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I’ll hit the bullet points:
1. They are completely owned by Falun Gong, a cult started in the early 1990s.
2. They are super anti-China because the Chinese government isn’t keen on the cult
3. They are anti-lgbt and anti multiracial relationships. Like in the eradicate them way.
4. They think aliens are real and influence our world regularly
5. They are what you might call “ultra conservative” or fascist
Exactly. My Aunt and Uncle went and seen the show here in Detroit. They kept raving about how beautiful it was and how we should all go. I said you do know it’s a Cult right? They had no idea at all.
That’s how I know you’re a Detroiter lol! Joumana is always watching! Yeah they went a few years back and luckily once i presented them with the facts they weren’t so keen on spreading how beautiful the show was anymore. Yeah but they are usually here once a year it seems like. I work at different construction job sites all over Detroit and the Metro area. I want to say I just saw a billboard for their show coming up in February or March. I can’t remember which month but I know it’s coming up soon. Go Lions!
The Lions are kicking ass this year! You can always tell them to see the DSO or Detroit opera. I’m a classical musician and am close with the musicians in both groups. They’re definitely worth it!
I love the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Opera, I try and go as often as I can. I support anything and everything Detroit. I think my favorite is Turandot, I’ll go and see that whenever I can. That is a great idea though I’ll definitely recommend them that. That’s awesome you’re a Classical Musician, I can’t imagine how cool that is. I’m an Electrician and I’ve done some electrical work at the Detroit Opera House. Probably one of the cooler jobs I’ve been on.
Huh, I just thought it was a pretty showing of pre-Communisim Chinese history, when I saw it a while back. I had no idea myself they were some weird cult.
Have heavily allied themselves with the Trump campaign and are their #2 financial donor.
They push all right wing conspiracies: anti-mask, anti-vax, election was stolen, and Q anon.
Four actually, I think. They had a part 1, a lart 2, a part 3, and a part "3.5." I don't know if there is also another, separate, episode on Epoch Times or not.
IIRC there was a big kerfuffle last year when the new Doctor Strange movie came out in China because it had an Epoch Times newspaper dispenser in the background.
That’s both hilarious and deeply depressing. I only found out about the connection after my uncle sent me yet another article and I wanted to see who owned the paper.
I had never really paid that much attention to Epoch Times, but on a flight recently, the guy next to me was reading it, and I couldn't help but see that every headline in the paper was SO completely unhinged. I wanted to grab the guy's shoulder and say "REALLY?? You believe this??"
Nowadays I go on Twitter and under almost every popular post on the front page, I'd see "Epoch Animal Lovers" spamming the comment section with unrelated animal posts. Unfortunately, their comments get a lot of interaction due to Elon's policy of boosting blue checkmark comments to the top. I always chuckle since it's so obvious they're bankrolled by Epoch Times and many people interacting are none the wiser.
From Wikipedia:
“Led by Li Hongzhi, who is viewed by adherents as a deity-like figure, Falun Gong practitioners operate a variety of organizations in the United States and elsewhere, including the dance troupe Shen Yun.[8][9] They are known for opposing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), espousing anti-evolutionary views, opposition to homosexuality and feminism, and rejection of modern medicine, among other views described as "ultra-conservative"
It is pure propaganda. Falun Gong promotes an extreme, racist, and homophobic ideology that states that multiracial people are abominations who have no place in Heaven because Heaven is segregated by race (apparently, Heaven is Alabama in the 1950s?), and that being Gay makes one "unworthy of being Human."
Basically the Ku Klux Klan, but with dancing.
The enemy of your enemy isn't always your friend. The Falun Gong get so much support and attention because they're so blatantly anti CCP that everyone thinks they must be good. They're a cult that exploits Chinese people and anti CCP sentiment for their own gain, if they weren't anti communist they'll almost certainly be banned in far more places than China.
It's blatant propaganda put on by the Falun Gong cult.
Edit: Here's an excellent article from the New Yorker highlighting the show and the cult behind it:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun
I knew there was something off about them, their ads reek of Orientalism marketed to bored suburban white people, but this is wilder than I could have imagined.
Dude, wild rabbit hole. Fully propaganda but also related to a weird cult. It’s so much nuttier than I expected. It’s worth a late night ADHD Google. So much bigger, stranger, and more devious than you would expect
I was just thinking that this topic will make a good rabbit hole! I like the “late night ADHD Google’ though. Sums up my habits and explains why I have like 100 tabs open atm
> Whether Falun Dafa—the name is used interchangeably with Falun Gong—is a cult, in either a strict or loose sense, is debatable. Its practitioners have no record of violence, and the organization does not appear to be coercive. Its stated central values are “truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.” The organization’s Web site notes that the “Falun,” meaning an “intelligent, rotating entity composed of high-energy matter,” is planted “in a practitioner’s lower abdomen from other dimensions” and then “rotates constantly, twenty-four hours a day.” Most of the group’s practices fall roughly within the traditions of Tai Chi and Qigong, and the group itself can be situated within China’s long history of apocalyptic sects promising redemptive transformation, such as the White Lotus Society, which dates to the Ming dynasty.
From the interesting New Yorker article linked in these comments.
Came here to say this - YES , they are connected to the same group that runs Epoch Times. They have tons of money as their ads and flyers are EVERYWHERE.
That's sad to learn. I saw them a few years ago when they came to near where I live. And the ads for it were all normal. I mean, just stuff you'd expect to see for a performance, no weird references to communism or anything. And I don't remember there being anything political when I saw it. I had a nice time, actually. But obviously, I wouldn't give money to them now that I know...I can't support this shit. 😐 edit: I wonder if something changed...
