Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun
newyorker.com
newyorker.com
Instead, it was horribly amateurish propaganda (the entire "set" was a projected CG image). Heavy-handed plays for sympathy and the demonization of the Chinese state culminated in a spiritual Armageddon where a Christ-like deity leads his followers out of a world-consuming conflagration.
The audience lapped it up (this was Arizona, by the way). There were no misgivings or complaints voiced as we shuffled out of the theater. We felt suckered, and, to this day, share knowing looks of sheepishness and incredulity when we see billboards around the country advertising the show.
But, honestly, I'm surprised you were surprised by the political bent. I thought it was common knowledge that the Chinese government's suppression of traditional chinese art led to a diaspora. I guess having a Chinese piano teacher who fled for similar reasons changes your perspective.
Here's the article's quote that I think sums it all up:
> The fact that both Falun Gong and the Communist Party communicate via propaganda makes it almost impossible to understand what’s really happening
[0] http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053761,00...
I’m guessing that both are driven strongly by economics, so it makes sense that there is some perceptual overlap.
There's a conspiracy theory that FLG is a very smart way of CPP to get more supporters.i.e. it's a tool of CPP. Personally I don't believe it. It's different from so called "controlled opposition". "controlled opposition" is only helpful for keeping balance but can not create support.
Edit:for typo
What are specific things you feel most Westerners are clearly misinformed about China?
One reason Chinese rulers crack down hard on religious cults because they have a history of sowing widespread chaos and death if not kept in check:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion#Death_toll
Led by a guy who claimed to be Jesus Christ's brother. 20-30 million is in the range of WW1 casualties.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19437920 has some other examples
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution#Death_toll
> because they have a history of sowing widespread chaos and death if not kept in check
From the article:
>The Taiping Rebellion began in the southern province of Guangxi _when local officials launched a campaign of religious persecution against a millenarian sect_
The Qing was doing pretty badly as a state in the face of exploding population, famines, rise of banditry and a deeply corrupt administration. It was a general time of upheaval with people looking for change, as evidenced by the fact that there were multiple other rebellions going on at the same time. The Taiping was another political movement with religious trappings. Not saying Xiuquan was right but it seems their main crime, as with all failed revolts, was losing.
I’m not religious but it’s popular now to sneer at religion and toss it off as _the cause_ for events like the Taiping. And that’s not supported by the evidence or context.
Cracking down on (religion|information|other parties|opposition|internet) because your old and highly centralized state cannot tolerate competition without falling apart? That’s seems more like it. Not “religion” per se.
Chinese historiography sees China's periodic breakup and reconstitution as part of a cycle, where both changes are demanded by the times. The chaos of a decrepit state or the chaos of a country split into warring regions are both equally intolerable.
However, hard experience has also taught the Chinese that every one of these struggles cause the common people to suffer greatly and for millions to die (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Lushan_Rebellion#Death_toll , although there's some debate here)
> Not saying Xiuquan was right but it seems their main crime, as with all failed revolts, was losing.
Yes, the crime was losing—if they had managed to overthrow the Qing and establish a stable state then they would be seen as possessing the 'Mandate of Heaven'. But if you're going to rebel, lose and take 30 million people with you, fatally weakening the Qing state in the process and setting it up for more colonization by the West and Japan—what was actually accomplished by this enormous cost of human suffering?
It's not religion per se that the state fears most, just any source of authority that can inspire the common people to rebel against it. Communism certainly worked well recently.
The West has had the fortune of recent history from the post-Renaissance era being a time of generally increasing standards of living and political liberation. From the French to the American to the Glorious Revolutions, they are seen as successful struggles against backwards tradition and monarchy.
China on the other hand has both the blessing and curse of remembering 2000+ years of both cycles of prosperity as well as collapse.
No individual human rights in China. The government can squash them as they like, and if the public doesn't like that group, no one will complain. (Which makes propaganda very useful for both sides.)
First they came for the wackos, the conspiracy theorists, and the minority religions...
> although a lot of injustice was done to Falun Gong followers
It also reminds us that there are worlds views even worse than the status quo. As unbelievable as that may seem.
"injustice" doesn't even begin to describe the level of persecution that they have endured in China. This is nothing like Scientology in any way, followers of Scientology are not murdered by the U.S. government.
Just take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Falun_Gong#Tort...
"In order to reach transformation targets, the government sanctioned the systematic use of torture and violence against Falun Gong practitioners, including shocks with electric truncheons and beatings."
"Since 2000, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture documented 314 cases of torture in China, representing more than 1,160 individuals. Falun Gong comprised 66% of the reported torture cases."
"The Falun Dafa Information Center reports that over 3,700 named Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of torture and abuse in custody, typically after they refused to recant their beliefs. ... Government authorities deny that Falun Gong practitioners are killed in custody. They attribute deaths to suicide, illness, or other accidents."
