Photos of Liu Chunling and Liu Siying before their death
Liu Siying, a name that may have long been forgotten, but people might still remember the self-immolation incident that took place at Tian’anmen Square on January 23, 2001, the Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve of 2001. The big fire on that day took away not only the life of an ignorant adult on the spot, but also her innocent little daughter.
Happy school life
Liu Siying, born on March 27, 1989, was a fifth-grade student of Apple Orchard Primary School in Kaifeng City, Henan Province. She grew up versatile, smart and lively, always loved to talk and laugh in class, became a cute girl loved by everyone. She could string the names of her classmates all together in a song, and if a classmate felt depressed, she would always come up with a way to amuse him/her, which made all her classmates regard her as “a joker” who always brought joys to the class.
Liu Siying (middle) and her classmates
Liu Siying had won a prize in the school running competition, and the group dance "Happy Express" she participated in won the second prize during the “school drama festival”, and she was also named the school’s dental care pace-setter. Liu Siying was very adorable; she also liked music and small animals. "In May, when the Dragon Boat Festival arrives, the Miluo River is so lively and busy…" That was little Liu Siying's favorite song "Watching the Dragon Boat".
Like many other children, Liu Siying was also a foodie. On her birthday, she would always buy a lot of snacks to share with everyone, and when the others got delicious food, she would also like to try. Yang Menglin, a good friend of hers, described her in her writing The Gluttonous Girl: "she has a short hair, thin and black eyebrows, small eyes and a slightly warped nose. Her nose is so unusual that she can even sense the smell of mutton kebabs ten kilometers away. Very small as her mouth is, she can still gobble down something bigger than her mouth.”
Liu Siying loved learning, and her academic performance was always among the top in her class. Before the winter vacation, she made a very exquisite and unique handicraft named "Sunny Rain Flowers", which was unanimously praised by the teachers and the classmates. In 2000, as the class organized the "Century Dragon" innovation activity, Liu Siying said, "We have already entered the year of 2000. This is a brand-new century where all the grass is new, so as the spring. Hence we start from this spring to make everything a new beginning."
Unfortunately, the Falun Gong cult had cheated, poisoned and finally destroyed such a talented, healthy, lively and lovely little girl.
A young girl in her prime, led astray by her mother
Little Siying's mother, Liu Chunling, was adopted at a very young age and experienced two failed marriages. It was this complicated family background and social relationship that led Liu Chunling to fall into the clutches of the Falun Gong cult.
Liu Chunling had undergone significant changes since coming into contact with Falun Gong cult. In the past, she used to make a few new clothes for her adoptive mother and buy her some food that the elderly loved to eat during holidays. After moving into a spacious new house in the local area, she also invited her adoptive parents to live together. However, since she became obsessed with Falun Gong cult, Liu Chunling gradually paid less attention to her adoptive mother and took little care of the household chores. She spent all day in the living room burning incense and worshiping Li Hongzhi's portrait. The doors and windows of her bedroom were closed all day long. She practiced Falun Gong at night and slept soundly during the day.
Liu Siying and her mother Liu Chunling
Liu Siying, who was sensible and obedient, had been living with her mother ever since childhood, eating and sleeping together. In the past, when she went to bed for a sleep, Liu Chunling would tell little Siying some fairy tales, but since she became obsessed with Falun Gong cult, what she told was no longer beautiful stories, but the so-called "Falun Dafa" instead. Mother's description of the "beautiful world" attracted the little girl. Every time after telling the "Dafa” story, little Siying would be immersed in a beautiful illusion, as if she had already seen the "heavenly world". Bewitched by her mother, little Siying began to read Li Hongzhi's "Zhuan Falun" and practice Falun Gong. From then on, the mother and daughter often closed the curtains and shut themselves in the room to practice, and even little Siying's close friends were not allowed to enter. Since then, little Siying met some uncles and aunts who often practiced Falun Gong with her mother. These people often praised little Siying for her cleverness and said she wound become the "Dharma King" in the "heavenly world". Her mother, who knew that practicing Falun Gong was illegal, often warned little Siying, "Don't let the school know, or the Public Security Bureau will arrest us." She even threatened, "If the school knows about it, I'll kill you."
