The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tried for over seven years to eradicate the peaceful meditation practice of Falun Gong, but an exchange of New Year's greetings suggests that Falun Gong is more than surviving the CCP's campaign.
On New Year's Day, in response to thousands of New Year's greetings, Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, published on the Falun Gong Web site Clearwisdom.net a message addressed to the people of the world.
Mr. Li had received greetings from all over the world, including Turkey, Iran, Belize, Saipan, and Thailand. In general, these greetings wish Mr. Li well and express gratitude for his teaching of Falun Gong and its three principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
My Thanks to All Who Have Sent Greetings
Falun Dafa practitioners, people of the world, and all lives:
Greetings! Thank you for sending along your greetings and well wishes. I sincerely hope that all students of Falun Dafa will achieve spiritual perfection. I sincerely hope that all the people of the world can be clear on the truth and distinctly see the greatest evil that history decided to visit upon mankind for what it is, see how the wicked Party has poisoned the Chinese people and the entire world, and see how it has persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners—and thus manage to survive the unparalleled catastrophe that has befallen all lives. I sincerely hope that all will be saved!
All lives! Everything that you have been hoping for, awaiting, and concerned over for thousands of years has arrived, and is in fact currently unfolding. Through it each and every person is choosing, whether knowingly or not, his or her destiny.
I would like to tell you: Falun Dafa practitioners are the sole hope of salvation for the lives in each region and each nation. Cherishing what they are doing amounts to cherishing yourselves!
Thank you again for sending your greetings.
Li Hongzhi
January 1, 2007
The estimated several thousand of the New Year's messages from mainland China express such sentiments, but also tell another story. In their graceful messages, artful presentation, and wide variety of authors, they give evidence of the triumph of Falun Gong over the CCP's persecution.
While some of these greetings are very simple, many of them feature beautiful, original art work, some of it multi media. Favorite motifs include pictures of the lotus flower, a symbol of beauty and transformation, or the plum blossom, a symbol of noble endurance.
Greetings were sent from every corner of China, including remote rural or mountainous areas and also ethnic areas, such as Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region—the home of the Hui people.
A wide cross-section of Chinese society is also evident in the greetings from China. Thus, several greetings are from university students, the presumptive elite of China. But many are from rural farmers or from workers. For instance, the Falun Gong adherents from the Jiamsu railway system send their greetings, as do those from the Qilu Petrochemical Corporation.
Some of the greetings speak of the persecution of Falun Gong. One greeting is signed by the "Qitaihe Falun Dafa practitioners who are homeless to avoid persecution."
Another is signed by the "Jiaxing Falun Dafa practitioners who are being illegally incarcerated," who managed to send their message of good will in spite of their imprisonment.
What might be most worrisome to the CCP bosses are the greetings sent to Mr. Li from members of the security forces. One card with a beautiful, lavender lotus flower is signed by "the whole family of a police officer." Another greeting is from "Dafa disciples in the armed police force."
While most of the greetings are from Falun Gong adherents, a significant number are from individuals who do not practice Falun Gong but who wish to express their gratitude to Mr. Li for his teaching of this practice.
Thus, one greeting reads "The common people in China send New Year Greetings to Mr. Li Hongzhi. We are from Guangdong Province. Although we are not practicing Falun Gong, we all know Falun Dafa is good. And truthfulness, compassion and tolerance are good!"
Such greetings show the failure of an intensive propaganda effort meant to turn the people of China against Falun Gong. This propaganda effort was one cornerstone of a systematic and comprehensive persecution that began on July 20, 1999.
According to the Falun Dafa Information Center hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong adherents have been arrested and detained, and almost 3,000 of these have been confirmed as having died from torture.
In March 2006, The Epoch Times reported allegations that Falun Gong practitioners in China had been murdered by having their organs harvested while still living. An independent report authored by former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia Pacific) David Kilgour and the human rights lawyer David Matas confirmed these allegations. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners are thought to have died in this manner.
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