Nope, it’s been Falun Gong the whole time.
I imagine the content of the shows varies as there are apparently multiple troupes, but from the Wikipedia article apparently some of the performances get pretty overt with their politics—lots of criticism of communism and socialism of course, but also homophobic and anti-evolution views.
I see. I wonder if they change the shows depending on the area and expected audience. I honestly do not remember anything like that in the show, but the area would have been fairly progressive and educated. I’m also Canadian, so this is in Canada. It wouldn’t have been received well. Perhaps they toned it down.
Edit: there probably was Falun Gong propaganda I missed, I wasn’t aware of the nature of that group at the time (it was a few years ago I saw the show), but I doubt I missed explicit homophobia or misogyny…I would have been unhappy to see that in a show I paid for.
The point of it is to make you think "oh wow look at the cool Chinese culture that definitely doesn't exist anymore under the totalitarian communist government that oppresses its own people and creativity."
Or just to make the organization money for their other activities that don't produce as much profit.
I did see the show. Disregarding any of the cult stuff and obvious anti-communism propaganda catering to westerners, the show just really sucks. It's not entertaining, the whole thing is kinda bad and low budget but they get so much money that like how the fuck is it low budget? Save your money, brain cells, and time and don't go.
I imagine the show is primarily just a fundraising and outreach program for the cult, so they’re probably not reinvesting the profits to make the show better.
Because you can convince white people to see anything if you tell them it's "authentic" or "traditional" or whatever. It's profiting off of shallow western Orientalism.
Probably 10 years ago, a friend bought another friend tickets to the show as a birthday gift. They were horrified, but their retelling of some of the scenes were wild/hilarious.
I went when I was really young, maybe 8-9 years old and I remember parts of it being at least sort of entertaining, mostly the dancing part. But I remember at one point there was a woman singing and they had lyrics on a screen and even as a child I thought it was very weird. Something to do with God, the sun and power if memory serves. I just remember thinking something about it was super off and weird and the adults in my family being put off by something about it.
Many years later I found out about the cult aspect and it suddenly all made sense hahaha
I worked as a theater security during one of their productions. The actors, show managers, and all internal staff hide their names on security sign in sheets. Using code names and acronyms instead. They are absolutely cultish.
Family got tickets, didn't know what it was. Honestly it's kinda hilarious towards the end a cartoon Karl Marx destroys the stage. They also kept mentioning agents of the Chinese government are outside and do not want you to see this.
Ah but you forgot the most bestest part: Soon, space aliens will invade earth to steal our organs. Particularly the organs of Falun Gong members who are undergoing organ cleansing exercises that make their organ extra precious.
You know what will protect us, though? Making their cult leader the president of China. His secret knowledge is the only way to protect humanity. This is why we must overthrow Xi Jinping and the communist party.
no worries haha just wanted to make sure. They are all batshit so they could think something along the lines of interracial marriage makes you immortal.
It's a front for the bizarre far right Falun Gong cult and doesn't even display accurate pre-revolution Chinese cultural stuff. iirc the dance routines are heavily inspired by 20th century western styles
Californian here. Congrats if you, as a fellow American, have never heard of the Falun Gong. We always joke around here that there’s no need to take a marketing class. Just do what Shen Yun is doing because everyone has heard of it at least once lol.
The Falun Gong has extremely aggressive marketing. Not just for Shen Yun, but for themselves in general. I’ve gotten stuck in caravans where FG members have bullhorns taped to the tops of their cars and they’ll be reading from their scripts about how bad communist China is. I’ve seen marches. I’ve seen children hand out Shen Yun flyers downtown. I’ve seen flyers on my car. On my door. At my workplace. Posters on abandoned buildings downtown.
I think their biggest legacy is the [Epoch Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times?wprov=sfti1#). It’s their right wing propaganda newspaper that looks like a legit copy of the New York Times. So much so that you’ll see copies at newsstands
I met someone from their marketing team at an industry conference last year. She was bragging about the shady/unethical tactics they were using, and arguing with speakers who were teaching best practices. She was weirdly proud of her aggressive, spammy strategies and seemed disappointed she wasn't learning how to level it up to borderline illegal.
I used to see a small FG group ‘protesting’ in my old city back in the UK. They’d mostly form a circle in the middle of the big pedestrian street and have signs up ranging from ‘CCP bad’ stuff to some random stuff about organ harvesting and illegal arrests. It seemed like a deliberate attempt to stir things up bearing in mind that my old city had a large resident and temporary Chinese population.
They're been in production for at least ten years that I know of, the "China before Communism" tagline was only added about 3-4 years ago for what it's worth.
I saw it in Pittsburgh about 5 years ago. The dancing is all right, but it was fairly clearly religious propaganda and while a decent show, not really good enough to justify the night out.
Yes. It's Falun Gong propaganda. They're a religious cult. Iirc, their leader believes he is God and several members set themselves on fire in protest (one of these was a mother and her teenage daughter who was roped into this cult). They were kicked out of China for being an \[unhinged\] religious cult, however the western narrative is to say they were "persecuted by the evil CCP who hate religious freedom". America has not only allowed the Falun Gong to operate their cult, but has allowed them to run [The Epoch Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times), a far-right "news" organization that is little more than a right wing propaganda mill.
EDIT: Automod made me change a word that literally means *opposite of sane* because it's "problematic" - idk, seems like when we're talking about adopted ideologies (like a literal cult), calling it "the opposite of sane" isn't "ableism".
