Hateful Words Kill: From the Cultural Revolution to the Persecution of Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) There’s an old Chinese saying: “Kind words bring warmth in the cold of winter, bad words chill a person even in the heat of summer.” This reminded me the Cultural Revolution that took place in China 60 years ago.

Blind Hatred During the Cultural Revolution

Nie Yuanzi, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary of the Philosophy Department of Beijing University, put up a poster on the campus in May 1966. Written in large Chinese characters, the poster criticized the university president and some high officials. The poster was endorsed by Mao Zedong and marked the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

Over the next 10 years, countless, similar posters appeared throughout China, all targeting innocent people. Many who were targeted this way died after suffering physical and mental abuse. In 1978, Ye Jianying, a senior CCP official, acknowledged that, “One hundred million people [about one-ninth of the Chinese population] were targeted in the Cultural Revolution, and twenty million people died.”

The havoc it wrought was devastating. “Millions of people suffered hardship and destitution, millions died in misery, countless families were torn apart, many children turned into thugs and villains,” recorded the writer Qin Mu. “Countless books were burned, countless historical sites were destroyed, and a large number of revered figures were desecrated.”

Ba Jin, another writer, also reflected on this: “Looking back today at what others and I did over those ten years, I simply cannot understand it. I feel as if I was hypnotized, becoming so naive and foolish, even mistaking cruelty and absurdity for seriousness and correctness,” he wrote in 1979.

“I think to myself, ‘If I don’t review those ten years of suffering, starting with a thorough self-examination to understand what happened back then, then, one day, if circumstances change, I could be hypnotized again and inexplicably transform into a different person. That’s terrifying!”

Everyone Suffers When Hatred Spreads

Although Nie followed the CCP’s directive and put up the poster, she soon reaped the hatred she’d sowed. In 1969, she was demoted and attacked (similar to what she did to others), and she was imprisoned.

Nie was not alone. Millions of people were misled by the CCP and even family members attacked each other like enemies. After physician Fang Zhongmou said something in her home in 1970 that questioned Mao’s Cultural Revolution, her 16-year-old son Zhang Hongbing reported her to the authorities and demanded she be executed.

Fang was indeed executed two months later. It was not until 1979, three years after the Cultural Revolution ended, that Zhang realized what he’d done. “In this world, a mother’s love is the greatest and humanity is the most important,” he wrote.

Another Catastrophe

Like Zhang, Ba also regretted his involvement in the chaos and wanted to establish a Cultural Revolution Museum so people could reflect on what happened. He said that only by acting on one’s conscience without selfish interest can one find truth and avoid the lies. “Only by learning the lessons of the Cultural Revolution can we prevent another Cultural Revolution,” he explained.

Unfortunately, his wish was never realized, and the tragedies continued. A little over 10 years after the Cultural Revolution ended, the Tiananmen Square Massacre took place in 1989. After this, and countless similar experiences, people in China abandoned the dream of freedom or democracy and focused on their lives. When the persecution of Falun Gong started ten years later in 1999, many Chinese again followed the Party line.

The consequences were catastrophic. Similar to the Cultural Revolution, the number of victims was huge. There were about 100 million practitioners in China in 1999, and nearly all of them have been discriminated against in one way or another over the past 26 years. The difference between the Cultural Revolution and the persecution of Falun Gong is that the persecution of Falun Gong targets one’s faith, because practitioners want to be better people by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

The moral price being paid is immeasurable. Although what Falun Gong practitioners follow are universal values that are deeply rooted in China’s traditional culture, bombarded by the CCP’s overwhelming defamatory propaganda, most of the people in China turned against Falun Gong and have even participated in the suppression.

That has led to untold numbers of practitioners being harassed, detained, imprisoned, and tortured for their belief. Some have been sentenced to forced labor, and some have even become victims of forced organ harvesting. When the public no longer has a solid moral foundation, the CCP can easily incite their hatred—including the younger generation. Some young people in China say, “I hate the United States the most,” while others say, “I want to kill the Japanese.” Where does this hatred come from? When we review what happened in China, its foundation is rooted in the blind hatred instilled in them by the CCP that caused people to participate in the Cultural Revolution.

There’s an old Chinese saying: “Good is rewarded with good, and evil incurs evil.” When a nation is filled with hatred and lies, everyone suffers. Zhang Xuyou, director of the Qiyang County Economic Commission in Hunan Province, followed the CCP’s persecution policy closely. He personally ordered a large sign with slogans slandering Falun Gong and put it up at the main entrance of the Commission. He also set off two baskets of fireworks to celebrate.

Similar to Nie, however, Zhang also faced consequences for spreading hatred. Not long after the sign was put up, he died in a car accident.

The waves of political campaigns in China are serious lessons. As Ba pointed out, only when we are guided by our conscience will we benefit the people around us and, in turn, bring blessings to ourselves. Following the CCP’s hatred may appear to result in short-term gains, but in reality, it is the beginning of a nightmare.