Pokin Around: Was there more than met the eye in Shen Yun dance performance at MSU arena?

OPINION|

A reader asked me what I knew about Shen Yun and Falun Gong.

Nothing, I said.

She and her husband had spent a couple hundred dollars on tickets to see the Shen Yun dance performance Jan. 9 at Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts on the Missouri State University campus.

The performance was well attended, she said. She enjoyed the dancing, the costumes and the orchestra, she told me, but left with a vague feeling the production itself was also a form of religious propaganda.

From what I have read recently, it is.

If you were there at the performance or plan to attend next year, you might find what follows to be interesting. On the other hand, you might conclude that what matters most is the dance and performance and stop right here.

Shen Yun is affiliated with a religious group called Falun Gong, formed in China in 1992 by a man named Li Hongzhi, who is revered by many and who, according to the New York Times, has said he can fly but doesn't like to do so in public.

I've read enough to know that the leaders of Shen Yun strongly declare they are not “owned” by Falun Gong. But I've also read enough to know that the group is, at minimum, “affiliated” with Falun Gong.

Religious group also affiliated with The Epoch Times media company

The other main entity affiliated with Falun Gong is a media company that I had heard of; it's called The Epoch Times. It was created in 2000 in Georgia by a follower of Falun Gong. It started out as a small printed free newsletter that focused on the injustices of Communist China in its persecution, imprisonment and torture of followers of Falun Gong.

China banned Falun Gong in 1999, calling it a “heretical cult” after some 20,000 followers protested at the headquarters of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.

As you probably know, the party does not look kindly upon citizen protests.

The Epoch Times, beloved by many in the United States because of its anti-Communist stance, has gone beyond that focus.

It has exploded in popularity in recent years in the United States among conservatives. Steve Bannon sings its praises, as do Sean Hannity, Larry Elder and Glenn Beck. It's available in all 50 states.

The Epoch Times expanded beyond its criticisms of Communist China and became supportive of right-wing political leaders worldwide, including Donald Trump.

Several similar troupes tour the world

A 2020 story in the New York Times states:

“Embracing Mr. Trump and Facebook has made The Epoch Times a partisan powerhouse. But it has also created a global-scale misinformation machine that has repeatedly pushed fringe narratives into the mainstream.

“Publications and shows linked to The Epoch Times have promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory and spread distorted claims about voter fraud and the Black Lives Matter movement. More recently, they have promoted the unfounded theory that the coronavirus — which the publication calls the ‘CCP Virus,' in an attempt to link it to the Chinese Communist Party — was created as a bioweapon in a Chinese military lab.”

Several Shen Yun dance troupes tour the world. Their stated objective, according to the Jan. 9 program provided to me, is to offer a “program of dances and music inspired by China's five thousand years of civilization.”

“Shen Yun” loosely translates to “the beauty of heavenly beings dancing.”

The more muted goal of Shen Yun is the same as the goal of Falun Gong: to challenge the Communist rule of China which was established in 1949.

The program includes full-page ads for Falun Gong, The Epoch Times and NTD (New Tang Dynasty) News, a global TV station affiliated with Falun Gong.

There's also a full-page ad for a book about “Zhuan Falun,” which is the title. Zhuan Falun is described as “an ancient spiritual practice with meditation and moral teachings.”

The goal is to become more virtuous

As I said, the man behind the creation of Falun Gong is Li Hongzhi, who is either 71 or 72. He has been a permanent resident of the United States since 1998.

The spiritual practice of Falun Gong draws upon ancient Chinese wisdom, infused with Buddhist and Taoist spirituality and values, and involves gentle, meditative exercises and a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

The goal for adherents is to become more virtuous.

One way to become more virtuous is, for example, ending violence. I'm all in on that.

Another way to become more virtuous, Falun Gong's leader has explained, is to condemn atheism, homosexuality, the teaching of evolution and interracial marriage.

I'm not in on that.

A different heaven for every race

According to a 2000 story in the New York Times:

“In an interview last year, he (Li Hongzhi) said each race has its own paradise, and he later told followers in Australia that, ‘The yellow people, the white people, and the black people have corresponding races in heaven.' As a result, he said, interracial children have no place in heaven without his intervention.”

According to Wikipedia, Falun Gong has its headquarters in Deerpark, New York. The entry states:

“Dragon Springs, also known as The Mountain, is a 427-acre compound … that serves as the headquarters of the global Falun Gong new religious movement and the Shen Yun performance arts troupe. Falun Gong founder and leader Li Hongzhi lives near the compound, as do hundreds of Falun Gong adherents. Members of Shen Yun live and rehearse in the compound, which also has an orphanage, schools and temples.”

With all this said, if you went to the Jan. 9 performance in Springfield, I believe it might have been difficult to clearly see any religious underpinnings in the performance.

But there's this entry in the Jan. 9 program. The text is:

This is Pokin Around column No. 157.