Thanking “Bitter Winter” for Covering the Persecution of Lifechanyuan

jiejing

Thanking “Bitter Winter” for Covering the Persecution of Lifechanyuan

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]Jiejing Celestial

August 13, 2025

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the “Bitter Winter” website and its editorial team. Thank you for paying attention to and publishing the report on the persecution of Lifechanyuan by the Chinese government. Your truthful, detailed, and responsible journalism has allowed the outside world to understand the facts of the event, giving a voice to the persecuted and providing invaluable support for religious freedom and fundamental human rights.

In the current situation, such attention and documentation are especially precious and provide us with tremendous spiritual encouragement. I deeply recognize that this is not just a report—it is a manifestation of conscience and courage.

Raided and Terrorized: China Cracks Down Again on Life Zen Temple

A member who escaped abroad reports to “Bitter Winter” the terror of the new raids against an idiosyncratic but peaceful new religious movement.

by Massimo Introvigne

An image of the raids on the Life Zen Temple.

On July 3, 2025, a sudden and sweeping crackdown shattered the lives of members of the Life Zen Temple (Lifechanyuan) in China. Coordinated by China’s Ministry of Public Security, the operation detained 82 members (and possibly more) across multiple provinces. Homes were raided, phones and computers seized, and individuals interrogated, threatened, and coerced into signing ideological documents denouncing their beliefs.

“Bitter Winter” has been the only Western media outlet to report on the story of the Life Zen Temple, an idiosyncratic but peaceful mixture of Maoism, Buddhism, and free love, and the massive crackdowns of 2021, followed by the state-sponsored deprogramming of the arrested members. Meanwhile, the leader and several members had moved to Canada, where the Life Zen Temple is now headquartered. I am also the author of the only scholarly articles on the Life Zen Temple published in languages other than Chinese. I have interviewed a member who lives in Thailand about what happened last month in China.

“The place that once gave me spiritual rebirth and helped me reclaim the meaning of life is now labeled an ‘illegal organization,’” said Jiejing, a longtime Temple devotee now living in Thailand. “Even the overseas Second Homes [the name the Temple uses for its communities] may be dragged into the storm.”

As presented by Jiejing, the organization founded by Zhang Zifan (Xuefeng), Life Zen Temple, promotes communal living, ecological harmony, and spiritual reverence. Its “Second Home” communes once flourished in China, offering an alternative to materialism and traditional family structures. But authorities branded it a xie jiao, disbanded its communities, and began hunting its members.

Between 2011 and 2014, Jiejing lived in several branches—from Yunnan to Jiangsu to Xinjiang—experiencing what she calls “the purest chapter of my life.” But by 2015, every branch she knew had been raided, and her spirit collapsed.

“Even living peacefully, farming simply, and helping one another can, in some eyes, be seen as ‘dangerous,’” she said.

Jiejing

Returning to secular life, Jiejing tried to conform. Between 2015 and 2022, she worked in e-commerce, education, and foreign trade. But the machinery of routine drained her soul. Marriage—entered under societal pressure—became a prison. Her health deteriorated. Diagnosed with plasma cell mastitis, she underwent eleven surgeries. Her husband responded with cruelty.

Her father died in 2019. Her mother succumbed to multiple myeloma in 2023. Financial strain, emotional collapse, and isolation pushed her to the brink.

“It felt as if the entire world had forgotten I existed,” she said.

In her darkest hour, Life Zen Temple’s Guide, Xuefeng, arranged for her to join a branch in Thailand. Here, amid mango orchards and lotus ponds, she found healing.

“My heart gradually found peace,” she said. “My weight dropped from 95kg to 60kg. Life began to shine with renewed light.”

Her days are filled with mowing, planting, sweeping, and sharing Life Zen Temple’s values in English. There is no supervision—only devotion. Although threatened by the usual Chinese transnational pressures against religion-based refugees abroad, the community lives openly on temple land, in full view of local villagers and a local Buddhist abbot, who have welcomed them for over six years.

“True freedom comes when I learn to live in harmony with heaven, earth, and all beings,” she said.

The Thailand branch of Life Zen Temple.

One of Life Zen Temple’s most controversial values is “freedom in emotional love and sexual love.” Critics have labeled it promiscuous. But Jiejing insists it is anything but.

“Our freedom is not chaotic indulgence—it is grounded in complete consent, mutual respect, and a high level of civility and responsibility,” she said.

The July 3 operation was brutal and deeply personal. Here are the voices of those caught in its wake (note that all members call themselves “Celestials”) transmitted through Jiejing:

Dingnan Celestial: Handcuffed and interrogated all day. Asked about Life Zen Temple’s structure, sexual values, and donations. “I leave everything to the Tao’s arrangement and have nothing to worry about.”
Jianyue Celestial: Challenged the legality of the search. Refused to sign a document labeled “crime.” Asked the police, “If you are lawful and upright, why won’t you leave behind your glorious and legal image? What are you afraid of?”
Huibao Celestial: In emotional distress, she pressed a knife to her neck when police tried to evict her. Slapped and restrained, she was taken to a mountain villa for interrogation. “You cannot control my soul. My faith is even stronger.”
Ruling Celestial: Followed even to the bathroom. Interrogated about donations, publicity, and internal structure. “Even police must act according to the law.”
Zhixiu Celestial: Refused to sign documents denouncing Life Zen Temple. “I’m an honest person, and I speak the truth. I won’t do anything against my conscience.”
Youchang Celestial: Ordered to quit WeChat groups and delete posts mentioning Xuefeng (the Temple’s leader). “I was terrified. I think it’s because I posted the ‘800 Values’ [a textbook of the movement] on Douyin.”
Jiazhao Celestial: Interrogated with four others. “Our slogan is: Love nature, live in harmony with all beings, harm no life, do not oppose the government, do not engage in politics, and be lawful citizens.”
Ganquan Celestial: His son, not a member, was also detained. “Praying for the safety of all our relatives taken away by the police.”
Yuyue Celestial: Forced to copy a statement calling Life Zen Temple a xie jiao. “From their attitude, it looked like they were just carrying out orders.”


These testimonies reveal not just repression—but resistance, dignity, and a refusal to surrender the soul.

Another image of the raids targeting the Life Zen Temple.

“As of this month [August], a total of sixteen members in mainland China remain missing since July 2,” Jiejing said. “Those still in China are at risk of immediate detention if they show minimal activity on our internal website or participate in any Life Zen Temple-related events.”

Life Zen Temple is a legally registered nonprofit organization in Canada. It operates two branches: a bed and breakfast and a resort.

“We are not escaping reality,” Jiejing said. “We are sincerely exploring a more peaceful, genuine, and compassionate way of life.”

“I ask for nothing more than this: that such a simple, peaceful, and loving way of life—even if not yet fully understood—can at least be gently allowed to exist,” she said.

In a world increasingly hostile to spiritual diversity, Life Zen Temple’s story is a quiet cry for recognition, not of doctrine, but of dignity. For Jiejing and others like her, Life Zen Temple is not a “cult”—it is a sanctuary.

Link：https://bitterwinter.org/raided- ... on-life-zen-temple/