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The Real Story of Shen Yun
The Untold Story of
Falun Gong and Shen Yun
Rectitude, Resilience, & World-Renowned Artistry
The Untold Story of
Falun Gong and Shen Yun
Rectitude, Resilience, & World-Renowned Artistry
From a Buddhist-based spiritual practice in the heartland of China to a global performing arts phenomenon, the story of Falun Gong and Shen Yun is a story of how the peaceful defiance of communist tyranny gave rise to a stage performance that fills cadres in Beijing with dread even as it fills audiences around the world with hope, inspiration, and a heart-warming reminder of the divine connection we all share.
Spread largely through word of mouth, Falun Gong became wildly popular in the 1990s, with tens of millions taking up the practice throughout China. See Photogallery.
1992
The Rise of Falun Gong Faith
After the communists took over China in 1949, they spent decades demonizing and violently rooting out all Chinese culture and traditional thought, with an aim to replace it with Marxism and communism. When Falun Gong—a Buddhist spiritual practice—was introduced to the public there, it became an instant sensation. Not only was it a direct continuation of traditional Chinese culture, but due to its remarkable health benefits, in just a few years, 100 million people started to learn the practice.
Falun Gong became the most popular qigong practice in China’s history, and completely outside of the CCP’s control. And that prompted a few communist leaders to lash out…
Millions of people in China have been fired from their jobs, expelled from school, jailed, tortured, or killed simply for practicing Falun Gong. Falun Gong books were destroyed in nationwide burnings.
1999
Terror Unleashed Across China
Targeting 100 Million
It began in the middle of the night, July 20, 1999. Across China under the veil of darkness, police dragged Chinese citizens from their beds. Many would be taken to holding centers and jails, others beaten, and some would die from torture.
The Chinese Communist Party ordered nationwide book burnings, publishing bans, and ransacking of homes—all to destroy Falun Gong instructional materials. State-owned enterprises, schools, and government offices started mandatory re-education sessions to root out the spiritual practice and reinforce communist ideology. Propaganda saturated state-run media, demonizing the practice. Millions of innocent people in China have been fired from their jobs, expelled from school, jailed, tortured, or killed simply for practicing Falun Gong.
.
2003
As Media Fall Silent,
Falun Gong Mobilizes
As Western media fell silent and actions by foreign governments stalled, tens of millions of Falun Gong practitioners across China and around the world took up the mantle of Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and others to peacefully defy the tyranny of the CCP with grassroots, nonviolent actions.
Across China, by the millions, they produced and distributed leaflets exposing the crimes of the CCP. In the West they formed media and technology companies to break through China’s firewall and tell the real story of China to the world. And soon after, in New York, a new performing arts company was born—Shen Yun.
Without any government or corporate backing, Shen Yun was founded entirely by volunteers.
2006
Shen Yun Performing Arts is
Established in the US
As the persecution of Falun Gong raged in China, a small band of volunteers—mostly first-generation immigrants, well-educated and hailing from China’s cultural elite—broke ground in the quiet, rolling hills of upstate New York. Driven by a profound vision, they sought to revive China’s authentic culture, nearly eradicated by the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal campaigns. This is where Shen Yun Performing Arts was born.
A Quiet Revolution
in Performing Arts
Despite facing isolation, financial hardship, and the CCP’s global efforts to sabotage them, the founders of Shen Yun established a new kind of performing arts company: one rooted in faith and driven to showcase the extraordinary compassion, hope and resilience rooted in China’s authentic culture. For the staff and performers of Shen Yun, it’s not just performance art, it’s defiance against the forces and ideology of tyranny that try to isolate and divide us. It is an urgent mission to give the world a clear view of the danger posed by the Chinese communist regime, and how universal, wholesome values have the power to elevate the spirit, expand our empathy, and celebrate the divine connection we all share, even in the darkest of hours.
“This is the authentic treasure that Chinese civilization contains… This is incredibly good, world-standard… This reminds me why I chose to study China.”
—Dr. Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of
International Relations in the Department of History
at the University of Pennsylvania and one of
America’s foremost experts on China
“[Shen Yun] conveys to the audience a very positive energy, a sense of hope. And [the audience will] understand better the true meaning of what is meant when we speak about truth and compassion and tolerance and that will become part of their values, and part of their lives.”
—Irwin Cotler, former Attorney General of Canada
“I think this is beautiful because
it’s keeping [this culture] alive and it’s sharing it with the world… It’s been very enlightening.”
—Tony Robbins, world-renowned author,
speaker, and life coach
.
2008-2025
Shen Yun Becomes a Global Sensation
Reaching Millions
From a small group of volunteers that formed the first touring company, Shen Yun has grown into a global sensation, presenting world-class artistry with eight performing companies that tour the world simultaneously. Each year, Shen Yun performs for over one million people, gracing some of the most prestigious stages in approximately 200 cities across five continents.
