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Geng He, wife of disappeared Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, seen at a rally in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 14. (Shar Adams/The Epoch Times)
At a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China on Feb. 14, Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) asked Geng He, the wife of detained Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, “How can Gao Zhisheng suffer so much pain and not give up? What kind of forces have carried him forward?” After spending a sleepless night thinking about Rep. Smith’s questions, Geng He penned an open letter, which is published here:
On the afternoon of Feb. 14, during the visit by the Chinese Regime’s Vice-Chairman Xi Jinping to the United States, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a hearing for me and Guo Quan’s wife, Li Jing. During the meeting, Congressman Christopher Smith asked me, “How can Gao Zhisheng suffer so much pain and not give up? What kind of forces have carried him forward?”
I married Gao Zhisheng nearly twenty years ago, but I never really thought about this question. I know he is a good man, and he is doing the right thing. All of this is perfectly justified in my opinion, with no need for a reason.
In China, however, these right and proper things have become terrifying things that everyone avoids. Why did Gao Zhisheng do what is right when he knew he would have to pay such a huge price? What kind of power influenced him, supported him, and made him a brave human rights lawyer with the courage to sacrifice himself?
The night after the hearing I could hardly sleep, thinking about Congressman Smith’s question and thinking about Gao’s entire life. These memories helped me piece together a complete answer.
I think there are three forces that supported Gao.
The first force is his mother. Gao wrote a thorough and extensive description of his great mother in his article “My Plain Folks Mother.”
When Gao Zhisheng was 10 years old, his father passed away due to illness. When his father died, the family had nothing, just a pile of debts and seven kids. To make the issue worse, the only adult kid of the family, Gao’s big brother, became sick. His illness was due to selling too much blood to pay for his father’s treatments.
His brother was rushed to the hospital, making the already debt-ridden family even poorer. In such extreme poverty and tragic circumstances, Gao Zisheng’s great mother, 38-year-old Li Guilian said only one sentence, “We must live on.”
She started to carry on the entire family’s work by herself, working 20 plus hours a day—working in the farm before sunrise, then doing laundry and cooking for the kids after returning from the fields. After the kids slept, his mother would weave yarn into fabric, make clothing for the kids, and repair shoes.
Every piece of the kids’ clothing was filled with their mother’s untiring labor; each was made from scratch. Each meal and each piece of clothing required a huge amount of labor by their mother. One year of such suffering and their mother became skin and bones.
However, one year after their father’s death, she told the kids who had stopped going to school to start again, to take turns going to school. Their mother’s decision was like a fairy tale to these kids, who worried about their mother. The second oldest refused to go to school, but ended up going when mother insisted.
With their mother’s help, all the kids finished middle school after a few years. Their mother’s decision changed these kids’ lives.
Gao is the smartest of the kids, and required the most effort from his mother. He studied by himself through elementary school. The thought of the tremendous suffering his mother took on when he attended middle school still brings tears to his eyes.
Gao Zhisheng had to walk 3 miles to go to middle school, and his mother had to wake up very early to prepare breakfast and lunch for him. There was not a single alarm clock in the village, so his mother had to wake up many times during the night, looking at the stars to figure out when she and little Zhisheng needed to get up. During a rainy night, his mother would not sleep at all trying to figure out when little Zhisheng needed to get up.
During three years of middle school, Gao Zhisheng was never late to school, he studied very diligently to repay his mother, and graduated in the top three of his class.
Despite carrying such a heavy burden, his mother, who was a Buddhist, never stopped performing kind acts to help the poor—she always tried to do all she could to help the poor. She frequently brought beggars to their home, gave them food, and then let them stay to avoid the rain. Especially during the winter, Gao’s home would have10 plus poor people staying at one time.
There were two particular instances of his mother helping the poor that Gao Zhisheng still remembers clearly. During a very windy and cold winter night, someone told Gao’s mother that a group of poor beggars went into a broken and abandoned cave to stay the night. Gao’s mother immediately got up and took the kids with her to the abandoned cave.
Gao saw that the cave entrance was sealed with straw and hay. Gao’s mother removed some of the hay, and Gao saw eight people, male and female of various ages, all cuddled together. All were shocked, looking at Gao’s mother. Gao’s mother invited them back to the house to avoid the cold.
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