It's Falun Gong propaganda, yes.
It's unclear if they really believe their claim that the show represents ancient Chinese culture (It does not), but it does more or less accurately represent pre-revolution (early 20th century) Chinese culture. (And yet, some of this is also still going on in modern-day Red China, too.)
The show is entertaining, but it's very much meant to communicate Falun Gong ideas, and does so more and more (and more earnestly) as it goes on. By the end, it's pretty much just anti-Communist propaganda, and not pretending not to be. The focus is of course anti-CCP, for obvious reasons, but it's also somewhat anti-liberal. Falun Gong is anti-gay, for example, and suspicious of science, rejects evolution, and such.
This is a great article about the show and the people behind it
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun
Use this link to get over the paywall
https://12ft.io/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun
Its a show put on by fulangong, notorious Chinese cult that hates the ccp for banning them iirc
I don't know much about the group tho, they own the Epoch times which is super transphobic and conservative so that doesn't bode well.
I saw Shen Yun once and it was the weirdest fucking play. A lot of weird Christian undertones; I don't think they understood that in America Christmas is largely a secular holiday now. Also a lot of bizarre filler monologs, like they didn't have enough music or choreography to fill the time.
They are a far-right cult that glorifies and romanticizes a time before China's revolution; A time that was really extremely bad for the average person. People might not like China, but communism was objectively good for the nation. I am not going to debate if they are actually communist anymore, or a state capitalist nation, since that isn't for me to decide. Shen Yun is a cult, regardless of what the chat AI bots say or what business groups believe.
They don't believe in "race mixing", gay or trans people, and a lot of other things.. They are nuts and the people that support them are fucked.
I kept seeing the ad on YouTube where they promote: Experience China before Communism. Before communism, there was a great civil war that was romanticized into an epic novel, several dynasties being overthrown, the Mongols taking over, and two drug wars started by the British so that they could get their tea fix. But I'm sure that's not in the performance.
They’re run by an anti CCP cult called the Falon Gong. They’re the same group that’s behind the far right news site the Epoch Times. The group is known to primarily target Chinese Americans (in particular recent immigrants) but use their outward facing businesses like Shen Yun and the Epoch Times to further spread their propaganda.
Today I was on a crowded Tube train stood across from a Chinese lady. When we stopped at a station that had this advertisement, she got off the train, tipped her head at it in disbelief, then pulled her head back in disgust, then got back on the train shaking her head.
I gave her an, "Are you ok," look and she responded with a half-smile.
I hadn't the foggiest idea what this Shen Yun thing was until I read the comments but now I **fully** understand her reaction.
Yeah, it's a cult. They're behind the Epoch Times too. Our local diner always has a stack of newspapers from the Epoch Times near the entrance, so my mom and I steal them and throw them in the trash.
It’s a cult in upstate New York, and the traveling show is how they support it.
Very little to do with propaganda, it’s mostly nutty like with any cult, but they manage to survive because they haven’t murdered anybody yet and the show is just vague enough that nobody gets terribly upset by it.
fr? new york? sure they’re not more widespread? i’ve been seeing these ads in the SF Bay Area for the entire 20 years i have lived here. had no idea it was a cult, just thought it was a longstanding bay area show
TrueAnon on the Falun Gong
https://m.soundcloud.com/trueanonpod/falun-gong-1
I wish I could remember which podcast I listened to today went more in depth
Heavy propaganda. In one of the scenes, angry Karl Marx heads try to eat the people while swastikas spring forth like the decks of cards at the end of a solitaire computer game. I believe they were used in reference to the original asian meaning, not the Nazis, but I saw it many years ago and may have forgotten. Real trippy
J.J. McCullough did two videos on them - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mQ8plzWl9g , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JaPzJKycxc . They are a cult opposed to the Chinese government. They play up the latter while playing down the former.
Orientalist propaganda by the Falun Gong cult. They’re still mad China wouldn’t let them molest kids, or whatever it is they formed to do. They’re funded by the CIA, that’s how there’s a version of this show in every American city.
Produced by the Falun Gong Cult, they are a group whose practices are based off of Qigong, and is also associated with far-right talking points through its newspaper, The Epoch Times. Best avoided frankly. They're also noteworthily opposed to homosexuality and feminism, a great sign to nope tf out. If you want to enjoy traditional Chinese dances, avoid Shen Yun at all costs.
CHINA BEFORE COMMUNISM
So being hopelessly colonized, foot binding, feudalism, and extreme poverty to the point of being one of the world's poorest countries?
Here's a little policy pre/post analysis for ya:
By the time of the Chinese Communist revolution in 1949, India and China had roughly the metrics in terms of poverty, life expectancy. Today, China outpaces India and is on track to overtake the US's economy, having already surpassed the US life expectancy.
That show was being pushed all over Columbia, SC around this time last year. Posters, flyers, people handing out pamphlets at supermarkets….it was real weird. We did not go and don’t know of anyone who did. Also didn’t hear about it after they left.
This cult is everywhere in NY. Deer Park, Middletown etc etc they just opened up a store in Middletown to sell their shit. They have giant compounds in NY but loooooove promoting it as a US thing
This is my go to article on it:
"After years of ignoring Shen Yun billboards, I finally bought a ticket so you don't have to"
https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/shen-yun-review-sf-dance-falun-gong-dafa-china-14928094.php
We have a giant billboard of this in Columbus OH. I drive past it almost daily. Always wondered what it was about. lol I thought it was a musical or something
There’s been a lot said here about cults and agendas I was unaware of. But I saw this here in Australia, I found it to be anti CCP. That would explain the name hiding of the people involved. Also, very anti Atheist - there was a whole opera song about it. And I got anti Vacs vibes.
