That Moment Will Forever Be Glorious: in Memory of the April 25 Appeal

(Clearwisdom.net) April 25th of 1999 is a day that no one will ever forget. As Dafa practitioners, this day is unforgettable because it marked the very first step Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples took and has significant historical implications. From then on, Dafa walked onto the stage of the entire world.

Around April 20, 1999, my fellow practitioners and I learned of the Tianjin practitioners clarifying the truth to a publication that published an article attacking Dafa. Then on the 23rd, we heard that Tianjin police arrested over 40 practitioners. On the 24th, some practitioners indicated they would go to Beijing to appeal and I decided to join them. So that night we took a train to Beijing. The next morning, around 5:00, we arrived in Beijing. After having a simple breakfast, we rushed to Fuyou Street close to the central government compound, Zhongnanhai. While we were on the bus, we saw many practitioners walking to the State Department's Appeal Office located on Fuyou Street. There was a bus stop right on Fuyou Street, so we got off there.

However, we, along with many other practitioners were stopped on the corner of Fuyou Street and Changan Street. After a while, we were allowed to move north along Fuyou Street.

I walked north until I arrived at the north gate of Zhongnanhai, where there were already many practitioners. They lined up in several rows, extending both to the east and west. Since practitioners came here rather early, many of them had not had breakfast yet. Some sat in the back and ate their breakfast. People in the front row all stood. When they felt tired, another group of people would replace them and stand in the front. This way practitioners stood there from morning to 4 in the afternoon. Even though there were many people, the scene was quite orderly. If practitioners saw a cigarette butt or shredded paper on the ground, they picked them up.

Practitioners also made sure they did not take up the passageway for blind people. At that time there was no curfew on Fuyou Street and people were still passing by. A person riding a bike stopped in front of practitioners and asked why we were there. I told him, "Tianjin police arrested dozens of Falun Gong practitioners and we are here to request their release." That person appeared to be very angry and said to me, "You guys are too bold." Then he got on his bike and left. That day many practitioners were from outside of Beijing. That was a beautiful day, with no wind at all.

Ten thousand practitioners came and left quietly, without noise or violence. Such an appeal was unprecedented. All we wanted were the most basic human rights and freedom of belief.

Since 1999, practitioners have become more and more mature and more and more sentient beings have come to understand the truth.

We call for all people in the world to pay attention to and help end this persecution of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. May kindness and sincerity shine in the human world forever.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/4/25/126016.html

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