The spiritual practice’s three principles should be a ‘beacon of light’ for humanity, said Hsiao Sung-shan, chairman of Taiwan’s Falun Dafa Association.
TAIPEI, Taiwan—About 5,300 individuals dressed in color-coordinated clothing put together a giant display on the island’s iconic Liberty Square on Nov. 17 in an event aimed at inspiring people around the world to embrace the goodness in human nature.
Three giant Chinese characters in bright yellow, each formed by more than 400 participants, represented the words “truthfulness,” “compassion,” and “tolerance,” which are the core principles of the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. The remaining participants formed the practice’s multi-colored emblem, known as the “falun” or “law wheel.”
The event, known as a character formation, is an annual tradition for Falun Gong practitioners in Taiwan; over the years, the activity has drawn a significant number of practitioners from many regions and countries. This year, practitioners from Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Macao, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea traveled to Taipei to take part in the event.
Hsiao Sung-shan, a retired engineering professor and chairman of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, said in a press release that people now more than ever need truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, considering the conflicts and moral decline plaguing the world today.
The three principles “originate from moral concepts rooted in traditional Chinese culture,” Hsaio explained. He added that these three virtues should serve as a “beacon of light” for humanity.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, was first introduced to the public in China in 1992. Its moral teachings and five meditative exercises exploded in popularity and, by the late 1990s, official estimates put the number of people practicing Falun Gong at between 70 million and 100 million.
However, in July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party, out of fear that the practice’s popularity would undermine its totalitarian rule, launched a sweeping campaign to eradicate the practice. Since then, millions of practitioners have been arbitrarily detained in prisons, labor camps, and other facilities, with hundreds of thousands having been tortured while incarcerated, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.
Every year, photos of the Taiwan event have been an inspiration for the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China, who held similar events in the mainland before the CCP turned on the practice.
Huang Chun-mei, organizer of the event and deputy chairman of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, told The Epoch Times that this year’s photos will surely resonate with the good in people, inspiring them to be better and more kind.
“People whose good nature is stronger than their bad nature will live more freely and be happier,” Huang said. “If there are more kind people in this world, our society will definitely become more peaceful.”
Upon the conclusion of the character formation, participants stayed to practice the exercises together.
Several participants at Sunday’s event told The Epoch Times that they were very happy to be part of the character formation.
Hsiao Yeh-wei, 48, a Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing engineer, said he began practicing Falun Gong in late 1999 when he was a graduate student. He explained that after he started practicing, his nasal allergy disappeared and his life took a more meaningful direction.
He added that it was not his first time participating in the event.
Hsiao said, the fact that thousands of people are willing to come together from around the world to celebrate Falun Dafa serves as a direct rebuke of the CCP’s propaganda that slanders the practice.
“Not everyone has to become a Falun Gong practitioner,” Hsaio said. “However, if people decide to live their life based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, they will realize that life is such a joy.”
Harumi Masuda, 56, a company secretary, and Haruki Taku, 20, a college student majoring in law, traveled from Japan to take part in Sunday’s event for the first time.
“Spectacular,” Masuda said about seeing so many of her fellow practitioners together for the event, before adding that she will certainly travel to Taiwan again in the future.
Taku, who has been practicing Falun Gong since second grade, said she decided to come to Taiwan because she was inspired by media reports about past events.
More than 150 South Korean practitioners took part in the event. Among them were Katherine Kim, a manager working at an export and import company, and her fourth-grade daughter Jessica Jin Huff.
“I am very excited about being here,” Kim said. “My heart is beating very fast. I feel so happy to be here.”
Kim explained the circumstances that led to her becoming a practitioner—she was seeing conflicting information about the practice online, so she decided to visit the official Falun Dafa website and find out for herself. After carefully reading through the website, she decided to start practicing in March last year.
“To my child, I hope I can be a mother who can do things based on truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, to become a better mother,” Kim said. “I am still working hard to improve.”
When asked how she would introduce Falun Dafa to others, Huff said, “I would say: ‘This is a practice that focuses on the mind and the body for you to become a better person and for the people around you to be better, even.’”
During the character formation, many local Taiwanese people and foreign tourists stood by and watched, including Japanese tourist Yutaro Matsunaga.
Matsunaga told The Epoch Times that he was impressed by what he saw, and the size of the character formation had a “big impact” on him.
Two tourists from the Philippines told The Epoch Times they were amazed at how organized the practitioners were.
“It’s very mesmerizing, especially for us tourists here, to witness such an event,” one of them said.
His girlfriend, who will be staying in Taiwan to teach English at a local public school, said it felt “uplifting to know such [an] event is happening.”