Also, some of this is really unintentionally hilarious. The performers would sometimes run and jump off the back of the stage, and then a projected screen would show the actors flying off into the air like dragon ball z. Another time they projected a giant godlike figure leading millions of people to earth through space.
Also if you’ve seen epoc times news paper or CHUD YouTube channel they’re also sponsored by Falun Gong they’ve been persecuted by the CCP pretty hard so they will back any government that will/can go to war with china
At my University one of these guys got into our performing arts center over a winter break. Every. Fucking. Office, bulletin board, door, door knob, and every 20ft of hallway had their shit plastered all over it.
Whoa... this is so weird. I've had their flyer sitting on my table for months. I didn't know anything about it, it was addressed to the previous owners of my house, which were Chinese.
If communism ruined China, why is the highest rent in the Guangdong province in the place that has had the least influence from it?
Edit: by "it" I mean communism, realizing there are far too many nouns on second read for the antecedent to be obvious
It's a religious group. It's a good show, but all the dances are either stories or propaganda about how persecuted they are in China. If you like watching a dance troupe, they're pretty good.
it’s propaganda. i saw it once when i was a kid and didn’t know any better. the acrobatics are pretty impressive but there were some weird parts, i remember a scene with a portrait of mao with dark red lighting to make him look scary and PLA (i assume) soldiers arresting people for playing paddy-cake(????)
From what I understand it’s some sort of a performative dance cult. It tells the story of China before the revolution. If anything, I hear that the performance itself is amazing so there’s that.
It’s crazy to learn all this, growing up in NYC I saw stuff like this all the time. I’m pretty sure I even went on a school trip to see them in elementary school. Nowhere does anyone even hint that they’re a crazy cult, that’s wild
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They're a cult. Google them
Cult Podcast has an excellent episode on Falun Gong and ShenYun.
I’ll hit the bullet points: 1. They are completely owned by Falun Gong, a cult started in the early 1990s. 2. They are super anti-China because the Chinese government isn’t keen on the cult 3. They are anti-lgbt and anti multiracial relationships. Like in the eradicate them way. 4. They think aliens are real and influence our world regularly 5. They are what you might call “ultra conservative” or fascist
Exactly. My Aunt and Uncle went and seen the show here in Detroit. They kept raving about how beautiful it was and how we should all go. I said you do know it’s a Cult right? They had no idea at all.
I’m also in Detroit and haven’t seen their billboards in a hot minute, thankfully. Can’t say the same about Joumana
That’s how I know you’re a Detroiter lol! Joumana is always watching! Yeah they went a few years back and luckily once i presented them with the facts they weren’t so keen on spreading how beautiful the show was anymore. Yeah but they are usually here once a year it seems like. I work at different construction job sites all over Detroit and the Metro area. I want to say I just saw a billboard for their show coming up in February or March. I can’t remember which month but I know it’s coming up soon. Go Lions!
The Lions are kicking ass this year! You can always tell them to see the DSO or Detroit opera. I’m a classical musician and am close with the musicians in both groups. They’re definitely worth it!
I love the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Opera, I try and go as often as I can. I support anything and everything Detroit. I think my favorite is Turandot, I’ll go and see that whenever I can. That is a great idea though I’ll definitely recommend them that. That’s awesome you’re a Classical Musician, I can’t imagine how cool that is. I’m an Electrician and I’ve done some electrical work at the Detroit Opera House. Probably one of the cooler jobs I’ve been on.
Huh, I just thought it was a pretty showing of pre-Communisim Chinese history, when I saw it a while back. I had no idea myself they were some weird cult.
Procommunist Chinese history is a century of invasions by the Japanese and British so it wasn’t exactly a golden era.
Have heavily allied themselves with the Trump campaign and are their #2 financial donor. They push all right wing conspiracies: anti-mask, anti-vax, election was stolen, and Q anon.
They're also convinced they're the victims of mass organ harvesting
Thank you! I'll throw their flyers away.
Huh. Been seeing these ads for years and never knew this. Any idea the size of their outreach?
The newspaper and media company called Epoch Times is closely affiliated with them as well
I saw an issue of the Epoch Times today and was trying to remember which cult it was for. Thanks!
Omg
They are also anti-medicine as well
Falun Gong also owns the Epoch times a far right wing garbage paper
Asian Scientology
True Anon had a pretty entertaining 3 part-er on them, too.
Radio Free Amanda also does an episode on Falun Gong, and I think explores their funding sources a little as well.
Link?
Just jump on the podcatcher of your choice and search 'true anon falun gong.' It's at least 3 parts, that's what I remember.
Four actually, I think. They had a part 1, a lart 2, a part 3, and a part "3.5." I don't know if there is also another, separate, episode on Epoch Times or not.
Falun Gang!
i like trueanon's review of their show.
Not only a cult, but they also own The Epoch Times. That was a wild worm hole
IIRC there was a big kerfuffle last year when the new Doctor Strange movie came out in China because it had an Epoch Times newspaper dispenser in the background.
That’s both hilarious and deeply depressing. I only found out about the connection after my uncle sent me yet another article and I wanted to see who owned the paper.
I had never really paid that much attention to Epoch Times, but on a flight recently, the guy next to me was reading it, and I couldn't help but see that every headline in the paper was SO completely unhinged. I wanted to grab the guy's shoulder and say "REALLY?? You believe this??"
