In Praise of Shen Yun

(Minghui.org) In light of The New York Times’ attacks on Shen Yun Performing Arts and Falun Gong, a faith group that has long been brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), we feel an obligation to share our understandings of Shen Yun's mission and its contributions to society.

Most of us are U.S. citizens, and we are Falun Dafa practitioners. Having been subjected to the cruelest persecution of faith in human history, we see clearly the CCP’s nature, as well as the danger and harm the CCP brings to the U.S. and to the world. Even while facing the most difficult circumstances, we have done our utmost to help our country and people all over the world.

The U.S.-based Shen Yun Performing Arts composed of Falun Gong artists have impressed people of all nationalities with its incomparable artistic beauty and divinely-inspired culture, and it has awakened their longing for the divine and for Heaven.

Shen Yun is the best blessing bestowed by the divine.

1. Why People Should Support Shen Yun

a. Freedom of belief is the reason the United States is blessed. Traditional culture and values are the fundamental principles left to the American people by the divine.

b. The U.S. was established by the Founding Fathers as a nation of moral people under God, to stand against tyranny, and to “let freedom ring.” This is why the U.S. remains the most powerful and respected country in the world.

c. For nineteen years, Shen Yun performances have embodied the traditional values that many Americans have fought and died for. Through a peaceful and beautiful artistic form, Shen Yun helps people to see through and reject the CCP’s ideological infiltration.

d. All of the world’s people have a role to play in the battle against the CCP for universal values (a contest of good and evil), not just Shen Yun and Falun Gong practitioners.

2. The CCP’s Goal Is to Rule the World

2.1 Two Centuries of Growth

A two-hundred-year lineage of communist development has surfaced in the form of the CCP, which carries on Marx’s legacy:

Stage 1 (200 years ago – World War I): At the end of World War I, the world was left with the Soviet Union and communist parties in other countries.

Stage 2 (World War I – World War II): After World War II, the Communist Bloc was established in Europe, the CCP took power in China, and communist regimes reigned in other countries.

Stage 3 (World War II – Cold War): The Cold War ended with communism defeated in Europe. It seemed that nothing could stop the world from entering an era free of communism. However, the world gave legitimacy to its remnant, the CCP.

Stage 4 (Cold War – Present Day): The CCP carries on Marx’s legacy and projects its power worldwide. The free world succumbed to the temptation of short-term financial gain offered by the CCP, and the regime has become a significant threat to the international community.

2.2 The CCP’s Global Fronts

a. The CCP seeks to establish a new international order centered around itself through its “Community of Common Destiny for Mankind” and “One Belt One Road” initiative.

b. The CCP has narrowed its gap in military strength compared to the U.S. with the strategy of “overtaking on curves.” Meanwhile, its “Made in China 2025, 2035, and 2050” plans are aimed at taking the lead in high-tech industries, such as the internet, artificial intelligence, space, hypersonic weapons, and nuclear technology.

c. The CCP has deeply intertwined its political, economic, and financial interests with those of other countries. This integration affords the CCP the best protection against collapse, and the CCP is the biggest beneficiary of the chaotic global situation.

d. The CCP strives to control international discourse though the strategy of “making culture go global.”

3. To Control the World, the CCP Must First Control the U.S.

The CCP has been waging “unrestricted warfare” against the U.S. for many years, and it has succeeded on many fronts. A number of national security issues have yet to be deeply understood by the U.S., such as those discussed below.

3.1 Building a System of Infiltration Within the U.S.

a. Manipulating national policymaking processes by coercing or enticing influential individuals and organizations

b. Engaging with areas the federal government is less involved in, including Wall Street, businesses, academia, elections, and the media

c. Bypassing national security regulations to infiltrate and destroy the country’s infrastructure

d. Bypassing the federal government to directly influence and intervene in decisions of lower-level governments

3.2 The CCP’s Policies Do Not Change, While U.S. Administrations Come and Go

The U.S. is the last fortress that the CCP intends to conquer. If the U.S. falls, there will be no hope for the world.

