From 600 Yuan to 68,000 Yuan: The Great Integrity of Falun Gong Practitioners

By a non-practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) I have known Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Zhangxian for almost two years. He seems like just an average person. One day, someone told me that Mr. Li started practicing Falun Gong, so I started to pay attention to him. He looked healthy and worked hard, like a young man. I was surprised to learn that Mr. Li is in his 50s. Although the government-controlled TV keeps defaming Falun Gong, I still can see that one can have a strong and healthy body by practicing Falun Gong.

Around the 2004 Chinese New Year, Mr. Li found 600 yuan (1). When he handed the money to its owner, foreman Yang of Chenzhou Wujiao Gas Station, many people commented on how good a person he was for having done so. Mr. Li Zhangxian only earns between 10 and 20 yuan per day, but he did not keep the money he found; it did not belong to him. The moral standard of Falun Gong practitioners is very high.

On June 9, 2004, Mrs. Peng Xiulian, Mr. Li's wife, found a purse containing 68,000 yuan, owned by Chenzhou Air Conditioner Plant's Liao Xiangyun. Though nobody saw her find the purse, Ms. Peng waited at the roadside for over 30 minutes for the owner to come and get their cash. She turned down any reward for the good deed, instead saying, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner."

This story spread, and it seemed inconceivable to many people. Someone who happened to know what was going on with the Li family said, "Because they practice Falun Gong, Mr. Li and his wife, Ms. Peng, have had their wages suspended by the government since the persecution began on July 20, 1999. Their home has been ransacked by Public Security, and their personal possessions and money have been taken away without any receipt. The "610 Office" (2) has mentioned their intent to strip him of everything he owns. Mr. Li has been unlawfully detained several times in jail and has suffered cruel tortures. Now, practically everyone in the family is out of work, and with a family member entering college, they are really in need of money."

Hearing this, I was so startled that I immediately went to Mr. Li Zhangxian to ask questions. "You Falun Gong practitioners are of high moral standard! But I don't understand why Falun Gong practitioners would burn themselves at Tiananmen Square. And what about practitioners killing others and committing suicide?" Mr. Li smiled at these questions and, before he answered, other people commented jointly and separately about the staged tragedy of the Tiananmen Self-Immolation Incident and the false stories of killing others and suicide, all fabricated to defame Falun Gong. They even provided detailed analyses so that I could understand. I asked how they knew so much. They told me that there are Falun Gong fact-clarifying materials everywhere, and that all I needed to do was to take a look in order to understand.

I think that the good deeds of kind people should be broadcast and praised. Every night, I watch Chenzhou TV Station's "Daily Local News," but never see any mention of how Ms. Peng Xiulian did not pocket, but instead returned the large amount of cash she picked up on the road. Privately, we heard that when the owner went to deposit her regained money in the bank, she spoke about how her purse was returned. The listeners were surprised and asked who the extraordinarily nice person was. She was afraid to answer directly, and only said that it was someone practicing Qigong. The bank clerk commented loudly, "I know. That must be a Falun Gong practitioner!" Then the lady had to admit, "That's right. The money was returned to me by a Falun Gong practitioner!"

In China, the people's fragile conscience is suppressed by the power of the authorities. People are afraid to tell the truth and speak fair words. Alas! Corrupt officials take hard-earned money from us taxpayers, but destroy the cornerstones of tradition that go back thousands of years.

(1) Yuan is the unit of Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly salary of an urban worker in China.

(2) The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

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