Mr. Yang Shengchun, a retired government employee in his 80s, lived in Yanwan Village, Xintian Town, Lintao County, Gansu Province. He began practicing Falun Dafa in August 1998 and soon after, all his illnesses vanished. After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, he persisted in passing out truth clarifying materials. In January 2001, local police deceived him by asking him to speak with them in the Township Office, but instead locked him up for one year in a brainwashing center located in Lintao County Detention Center. In July 2002, police forcefully took him to the Lintao County Brainwashing Center and sentenced him to another year.

In March 2007, while Mr. Yang was delivering materials to the neighboring Caojiahe Village, he was arrested by village administrators. They knocked him to the ground and stomped on his head, causing him to lose consciousness. He suffered severe nerve damage that affected him mentally. On December 18, 2009, he was very confused and could not find his way home. The next day he was found near a ditch where he had frozen to death.