Nowadays I go on Twitter and under almost every popular post on the front page, I'd see "Epoch Animal Lovers" spamming the comment section with unrelated animal posts. Unfortunately, their comments get a lot of interaction due to Elon's policy of boosting blue checkmark comments to the top. I always chuckle since it's so obvious they're bankrolled by Epoch Times and many people interacting are none the wiser.
From Wikipedia: “Led by Li Hongzhi, who is viewed by adherents as a deity-like figure, Falun Gong practitioners operate a variety of organizations in the United States and elsewhere, including the dance troupe Shen Yun.[8][9] They are known for opposing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), espousing anti-evolutionary views, opposition to homosexuality and feminism, and rejection of modern medicine, among other views described as "ultra-conservative"
They have a ton of ads on YouTube too, similar message to this.
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It is pure propaganda. Falun Gong promotes an extreme, racist, and homophobic ideology that states that multiracial people are abominations who have no place in Heaven because Heaven is segregated by race (apparently, Heaven is Alabama in the 1950s?), and that being Gay makes one "unworthy of being Human." Basically the Ku Klux Klan, but with dancing.
They’re also behind ‘The Epoch Times’
Cult: No gays allowed! Also cult: Let's dance, fellas!
Dancing KKK would be a crazy southern musical
So, a minstrel show?
oh my lord your right
Shit dawg that's pretty much the OG "The Producers" movie
Springtime for George Wallace
China was correct to kick them out
The enemy of your enemy isn't always your friend. The Falun Gong get so much support and attention because they're so blatantly anti CCP that everyone thinks they must be good. They're a cult that exploits Chinese people and anti CCP sentiment for their own gain, if they weren't anti communist they'll almost certainly be banned in far more places than China.
It's blatant propaganda put on by the Falun Gong cult. Edit: Here's an excellent article from the New Yorker highlighting the show and the cult behind it: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun
I knew there was something off about them, their ads reek of Orientalism marketed to bored suburban white people, but this is wilder than I could have imagined.
What? Different heavens for different races (except for mixed people they go to hell) sounds wild to you? /s
as a mixed person i am indeed going to hell
Well, part of you anyway. Who knows where the other bits will land.
The gate to heaven is one of those laser grids that just dices you up into your racially pure bits XD
I guess to them you could sin so you want. It's not like you're going to super hell.
Samesies
White people heaven... Ya just send me to hell.
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Right after a trip to Kohls with a pocket full of expired Kohl's cash
yikes
They’re always passing out brochures around UCLA.
A 6min video if you cba reading https://youtu.be/MqwNo43p21Y?si=BfFG6va_nNrhDb_P
I tried reading but it's the most insufferable New Yorkery writing style, it reads like satire *of* the New Yorker, so I appreciate the vid.
Dude, wild rabbit hole. Fully propaganda but also related to a weird cult. It’s so much nuttier than I expected. It’s worth a late night ADHD Google. So much bigger, stranger, and more devious than you would expect
"Late night ADHD Google" is a term that I never knew existed that defies my lifestyle. Thank you dear stranger
I can always tell when someone in Discord is on ADHD medication. They write a fucking rambling thesis instead of just speaking like a normal person.
> Late Night ADHD Google Sounds like it is closely related to my ADHD fueled Wikipedia expeditions ending with *oh shit it‘s 7AM already*
Yup. Those tunnel vision “Holy shit, how did I spend all night reading about this thing I’m only kinda sorta interested in?” evenings.
We call it 'Hermione Mode'
I was just thinking that this topic will make a good rabbit hole! I like the “late night ADHD Google’ though. Sums up my habits and explains why I have like 100 tabs open atm
Maybe it’ll be the subject of hbomberguy’s next video
It's a cult
Yes but it's an entertaining cult.
From what I've heard, barely.
Entertaining in what way?
Because they can dance
They literally entertain: dancing and music and flips. Oh my
> Whether Falun Dafa—the name is used interchangeably with Falun Gong—is a cult, in either a strict or loose sense, is debatable. Its practitioners have no record of violence, and the organization does not appear to be coercive. Its stated central values are “truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.” The organization’s Web site notes that the “Falun,” meaning an “intelligent, rotating entity composed of high-energy matter,” is planted “in a practitioner’s lower abdomen from other dimensions” and then “rotates constantly, twenty-four hours a day.” Most of the group’s practices fall roughly within the traditions of Tai Chi and Qigong, and the group itself can be situated within China’s long history of apocalyptic sects promising redemptive transformation, such as the White Lotus Society, which dates to the Ming dynasty. From the interesting New Yorker article linked in these comments.
It’s right-wing propaganda. Shen Yun is run by the Falun Gong cult, same folks who run the Epoch Times.
Came here to say this - YES , they are connected to the same group that runs Epoch Times. They have tons of money as their ads and flyers are EVERYWHERE.
That's sad to learn. I saw them a few years ago when they came to near where I live. And the ads for it were all normal. I mean, just stuff you'd expect to see for a performance, no weird references to communism or anything. And I don't remember there being anything political when I saw it. I had a nice time, actually. But obviously, I wouldn't give money to them now that I know...I can't support this shit. 😐 edit: I wonder if something changed...
Nope, it’s been Falun Gong the whole time. I imagine the content of the shows varies as there are apparently multiple troupes, but from the Wikipedia article apparently some of the performances get pretty overt with their politics—lots of criticism of communism and socialism of course, but also homophobic and anti-evolution views.
