(Clearwisdom.net) For the past five years, I endured mentally and physically through an unprecedented and inhuman persecution that did not give any reprieve. The three years of suffering at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp is almost impossible to describe in words. Because I validated the Fa and shouted, "Falun Dafa is great," I was locked up eight times in a small confinement cell, where the persecution intensified significantly. Because of the long-term torture method with the iron tiger bench, my buttocks were putrid and raw to the bones and my weight loss was from 80 kg. (176 lbs.) to less than 40 kg. (88 lbs.).

I wish to tell a fraction of the suffering I experienced, so kind-hearted people can get a better understanding of the persecution Dafa practitioners are suffering for holding on to their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." My experience will show how the evil party persecutes Falun Dafa and its practitioners.

1. Appealing for Dafa in Beijing

During the afternoon of January 17, 1999, I was fortunate to come across Falun Dafa. I found a practice site and group study site in March 1999. I lived by Teacher's principles, looked within when I was settled with a problem and treated others kindly. I was always happy.

After July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin began the inhuman crackdown and persecution of those who follow the principles "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." Fellow practitioners and I decided to go to Beijing to speak the truth of Falun Dafa. A week later, my family brought me back against my will. In October 2000, I went to Beijing again. At Tiananmen Square, a policewomen forcibly arrested me, and a policeman put me into detention in Beijing. Then, policemen from the Xingcheng Wenquan local police station cuffed my hands behind my back, took me back home, and illegally detained me for 15 days. I gained my freedom on December 13.

On New Year's Day of 2001, I went again to Tiananmen to validate the Fa and tell people that Falun Dafa is unjustly persecuted. I was arrested by police on Tiananmen Square and sent to a prison in Beijing. That day, too many practitioners were arrested, and the prison could not hold them. Therefore, some practitioners and I were transferred to Changping Prison in Beijing.

Not knowing what was awaiting any us, be it life or death, Dafa practitioners held firm faith in Teacher and Dafa and shouted all the way: "Falun Dafa is great! Falun Dafa is the righteous law! Restore Teacher's innocence!"

2. Facing the Persecution at Changping Prison in Beijing

Changping Prison in Beijing is a newly built large prison. Every cell was filled beyond normal capacity with Dafa practitioners. No one organized any truth clarification activity, but all practitioners shouted in unison, "Falun Dafa is great! Falun Dafa is the righteous law..." Every practitioner's heart and trust in Dafa and Teacher was so pure and righteous that my tears kept flowing from my eyes, and my heart felt the sacredness of what we were doing. In this secluded and evil place, the pure, harmonious and merciful field of Dafa practitioners was displayed. This was the grand gift of Buddha law.

Because practitioners were brought in all afternoon long, some practitioners were taken to other locations. I was taken to another cell. At night, we studied the Fa and practiced the exercises together. There were many policemen and policewomen in the corridor. We were separated by an iron gate from the police. Kind-hearted Dafa practitioners continuously compassionately explained the truth to them, although harm was only an arms-length away. We told them to remember that Dafa is good. A policeman said: "If I learn it, I will not be jailed like you." I told him, "Some practitioners are also from the police force, but were arrested for appealing for Dafa." He was not afraid! I had seen in truth-clarification material from Beijing that plainclothes police were arresting practitioners. I saw that two plainclothes policemen had a Dafa practitioner in police uniform between them. Remembering that, I took truth-clarification material from my pocket and handed it to him. He gladly accepted it.

On the second day, ten practitioners and I were sent to the local Donggaodi Police Station in Fengtai District. They then took us to Fengtai Detention Center, where they took photos of us. The police made us stand outdoors in the morning, afternoon and evening and would not allow us to wear warm clothes. No matter what time of the day or night, they tried to "transform," practitioners by using physical punishment. We did not cooperate and went on a hunger strike to demand unconditional release.

3. Face Burned by Police with Lighter

In the afternoon of the sixth day, police officers forced me to squat between two cabinets and against the wall. One officer sat on a chair, put his legs on mine and pushed down. He did not allow me to get up, tightly held my hair, and bumped my head against both cabinets and the wall, which made me loose a lot of hair. Then the officers changed the torture method. They started to hit my face, eyes and forehead. I suffered severe pain when they violently attacked me. I did not make any noise despite the pain. I endured with a peaceful and calm heart.

