Dear BPCWAians, In recent months, many of us may have noticed promotions at shopping centres regarding a Chinese cultural show and also advertisements pasted on shop windows or on walls. These advertisements show a graceful Chinese costumed lady in dance, dressed in pink contrasted against a yellowish-orange coloured background. It aroused my curiosity a little, since it seemed to present itself as a Chinese cultural show. So, recently, when I saw a brochure promoting the tickets to the show, I took a copy home to read and understand more about it. With apparently positive reviews from producers, critics, lead ballet dancers, and even by an Archbishop, is this just a promotion of Chinese culture?

Is this cultural or religious? Upon reading, it quickly became apparent that this show is no mere classical Chinese dance, but is intended to promote a religious cause. In English, the performance is simply called “Shen Yun”, and the show is by Shen Yun Performing Arts. At a glance, one would simply think that it is simply a name, just like any other. However, their blog site explains their name to mean “the expression and representation of divine beings”, or “dancing goddesses”. They explain that contrary to the belief of one supreme heavenly being, “Chinese spirituality on the other hand, is replete with hundreds of deities, Buddhas, and Taoist immortals”. Their mission is to revive a culture which they believed once existed in China when “deities and mortals coexisted”, and “the divine” transmitted “a rich culture” to people, giving harmony between heaven and earth. Under the ticketing information, it states that the show is presented by Falun Dafa Association of Australia Inc. “Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a self-practice system that combines ancient Chinese teachings with meditation exercises.” So, in its performances, Shen Yun’s artistic team depicts the stories of Falun Dafa through song and dance dramas. In photographs of their dance, men are depicted in the flowing orange robes of Buddhist monks, ladies dance with headgears of lotus flowers, and in 1 stance, the men are lined up to depict Buddha with multiple arms. Undoubtedly, this art performance conveys a strong religious message. This is not lost on the audience. In interviews, those who watched it described it as “the idea of everybody coming from a celestial place”, “it’s all beauty and truth and light”, “it’s a bridge between meditation and peace” and with the effect that “it’ll

… enrich her soul and her development as a person… change her life”.

Their “divine inspiration” is the spiritual discipline known as Falun Dafa, where they strive to attain a higher realm because they think “that ancient wisdom resides deep in our being, waiting to be unlocked”. This explains the not so innocuous reason for their name. Embedded in it is a religious intent to portray the Chinese spirituality idea that the divine being resides in every person. Without a doubt, the online videos show incredible gymnastic performances that make one want to go and watch. But this is not just a cultural show. It is at its heart a religious promotion with a religious message being put across to viewers through song and dance.

How should Christians respond? Many things are presented as cultural, medical and traditions, but are really religious in nature and origin. This is why it seems so harmless and therefore effective in creeping into Christians’ lives, beliefs and practices. This so called Chinese cultural show is no different. We are to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess 5:21,22). All these promotions may appear to you as cultural, but they are done with a spiritual purpose and intent. Their website does not deny that their aim is to bring across, through this performance, the spiritual message they believe in. Such shows by Shen Yun are really evangelization rallies, designed to promote their religion. We cannot attend these events, thinking that “I am just there to enjoy the entertainment, I won’t fall”. We are not wiser than God, who says “let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). If we will not go to a temple and be part of the Buddhist ceremony, why will we go to such a performance as this? The light of the body is the eye (Matt 6:22) – why let our guard down and allow our eyes and heart indulge in the active promotion of something that goes against our Almighty God and Father? Christians must “be ye separate… and touch not the unclean thing” (2 Cor 6:17).

Yours in our Lord’s service

Pastor