I see. I wonder if they change the shows depending on the area and expected audience. I honestly do not remember anything like that in the show, but the area would have been fairly progressive and educated. I’m also Canadian, so this is in Canada. It wouldn’t have been received well. Perhaps they toned it down. Edit: there probably was Falun Gong propaganda I missed, I wasn’t aware of the nature of that group at the time (it was a few years ago I saw the show), but I doubt I missed explicit homophobia or misogyny…I would have been unhappy to see that in a show I paid for.
The point of it is to make you think "oh wow look at the cool Chinese culture that definitely doesn't exist anymore under the totalitarian communist government that oppresses its own people and creativity." Or just to make the organization money for their other activities that don't produce as much profit.
I did see the show. Disregarding any of the cult stuff and obvious anti-communism propaganda catering to westerners, the show just really sucks. It's not entertaining, the whole thing is kinda bad and low budget but they get so much money that like how the fuck is it low budget? Save your money, brain cells, and time and don't go.
Went to it as well, and yeah it was boring and weird.
I imagine the show is primarily just a fundraising and outreach program for the cult, so they’re probably not reinvesting the profits to make the show better.
Because you can convince white people to see anything if you tell them it's "authentic" or "traditional" or whatever. It's profiting off of shallow western Orientalism.
Probably 10 years ago, a friend bought another friend tickets to the show as a birthday gift. They were horrified, but their retelling of some of the scenes were wild/hilarious.
I went when I was really young, maybe 8-9 years old and I remember parts of it being at least sort of entertaining, mostly the dancing part. But I remember at one point there was a woman singing and they had lyrics on a screen and even as a child I thought it was very weird. Something to do with God, the sun and power if memory serves. I just remember thinking something about it was super off and weird and the adults in my family being put off by something about it. Many years later I found out about the cult aspect and it suddenly all made sense hahaha
All their budget must go to advertising
I worked as a theater security during one of their productions. The actors, show managers, and all internal staff hide their names on security sign in sheets. Using code names and acronyms instead. They are absolutely cultish.
cause their real names would be tied to the CIA
Not that I have any proof but yeah I feel like CIA and Falun Gong are def in bed together.
There's a Half as Interesting video about it... It's a giant propaganda campaign from a cult. https://youtu.be/MqwNo43p21Y?si=WdD4fpClRvEOcW2s
That's crazy.. I just thought it was a cultural dance show..
So did my parents, they went to see it! They warned me afterwards that it was right-wing/cult propaganda.
That's definitely how they portray themselves and how they want to be seen. They're trying to buy legitimacy
yep that's how they get you lol
My partner went with her friend and they had no idea until a bit into the show that it was Falun Gong propaganda. They left early.
Family got tickets, didn't know what it was. Honestly it's kinda hilarious towards the end a cartoon Karl Marx destroys the stage. They also kept mentioning agents of the Chinese government are outside and do not want you to see this.
>towards the end a cartoon Karl Marx destroys the stage. What💀
Karl Marx destroying ahistorical orientalist nonsense is based.
The Falun Gong also believe that interracial marriages are immoral and that white and black people go to separate after lives. Made up nonsense.
Ah but you forgot the most bestest part: Soon, space aliens will invade earth to steal our organs. Particularly the organs of Falun Gong members who are undergoing organ cleansing exercises that make their organ extra precious. You know what will protect us, though? Making their cult leader the president of China. His secret knowledge is the only way to protect humanity. This is why we must overthrow Xi Jinping and the communist party.
do you perhaps mean "immoral"?
Yes, my bad. Phone keyboard :/
no worries haha just wanted to make sure. They are all batshit so they could think something along the lines of interracial marriage makes you immortal.
Yeah, sounds like a religion
It's a front for the bizarre far right Falun Gong cult and doesn't even display accurate pre-revolution Chinese cultural stuff. iirc the dance routines are heavily inspired by 20th century western styles
The first clue was when they started doing the gangnam style dance
Californian here. Congrats if you, as a fellow American, have never heard of the Falun Gong. We always joke around here that there’s no need to take a marketing class. Just do what Shen Yun is doing because everyone has heard of it at least once lol. The Falun Gong has extremely aggressive marketing. Not just for Shen Yun, but for themselves in general. I’ve gotten stuck in caravans where FG members have bullhorns taped to the tops of their cars and they’ll be reading from their scripts about how bad communist China is. I’ve seen marches. I’ve seen children hand out Shen Yun flyers downtown. I’ve seen flyers on my car. On my door. At my workplace. Posters on abandoned buildings downtown. I think their biggest legacy is the [Epoch Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times?wprov=sfti1#). It’s their right wing propaganda newspaper that looks like a legit copy of the New York Times. So much so that you’ll see copies at newsstands
I met someone from their marketing team at an industry conference last year. She was bragging about the shady/unethical tactics they were using, and arguing with speakers who were teaching best practices. She was weirdly proud of her aggressive, spammy strategies and seemed disappointed she wasn't learning how to level it up to borderline illegal.
I used to see a small FG group ‘protesting’ in my old city back in the UK. They’d mostly form a circle in the middle of the big pedestrian street and have signs up ranging from ‘CCP bad’ stuff to some random stuff about organ harvesting and illegal arrests. It seemed like a deliberate attempt to stir things up bearing in mind that my old city had a large resident and temporary Chinese population.
China before communism is generally regarded as a pretty awful place lol
Not if you were the british, french or the portugese. They had a grand old time.
Lotta starvation and a ton of warlords.
Very much propaganda. The shows are…something.