Once the policemen realized that their methods had no effect on me, they began to burn my face with a cigarette lighter and cigarette butts. This immediately produced many burn blisters on my face. The skin was burning and the pain was unendurable. My eyelashes, fine hair, eyebrows and hair were all burned. Even today, one can still see the cigarette burn scars on my face. I remained calm and unmoved. The policemen wickedly bellowed, "Do you know that we have received notification from the highest office (Jiang's regime) that we will not be held responsible if we kill Falun Gong practitioners? Their deaths will be counted as suicides." Despite facing atrocities, intimidation and threats, I was not moved. Teacher told us: "By having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." (Essentials for Further Advancement II) The evil could not affect me. It was winter and very cold. The evil grabbed every opportunity to attack us. Whenever our thoughts were not righteous the evil took advantage of it. The only method that would sustain me through this was reciting the Fa ceaselessly to strengthen my righteous thoughts. Thus human notions and the external environment could no longer affect me.

The perpetrators were utterly confused. Therefore, they attempted to destroy my will through subtle means. They took me outdoors, forced me to stand in the cold wind, pulled off my clothes and let me stand in my underwear. They poured cold water down my neck and scraped me with a wooden board. After a while, they touched my clothes to see if they were frozen. Then they dragged me inside, and hit my body and legs with wooden clubs. After that, they took a wooden club and pressed my neck towards the clothes cabinets. In desperation I pushed them aside with both hands. The police then slapped my face from both sides, and poured water on my face. The icy-cold water splashed my face and made my entire body wet.

4. Hypocrisy

In the still of the night it is lonely and cold, and the evil has the ability to put enormous pressure on people. But my heart was strong and tranquil, because I am a Dafa disciple. Teacher said:

"But although you can't see me in person, as long as you practice cultivation, I'm actually right by your side. And as long as you practice cultivation, I can be responsible for you all the way to the end; what's more, I'm looking after you every single moment." ("Teaching the Fa in New York City," from Falun Buddha Fa - Lectures in the United States),

and "...with the master and the Fa here what is there to fear?" ("Lecture in Sydney")

Several policemen arrived to continue the torture. They tickled my armpits and body to see if I reacted to it. Facing such depravity, I still looked at them calmly and held no hatred or resentment in my heart. I did not laugh, therefore those villains said, "This elderly lady does not fear being tickled." After saying that, they shamelessly pulled my clothes off and left me in my underwear standing barefooted on the ice. It was snowing, I was wearing socks, and the socks became wet from the ice. Not surprisingly to me, these villains were freezing although they wore warm overcoats. They felt so cold that they covered the ears with their hands and walked back and forth to keep warm.

The next day, they took turns trying to brainwash and threaten me. They said: "Only you remain now. We will send you to a remote area. If you are tortured to death, it will be considered suicide." Even at night, they continued to harass me, "We must have your address, even if we have to pry it out of your mouth." I calmly replied, "It's not that I do not want to go home, or purposely confound you, but Jiang is carrying out an implication policy. I do not want to bring problems to all my local government agencies." After seeing that neither soft nor hard methods made a dent in my resolve to not share personal information with them, the police became speechless.

At dark, a policeman found a way to trick me into revealing personal information: "We will leave you alone now. I will pay from out of my pocket to send you to the train station. You can go home!" I told him I had no relatives in Beijing, and he did not need to give me money. I asked, "Please let me use the telephone, I'll wait for my relatives to pick me up." At 11:00 p.m., they told me that my relatives had arrived. I believed it, and went with them. I got into the car, but did not see my relatives, and the car was traveling in the wrong direction. The police had tricked me. The car was in an accident and could not go very far, because it was snowing heavily. When I got out of the car, I saw that we were at the Xingcheng Office in Beijing. The police cuffed my hands. I realized that I had been caught off guard. Later my relatives told me that police detained them also.

5. Brainwashing in Masanjia, the Den of Evil

After I returned to Xingcheng, the local police station detained me in a detention center for ten days. After returning home, I continued to clarify the truth and validate Dafa. Alas, someone reported me when I was giving out truth-clarification VCDs one day. Staff from the Chengdong local police station ransacked my home, took my photos, and confiscated Dafa books, cassettes and Teacher's photo. They arrested me, detained me for eight days and then sent me to Masanjia, the den of evil, for further persecution.

At Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, guard Dai Yuhong took me to the storeroom. Several collaborators were there. Dai Yuhong spoke to them and then left. These former practitioners turned collaborators began to bombard me with evil things they had enlightened to, and distorted Dafa truths. Teacher said in "A Suggestion,"

"As Dafa disciples, what you should do in the current situation is clarify the truth to the world's people and expose the evil, thereby safeguarding Dafa. Your own improvement and Consummation are part of this process. Those who do the so-called 'reform' work, too, are people who have been deceived. Why not turn the tables and expose the evil and clarify the truth to them? I suggest that all students who they are trying to forcefully reform (this excludes those who haven't been taken away for reform) expose the evil and clarify the truth to those people who are doing the reform work, and tell them about the cause and effect relationship of 'good and evil always have consequences.' It is the evil that is afraid of people knowing the truth of the situation, not Dafa disciples." (Essentials for Further Advancement II)

I tried to help them by explaining what was incorrect and how to conform to Teacher's Fa. I told them to firmly practice, no matter how rough and taxing it became. I compassionately told them not to give up ten of thousands years of waiting! I wanted them to know that it is difficult to gain the right law and to meet the right teacher. Teacher told us "...not to lose it easily just because you have obtained it easily" (Zhuan Falun).

