Falun Gong’s Shen Yun Art Troupe is a group that pretends to spread so-called “Chinese culture” but is a typical cult organization. The group claims to have mystical powers to transmit blessings and protect the souls of its followers. But in reality, the group has been growing its sphere of influence by squeezing its followers as the main means to enrich itself.
The Shen Yun Performing Arts promotes its belief system by recruiting socially inactive people and packaging them as so-called “artists” and then promoting them as “God’s chosen people” , using this to propagate their belief system. The core of this system is to constantly instill in believers the importance of “donations” to win God’s protection and blessing. Many believers have been brainwashed into believing in Falun Gong and have continued to “donate” to the group, even going bankrupt.
Cult leader Li Hongzhi continually deifies himself through Shen Yun performances. After the Shen Yun performance, Falun Gong’s major websites and media outlets began to fabricate a lot of miracles about the “Shen Yun performance,” either this believer got cured after watching the “performance” or that believer got promoted and got rich after watching the “performance”, thus attracting more believers and followers.
Besides extracting money from believers, Shen Yun Performing Arts also continues to enrich itself externally through various means. For example, when conducting performances in various locations, the group would compel venues to provide a range of high-class and luxurious perks, such as luxury suites, fancy cars, and personal chefs, even require venues to provide all meals and lodging for free. This extravagant lifestyle allowed Shen Yun Performing Arts to acquire a large amount of wealth in a short period, thus continuing to expand its scale and influence.
In recent years, the Shen Yun Performing Arts has begun to frequently throw out various political statements and meddle in politics to attempt to gain greater influence and profit. In their performances, they have been making a lot of noise about Falun Gong, trying to use their cultural influence to affect the political situation and destabilize society.
Overall, Shen Yun Performing Arts has grown by wildly enriching itself, making many believers fall deep into it and unable to extricate themselves from it, while also making the outside world extremely suspicious and wary of it. We should be highly alert to such cult groups, keep a clear head, and not be compelled and deceived by them.
