A Special Day That Turned My Life Around (Part I)

Ms. Wu Yanxia is a Falun Gong practitioner. Born into a family that boasted of a Chinese Communist Party "martyr," Yanxia joined the CCP in the rural area of Tianjin City at age 18. The CCP once considered her one of their key potential successors. However, the "April 25th event," when more than ten thousand practitioners went to Beijing to peacefully appeal on behalf of Falun Gong, shook her to the core and led her to re-examine herself and to change her outlook on life. On the ninth anniversary of the April 25th event," Ms. Wu graciously agreed to be interviewed. She recalled that extraordinary period of time that she and her fellow practitioners experienced. She also shared her thoughts and enlightenment on this matter.

The article below was compiled from an audio recording of the interview.

The April 25th Event Amazed Everyone

On April 25, 1999, around 40 to 50 practitioners were arrested in Tianjin City and since the matter could not be resolved locally, practitioner Jin Yuqin wanted to go to Beijing to appeal to the government, hoping the government would learn more about Falun Gong. Her husband, Zhao Guang, drove her to Beijing, where he witnessed the peacefulness, rationality, and auspiciousness of Falun Gong practitioners. Afterwards, he wanted to learn more about Falun Gong and later became a practitioner himself.

On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party started the large scale persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Jin Yuqin, her husband, and her younger sister, were arrested. Mr. Zhao Guang was sentenced to two years of forced labour. Their 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter were left at home with no one to care for them.

One day I went to their home to see the children. Because I was a teacher, I was worried that they might be discriminated against at school because of their parents' arrests. I asked Guang's son if they were being pressured. He was a freshman in middle school and a child who was supposed to be spoiled by his parents. He replied, "We do not feel any pressure and we are not afraid. Our parents did not steal, rob, or do any bad deeds to harm our country or society. Didn't they just speak the truth? If even speaking the truth is taboo, does our nation have any hope?" I was amazed by his words that were totally beyond expectation.

I had been a teacher for 18 years and had always been the authoritative figure to my students. That day the younger boy taught me a lesson! I was amazed, because I had never seen any middle school student who could remain calm and talk like he did in such a difficult situation. I said, "You are so young. How can you talk like this?" He replied, "I am a practitioner. I conduct myself as a good person following the principles of 'Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance' taught by our Master. I am not afraid of discrimination."

Although I had been practising for over two years myself, I also had experienced 26 years of CCP membership and was "educated" by the CCP for many years. I knew that the CCP persecution of Falun Gong was wrong. However, the nature of communist partisanship and the dogma of "always align yourself with the Party" still had some hold over me. When Guang's son said what he did, I felt the tremendous power of his words and that the nature of my partisanship that had been controlling my life was destroyed. I realised that this power far exceeded the nature of my partisanship. This prodded me to re-examine myself and my life.

The Turning Point in My Life

I had considered myself a good person. Now I realised I had been sizing myself up with the fallen moral standard of ordinary people. When measuring myself against the standard of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance," I found the filthy selfishness deep down in my soul.

When the mayor of Tianjin City claimed on CCTV (Central Chinese Television) that Tianjin City did not arrest a single person, I knew he was lying in front of the whole nation. When the volunteer director of the instruction centre in my district, Li Sheng (pronunciation), was arrested, I did not step up and speak out the truth. Guang's son's words, "If even speaking the truth is taboo, does our nation have any hope?" made me realise that many Chinese people, including myself, are seldom able to think independently after living under the intense pressure of the CCP's tyrannical rule. We live in a falsified world every day.

In the past, I had been the most obedient in the eyes of my superiors in order to protect myself and my family from potential harm. Nobody could imagine that I would ever do anything that was unaligned with CCP policy. Since the CCP took over and established its power, there have been many political movements and no one has been able to resist the CCP rules. For instance, on June 4, 1989, 80 to 90 percent of the staff in each work unit took to the streets and joined the protest. But just a few days after the CCP cracked down on the protest, nobody would admit to participating in the protest; everyone was afraid of implicating their family and relatives, so they withdrew and gave up after realising the overall atmosphere was not benign.

This time so many people, including children, have stepped up to uphold the truth without fearing death. The April 25th event has changed everything and truly enlightened me. It has liberated me from the mental shackles of the CCP and provided me with an opportunity to live like a real human being. Although I did not participate directly in the massive appeal event, I have come out afterwards to uphold the universal principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance."

(To be continued)