will be prosperous.” Those who didn’t believe it were called “families who accumulate karma and will face tribulations.” There is also another ancient Chinese saying, “Blessings and misfortunes never come without reasons, they only come to the people themselves; karmic retribution is closely associated with your deeds.” The following story should serve as a reminder to today’s people.

Yan Hui was born into the warring state of Lu. He and his father Yi Lu went to study under Confucius. After studying under Confucius for a while, Yan Hui said with a deep sigh, “The more I looked up at IT-the Master’s word, the higher IT soared. The deeper I bore down into IT, the harder IT becomes. I saw IT in front; but suddenly IT is behind. Step by step the Master skillfully lures one on. He had broadened my thinking with ancient and modern classics, restrained my actions with ritual. Even if I wanted to stop, I could not do it now. And when at times I have exhausted all of my powers, still something seems to stand majestically before me; yet though I long to pursue IT, I can find no way of getting to IT at all.”

When he was younger, before he attained power, Jiang Jiao enjoyed hunting. One day while hunting, he came across a monk. The monk said, “Please spare me some food.” Jiang Jiao had his servants bring the monk some meat. After the monk finished eating the meat and left, surprisingly, the meat was still there and looking completely untouched. Jiang Jiao ordered his men to catch up to the monk and bring him back.

On a lonely stretch of the Pan-American Highway, 275 miles south of Lima, Peru, lies a town called Nasca. The town sits in the Pampa region, a desolate plain on the northern tip of the Atacama Desert. What makes this area unique is the Nasca Lines -- a spider’s-web of lines and shapes crisscrossing 250 square miles of bone-dry desert. Their origin and purpose has baffled scientists and laymen alike since their “discovery” in the 1920s.

What are dreams? Modern medical science claims that dreams occur as our cerebral cortex experiences changes. Yet many dreamers assert that they have indeed seen the future, or hints of the future, whilst dreaming. Some claim that they saw certain scenes or people in their dreams, and later on these occurrences did indeed become a reality. Modern science has failed to explain such phenomena. In this series, “Dreams and Reality,” we will describe some of the bizarre dreams that have been recorded in history but science has failed to explain.

According to a geology professor at Tokyo University, the area must have sunk around 10,000 years ago, that is, during the last Ice Age. However, based on modern scientific understanding, human beings were still primitives, hunting animals for food then. It is unlikely they would have been able to build such pyramid-like structures. Some people believe it to be the doings of some unknown culture. One may wonder if such an advanced and prosperous civilisation really once existed. Do these undersea ruins exist only in Japan? The answer is No.

One day Li met a hermit named Guan Chenshan. At that time, he was a low-ranking official assigned to guard the north gate of a city. Guan told him, “You will be promoted and serve as a secretary for the Emperor next year. But you will actually work for the Crown Prince.” Li was so astonished by the hermit’s words that his face turned white. The hermit seemed to regret his words and hurriedly got up to leave. As he was leaving, Li asked him, “Why will I work for the Crown Prince?” The hermit replied, “You have a predestined relationship with the Crown Prince in several past lives, so you will.”

This woman was extremely beautiful and radiant. She wore a thin black silk dress, a white silk shawl, a hair accessory bearing a phoenix, and a pair of finely embroidered shoes. The two maids that accompanied her were also extraordinarily beautiful. Guo Han was humbled by their presence. He got up from his chair, straightened his clothes, knelt down, and said, “I didn’t expect the arrival of such an Honourable immortal.” He waited attentively for words from the young woman. The woman smiled and said, “I am the weaving goddess from heaven.”

Ancient Chinese books recorded that between 770-475 BC, in the Spring and Autumn period, Lu Ban created some flying machines. This led Lu Ban to be acknowledged as the father of all craftsmanship. In Mozi·Luwen, it reads “Lu Ban cut up some bamboo and wood and made a wooden bird. It stayed in the sky for three days." Lu Ban also made a big wooden kite in order to spy on enemies during war. In Hongshu it reads, “Lu Ban made a wooden kite to spy on cities in the State of Song."

Bronze is a high-grade copper-tin alloy. Articles made of bronze are durable collectibles because they are not as brittle or fragile as earthen tiles and bricks, bone oracles, porcelain, paintings or copies of stone inscription. Bronze antiques also come in a great variety of elegant designs with distinctive outlines far superior to other types of antiques.