(Minghui.org) I was born into a large, poor family in the countryside. I almost starved to death during the Great Chinese Famine (1959 -1961), but luckily, my parents were kind and hardworking. They made a living by harvesting water caltrop (a type of seaweed) from the river. Sometimes they had to sell their valuables in exchange for food to survive. I barely attended elementary school, and I began working when I was 11 years old.
Life was even harder after I got married. When I first came to this new city, I didn’t have a local residency permit or a job, and my husband smoked and gambled. He was content that he had a residency permit and a job. Whether we suffered or not did not concern him.
My husband worked on a boat, and he gambled when he was off work. He beat me and slammed the furniture when he ran out of money to play cards. In the month after I gave birth, I did not have good food to eat, and he beat me. Our children constantly cried. The neighbors criticized him, and one said, “You beat her so badly and then you leave. You don’t care if your children are hungry. You’re not a man.”
Whenever he was upset he took it out on me. Sometimes I was beaten so badly that I could hardly breathe. Every day felt like an eternity, and I thought about ending my life.
My health began to deteriorate under the heavy stress. Since I married my husband and was far away from my hometown, with no relatives around, I truly felt I couldn’t go on living. My husband told me, “I’ll get rid of you if you get sick. The daughter can go too.”
Being desperate, I tried jumping out of the window from the second floor. When a neighbor saw me, she said, “You won’t die jumping from the second floor. You will only harm yourself and others.” Upon hearing this, I calmed down. I could not leave my elderly mother and young daughter alone. The pain was so intense that I couldn’t fall asleep. It was like needles piercing my bones. My coworkers knew that I was dying.
A kind old man once came to my home and told me, “Go practice Falun Dafa. It is truly good.” He gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun. I had angina, rheumatoid arthritis, neurosis, leukemia, neurasthenia, and chronic insomnia. I was so tormented by these ailments that I had no heart to read.
One day, I thought, “He [the old man] gave me this because he had good intentions.” So I picked up the book and started reading. I then went to a friend’s house to watch Master Li’s lectures on video. I was very interested, and learned to meditate. I was drenched in sweat and in so much pain that I couldn’t get up afterwards. A miracle occurred once I realized the value of Dafa, and I truly wanted to learn it. All my illnesses subsequently went away, and I could work and earn money again.
But before I had a chance to truly study the Fa, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began their suppression of Falun Dafa. Some practitioners in our factory were too scared to show up for work. One of them was locked up at home and prevented from leaving, otherwise their salary would be suspended. I was not moved, and I distributed and posted truth clarification flyers. The company officials came to my home and confiscated my belongings while I was at work.
I began a hunger strike to demand my things back. When I became emaciated the company was afraid I might die, and sent people over. One of them was a wicked doctor, who force-fed me and almost broke my bones. I asked him, “Where is your morality as a doctor?”
The company officials told me that we could discuss anything as long as I ate. I told them that I would, when they returned my belongings. Not only did they not return my belongings, they threatened to stop my husband from going to work and to prevent my children from taking the college entrance exam. I criticized them for punishing people by association. They were shocked and sent their superior to talk to me.
When the superior saw me he said that I had become so thin. I told him, “No one cared when I was suffering from illnesses and dying. All my illnesses disappeared once I started to practice Falun Dafa. Isn’t that miraculous? I will cultivate even if you point a gun at me.” He led the officials away and they didn’t bother me again. I later learned that the superior practiced Falun Dafa.
My husband was opposed to my practicing Falun Dafa and threw away my Dafa materials. I told him to stop, or else there might be consequences. He said, “So be it.” He sprained his ankle that day and it swelled up so badly that he couldn’t walk. He was repeatedly hospitalized, and I took good care of him. Initially, he told his sister that he wanted to marry someone else. I later noticed that he had changed. He was nice to my mother and gave her spending money.
I am very careful with my cell phone use over safety concerns. I don’t use text messages, WeChat, or TikTok. I had little education, and I’m not very capable. But I am good at using bills with Falun Dafa messages printed on them. Sometimes people refused to take them, but I had no fear and used them well. I’m grateful for Master’s protection.
I was reported in 2019, when I was sending forth righteous thoughts for an incarcerated practitioner near a prison, and I was taken to a detention center. They checked my blood pressure, which was very high, over 180/120 mmHg, and they tried to give me medication. I told the guard that all my illnesses had gone away without taking any medicine after I started practicing Falun Dafa. The guard told me to do the Dafa exercises where there were no surveillance cameras. I also helped eight people quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I repeated their names twice a day, so I would remember them.
When my children came to pick me up from the detention center, the authorities had me taken straight to a brainwash center. They gave me physical examination first, and I was found to have hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. A collaborator working for the guards threatened me and tried to scare me. I said, “You don’t have the final say.” She asked me who did. I replied, “My Master.”
She left me alone after that, but put drugs in my food. When I found out, I threw the food away. I told them that they were trying to poison me. She murmured, “We just did it twice.” My head was in intense pain, and my heart and my legs had cramps.
One day, I was in great pain, and I was holding my chest. They were all terrified seeing me do this. Some poured water for me, some fetched medicine, and some held me upright. They were afraid that I might die. The person who was assigned to “transform” me read my medical record and said, “Look at your diseases. They are all life-threatening.”
I responded, “I bought groceries, took care of my grandson, and did the housework. I had no problems at all. It is you guys who made me this way.” They said I was stubborn because I wouldn’t cooperate with them.
While I was in the brainwashing center I sent righteous thoughts, and my children were trying to get me released. My daughter-in-law was due to give birth. She carried her big belly to the residential committee, and demanded I be released. She said, “I’ll stay here if you don’t let my mother-in-law go home. She is a good person and did not commit any crime.”
After I was released the residential committee required that I report to them every day, and they phoned me daily. I refused to do as they requested and I went directly to my eldest daughter’s home, then went to visit my elderly mother. I stayed until my grandson was born. I stayed at my son’s home every day until very late. I didn’t carry my cell phone with me. Once, they called my husband’s phone when I had just arrived home, and asked if I was there. I said, “Yes.”
Because they couldn’t find me for a long time, the police chief and a police officer came to visit me. I received them calmly and politely. I said, “We are lucky to meet each other. I’ll tell you a joke first. A law professor, before he began his lecture, said to his students, ‛If the case is big you have to consider the political background. For medium cases you have to consider influence, and smaller cases are about relationships.’ A young student disagreed. He stood up and tossed the law book to the ground and asked, ‛When is it judged by the law?’ The professor responded, ‛Pick up the book. Tests are judged by the law.’”
I told them about Falun Dafa’s guiding principles—Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, how I followed these principles, and that all my illnesses disappeared by practicing Falun Dafa. I also told them about the Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident.
The officer tried to take my photo. I told him to stop, because the photo would become evidence used to persecute me. I told the police chief to remember “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He didn’t say anything. The tension eased and they left.
I deeply realize the seriousness of cultivation. I need to study the Fa more, look inward, and do the three things well. I am immensely grateful to Master and I appreciate fellow practitioners’ help.