To the Editor:

The Falun Dafa exhibition hosted by the Main Library at Ohio State deeply hurt the feelings of many Chinese students at OSU. The exhibition distorted facts, demonized China and showed excessive hatred and brutal contents. To protest the exhibition, more than 160 Chinese students at OSU endorsed a petition asking for an immediate termination of the exhibition and demanding the university take action to prevent future similar incidents from happening again.

For the first time, I learned from The Lantern that Falun Dafa is an “ancient and traditional” Chinese meditation. Neither “traditional” nor “ancient” are even mentioned in Falun Dafa’s official Chinese version Web site. But interestingly, it became a “traditional Chinese spiritual discipline” in their English version Web site. Maybe foreigners, many of whom know little about Chinese history, are easily misguided

Actually, the Falun Dafa has little, if anything to do with Chinese tradition – not to mention ancient. It was founded in the early 1990’s, a period when there were dozens of different meditation practices suddenly running rampant in China. Falun Dafa is merely one of them and became possibly the most popular one. Many of them later turned out to be misleading or even cheating people. There’s nowhere in Falun Dafa’s books and Web sites where you can find a history before the 1990’s. I don’t think it’s appropriate to crown something that was founded in the 1990’s as ancient or traditional.

The exhibit also distorted the facts about Falun Dafa’s origination. Some paintings also distort and demonize China. There are pictures showing policemen who brought semi-wolves to bite people in Tiananmen Square. I lived in Beijing for almost 8 years and I had never seen even a dog wandering in Tiananmen Square. There are several pictures describing scenes that could only be found in notorious concentration camps. It seems the Chinese people are living in hell. This is neither the China I lived in for nearly 30 years nor the China I learned about from my relatives, my friends who are now living in China, or from many Americans who do business, study, or go sightseeing there.

Some paintings also show excessive hatred and brutal contents. There is one painting which pictures the former President of China not only hanged, hit by a huge stone, pierced by a fork, but dismembered with his flesh peeled off. While these drawings may reflect the wishes of Falun Dafa, they are inappropriate because aside from contradicting their professed compassion and tolerance, they show excessive disrespect for China.

We respect peoples’ freedom to choose what they practice. We hope people can use their wisdom to find a better way to address their concerns and portray the multiple perspectives of China – but they must be accurate and show respect for China.

As an ordinary Chinese student, I came to OSU to study and pursue a degree. I sincerely hope the university can keep supporting free speech, but at the same time, take action to prevent so many Chinese students from being offended.

Hui LiaoDoctorate studentAgricultural economics