(Minghui.org) Born in a rural village in Northeast China, I spent my childhood among melon and bean trellis, yet still managed to become a fiercely domineering woman.
My older sister was raised by my maternal grandparents in their home, while I stayed with my two younger brothers and younger sister in my parents’ home. My parents had short tempers and were indoctrinated by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ideology of class struggle, hatred, and lies. They were intolerant and unforgiving of each other, often fighting at home. My father was a carpenter who had multiple affairs and squandered any money he earned. My mother was hardworking and resilient, but refused to admit to her mistakes. During one fight, my father slashed my mother below her eye with an aluminum rice spoon, leaving a scar that she still bears today. We were terrified whenever our parents fought, but as we grew older, my brothers and I learned how to manage their fights and protect our mother.
A boy in our village named Gousheng used to bully my younger siblings. He left me alone, so I did not bully him. My mother gave me a stick and told me to hit him. When I refused, my mother hit me with increasing viciousness until I had no choice but to hit him. I hit him twice on the head, using so much force that the stick was broken. From then on, he dared not bully my younger siblings again.
My mother’s educational methods of using evil to combat evil only caused me to drift further away from traditional Chinese virtues. I knew I lacked the gentleness and virtues a woman should possess, and I wanted to improve my bad temper. I converted to Christianity in my 20's, but my character remained unchanged despite practicing the religion for more than a year. I still cursed at and hit people at the slightest provocation, beating my younger sister at home and my husband after we married.
After marriage, I refused to do any housework or farm work. Greedy, lazy, and selfish, I complained about my husband’s lack of ability and often scolded him. I spent his hard-earned money recklessly without consideration for our savings or household expenses. I was the boss at home, to be obeyed without question. I would eat my fill of good food, rarely sharing it with my husband. Once we steamed a fish for the Chinese New Year, and my husband only ate a few bites before rushing out to take care of something. I finished the rest of the fish. When my husband came home that night, he searched for the fish but failed to find it in the kitchen. He asked about the fish, and I told him I had eaten it all. My hungry husband had no choice but to eat the leftovers.
My husband avoided saying anything disagreeable to me, or I would fight and even hit him. One year, my husband raised more than 20 cows. When crops started sprouting in the fields, he feared the cows would eat the villagers’ crops, so he asked me to herd the cows for him every day. I had to care for our school-aged children, do the laundry, and cook. This added burden of herding cows made me very unhappy. One day, I scolded my husband and when he tried to explain himself, I grabbed the cow-herding whip and hit him repeatedly.
In early 1999, my sister-in-law twice attempted to persuade me to learn Falun Dafa. On her third attempt, she told me, “Dafa has spread to our village.” I went to a house in our village and listened to Master’s audio lectures, but failed to understand a word. I could not understand what I read in the book Zhuan Falun and failed to understand Master’s teachings about virtue and karma. But Falun Dafa’s exercise music electrified my ears and heart. I had never heard such beautiful music before. My heart and mind became lighter the more I listened.
The illustrations of Buddhas, Taoists, and deities in Master’s book Hong Yin convinced me that this book was not written by an ordinary person, so I started reading it. As I had only studied until second grade, I was forced to ask my husband and daughter whenever I ran into unfamiliar characters. After finishing Hong Yin, I went on to read Zhuan Falun. However, I did not cultivate diligently and only visited our local Fa study sessions on occasion. I did not improve my character and failed to get rid of my bad habits. To this day, I regret picking up a whip and hitting my husband during that period.
After repeatedly reading Zhuan Falun, I finally realized that cursing and hitting others are immoral acts that generate a great deal of karma. I also learned that laziness is a demonic sin. I stopped beating and cursing at my husband and became more diligent, helping my husband raise pigs, herd cattle, and farm without complaint, no matter how tiring the work was. I made sure to leave some delicious food for my husband and stopped resenting his lack of ability. Like a true couple, I began to share both joy and hardship with him.