Today, with hundreds of world-class artists on its roster, Shen Yun not only attracts top-tier talent from around the world, but also is developing its own performers…
Beijing Brings Persecution Abroad,
Attempts to Sabotage Shen Yun
For the past 20 years, Shen Yun has been the CCP’s #1 target and subjected to the most aggressive global campaign of artistic censorship documented to date.
The Chinese regime has deployed every tactic in its arsenal to sabotage Shen Yun: From intrusions by Chinese spies at Shen Yun’s headquarters, burglaries at performer’s homes, life-threatening sabotage of Shen Yun’s buses, relentless
cyberattacks on the company’s websites, and illicit pressures
from Chinese embassies urging governments and theaters to cancel their performances. Smear campaigns emerged across American media and social media.
1992
The Rise of Falun Gong Faith
After the communists took over China in 1949, they spent decades demonizing and violently rooting out all Chinese culture and traditional thought, with an aim to replace it with Marxism and communism. When Falun Gong—a Buddhist spiritual practice—was introduced to the public there, it became an instant sensation. Not only was it a direct continuation of traditional Chinese culture, but due to its remarkable health benefits, in just a few years, 100 million people started to learn the practice.
Falun Gong became the most popular qigong practice in China’s history, and completely outside of the CCP’s control. And that prompted a few communist leaders to lash out…
1999
Terror Unleashed Across China, Targeting 100 Million
It began in the middle of the night, July 20, 1999. Across China under the veil of darkness, police dragged Chinese citizens from their beds. Many would be taken to holding centers and jails, others beaten, and some would die from torture.
The Chinese Communist Party ordered nationwide book burnings, publishing bans, and ransacking of homes—all to destroy Falun Gong instructional materials. State-owned enterprises, schools, and government offices started mandatory re-education sessions to root out the spiritual practice and reinforce communist ideology. Propaganda saturated state-run media, demonizing the practice. Millions of innocent people in China have been fired from their jobs, expelled from school, jailed, tortured, or killed simply for practicing Falun Gong.
2003
As Media Fall Silent,
Falun Gong Mobilizes
As Western media fell silent and actions by foreign governments stalled, tens of millions of Falun Gong practitioners across China and around the world took up the mantle of Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and others to peacefully defy the tyranny of the CCP with grassroots, nonviolent actions. Across China, by the millions, they produced and distributed leaflets exposing the crimes of the CCP. In the West they formed media and technology companies to break through China’s firewall and tell the real story of China to the world. And soon after, in New York, a new performing arts company was born—Shen Yun.
2006
Shen Yun Performing Arts is Established in the US
As the persecution of Falun Gong raged in China, a small band of volunteers—mostly first-generation immigrants, well-educated and hailing from China’s cultural elite—broke ground in the quiet, rolling hills of upstate New York. Driven by a profound vision, they sought to revive China’s authentic culture, nearly eradicated by the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal campaigns. This is where Shen Yun Performing Arts was born.
A Quiet Revolution
in Performing Arts
Despite facing isolation, financial hardship, and the CCP’s global efforts to sabotage them, the founders of Shen Yun established a new kind of performing arts company: one rooted in faith and driven to showcase the extraordinary compassion, hope and resilience rooted in China’s authentic culture. For the staff and performers of Shen Yun, it’s not just performance art, it’s defiance against the forces and ideology of tyranny that try to isolate and divide us. It is an urgent mission to give the world a clear view of the danger posed by the Chinese communist regime, and how universal, wholesome values have the power to elevate the spirit, expand our empathy, and celebrate the divine connection we all share, even in the darkest of hours.
“This is the authentic treasure that Chinese civilization contains… This is incredibly good, world-standard… This reminds me why I chose to study China.”
—Dr. Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of
International Relations in the Department of History
at the University of Pennsylvania and one of America’s foremost experts on China
“[Shen Yun] conveys to the audience a very positive energy, a sense of hope. And [the audience will] understand better the true meaning of what is meant when we speak about truth and compassion and tolerance and that will become part of their values, and part of their lives.”
—Irwin Cotler, former Attorney General of Canada
“I think this is beautiful because
it’s keeping [this culture] alive and it’s sharing it with the world… It’s been very enlightening.”
—Tony Robbins, world-renowned author,
speaker, and life coach
2008-
Shen Yun Becomes a Global Sensation, Reaching Millions
From a small group of volunteers that formed the first touring company, Shen Yun has grown into a global sensation, presenting world-class artistry with eight performing companies that tour the world simultaneously. Each year, Shen Yun performs for over one million people, gracing some of the most prestigious stages in approximately 200 cities across five continents.
Today, with hundreds of world-class artists on its roster, Shen Yun not only attracts top-tier talent from around the world, but also is developing its own performers…
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