Photo of Zhang Zhiming
I am Zhang Zhihua, living in Daheping Village, Daheping Township, Yuanling County, Hunan Province, born on April 28, 1967. My elder brother Zhang Zhiming was born on December 10, 1965, and my younger sister Zhang Zhiping was born on December 22, 1969.
My father died due to illness when I was 12 years old. When I was 15 years old, my mother fell to death in our farmland. From then on my elder brother, my younger sister and I depended on each other to eke out a living. My elder brother served as both a father and mother, taking care of my younger sister and me. He supported for our education by skimping and saving. He endured hardships, struggling to bring up my younger sister and me. He also helped us establish our families and careers. But he himself did not get married and often fell ill.
In July 1997, my elder brother went to the people’s hospital in our county because of his stomachache. He was diagnosed with chronic gastritis, gallstone and high blood pressure. The doctor advised him to stay in hospital. But we were too poor to afford the hospitalization expenses of RMB2, 000. So my elder brother just took some medicines and went home.
The next day, on his way home, my elder brother happened to see a banner ‘Teaching Qigong to cure illness free of charge’ hanging over the entrance to the sports ground in the county. There were a number of people practicing Qigong together on the sports ground. My elder brother identified Li Shengfa, our fellow villager who was doing business in the county, among the group. Li Shengfa introduced to my elder brother that that is Falun Gong, which was able to cure illness and to keep healthy. My elder brother was anxious to cure his illness, so he believed that he had found a panacea that can cure his illness free of charge.
On the following day, my elder brother took his luggage and rushed to the county to attend the group practice. He rent a house at Tiyu road, and soon found a job at a construction site nearby. From then on, he worked while practicing Falun Gong in spare time.
Since my elder brother was diligent, he learned the full set of exercises soon. At the practice site, my elder brother established good relationships with everybody. Not long after, he was appointed as an instructor at the practice site in charge of playing music, distributing relevant materials and offering instructions to newcomers.
When Falun Gong cult was outlawed in 1999, my elder brother was obsessed with heresies advocated by Li Hongzhi. Agitated by Li Hongzhi’s advocacies of curing illness with karma elimination, adhering to tenets of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance”, and taking positive measures to defend Falun Gong, my elder brother secretly attended activities such as group practice, “telling the truth” and dispersing document while keeping working during daytime despite of his illness. During those years, I was worried about my elder brother’s condition and plight. I persuaded him for several times. But he refused to take my advice.
On May 1, 2004, my elder brother went home in a trance. He looked very sick. At that night, he suffered bitter stomachache, pressing his stomach with both hands and wet with sweat. I suggested him go to our local clinic. I said, “You have practiced Falun Gong for several years. But it did not cure your illness. It seems like a swindle that Falun Gong is able to cure illness.”
To my surprise, my elder brother answered, “I am not sick. This is my karma accumulated in my previous lives. Only by practicing Falun Gong can I eliminate the karma. Take it easy. I would be better if I continue to practice.” Then he spent the night practicing Falun Gong. But his condition was worsening. He began to vomit and was in a coma. I felt rather painful upon him.
In early morning of the following day, I called my brother-in-law. We rent a three-wheel scooter and sent my elder brother to the people’s hospital in our county. After medical examination, doctors told us, “Your elder brother had a full-type gallstone, which has caused cholecystitis and rises in correlation coefficient of jaundice. He had to receive cholecystectomy in the hospital. ” Then my sister and I severally borrowed money to pay medical bills for my elder brother. The surgery was successful and my elder brother recovered soon.
But when he came back home from hospital, he blamed my sister and I that we should not have sent him to hospital for his cultivation plan had been disturbed. He said since he could not concentrate on cultivation, he was not pious enough to eliminate the karma in his body and he had fallen behind in cultivation.
On the evening of April 23, 2010, our neighbor Li Liang went out for a walk after dinner. When he passed by the house of my elder brother, he heard my elder brother’s voice, “Ouch, ouch. It hurts.” Li Liang saw through the window that my elder brother was sitting on the floor and practicing Falun Gong. His face was very pale. Suddenly, my elder brother fainted, foaming at his mouth. Li Liang shouted, “Help, help” and called medical emergency service by dialing 120. He and other neighbors who rushed over after hearing the news broke into the house, took my elder brother to the ambulance and sent him to the people’s hospital in our county.
Results of medical examination revealed that the blood pressure of my elder brother was as high as 180/100mmhg, which has reached the third stage of high blood pressure. Thanks to the medical treatment, the condition of my elder brother was controlled.
When my elder brother regained consciousness, his doctor told him that he must stay in hospital. But my elder brother said to the doctor, “I am a cultivator. I am under the protection of my master’s law body. So I do not need injection, medicine or medical treatment. Just now you gave me an injection. You should be take the full responsibilities if my master reproaches me. ” Then he ran out of the hospital.
When my younger sister and I went to the hospital by taxi upon receiving a phone call from Li Liang at that night, we failed to find my elder brother. I called Li Liang, and he showed us the way to the house that my elder brother lived in. But the house was locked. We did not know where my elder brother had gone. My younger sister and I found an inn nearby, waiting there for my elder brother. We expected him to come back early so that we could send him to the hospital. But we waited for three days and three nights, but failed to get any information about my elder brother. Since we had to handle our farm work, my younger sister had no option but go home.
Since then, my younger sister and I had tried many times to look for my elder brother in the county. But we failed to find him. We heard from Li Liang that my elder brother had quitted the house he rent. But he did not know where my elder brother was living either. My elder brother often changed his dwelling place to avoid us so as to practice Falun Gong.
What worries us most finally occurred. At nine o’clock on the morning of April 25, 2011, I received a phone call from the police. Then I found my elder brother in Suite 101, No. 5 Building, No. 4 Tiyu road. But he had already died. My elder brother fell on a sofa with his head leaning against the sofa and his legs crossed. He bled from every orifice. The scene was just horrible. Results of medicolegal expertise revealed that my elder brother died of cerebral hemorrhage caused by sharp rise in blood pressure after sitting in meditation for a long time. My elder brother was just 46-year-old when he died.