I also stopped getting into conflicts with our neighbors. Nowadays, when our neighbor throws trash into our yard, including broken glass bottles, I do not complain but clean it up. We buy wood and process it into wooden sticks. One winter, a neighbor who uses a coal stove stole our wooden sticks to start their fire. Another neighbor advised me to reprimand the thief. Before cultivating in Dafa, I would have done so without hesitation. But after practicing Falun Dafa, I realized that swearing at and bullying others were immoral behaviors. Now, whenever someone steals our wood, I let it go, knowing I should be a good person according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
My elder sister said something hurtful to me once. I held back my emotions and visited her home a few days later. I told her, “Do you remember what I was like before I practiced Falun Dafa? I was 17 when you came home to beg for food after you got married. I refused to give you any, wouldn’t even let you eat a meal, and kicked you out. You can see how cultivation has changed me.” My sister tacitly agreed and stopped saying bad things about Falun Dafa. I even advised her to recite “Falun Dafa is good” in her heart to ensure her safety.
I was 14 years old when my parents divorced because of my father’s affairs. I never contacted my father afterward, but my father came back to stay for a while when I turned 18. I treated him warmly with the sole motive of getting money from him. My father eventually gave me money to buy pants, and we lost contact again after he left.
My father developed throat cancer in his later years. By then, I was already a Falun Dafa practitioner and had even been illegally detained by the CCP for a year. I was working in the city then, so I invited my father to come and stay with me. I booked his hotel room, paid for his accommodation, did his laundry, bought him tasty food, and showed genuine care for him. My father returned home after a few days. Before leaving, he emotionally said, “You have fulfilled your filial duty.”
My mother remarried after divorce. My stepfather had no children of his own and helped raise my younger siblings. My elderly stepfather is now unable to care for himself, so I visit him regularly to wash his hair, bedding, and clothes, and trim his nails. I used to give him 2,000 yuan ($290) every year, increasing the amount by a few hundred yuan since last year. Using this fund, my stepfather asks my younger brother and sister-in-law to buy food he wants to eat. Having witnessed the positive changes in me since I started practicing Falun Dafa, my stepfather recites “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” If not for Falun Gong, I would have selfishly squandered all the money on myself instead of giving it to my stepfather.
After I started practicing Falun Dafa, we made money by raising cattle, pigs, and crops.
Our first cow suffered from foot-and-mouth disease, and we bought it at a low price. I had managed to trade an old sow for the cow. The following year, the cow recovered from foot-and-mouth disease and even gave birth to a pair of white-spotted calves. At our peak, we owned more than 30 cows. Our cattle pen could not hold them all, so we tied them up in a drafty makeshift shed, open on all four sides. The cows were exposed to strong winds with snow falling on their rumps yet suffered no ill health. The villagers called my cattle “iron cows.”
We started work on our dry fields late one year. Intending to plant cabbage, we spread a layer of cow manure on the ground and tilled it with a rotary tiller. But the ground was too dry, and the cabbage would not germinate even if we proceeded with our plans. My husband was pacing with anxiety when it suddenly began to drizzle, thoroughly irrigating the ground. We planted our cabbage seeds two or three days later, and the little seedlings successfully sprouted in neat rows. We harvested our first batch of cabbage that fall, selling our stock at slightly over 30 cents a catty (1.32 lb). The price of cabbage went up the next day, and we eventually made more than 10,000 yuan ($1400) from our over 1.2 acre of land, earning several thousand more than we usually made from selling soybeans.
My family leased a paddy field on elevated ground that was difficult to irrigate. As nobody else wanted to lease it, we got the land at a cheaper rate, agreeing to pay the rent in autumn, unlike other families who had to pay in the spring. Water is essential for planting rice seedlings, so it was fortunate that it started raining while we were harrowing the field. We saved on diesel costs, as we did not need to pump additional water to irrigate the field. That autumn we reaped a bumper harvest, selling our rice for more than 170,000 yuan ($24,400). The villagers all marveled at our family’s blessings, which I know were bestowed by Falun Dafa!
Falun Dafa changed me from a domineering person to a kind and forgiving woman, and the people in my village all bore witness to this change. More than 10 years ago, I was illegally detained by the authorities. My husband worked to collect signatures from the villagers to petition for my release. Those who knew me eagerly signed their names to support my husband’s rescue efforts.
From being an uncultured, domineering village woman, I was transformed into a good person whose moral standards are constantly improving. I am grateful to Master for guiding me onto this righteous path!