During the brainwashing, the villains not only tried to destroy me mentally by barraging me with evil theories that slander Teacher and the Fa, but also tortured me physically. I was forced to squat or stand for long periods of time, deprived of sleep for many nights, and I was kept in isolation. Besides the camp guards, I could only meet with the collaborators. I was almost completely isolated from the outside world. Steadfast practitioners were not allowed to talk or have contact with each other and were supervised by the collaborators. In order to achieve their evil goal, the unscrupulous camp staff used all kinds of despicable torture methods. They pulled off all my upper body clothes, but due to my resistance, they were unable to pull off my pants. They dragged me outdoors, forced me to kneel down for a long time, and carry a stool on my head with a basin of water on the stool. The collaborators read the written "transformation" statement to me. I tried my best to hold my fist tightly and refused to sign. The collaborators put the statement in front of me, and threatened that they would keep me on my knees until I signed.

Guard Dai Yuhong was in charge of my persecution. Dai gave Teacher's image to the detestable collaborators. The collaborators even tried to make me step on Teacher's image. When I bent down to hold Teacher's image in both hands, they tried to take it from me and ripped it. Dai Yuhong took out another Teacher's image and ordered the collaborators to make me sit on it. When I struggled and refused to sit down, they pushed me down unexpectedly and put the image into my pants. I used all my strength to break loose and quickly took out Teacher's image. The villains turned vicious and made me sit on the iron pipe. I lost count as to how many times they slapped my face. Dai said finally in an evil and sadistic tone to stop beating me and let me go to work!

For a period of time, they changed their malicious tricks and tried lies to deceive me. Several collaborators claimed that everyone knew that I had been "transformed." They claimed that my "transformation" statement was read to everyone and published on Internet. They even sang the so-called "transformation song." I told them that I negated all they had to say.

In December, we moved to a new building. I was allocated to the fifth unit. The leader of this section was a guard with the surname Sun. I was forced to listen to slanderous words daily. I refused and told them that they were making foolish remarks, and I did not allow them to defame Teacher. I refused to listen to their obnoxious words and got ready to leave. The collaborators held on to me tightly and did not allow me to move. During the daily brainwashing, several collaborators took me to the back area and held me tightly. I treated them mercifully and with kindness.

We had gone to Beijing to validate the Fa despite immense pressure, and had let go of life and death. To counterbalance the injustice Teacher and Dafa encountered, we wanted people to have a correct understanding of Dafa. We were taken to Masanjia and persecuted because we wanted to validate the Fa and not be "transformed." I refused to listen to the deception and lies. The collaborators did not allow me to talk and forced me to listen to their slanderous words. The minute they did not pay attention, I left the room. They made me squat, and tried to intimidate me. They told me belligerently, "What place do you think this is? Do you think this place will allow you to act like that?"

6. Heavy Discipline and Being Locked in a Small Confinement Cell

Prison guard Sun ordered two of the brainwashed people to take me to a small cell, force me to sit on a very narrow and short stool, stretch out two arms and cuff both my hands to the iron pipes beside the stool. I was locked in the confinement cell like this for about a month, until the Chinese New Year. Another guard named Zhang Yan took over the leadership and allowed me to join in the Chinese New Year celebration. I told him that I refused to participate in any kind of study. In the afternoon, brigade chief Qiu Ping took me out of the small cell and sent me to first floor for heavy discipline. In fact, I spent the rest of my detention under heavy discipline in a small cell.

To achieve their goal, the villains tried everything possible to break Dafa practitioners firmness and faith in Teacher and Dafa. For a while, they had me meet with people who had not been "transformed," but did not have a clear understanding of the Fa. They used all means to have me compromise and not resist. Seeing fellow practitioners on the verge of enlightening on an evil path, I was very sad and anxious. At lunch-time, I shouted: "Fellow practitioners, we are illegally detained. Do not be affected by the evil, and do not cooperate with the evil. We should firmly practice Dafa and be unmoved in our resolve, firmly practice Dafa and follow Teacher." Consequently, some "transformed" people dragged me out of the cafeteria, covered my mouth and stopped me from shouting. From that time on, the lawless people no longer allowed me to eat in the cafeteria.

