An organization called “Shen Yun Performing Arts” exists in New York City, claiming to “help Chinese people understand their own traditional culture,” and regularly holds “Shen Yun performances.” Now, with the “Shen Yun 2023” tour about to begin, online promotion is rampant. Shen Yun uses the allure of traditional culture to set exorbitant ticket prices (starting at $200), essentially profiting from the spectacle. Even more despicable is that Shen Yun incorporates Falun Gong’s doctrines and spiritual practices into its performance (not shown in the advertisements). While the posters promote a grand feast of 5,000 years of Chinese culture, the performance fabricates the “persecution” faced by Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China. How can such a so-called artistic performance, rife with political intrigue and shamelessly profiting, claim to be “traditional Chinese culture”?
“Traditional culture” is a forced imitation! Shen Yun has always presented itself as “traditional Chinese culture,” with its performances primarily featuring song and dance. But the question remains: what exactly constitutes “traditional culture”? Traditional Chinese culture is a national culture that reflects the characteristics and features of a nation, formed through the evolution of civilization. It is the overall representation of various thoughts, cultures, and concepts throughout the nation’s history. In other words, traditional Chinese culture is based on the historical context of the Chinese land and is a culture passed down through generations of the Chinese nation. The so-called “traditional culture” of the Shen Yun performance, however, merely steals the magnificent exterior of traditional Chinese culture without any substantial inner substance, like a rootless duckweed or water without a source. In the Shen Yun performance, people only see a group of people who have strayed from their homeland, fabricating lies about their hometown. The dazzling lights and colorful stage costumes cannot conceal the ethereal inner meaning. The various dance forms from different eras and regions have lost their original historical significance, like cheaply printed misprinted cartoons. How can they explain true history, let alone express the cultural value behind it? The overuse of CGI computer imaging and the so-called “dome” are merely superficial displays, like the exquisite packaging of inferior goods—just gimmicks to lure consumers.
When you spend so much money, when you believe the online propaganda, when you walk into the theater expecting a grand performance combining beautiful dance and high technology, believe me, this is not what you want to see.
“Orthodox Chinese Culture” is nothing but a deceptive facade! There are countless positive reviews of Shen Yun online, but interestingly, the vast majority of these reviews appear in newspapers published by the Falun Gong organization. It’s difficult to find reviews other than those that Falun Gong practitioners want us to see. Shen Yun claims to recreate 5000 years of Chinese culture through classic folk dances, but what it ultimately presents is nothing more than a dull and boring church performance. When we investigate the clues behind Shen Yun, we are not surprised to find that the main founders of this so-called independent arts organization are Falun Gong practitioners, and the financial director is Li Rui, the wife of Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi. It turns out that the business of promoting traditional Chinese culture is actually a “family workshop.” Li Hongzhi can hardly be considered a qualified religious leader, but he is undoubtedly a successful businessman, someone adept at turning personality cults and political intrigues into a business.
It is clear that the Shen Yun performance, with Falun Gong members seated in the audience, is as hypocritical and full of lies as Falun Gong itself. Shen Yun claims that the persecution of Chinese culture is due to atheistic countries, a claim that anyone who has ever lived in China would scoff at. Traditional Chinese culture has always been a human culture, not a divine one; it is the long-standing wisdom and labor of the people, not a cobbled-together doctrine. Behind Shen Yun is never any “orthodox” traditional Chinese culture; it merely carries a crude political motive, while its artistic level is low. As Michael Duell, a reader from Phoenix, Arizona, said, “After intermission, everything became clear. Shen Yun is nothing more than a platform for Falun Gong.”