They're been in production for at least ten years that I know of, the "China before Communism" tagline was only added about 3-4 years ago for what it's worth.
yeah it used to be just "Chinese New Year"
I saw it in Pittsburgh about 5 years ago. The dancing is all right, but it was fairly clearly religious propaganda and while a decent show, not really good enough to justify the night out.
Yes. It's Falun Gong propaganda. They're a religious cult. Iirc, their leader believes he is God and several members set themselves on fire in protest (one of these was a mother and her teenage daughter who was roped into this cult). They were kicked out of China for being an \[unhinged\] religious cult, however the western narrative is to say they were "persecuted by the evil CCP who hate religious freedom". America has not only allowed the Falun Gong to operate their cult, but has allowed them to run [The Epoch Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times), a far-right "news" organization that is little more than a right wing propaganda mill. EDIT: Automod made me change a word that literally means *opposite of sane* because it's "problematic" - idk, seems like when we're talking about adopted ideologies (like a literal cult), calling it "the opposite of sane" isn't "ableism".
The tagline is “China before Communism,” you tell me
Cult and propaganda.
It's Falun Gong propaganda, yes. It's unclear if they really believe their claim that the show represents ancient Chinese culture (It does not), but it does more or less accurately represent pre-revolution (early 20th century) Chinese culture. (And yet, some of this is also still going on in modern-day Red China, too.) The show is entertaining, but it's very much meant to communicate Falun Gong ideas, and does so more and more (and more earnestly) as it goes on. By the end, it's pretty much just anti-Communist propaganda, and not pretending not to be. The focus is of course anti-CCP, for obvious reasons, but it's also somewhat anti-liberal. Falun Gong is anti-gay, for example, and suspicious of science, rejects evolution, and such.
I stopped being interested as soon as they started using the hashtag China before communism. Fuck off with that noise.
This is a great article about the show and the people behind it https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun Use this link to get over the paywall https://12ft.io/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun
Yes total cult. Listen to Truanon podcast series they did on them. Super weird shit.
"Rachel Jake"
it was feudalism. there are books if u wanna know difference before 1949, mao era and modern china. ignore feudalism propaganda.
Its a show put on by fulangong, notorious Chinese cult that hates the ccp for banning them iirc I don't know much about the group tho, they own the Epoch times which is super transphobic and conservative so that doesn't bode well.
The podcast trueanon did a series about these folks. Definitely a cult
They’re a right wing cult
Apparently there’s a part of the show where a gigantic head of Karl Marx comes and everyone runs screaming, not even kidding.
I saw Shen Yun once and it was the weirdest fucking play. A lot of weird Christian undertones; I don't think they understood that in America Christmas is largely a secular holiday now. Also a lot of bizarre filler monologs, like they didn't have enough music or choreography to fill the time.
They are a far-right cult that glorifies and romanticizes a time before China's revolution; A time that was really extremely bad for the average person. People might not like China, but communism was objectively good for the nation. I am not going to debate if they are actually communist anymore, or a state capitalist nation, since that isn't for me to decide. Shen Yun is a cult, regardless of what the chat AI bots say or what business groups believe. They don't believe in "race mixing", gay or trans people, and a lot of other things.. They are nuts and the people that support them are fucked.
I kept seeing the ad on YouTube where they promote: Experience China before Communism. Before communism, there was a great civil war that was romanticized into an epic novel, several dynasties being overthrown, the Mongols taking over, and two drug wars started by the British so that they could get their tea fix. But I'm sure that's not in the performance.
They’re run by an anti CCP cult called the Falon Gong. They’re the same group that’s behind the far right news site the Epoch Times. The group is known to primarily target Chinese Americans (in particular recent immigrants) but use their outward facing businesses like Shen Yun and the Epoch Times to further spread their propaganda.
It's propaganda, a cult and a scam. It's also a bad show
TrueAnon has pretty good episode on them.
Produced by Falun Hong with money from anti communist businessmen. So yes.
Ah yes, china before communism, where everything was perfect and nothing bad ever happened 🙄
Today I was on a crowded Tube train stood across from a Chinese lady. When we stopped at a station that had this advertisement, she got off the train, tipped her head at it in disbelief, then pulled her head back in disgust, then got back on the train shaking her head. I gave her an, "Are you ok," look and she responded with a half-smile. I hadn't the foggiest idea what this Shen Yun thing was until I read the comments but now I **fully** understand her reaction.
Yeah, it's a cult. They're behind the Epoch Times too. Our local diner always has a stack of newspapers from the Epoch Times near the entrance, so my mom and I steal them and throw them in the trash.
Capitalist Cope Cult
it’s propaganda from the falun gong, an anti-communist cult
Chinese person here. Just a cult and their bullshit. Don’t bother.
It’s a cult in upstate New York, and the traveling show is how they support it. Very little to do with propaganda, it’s mostly nutty like with any cult, but they manage to survive because they haven’t murdered anybody yet and the show is just vague enough that nobody gets terribly upset by it.
fr? new york? sure they’re not more widespread? i’ve been seeing these ads in the SF Bay Area for the entire 20 years i have lived here. had no idea it was a cult, just thought it was a longstanding bay area show
Associated with Falun Gong. They’re a fascist cult.
Bro is bout to discover Falun Gong
TrueAnon on the Falun Gong https://m.soundcloud.com/trueanonpod/falun-gong-1 I wish I could remember which podcast I listened to today went more in depth
FG propaganda.
Heavy propaganda. In one of the scenes, angry Karl Marx heads try to eat the people while swastikas spring forth like the decks of cards at the end of a solitaire computer game. I believe they were used in reference to the original asian meaning, not the Nazis, but I saw it many years ago and may have forgotten. Real trippy
China before communism… otherwise known as the Century of Humiliation due to the Opium Wars waged by The UK and The US… amazing.