"In 2014, investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann published the results of his own investigation. ... In 2014, investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann published the results of his own investigation. ... In December 2005 and November 2006, China's Deputy Health Minister acknowledged that the practice of removing organs from executed prisoners for transplants was widespread. However, Chinese officials deny that Falun Gong practitioners' organs are being harvested, and insist that China abides by World Health Organization principles that prohibit the sale of human organs without written consent from donors."
And https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_Ch...
"In September 2001, five Falun Gong practitioners were assaulted while demonstrating outside the Chinese consulate in Chicago. The assailants, who were later convicted of battery, were members of a Chinese-American association with connections to the Chinese consulate."
"In 2002, 25-year-old Ottawa practitioner Leon Wang reported being kicked, dragged, and beaten inside the Chinese embassy after he was caught taking pictures of an anti-Falun Gong exhibit being held there. The embassy responded that Wang had 'sneaked in ... and disrupted its normal functioning' of the event."
Just because a government does bad things to a group, doesn't mean the group is now good. Doesn't mean they're bad either.
Mostly I was responding to using "injustice" instead of e.g. "violent persecution" and implying that having "their assets frozen" was the worst thing that happened. And implying that a lack of sympathy is somehow relevant in considering the morality of their persecution.
Consider this despicable statement: "Although a lot of injustice was done to followers of Judaism, and most of their assets were frozen, there wasn't much sympathy for the Jewish people in Nazi Germany and they were typically regarded as a bit weird."
These are not at all at the same scale or level of persecution, but nevertheless if you condemn the statement above then logically you ought to condemn the other.
Don’t mistake lack of opportunity for lack of will. Nutty ideologies are ‘harmless’ till they have an opportunity to act on their nuttiness.
What exactly is that?
(This is not an *-ist comment; that governments promote their cultures in other countries to create "soft power" is an established fact. I for one would love in many ways to live in a world where all our conflicts were solved with such soft power, rather than the harder kind.)
I have to admit, I thought exactly the same. Just yesterday saw a booth with a nicely dressed man in a suit, selling Shen Yun tickets and thought it must a troupe from China and wondered how much propaganda is in it. I was imagining something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius_Institute. Then today saw this on the HN front page.
It turns out yes, it is selling propaganda, but not the kind I thought.
Of course on the other end of things there's China Daily so... maybe not such a helpful data point.
0184 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Turban_Rebellion
1351 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Turban_Rebellion
1794 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lotus_Rebellion
These rebellions usually have a frame story of an ancient way of life founded on people's harmony with nature and one another. Because the government operates at variance with this harmony, the government is not legitimate and must be replaced.
Francis Fukuyama talks at length about the "Mandate of Heaven" concept and its impact on legitimacy in China in his recent books.
But the side-trips into propaganda made me feel like I had been deceived by the advertising, which really turned me off.
But the side-trips into propaganda made me feel like I had been deceived by the advertising, which really turned me off.
Propaganda makes for mediocre art. I think one of the seminal essays to that effect was actually written by a prominent propagandist. It's a very important idea for 2019.
Science Belief 1: Evolution.
Simultaneous Religious Belief 1: Humans have souls and are special, elevated beings existing above the realm of the animals.
You’d be surprised how many smart people believe both!
"The fact that everyone in 2019 communicates via propaganda makes it almost impossible to understand what’s really happening."
"Social media" is a bit of a whitewash. It should really be called, "Everyone Propaganda!"
More than that -- until I read this, I had half-convinced myself that I'd been seeing these posters since the early 90s, not 2007!
> Shen Yun greeted me silently at the bus stop and loomed over highway exits, following me around on the physical plane of existence the way anything you shop for on the Internet starts to follow you around online.
This makes me think of the strategy the great showman P.T. Barnum would use, typically by bombarding people with larger-than-life posters, to raise awareness of his acts. He earned a lot of business doing this.
Here in Japan, I see that a few large private universities are affiliated with Confucius Institute, and I have seen a Shen Yun ad on YouTube. The cultural war is certainly going on here too.
Don't know, don't care, they got a restaurant to run! [1] They're probably just getting past your question and getting onto the next task. My wife grew up in mainland China. She thinks of them as wackos and/or somewhat like "carnies." If they can live and let live, and they don't do something like human trafficking, then they can believe what they want and make whatever art and dance they want, as far as I'm concerned.
([1] I used to work at a local midwest bookstore chain that Borders seemed to steal its ideas from. Customers got a totally relaxed vibe, even from the workers. However, being a worker there was a workout! I probably did enough walking for that one activity to qualify as a fitness program. So if you go to a restaurant that seems hectic, there's a good chance it's not just hectic, but that just getting through your shift is a heroic feat of endurance and optimizing on your feet. (I've also worked in restaurants.))
...
"For further information, consult your pineal gland."
Nowadays FG is very much a shadow of its former glory these days in China thanks to both supression efforts as well as improved economic prospects. Its influence has aged much better outside China because the Chinese diaspora's world view is more or less stuck in the 1990s, like it was the end of history according to Francis Fukuyama.
The local media and most of the public seems to have no clue that it's a propaganda gambit.