TAIPEI, Taiwan—About 5,000 people filled an iconic Taipei landmark on Oct. 18, coming together like pixels in a massive painting, in an effort to share their faith and shine a spotlight on communist China’s ongoing human rights abuses.
The gathering was the annual character formation event organized by local Falun Gong practitioners, a tradition that dates back to China before the communist regime launched a brutal persecution against the faith group in 1999.
This year, practitioners from South Korea, Japan, Germany, Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the United States joined the event at Taipei’s Liberty Square.
Dressed in blue, black, red, white, and yellow, Falun Gong practitioners arranged themselves in precise rows to form an image of the “law wheel,” or “falun” in Chinese, which contains the traditional Buddhist “srivatsa” and Taoist “taiji” symbols. This emblem represents Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, which translates to “Great Way of the Law Wheel.”
Beneath the emblem, practitioners dressed in yellow formed four Chinese characters meaning “Falun rotates constantly.”
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline centered on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. First introduced to the public in China in 1992, the practice quickly spread by word of mouth to reach 70 million to 100 million practitioners in the country by 1999, according to official estimates.
Fearing that Falun Gong’s popularity threatened the regime’s power, the Chinese Communist Party began a brutal campaign to eradicate the practice in July 1999. Over the past 26 years, many practitioners have been sent to prisons, labor camps, and brainwashing centers—where they have endured forced labor, torture, and even death by forced organ harvesting.
Huang Chun-mei, organizer of the event and deputy chairwoman of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, told The Epoch Times that she and other practitioners take part in the event every year, hoping that more people will come to learn about Falun Gong, which she said has greatly benefited them both spiritually and physically.
“The practice is also the most convenient—the most convenient because it doesn’t interfere with your daily life or work,” Huang said. “It’s something that people of all ages and genders can practice.”
Huang said that holding the annual event at Liberty Square—one of Taiwan’s most visited landmarks—underscores a powerful contrast: Taiwan’s vibrant democracy and freedoms, versus the Chinese Communist Party’s tight grip on society across the Taiwan Strait.
Wu Ching-hsiang, the retired architect who created the blueprint for the formation, told The Epoch Times that he hoped the four Chinese characters in the formation would inspire people’s curiosity about their deeper meaning and lead them to learn about Falun Gong.
Many locals and foreign tourists stood nearby and watched while the character formation was taking place. Among them was Refet Gokce Bozkurt, 50, a civil engineer from Turkey.
Bozkurt said he found it “incredible” that the practitioners had taken up the event to raise awareness of China’s human rights abuses.
“I think this is very spiritual,” Bozkurt told The Epoch Times.
Upon the conclusion of the character formation, participants stayed to practice Falun Gong’s exercises together.
One of the participants of the formation, Chen Hui, 55, a housewife, traveled from Washington. She told The Epoch Times that she had visited Taiwan twice to participate in Falun Gong activities, but today was her first time taking part in the character formation.
“I decided to come to experience firsthand the profound feeling that came with such group activity,” Chen said.
Chen said she began practicing Falun Gong in 1995 in her hometown in China’s southern province of Guangdong. Having practiced for about 30 years, she said the practice had transformed her moral character and brought with it a profound sense of well-being.
Another overseas participant, Kim Chang-rok, 54, a South Korean employee of a medical supply company, said Saturday marked his third time participating in the character formation.
“The world needs truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance,” Kim told The Epoch Times, noting that since Falun Gong was introduced in China in 1992, it has spread to over 100 countries around the world.
Two Taiwanese participants of the formation also shared their stories with The Epoch Times.
Yan Siang-lin, 26, a Japanese-language teacher, said she cherished her upbringing, as her parents raised her according to the principles of Falun Gong.
“I was raised in a peaceful and happy family environment,” Yan said. “I think this has played an important role in shaping my character, personality, and moral values.”
Yan hoped her own experience would motivate others to pick up Falun Gong’s main book, “Zhuan Falun,” which has been translated into 40 languages and is available online.
Shao Hsueh-ti, 55, a teacher at a local juvenile correctional high school, said he has been practicing Falun Gong for three years. Drawing from his own experience, Shao warned people not to assume the persecution against Falun Gong isn’t happening just because they don’t see it when they visit China.
Shao said he had the opportunity to visit China multiple times in the late 1980s, due to his father’s business in Fujian Province in southern China. At the time, he recalled, China didn’t seem very different from most other countries, and he didn’t witness any signs of people being targeted for political reasons.
Now, he said, some of his colleagues hold a similar view to what he once did—believing China is a “normal” country. He said he had found it difficult to convince them that what they’re seeing when visiting China is merely an illusion.
“The Chinese Communist Party is not just a political party,” Shao said. “It is more like evil.”
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