The CCP has a long-term, consistent policy targeting the U.S., while American presidential administrations last four to eight years. These regular transitions provide a stream of opportunities that the CCP can exploit in carrying out its goals.

a. Diplomacy

The CCP engages in “great power diplomacy” and seeks to divide the U.S. and its European allies. It controls other countries through its “One Belt, One Road” programs and exerts heavy influence over international organizations, such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and World Health Organization.

b. Economy and Technology

While converting the U.S.’s strengths into its own advantages, the CCP makes money from Americans through low-cost Chinese manufacturing.

c. Military

Not only does the CCP steal and reverse engineer military technology from the U.S., but it also uses the strategy of “military-civil fusion” to appropriate civilian research for military use.

d. Finance

The CCP uses massive amounts of funding obtained from American financial markets to grow its military capabilities. It has also made the Chinese economy “too big to fail,” forcing the world to bail out China and forestall the CCP’s collapse.

3.3 The CCP Has Always Treated the U.S. As Its Biggest Enemy

a. The CCP has long indoctrinated the Chinese people against “hostile forces,” namely “hostile Western forces led by the U.S.” Although it has avoided direct military confrontation with the U.S., the CCP believes that “the U.S. is a false friend and the true enemy,” and that “a battle between China and the U.S. will take place sooner or later.”

b. The CCP has advocated for “absorbing capitalist nutrition to grow our socialist body” and said that “at the right time in the future, we will re-ideologize the world,” i.e. assimilate the world into the CCP’s ideology, or the “China Model.”

c. Taking advantage of human greed, the CCP entices and corrodes Western consortiums, governments, and institutions to abandon moral principles in exchange for short-term gain. Some in the West have come to believe that the communist “China Model” could eventually prevail.

d. The CCP opposes Western values and consistently allies with countries hostile to the U.S.

4. Why Shen Yun is Commendable

If the oldest civilization, the traditional Chinese culture that has been destroyed by the CCP, can be resurrected; if traditional values can awaken people’s memory of the Creator’s grace; if these beautiful performing arts can inspire hope and moral elevation; if traditional values can again connect humankind and the divine, then nothing can stop humankind from returning to the divinely arranged path that leads to a bright future.

a. This is Shen Yun’s selfless contribution to humankind and its glorious and extraordinary achievement over the past nineteen years.

b. Regardless of how cruel the persecution is, Falun Gong artists have tried their best to help others. They act selflessly, seek no fame or personal gain, and fear no hardship. These noble traits have earned them wide praise and continued success.

c. This is the miracle Shen Yun created without government funding or support from any companies or organizations.

d. It is also the ultimate reason that, as Falun Gong practitioners in the U.S., we care about and support Shen Yun from the depths of our hearts.

4.1 The Traditional Values Shen Yun Presents

1) Humankind is created by the divine. Amid the chaotic world, human beings have hope of salvation as long as they hold on to their faith and compassion.2) The fundamental values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance3) Humankind should live in harmony with Heaven and Earth.4) Wealth with virtue5) Pacifying the external by cultivating the internal6) Good is rewarded, and evil is punished7) Good people are blessed and protected by the divine in times of catastrophe.

4.2 Shen Yun Is Making a Big Impact

Shen Yun is reviving the Chinese culture that existed before the Communist Party infiltrated and controlled mainland China. This culture is directly tied to the destiny of more than a billion Chinese people, and it also determines the world’s future in relation to China.

a. Human morality comes from traditional values. The rise or fall of one’s morality is a battle between good and evil, and it leads to either salvation by the divine or the destruction of humankind by demonic forces and communism. Traditional values pave the path to a better world and for returning to Heaven.

b. Shen Yun awakens in human nature the most beautiful memories of the divine, and to all countries and peoples it brings only benefits and no harm. Any civilization that does not heed traditional values inevitably heads for destruction.

c. Shen Yun’s choice to establish itself in the U.S. and tour worldwide is a tremendous contribution to the U.S.

