(Clearwisdom.net) Editor's Note: To commemorate the ninth anniversary of the April 25 Appeal, Clearwisdom presents this as one of a series of republished articles from years past. The April 25th Appeal was notable not only for its size, but also because it was remarkably peaceful and orderly. Some 10,000 practitioners gathered in central Beijing that day, peacefully protesting for their civil rights. The CCP propaganda machine, however, in its quest to crush Falun Gong at the bidding of then Party Chairman Jiang Zemin, twisted the facts to serve its own motives. To this day, CCP propaganda accuses Falun Gong of "laying seige to the Zhongnanhai Central Government Compound" on April 25, 1999, falsely alleging that the 10,000 gathered posed a violent threat to the nation and its leaders. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, as this series of articles documents from various angles.
April 25, 1999, will forever be remembered in history. On this day, more than 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners, with trust and hope in the Chinese government, exercised their constitutional right to appeal. They hoped that the government would properly handle the incident in Tianjin, where police officers brutally beat and arrested some 45 Falun Gong practitioners who went to clarify the truth to a publishing house that had printed articles slandering Dafa.
On April 24, two fellow practitioners and I heard about the illegal arrest and beating of practitioners at the hands of Tianjin police officers. That was reason for us, after our morning exercises, to decide to go the next day to the State Council Appeals Office located on Fuyou Street in Beijing to appeal to the government.
1. Plainclothes police officers carelessly divulged their "secret plans:" they had long known about our appeal
We walked to the middle section of Fuyou Street quite early and met 20-30 fellow practitioners arriving one-by-one. I heard a man around 30 years of age say loudly in a complacent manner, "Is [name omitted] Dafa practitioner here?" Later, I learned that this man was a plainclothes police officer; furthermore, it became evident that the police department knew that practitioners were going to appeal on this day. At that moment, several officers directed us to walk toward the north. As more and more practitioners arrived, the police then ordered us to stay where we were, on the west side of the street. During the whole process, all the police officers, including the plainclothes police, acted in a very relaxed manner. None of them appeared nervous, surprised, or disturbed, and their words and actions were very mild. I didn't sense anything strange at that time.
2. The police officers directed us to "enter the spot" and arranged us in a certain way to "take our position"
A while later, something unbelievable happened. A group of officers led a large group of very peaceful practitioners towards us. There were so many of them that one could not see the end of the group. They walked from the south towards the north. Soon after, the other side of the street was also filled with people. The police ordered all of us to go to the west side of Fuyou Street, and only police officers and police cars were left on the east side. Then, facing us, the police stood in a row, close together, on the west side of the street, about two to three meters from the curb.
This was a broad outline of the situation that day. It was only later that the number of police decreased by a large percentage. In the daytime, cars drove by, with people inside videotaping us. Some practitioners went up to the police and tried to communicate with them. The practitioners were not stopped, and the police showed a gentle attitude throughout the day.
3. Practitioners were very orderly, and kept all the pathways and traffic turn-around unobstucteed.
Because there were so many of us, the sidewalk on the west side was filled with people standing there. But all the pathways to buildings, residential houses, traffic turns, or other areas were kept unobstructed, to ensure a smooth flow of traffic. I was quite moved by such thoughtfulness. By and large, the practitioners on the sidewalk didn't move much at all. The appeal crowd remained peaceful and quiet all that time, and there was not a single shout of slogans. Even their low-voiced conversations could be clearly heard by the police. Later, as it became a little hot, we asked the elderly practitioners and practitioners from far away to take a rest by sitting on the sidewalk. Those next to the street were standing neatly towards the east. From time to time, people would take turns resting. We heard no complaints from area residents or workers. On the contrary, many people commented, "These people really behave very nobly!"
4. Quietly waiting for a response, studying the Fa, doing the exercises and sharing experiences
We were all very concerned about how the Tianjin Incident would be resolved, and all of us quietly waited for news of a resolution. During this time, many practitioners studied the Fa. Looking across from the south to the north, one could see that almost all practitioners were neatly standing on the sidewalk, reading. It was an unforgettable scene. Some practitioners shared experiences in low voices. Talking about the appeal, most practitioners disclosed that they couldn't understand why Tianjin police officers beat and arrested practitioners.
In a CCTV program that slandered the "April 25 Appeal," an official from the Tianjin City Police Department shamelessly claimed that not a single practitioner was arrested in Tianjin! When the truth of history becomes known, the liars will forever carry shame on their shoulders.
5. Looking after the details
With so many people present, it was not very easy for the practitioners to walk about. When some went to buy food or to use the toilet, they volunteered to take away any rubbish found the area, putting it in a plastic bag. Many practitioners collected rubbish, and they also picked up all the cigarette butts and pieces of trash that were lying around before they came. They put them neatly together in one place, ready for collection. The number of people kept increasing, and by the time I went to buy a drink in the afternoon, I saw the lanes near the street in the residential area west of Fuyou Street were also full of practitioners. They did not push into Fuyou Street, but quietly sat where they were.
CCTV propaganda went so far as to misleadingly label a young man who was bending down to collect rubbish as a "secret organizer!" The fact is that practitioners did not know one another. Who then could organize whom?
6. News of the appeal spread far and wide; many people telephoned to inquire
By that afternoon, news of the appeal had spread across the country. Some of my friends and acquaintances telephoned to inquire about the situation and were a bit worried. I told them that people here were all Dafa practitioners and that the event was peaceful and calm. I told them that we were here mainly to seek justice surrounding the arrests in Tianjin. We naively felt that since it was very easy for the government to verify the situation through investigation, there would not be any problem.
7. Tianjin released practitioners; masses of people dispersed peacefully
By the time news of the Tianjin practitioners being released came, it was already dark. After verifying the news in several ways, practitioners dispersed peacefully and went home, and many practitioners walked on both sides of the street. The police came back on duty again. There was an increase in the number of police, but the atmosphere was very relaxed. We walked a long distance, and everyone was trying to help the aged practitioners and people from other areas to get on the buses first. If we saw a big crowd of people waiting at the bus stop, we would keep on walking to the next stop. When we had walked past several stops, we still saw a large number of people walking with us.
8. It is cultivation, not seeking political power
The compassion and peacefulness demonstrated by practitioners throughout the entire day are hard to picture unless you were there yourself. Some practitioners were moved to tears. I still feel immensely inspired, even today, when I recall that day. The good behavior we demonstrated is a natural manifestation of trying to improve ourselves as Falun Gong practitioners, living our lives in accordance with our understanding of the universal principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance."
The above are my personal experiences. I record them here so more people can learn the truth about what happened that day. Practitioners have no desire, then or now, to get involved in politics. Our appeal merely was to report to the central government the situation in Tianjin. When the government resolved the problem to a certain extent by releasing the Tianjin practitioners they had arrested earlier, and after we were given the understanding that further investigation would be conducted, practitioners dispersed peacefully.
Throughout the entire event, no slogans were chanted, no banners waved, no unkind words spoken, no inappropriate behavior or impatience demonstrated. Practitioners created the first great, peaceful mass appeal in the history of China.
The self-respect, self-discipline, honesty, kindness, endurance, and nobility demonstrated by practitioners have set an example for human behavior and established a monument of justice and peace for humanity, to be passed on from generation to generation.
