Evan Mantyk

The Epoch Times

"Lotus Light" by Chen Xiaoping depicts a Falun Gong practitioners trying to the end the persecution of Falun Gong in China through meditation. (Pureinsight.org)

NEW YORK -- Ghastly creatures hold the hero's face in a bucket of filth, while the bloodied heroine is tied to the wall, a halo of light around her head. Another Lord of the Rings movie? Not quite. This is a painting of real people being persecuted for their beliefs in China. It is part of the "Uncompromising Courage" exhibit that will be held for the next two weeks at the National Arts Club.

The exhibit ¨C whose last stop was the House of Representatives office building in DC - focuses on Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin's suppression of the meditation practice, Falun Gong. "The practice was outlawed in 1999 when it became more popular than the Chinese Communist Party," said a Falun Gong spokesman in New York, Dr. Damon Noto.

According to reports from China, many Falun Gong practitioners refused to give up the practice when it was outlawed and faced discrimination, arrest, torture, and death.

The artists themselves are all practitioners of Falun Gong, and according to the exhibition's DC coordinator, Ms. Diane Fan, some personally experienced the persecution campaign that continues today.

According to Fan, "The exhibition illustrates a clear contrast between compassion and evil that has emerged after Jiang Zemin launched the persecution. In order to safeguard truthfulness, compassion and tolerance and uphold justice, freedom, dignity and mankind's benevolent nature, these Falun Gong practitioners have shown unwavering perseverance."

Truthfulness, compassion and tolerance are taken by Falun Gong practitioners to be the three main guiding principles of their practice. They are known to always practice nonviolence, and throughout the exhibit, they emphasize their concern for their persecutors' fates.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-10-25/23972.html

Posting date: 10/28/2004
Original article date: 10/28/2004
Category: News & Media Reports

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