PureInsight | January 3, 2005
to view the portrait in high resolution[PureInsight.org] This painting was based on a true story of Mr. Liu Chengjun. Mr. Liu Chengjun was a Falun Gong practitioner from Changchun City, Jilin Province, China. In March 2002, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison for his involvement in broadcasting video programs over Changchun City cable television network that revealed the truth about Falun Gong and exposed the Chinese Communist government's brutality in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. He died in prison after 21 months of torture. He was one of the few Falun Gong practitioners who pioneered the broadcasting of truth-clarification video programs over the Chinese TV networks.
In this painting, Liu Chengjun is tied to a chair in a torture chamber where the floor is covered with demonic and monster-like images that represent the horrors he endured while in illegal detention. He is basking in warm, golden light coming from the top left corner that represents a resilient faith. A golden hand extends in towards, representing the salvation of the lord of the universe. Liu Chengjun looks up in the direction of the light and the hand, so we cannot see his facial expression. Traces of blood and his injuries are not shown in the painting, but we can derive from his posture that he must be enduring a lot of pain. That he looks up in the direction of the light, instead of hanging his head in despair, implies his uncompromising courage and spirit.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/11/21/30001.html
