The Cult of Shen Yun
“See China Before Communism”— the catchphrase heard in many of the infamous Shen-Yun commercials, holds a much greater weight than originally meets the eye.
By: Nitya Sharma
This year was a year of revelations in many areas of my life— but most shockingly, and more relevant to this article, were the revelations I had about Shen Yun. For those who haven’t heard of Shen Yun— people who I can only imagine lack all physical sensation or are living under a rock— it is, as their official website describes, “a brilliant artistic revival and celebration of China’s rich cultural heritage.” In essence, it is a retelling of China’s imperial legacy and mythology, told through a collection of dance performances accompanied by authentic music. The show (which I have never seen) is said to be incredible, with vibrant costumes, immersive music, and brilliant dance and acrobatic sequences. However, perhaps more widely discussed than the actual Shen Yun performance is Shen Yun advertising, which is a fixture of Bay Area meme culture, given how ubiquitous the advertisements can be during the Christmas season.
There are many questions that I never thought to ask about Shen Yun: How does a seasonal dance troupe have such a large advertising budget? Why are the ads so openly anti-communist? Who actually watches Shen Yun? The last question is irrelevant and one I do not have an answer to, but the first questions were recently answered and it is nothing short of shocking.
It is important to note that anyone who actually sees Shen Yun does not leave disillusioned by the true motives of the performance. The show openly features a tsunami of red clearly meant to symbolize communism overtaking China, as well as the Orwellian repetition of phrases such as “Atheism and evolution are deadly ideas.” Additionally, Shen Yun is not, as it claims, retelling Chinese history and mythology exactly. Rather, they are telling stories using the framework of the Falun Gong religion, which is an intersection of Buddhist and Taoist religions that was created in the 1990s by Li Hongzi, a man who lives in New York. Falun Gong was officially banned in China over two decades ago, and they claim that they have experienced religious persecution by the CCP. This alone is not a tremendous cause for concern (the CCP has many dissidents) but Li has openly expressed the belief that interracial children are alien creatures who do not have a place in heaven, as well as that scientific progression will lead alien life to come and replace human life on earth. These beliefs are present in Shen Yun’s performances, where modern science is condemned and aliens are heavily featured.
Even if the puritanical and regressive ideologies backing Shen Yun can be overlooked, the simple fact is that they are lying to their audience about the content of the show. Shen Yun is not a performance about Chinese religious history dating back “5000 years” as they claim, but rather a loose representation of Chinese myths drenched in Falun Gong ideologies. In fact, every Shen Yun dancer must be a Falun Gong follower, and they all undergo special training at a Falun Gong facility in New York. In 1999, Li instructed 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners to surround the CCP headquarters, after which he fled to New York and opened his compound, which is allegedly very restrictive, with minimal internet access, censored news, and arranged marriages. The only news Falun Gong followers are supposed to access is the Epoch Times, which most notably hailed Hillary Clinton as a communist during the 2016 election, and was reported as being heavily financially backed by Donald Trump, who was widely praised in the newspaper’s reporting. Of course, these stories cannot be denied any earlier than they can be confirmed, but Li Hongzi has a history of lying and has been known to spread glorified stories of persecution to garner international sympathy for his organization.
If Shen Yun’s claim that the organization is a non-profit is true, it is still also true that they receive 100% of their funding from the Falun Gong organization. There is not a clear stance to be taken on Shen Yun or even on the Falun Gong— the CCP has done and continues to do horrible things to its dissidents as well as Chinese citizens, But should the fight against the CCP be led by right-wing extremists, the censoring of news, and the mass spreading of disinformation? These are all questions that are left unanswered, but for now, one thing is certain— you probably shouldn’t go see Shen Yun.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/technology/epoch-times-influence-falun-gong.html
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-abc-is-right-that-falun-gong-teachings-are-dangerous/12538058
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun