Written by Grace Jacovides and Victor Si Thu
“An explosion of colour and sound,” Shen Yun is the performing arts branch of Falun Gong, an international “cult” whose spiritual practice and ideology positions them against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).1 Falun Gong actively promotes engagement with traditional Chinese values as an alternative to the “corruption” brought about by the CCP.2 Since 2006, Shen Yun has toured the globe in an effort to engage with its partitions and prospective audiences alike to tell “5000 years of Chinese history”.3 It is a strong claim to distil 5000 years’ worth of history into a two hour dance performance. However, it is through this endeavour that Falun Gong seeks to reimagine the Chinese identity, history and spirituality. Whilst the suppression of the Falun Gong group matches the CCP’s ongoing intolerance of religious sects, it is the former’s claim to the spiritual and cultural identity of
China. This creates a rival ideology of the state – a counter-nationalism to the CCP.4 Shen Yun thus plays a vital role in communicating Falun Gong’s vision of the Chinese identity.
To better understand the so-called ‘cultishness’ of Shen Yun, one must observe the historical context from which it emerged. It goes without saying that the programme’s combination of bright colours, mythicised vistas, and synchronised movement are not void of intention. Founded by “Master” Li Hongzi in 1992 in north-eastern China, though initially confined to mainland China, the movement gained additional traction overseas through informal networks of expatriated Chinese.5 That said, in 1999, the movement abruptly transformed into a predominantly diasporic operation on account of the CCP’s suppression of it in mainland China. Since then, the movement has operated out of its 427-acre compound in
Deerpark, New York.6 Despite relocating to the United States, the movement remains centred around mainland China, its ‘cultural universe’ Chinese, and its visual language, distinctly Han.7 But what is the purpose of Shen Yun? And, perhaps more importantly, what is it trying to say about Chinese identity today?
Falun Gong’s practice tells the story of Shen Zhou, the Divine Land, where divine culture flowed freely from the Heavens to the Earth. A reflection of the Heavenly Kingdom, Shen Zhou represented the peak of Chinese civilisation, where supreme authority was vested in the
son of Heaven as mandated by the Heavenly Jade Emperor. As such, Shen Yun literally translates to “the beauty of divine beings dancing”, a visual projection of the ideal Chinese state envisioned by Falun Gong.8 According to this vision, traditional Chinese culture, language, and values rest upon the three fundamental pillars of truth, compassion, and forbearance. It also stresses the importance of replicating the celestial bureaucracy with Li Honghzhi as its Heavenly-mandated ruler on Earth.9 This, of course, stands in staunch intellectual opposition to the CCP’s secular, ostensibly multi-ethnic, egalitarian modernity.
This point of tension is undoubtedly reflected within the technical mechanisms that inform Falun Gong and, by extension, Shen Yun itself. Despite such philosophical, ideological, and political differences, Falun Gong is not entirely dissimilar to the CCP, especially in the
business of identity building. It is important to stress here that Falun Gong is not explicitly a nationalist movement but rather a religious order which utilises the tools of nationalism to propose an alternative theory of the Chinese State.
Since 1992, it has been Falun Gong’s primary concern to protect, preserve, and continually reinforce a historicised idea of the ideal Chinese State. As such, it operates through a process of high normativity, often acting in the name of survival. More specifically, the survival of Chinese traditions against the tide of modernity. Through this lens, Falun Gong seeks to make imminent the assumption that the Chinese identity and wider civilisation revolves around the
feudalist aesthetics and norms of the so-called “conquest dynasties”.10 Beyond the reconstruction of the celestial bureaucracy, this means adhering to the styles of the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties.11 A phenomenon which can be vividly identifiable within the
visual language of Shen Yun. Through aesthetics, Falun Gong seeks to not only differentiate itself from the CCP but also deepen its politicisation of the latter as a source of existential threat.; a destructive force of modernity bound to pervert, taint, and dismantle 5000 years of Chinese traditions. Shen Yun, therefore, serves as a visual medium through which Falun Gong seeks to manufacture a sense of imminent danger. This is predominantly executed
through the deliberate juxtaposition of visual motifs and forms. The practitioners of Shen Yun: languid, fluid, and light. In contrast, the CCP is brutish, cantankerous, and dark. This paradigm is particularly identifiable within the set design and costuming of Shen Yun.
The set design of Shen Yun is intended to be a microcosmic expression of Falun Gong’s cosmic battle between good and evil. Master Li’s idea of Falun Gong’s salvific power is deeply embedded within the visual messaging. This narrative of spiritual resistance extends beyond immediate threats to Falun Gong. Rather, unfolds through the divine connection between Heaven and Earth as depicted in the set design.12 Clouds, soft filters, and ornate architecture symbolise this enduring link, portraying a harmonious world order. However, this serenity is abruptly disrupted by the stark introduction of modernity, threatening to overturn and subvert the perennial world order that Falun Gong seeks to preserve. The juxtaposition of these elements in the set design becomes a powerful visual metaphor,
enhancing the overall impact of Shen Yun as a theatrical manifestation of China as the eternal Zhōngguó (中国).
Throughout Shen Yun’s performance, the costumes are drawn from the wide varieties of traditional Han-centred national dress, functioning as a visual centre piece. Here, the bright colours, embroidered motifs, and flowing fabrics seek to claim the visual culture of “China before Communism”.13 Historicised Chinese ceremonial dress highlights the need for traditional costumes to embody and replicate the “unity of heaven and man”.14 Falun Gong’s
idea of the Chinese State is continually reinforced using bold colours and translucent fabrics.15 Its caricaturised use of colour and texture seeks to express Falun Gong’s spirituality. The sacrosanctity of this spirituality is communicated through the incorporation of flowing silhouettes, complex appliques, and elaborate embroideries. The costumes ultimately work in tandem with the almost synthetic background of the production. Quite literally painting a harmonious picture between the individual and the environment they
inhabit.
Likewise, the perceived threat of the CCP is also communicated using costume. Falun Gong’s struggle against not only the CCP but of modernity is depicted through the contrasting use of utilitarian shapes, colours, and textures. As such, the dancers representing
the CCP are dressed in structured black outfits as a means of opposing the visual lightness of the Falun Gong practitioners. Emulating the utilitarian garments of the ‘Mao Suit’, each costume features a black square-cut jacket, complete with structured shoulder pads, western-style patch pockets and turned-down collars. The sharp lines and singular dark colour, reminiscent of military uniforms, strip away the unique variety of cultural identities established by the other costumes within the performance. This intentionally reinforces Falun
Gong’s opposition against the CCP as a destructive force of modernisation, distancing China from its divine roots. The deliberate hyper-contrasting visual present ‘good’ religious practices versus the ‘evil’ of modernisation. Falun Gong, therefore, proposes an alternative
theory of the Chinese state, the Chinese identity, which underlies its religious practice.
In conclusion, Shen Yun is an extension of Falun Gong. Its primary goal, not unlike the CCP, is to produce a specific epistemology about the Chinese identity; one ostensibly rooted in the idea of the ‘Heavenly Kingdom’. This, consequently, means the reproduction of China’s so-called ‘Golden Age’. In other words, Shen Yun seeks to closely replicate the norms and aesthetics of the conquest dynasties, as understood by Master Li Hongzi. This, by extension, meant the essentialisation of Falun Gong. and its values to Chinese statehood, identity, and culture. A struggle over the Chinese state, identity, and culture is thus assumed in the wake of the CCP’s position of authority., this assumption finds itself simplified into a theatrical
struggle between so-called ‘good’ and ‘evil’; as reflected in set design and costuming of Shen Yun.
Footnotes
1 Shen Yun Official Website (2024), https://www.shenyun.com/?_tuid=757f498f-ab0d91d9-92f6-
121402c9e60e.
2 Shen Yun Offical Website, 5,000 Years of Civilisation, (2024),
https://www.shenyun.com/?_tuid=757f498f-ab0d-91d9-92f6-121402c9e60e.
3 Ibid.
4 Anne S. Cheung, “In Search of a Theory of Cult and Freedom of Religion in China: The Case of Falun Gong”, 13.1, (2004), p13.
5 Benjamin Penny, “Falun Gong in Song and Dance,” in Globalising Asian Religions: Management and Marketing (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019), 131.
6 Benjamin Penny, “Falun Gong in Song and Dance,” in Globalising Asian Religions: Management and
Marketing (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019), 120.
7 Ibid, 120.
8 Shen Yun Official Website, What is in a name? (2024), https://www.shenyun.com/?_tuid=757f498f-
ab0d91d9-92f6-121402c9e60e.
9 Benjamin Penny, “Falun Gong in Song and Dance,” in Globalising Asian Religions: Management and
Marketing (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019), 127.
10 Benjamin Penny, “Falun Gong in Song and Dance,” in Globalising Asian Religions: Management and
Marketing (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019), 127.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.; “Shen Yun Performing Arts Introduction,” Shen Fun Performing Arts, published 2015,
https://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/videos/about-shen-yun/play/1HWQkr7XsZU.
13 Shen Yun Official Website (2024), https://www.shenyun.com/?_tuid=757f498f-ab0d91d9-92f6-121402c9e60e.
14 Hong. S, “Chinese Costumes and the Spirit of Chinese Aesthetics,” Contemporary Social Sciences, 2. 8.
(2018), 132.
Bibliography
Cheung. A.S, “In Search of a Theory of Cult and Freedom of Religion in China: The Case of Falun Gong”, 13.1, (2004), 1-30.
Garrett M.V, Chinese Dress: From the Qing Dynasty to the Present. (Tokyo: Tuttle Pub. 2007)
Hong. S, “Chinese Costumes and the Spirit of Chinese Aesthetics,” Contemporary Social Sciences, 2. 8. (2018), 118-144.
Needham, E. “Shen Fun has a political message. That shouldn’t be a surprise.” The Washington Post. Published February 1, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2023/02/01/dance-cultural-diplomacy-shen-yun/.
Ownby, D. Falun Gong and the Future of China, (Oxford; Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2008), 161-227.
Penny, B. “Falun Gong in Song and Dance”. In Globalising Asian Religions: Management and Marketing, 119-136. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, Accessed January 2024, https://www.shenyun.com/ Shen Yun Performing Arts. “Shen Yun Performing Arts Introduction.” Published 2015.
https://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/videos/about-shen-yun/play/1HWQkr7XsZU
Identity Hunters 