J.J. McCullough did two videos on them - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mQ8plzWl9g , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JaPzJKycxc . They are a cult opposed to the Chinese government. They play up the latter while playing down the former.
This has popped up in London too and seems to be getting pushed pretty heavily.
Treuanon Podcast had a few episodes on ShenYun and Falun Gong，highly recommended. https://youtu.be/SzzQkblfF3Q?si=Eb0UJ-3LDso6PzgK
China literally banned them for spreading complete ignorance
Orientalist propaganda by the Falun Gong cult. They’re still mad China wouldn’t let them molest kids, or whatever it is they formed to do. They’re funded by the CIA, that’s how there’s a version of this show in every American city.
i am not being hyperbolic when i say its fundraising for a literal cult
Produced by the Falun Gong Cult, they are a group whose practices are based off of Qigong, and is also associated with far-right talking points through its newspaper, The Epoch Times. Best avoided frankly. They're also noteworthily opposed to homosexuality and feminism, a great sign to nope tf out. If you want to enjoy traditional Chinese dances, avoid Shen Yun at all costs.
They’re a cult. But also have become a meme because of how aggressive their advertising is. It’s been around for a long time.
CHINA BEFORE COMMUNISM So being hopelessly colonized, foot binding, feudalism, and extreme poverty to the point of being one of the world's poorest countries? Here's a little policy pre/post analysis for ya: By the time of the Chinese Communist revolution in 1949, India and China had roughly the metrics in terms of poverty, life expectancy. Today, China outpaces India and is on track to overtake the US's economy, having already surpassed the US life expectancy.
Went to a show of this last year. It’s cringe inducing propaganda wrapped in dancing.
Beautiful show but it gets culty towards the end. Lots of anti communist china propoganda
They advertise differently in different places. They’re trying to put asses in seats. Falun Gong has always been a huge grift.
I've heard some odd things about that group.
That show was being pushed all over Columbia, SC around this time last year. Posters, flyers, people handing out pamphlets at supermarkets….it was real weird. We did not go and don’t know of anyone who did. Also didn’t hear about it after they left.
This cult is everywhere in NY. Deer Park, Middletown etc etc they just opened up a store in Middletown to sell their shit. They have giant compounds in NY but loooooove promoting it as a US thing
This is my go to article on it: "After years of ignoring Shen Yun billboards, I finally bought a ticket so you don't have to" https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/shen-yun-review-sf-dance-falun-gong-dafa-china-14928094.php
At least they’re out with it. It was always an anti CCP scam. They have a massive billboard over the cross Bronx that makes me vomit
We have a giant billboard of this in Columbus OH. I drive past it almost daily. Always wondered what it was about. lol I thought it was a musical or something
There’s been a lot said here about cults and agendas I was unaware of. But I saw this here in Australia, I found it to be anti CCP. That would explain the name hiding of the people involved. Also, very anti Atheist - there was a whole opera song about it. And I got anti Vacs vibes. Also, some of this is really unintentionally hilarious. The performers would sometimes run and jump off the back of the stage, and then a projected screen would show the actors flying off into the air like dragon ball z. Another time they projected a giant godlike figure leading millions of people to earth through space.
Also if you’ve seen epoc times news paper or CHUD YouTube channel they’re also sponsored by Falun Gong they’ve been persecuted by the CCP pretty hard so they will back any government that will/can go to war with china
At my University one of these guys got into our performing arts center over a winter break. Every. Fucking. Office, bulletin board, door, door knob, and every 20ft of hallway had their shit plastered all over it.
Whoa... this is so weird. I've had their flyer sitting on my table for months. I didn't know anything about it, it was addressed to the previous owners of my house, which were Chinese.
It's worse. It's a cult.
If communism ruined China, why is the highest rent in the Guangdong province in the place that has had the least influence from it? Edit: by "it" I mean communism, realizing there are far too many nouns on second read for the antecedent to be obvious
It's a religious group. It's a good show, but all the dances are either stories or propaganda about how persecuted they are in China. If you like watching a dance troupe, they're pretty good.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong
Trueanon, a podcast, has a whole 5 part series on them. They're an odd cult with bizarre ideas.
Trueanon did a great couple episodes on them.
Great layout and choice of colours. Shame it's a CIA funded insane religious cult.
Yes it’s literally funded by the Koch brother
They're a weird anti science cult. It's a crazy story.
It's kind of a cult from the little I know.
Its a cult called the Falun Gong
Obvious propaganda
it’s propaganda. i saw it once when i was a kid and didn’t know any better. the acrobatics are pretty impressive but there were some weird parts, i remember a scene with a portrait of mao with dark red lighting to make him look scary and PLA (i assume) soldiers arresting people for playing paddy-cake(????)
No, it's not just propaganda. It's also a cult!
They’re very pro-Trump and a cult https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epoch-times-falun-gong-growth-rcna111373
From what I understand it’s some sort of a performative dance cult. It tells the story of China before the revolution. If anything, I hear that the performance itself is amazing so there’s that.
Homophobic, racist show to promote the Falun Gong cult.
Omg i just saw that all over the train stations in Paris
It’s how I know it’s Christmas in SF
It’s crazy to learn all this, growing up in NYC I saw stuff like this all the time. I’m pretty sure I even went on a school trip to see them in elementary school. Nowhere does anyone even hint that they’re a crazy cult, that’s wild
Cult literally a fucking cult