Liu Pinqing, 58, committed suicide by jumping into a well.
Liu, a senior agronomist, was once the head of the agrotechnology station of Gushan Town, Donggang City, Liaoning Province. He was awarded a top prize by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1991.
Liu began to practice Falun Gong in August 1998, and gradually became mentally unstable. He said many times that his master Li Hongzhi had urged him to burn himself to death so as to become a Buddha. On February 4, 1999 he tried to burn himself to death at home, but was rescued. When he was taken to hospital he refused treatment. He kept saying that his master Li Hongzhi would protect him, and he did not need medical care. After returning home from the hospital he said many times that Li Hongzhi wanted him to become a Buddha living in a well, and asked his neighbors to lower him into a well with a rope. His family members tried to take good care of him, but he finally committed suicide by jumping into a well on the morning of April 27,1999.
