Usually at the moment of a daughter’s marriage, it’s quite normal that her mother tends to be reluctant to part with her daughter even though she is so happy for her daughter, but it is extremely uncommon if the mother is particularly sad. On February 22, 2022, Zhang Chunying (a pseudonym) almost cried her eyes out on her daughter’s wedding day, the reason of which mostly rooted from her remorse and fears for living lonely in her solitary life ahead rather than usual sorrow at parting. Zhang Chunying used to have a happy family of three, but everything was ruined because of her obsession with the “Falun Gong” cult over 10 years ago, resulting in that her husband got married with someone else.
Zhang Chunying is 53 years old this year, who once had a warm and happy family of three. The couple ran a mill together. Although they couldn’t make much money out of it, they lived a decent life in the local countryside. They had a little daughter who was beautiful and smart. The little family was not a rich one, but definitely a happy one. However, Zhang Chunying was so addicted to the “Falun Gong” cult that she put an end to her formerly happy family life.
In the spring of 1998, Zhang Chunying, who was a bit overweight, heard from Ms. Wang, who was her classmate back in junior high school, that practicing “Falun Gong” could not only lose weight but also improve looks. Therefore, Zhang Chunying, who always desired to look attractive, joined the ranks of the “Falun Gong” practitioners. As a result of practicing in accordance with the routine moves required by “Falun Gong”, especially twice a day, Zhang Chunying indeed lost some weight, which inspired her confidence to keep practicing.
Many people came and went at the mill, then Zhang Chunying took the chance to preach her story of losing weight by practicing “Falun Gong”. Because she felt much better as a result of achieving a slim look after her success, Zhang Chunying really looked more attractive than before. Therefore, she was convinced that “Falun Gong” was really marvelous and developed quite a worship for her “Master” Li Hongzhi. Then, she started to seriously study Li Hongzhi’s books under Ms Wang’s guidance. Gradually, Zhang Chunying was bewildered by Li Hongzhi’s fallacies and heresies, such as “theory of cultivating away emotions”, “improve and go up”, “reach Consummation and ascend to heaven”, etc. And she either was disgusted with incoming customers who came to have their flour grinded for the reason that these customers interfered with her cultivation, or she would keep preaching “Falun Gong” to her customers, trying to persuade them into practicing “Falun Gong” with her.
She no longer cared about her husband and daughter the way she used to be. Her husband had to cook for himself at home after a hard day’s work and raise the young daughter nearly on his own. Not only did she stop doing housework, but also demand to sleep in separate beds with her husband so as to keep her husband from having any intimate physical contact with her, which made her husband quite confused. In this way, the couple started to drifted apart, and the warmth in the family was gone as well. As a result of the couple’s intensified conflicts, their formerly lively and lovely daughter became more and more introverted.
In July 1999, the state banned “Falun Gong” in accordance with the national laws, and her husband took the advantage of this incident to dissuade her from believing in “Falun Gong”. Unexpectedly, not only did she ignore her husband’s advice, but also she filed for divorce, claiming that she would go out to demand reasonable explanations for “Falun Gong”. In order to keep her mind on family affairs, her husband asked her to take care of their daughter, but was surprised to find out that Zhang Chunying took their 3-year-old daughter with her to run away from home.
Zhang Chunying and her daughter went to Qingdao city, where she kept practicing “Falun Gong” while working in a small private restaurant. In the meantime, her husband travelled around many places to look for them desperately, but all his efforts were in vain. In this way, Zhang Chunying and her daughter stayed more than 3 years away from home. It was not until her daughter reached school age that she returned home with the child.
It made her husband’s heart ache to see their daughter was so thin and weak. At the thought of Zhang Chunying’s attitude towards herself, their child, and their family, her husband knew that their marriage was over. But he didn’t file for divorce so as to maintain a complete home for their girl. Unexpectedly, Zhang Chunying insisted on a divorce because she was convinced that her husband became a major obstacle to her cultivation. And she believed that, without the divorce, she couldn’t improve her levels and all her past cultivation would be ruined. Therefore, in order to coerce her husband into agreeing on the divorce, she threatened her husband with the intention of running away from home again so that her husband would be impossible to ever see his daughter again, which left her husband with no other choice than to accept her demand.
After the divorce, her husband didn’t actually leave them, and he often came back home to help Zhang Chunying do the school run for their daughter and take care of the child. However, Zhang Chunying not only didn’t appreciate her husband’s care and concern, but also blamed him for her failing to “improve her levels”. Therefore, she sent their daughter back to her hometown and asked her elderly mother to look after the girl. In the face of this situation, her husband had to take care of her and their daughter in another way by remitting money to his daughter without Zhang Chunying knowing anything about it. It was not until their daughter was in junior high school that Zhang Chunying took the child back to her side. But her daughter was so disgruntled as well at the way Zhang Chunying was obsessed with “Falun Gong” all day long that she was reluctant to be with Zhang Chunying. Finally, her daughter went to a private boarding school.
Seeing that Zhang Chunying had become a hopeless cause, her husband gradually lost confidence in getting back together with her and got married with another woman.
Without her husband and daughter by her side, Zhang Chunying felt that she was free of any heavy burden on her shoulder and that her levels gradually improved. She was convinced that she could eventually reach Perfection as long as she kept practicing wholeheartedly. In order to do “the truth clarification” required by Li Hongzhi and his “Falun Gong” cult organization, Zhang Chunying frequently went out to distribute “Falun Gong” propaganda materials. Finally, in the summer of 2015, while handing out illegal “Falun Gong” propaganda leaflets, Zhang Chunying was reported by local people and punished by laws.
With the help of police officers and social volunteers, Zhang Chunying fully realized the deception and real danger of the fraud Li Hongzhi and his “Falun Gong” cult. Although she finally came to her sense, it was too late for her because her husband already had another child with his new wife. Fortunately, her daughter is sensible and kind. After graduating from high school, her daughter found a job near home so that she could accompany Zhang Chunying as much as possible until she got married this year.
Had it not been for the “Falun Gong” cult, Zhang Chunying would neither lose her little family of three nor end up feeling so sad and lonely on her daughter’s wedding day.