One morning, guard Zhang Yan came at the time when I was reciting the Fa. Zhang Yan asked me why I did not get up to greet her. I told her that I had not greeted anyone here. She wickedly said, "I'll cuff your hands and only unlock it once a day." After dinner, when I was working, Zhang Yan came and told me, "Do you still remember my words from this morning?" She did not allow me to respond and cuffed my hands to the heating pipe. During the first three days, Zhang Yan came daily to unlock the handcuffs in the morning and let me use the toilet. She did not come at noon or night. I was cuffed in this position continuously. Nobody inquired about me. Then, Zhang Yan disappeared for three days. I was cuffed to the heating pipe during all that time.

I was not given any food and water during those six days, and I became emaciated. Someone saw me and said that my appearance terrified people. The brigade chief Qiu told me that they would unlock the handcuffs three times a day and let me eat. Because I was cuffed to the heating pipe and had stood for a long time, my legs and feet were very swollen. They did not allow me to sit down. Once, when I had taken a stool to sit on, Zhang Yan came running in and told me viciously "Who told you to sit down?" I told her that my feet were swollen because I had stood for such a long time and asked her, "Can't I sit down to have a rest?" Guard Zhang told people who monitored me to take away the stool and said some slanderous words.

I recited Teacher's article "The Chill of Autumn's Winds,"

"The evil ones should think twice about their flagrant savagery,
When Heaven and Earth are bright again, down to the boiling cauldron they go;
Punches and kicks do little to change people's hearts,
Violent winds usher in an autumn with even harsher chill."

(Essentials for Further Advancement II)

Zhang asked who would go into the boiling cauldron. I said whoever persecuted Dafa and Dafa practitioners would go into the boiling cauldron. Zhang Yan was speechless. She left angrily, did not open the handcuffs or let me use the toilet. In the morning, the guards forced us to do physical exercises. I refused! Zhang Yan asked me why. I told her that I only do the five Falun Gong exercises. Because I don't practice anything else, I wouldn't do the exercises they wanted me to do.

One morning, I talked with others. Zhang Yan yelled from outside the window that I was not permitted to talk. I began to recite the Fa. A little while later, Zhang Yan came to stop me from reciting the Fa, and cuffed my hands to the iron pipe next to the bed. Zhang Yan cruelly held my hands against the iron pipe, I was so tired and my face was wet with sweat. Zhang Yan also ordered several people to monitor me and cover my mouth. I ignored her and continued to recite the Fa. I refused to compromise. Zhang Yan then stuffed my mouth with socks and pinched my nose. I was unable to breathe. The guards believed that this would stop me from reciting the Fa. However, the supernatural and grand Buddha Law does not allow the evildoers to use low means to change steadfast Dafa practitioners' convictions in their great and merciful Teacher and Dafa. All their efforts were useless. Teacher said in "Coercion Cannot Change People's Hearts."

Zhang Yan yelled for helpers and a group of the camp personnel came. This time they cuffed both of my hands together behind my back and then to the iron rails of the bed. They then covered my mouth with toilet paper and cruelly slapped my face twice. Blood dripped out of my mouth corners. There were many torturing me, pinching my nose and covering my mouth. I almost choked. Zhang Yan ordered people to insult me. They maliciously defamed Teacher and Dafa and spoke hoodlum and dirty language. Zhang Yan found a cassette player to play evil recordings. I begged Teacher to strengthen me and continued to recite the Fa to negate the persecution. The cassette player did not work. Zhang Yan then brought people who read it towards me. I did not listen, but recited the Fa. Zhang Yan pinched my nose and stuffed my mouth with a towel. I did not cooperate. Therefore, she desperately clutched my cheeks with her hands. My cheek flesh was broken and I could not eat for several days.

After dinner, I was reciting the Fa when Zhang Yan came into the room. She said, "Don't do that when I come in." I asked what does it do when I recite the Fa? The guards said, "You don't recite when I come." I ignored them. Zhang Yan saw that I was unmoved. Consequently, she cuffed my hands behind my back and to the bed. I then began a hunger strike to protest the illegal persecution.

On the fifth day of the hunger strike, the evildoers began to force-feed me and inject fluids. I did not cooperate and told them that this was not how to resolve the problem, but another way of persecution. They tied my feet to the bed, pulled my arms apart, cuffed my hands to the angle-iron rails on each side of the bed, and let a big fellow sit on my feet to hold me down so I could not move. Then they inserted the tube to force-feed me with rice flour and salty water, and charged me 30 yuan for each force-feeding. It went on, and on the ninth day, a commissar came to the yard. I said to him: "The ways Zhang Yan behaves shows clearly that your Masanjia is full of evil."