4.3 Shen Yun Is an American Cultural Ambassador

With its annual tours around the world, Shen Yun Performing Arts has become an American cultural ambassador.

a. The freedom in the United States ensures that Shen Yun can fulfill its mission of reviving 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.

b. Shen Yun has performed in more than 200 cities in 36 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. It has eight companies touring the world, attracting millions of audience members each year.

c. Shen Yun enables American cultural exchange and diplomacy to achieve their ideals. Shen Yun’s artistry and spirituality resonate with all people worldwide who align with traditional values.

d. It’s hard to change people’s minds. Shen Yun’s beauty inspires kindness, makes people yearn for a more wonderful world, and fills them with hope. No government can achieve such an impact, but they all cherish such contributions.

4.4 How Shen Yun Disintegrates CCP Elements, and the Importance of Distinguishing the CCP from Chinese People

a. The CCP is a scoundrel. It will sign any treaty but will never carry it out. It fools the strong and bullies the weak. It holds itself to no moral standards, follows no rules, and fears no one, because no one can subdue the devil.

b. Shen Yun is only a performing arts group, and Falun Gong is only a group of people who practice self-cultivation. Why is the CCP afraid of Shen Yun and Falun Gong? It doesn’t care if one curses the Party, but one can’t mention Falun Gong, because we Falun Gong practitioners understand the nature of the CCP. The truth we share can disintegrate the CCP, and cultivators know how to counter the CCP at a fundamental level.

c. The CCP has deceived the Chinese people into believing that the CCP is China. If Shen Yun can go to China to perform, people there will find that what Shen Yun portrays is truly China and their own culture. They will realize that their own culture was destroyed by the CCP. As a result, people will want to have this true Chinese culture, and the CCP’s legitimacy will disintegrate in people’s hearts.

d. The CCP has fooled the world into thinking that the CCP is China. When audiences around the world watch Shen Yun, they will realize that the China presented by Shen Yun is the true China and that they should embrace the true China. As a result, the CCP will lose its legitimacy in the international community.

5. Why We Care So Much

Why do Falun Gong practitioners care so deeply and put in such great efforts to support Shen Yun?

5.1 The CCP Is Here to Harm Humankind, and We Can’t Turn a Blind Eye

Every large-scale religious persecution in history led to a major catastrophe. Divine beings evaluate people's moral standards when choosing the lives to be protected versus those to be eliminated. When people's moral standards degenerate to the point that the divine can no longer consider them to be human, people will face tremendous danger. Not everyone believes this principle, but we do. Out of this pressing concern, we have persevered in clarifying the truth to the world for the past 25 years. Shen Yun’s performances have saved many people and will go on to save even more.

In the seven years between 1992 and 1999, Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance inspired 100 million Chinese people to strive for moral elevation. This is a world-renowned success story.

5.2 The Nature of the CCP’s Persecution of Falun Gong

The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong targets the faith of more than 100 million practitioners. Their families, friends, and acquaintances have had to suppress their support of the practitioners’ faith and their own spiritual pursuits. Some have even been coerced or enticed by monetary rewards to participate in the persecution and committed serious crimes as a result.

For the world’s people, the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong is an assault on the human conscience. Each person’s attitude toward this most brutal persecution of faith is important.

Despite all that they have had to endure over the past 25 years, Falun Gong practitioners have fulfilled their vows to the divine, shown to the world an example of true moral elevation, and given people the hope of returning to tradition.

5.3 How You Can Help Shen Yun

1) Kindhearted people should work together to protect Shen Yun’s freedom and right to perform worldwide.

2) Work together to eliminate interference by the CCP. The CCP has mobilized its state power, including military, police, special agents, diplomats, and both registered and hidden foreign agents to sabotage Shen Yun’s performances worldwide at all costs.

3) Spread the word to give more people a chance to enjoy Shen Yun’s beauty, return to divinely inspired tradition, and embrace a wonderful future.

Best wishes to the U.S. and the American people!Best wishes to the Chinese people!Best wishes to all kindhearted people in the world!