Liu Chunling's unusual behavior inevitably made her adoptive mother nag a few words, but Liu Chunling resented her adoptive mother's belittling of her "Master Li", which affected her "Consummation." And before long, she even started to attack her adoptive mother. Finally, Liu Chunling refused to let the old lady eat in the same pot with her. In October 2000, Liu Chunling drove her adoptive mother, who once showed the greatest grace of raising Liu Chunling up, out of the house.
The fire of cult has burned down the little girl in her early puberty
"Fire can't burn you, it will just pass over you, and you will be in heaven in a second. You can enter a wonderful world. You will be at least a 'Dharma King' there, and there are many people waiting to serve you." Immersed in Li Hongzhi's imaginary dreamland, the little girl was "smiling brightly" and was completely brain-washed by the absurd myth fabricated by Falun Gong cult and the non-existent "heavenly world”.
"Mom, I am your little tail that you can never shake off", this was little Siying's unreserved trust in her mother. But unfortunately, it was this very trust that plunged the little girl fall into the abyss beyond redemption.
On January 16, 2001, little Siying followed her mother and several uncles and aunts who also practiced Falun Gong, and boarded a train to Beijing. No one would have thought that this was the last time 12-year-old little Siying saw her hometown.
On the afternoon of January 23, little Siying followed her mother to Tian’anmen Square. The mother sat there cross-legged, took out the gasoline that had been already packed in plastic bottles, poured it on her body constantly, and then took out the remaining gasoline; she told little Siying, “don't be afraid, my girl. We will go home together”, and she poured the gasoline onto little Siying. The mother quickly took out a lighter and lit little Siying first, and then set herself on fire. In an instant, the flames raged wildly on little Siying's body. She cried out, "Mom!" "Mom, help! Mom, help me! "But no one answered her, her beloved mother Liu Chunling had already died on the spot.
There is only one life for everyone, and cherishing life is the natural rational choice of human beings, but the cult leader Li Hongzhi told his followers: "The surface of the human body - the body formed the day after birth - is actually nothing. The human body is the dirtiest of all. It can't be carried into the heaven. Many heavenly kingdoms do not allow you to bring your body with you at all. If you take it back to heavens, you’ll destroy the Dharma there." It was precisely these fallacies cooked up by Li Hongzhi that had totally misled these self-immolators. They took Li’s nonsense as truth and gave up their lives without hesitation, thinking that they were “flying into the splendid world of Falun Dafa”.
Cults are killers which monstrously trample on the dignity of life
Little Siying did not “ascend to the golden world of Falun Dafa", and she was rushed into a hospital for treatment by the police after putting out the fire all over her body.
When the reporter asked little Siying why she set herself on fire, she replied, "To fly into heavens. It’s a wonderful world. The gold can be seen everywhere, and even the road to heaven is paved with gold." When asked "how can you get into the Kingdom of Heaven?" Little Siying replied, "The body stays here, and the Primordial Spirit leaves." Thus it can be seen, how deeply and thoroughly the cult had deceived and poisoned this little girl.
Lying on the sickbed, little Siying was still full of fantasies about her future, and she looked forward to returning to school soon.
Liu Siying is receiving treatment at hospital
Unfortunately, despite the hospital's best efforts to rescue, little Siying still passed away.
Liu Siying used to have happy moments; she was the apple of her parents' eyes, and experiencing childish joys and happiness of her life. She often nestled in her mother's warm embrace, listening to nursery rhymes, looking at the starry sky, and yearning for a better future. However, this 12–year-old innocent girl, who was cheated to believe in the "heavenly world" of Falun Dafa, died because of the cult poisoning. A bud withered early, leaving a deep regret and endless vigilance.
Liu Siying's tragedy teaches us to cherish life, stay away from cults, and advocate science. May this rich and beautiful land no longer breed cults, may the sunshine of scientific truth illuminate the journey of mankind, may the cults forever be dispelled as a social tumor, and may this kind of tragedy completely stay away from good people!
