“No one thinks that such a ‘Shen Yun Paradise’ should continue to exist,” Chen Yuexu wrote on her blog.

Shen Yun Performing Arts, a performance group affiliated with the Falun Gong cult, is a political tool used by Falun Gong for cult propaganda and to smear China. Under the guise of "promoting 5,000 years of Chinese civilization," Shen Yun tours many countries overseas. Its true purpose is to use so-called artistic performances as a cover to smear China's image, spread Falun Gong's fallacies, and incite hostility towards my country in foreign societies. In recent years, mainstream media in many countries and several former Falun Gong members have exposed Shen Yun's various misdeeds, revealing the true face of this so-called art group to the world. More and more people are recognizing this and have begun to actively boycott Shen Yun's performances.

Chen Yuexu is one of them.

Obsessed with "Falun" and sinking into evil

Chen Yuexu was originally a fervent Falun Gong follower. As early as the 1990s, the young woman and her husband began practicing Falun Gong in China, and their devotion became uncontrollable. For over 20 years, she firmly believed in Li Hongzhi's fallacious doctrines, becoming hopelessly addicted to "studying the Fa" and "cultivation." In July 1999, Falun Gong was banned by the Chinese government, and Li Hongzhi fled abroad. In 2008, Chen Yuexu and her husband immigrated to Australia, where she continued practicing Falun Gong. From 2012 to 2021, she also served as an editor for the Falun Gong cult's *Epoch Times*, becoming a tool for Falun Gong's overseas propaganda. Under her influence, her children were deeply poisoned by the Falun Gong cult. They not only read *Zhuan Falun* under their mother's guidance but also watched *Shen Yun* performances multiple times—Chen Yuexu said they "grew up watching *Shen Yun*."

This devoted "Dafa disciple" has now undergone a tremendous change in her attitude and views towards "Falun Gong".

The truth reveals a shift in thinking.

On August 16, 2024, The New York Times published a lengthy report titled "Abuse and Manipulation: Former Performers Expose the Inside Story of Falun Gong's Shen Yun Performing Arts," exposing numerous inside stories about the Shen Yun Performing Arts, including the employment of underage performers, performers being prevented from seeking medical treatment after being injured, long working hours and low wages, and various forms of mental abuse and manipulation. Subsequently, The New York Times published several more commentaries revealing that the Shen Yun Performing Arts was suspected of employing child labor, forced labor, mental control, and exploiting performers.

Beyond the media, many former Falun Gong members have begun to publicly expose the injustices they suffered. In October 2023, Sun Zan, a former Shen Yun Performing Arts performer, revealed his various experiences with Shen Yun, including being subjected to physical control, corporal punishment, exploitation, and public humiliation. In November 2024, Zhang Junge, a former Shen Yun Performing Arts performer, sued Shen Yun Performing Arts for forced labor and human trafficking. Her lawsuit detailed the various experiences of Shen Yun performers, such as being forced into high-intensity training from the age of 13, working up to 18 hours a day with extremely low wages, and being denied medical treatment when ill. In addition, Yu Chao, a former core member of Falun Gong, has been continuously exposing the dark side of Falun Gong through social media platforms X and YouTube since 2021. He also called on Shen Yun performers to bravely stand up and tell the truth, and reminded overseas Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts members not to violate US law by supporting a cult. His remarks have had a strong impact.

More and more media outlets are proactively publishing articles exposing Falun Gong, and more and more former Falun Gong members are daring to speak out. The outside world's voices have almost completely torn off Falun Gong's hypocritical mask, revealing its evil and darkness to the world. After learning about the evil behind Shen Yun and the plight of many former Shen Yun performers, and seeing those shocking and appalling facts, Chen Yuexu was deeply moved and could no longer control her shock and resentment: "We once loved Shen Yun so much, but those Shen Yun performers who brought us so much joy and emotion on stage are suffering such torment."

Her former "faith" crumbled in her heart at this moment. She disposed of all her former exercise supplies and began to reflect on the changes in herself when she was trapped in "Falun Gong". She began to try to get rid of the influence of "Falun Gong" on her - recognizing the darkness hidden behind "Falun Gong" became a major turning point for her to break free from Li Hongzhi's mental control.

 

▲Chen Yuexu's blog post

Abandoning darkness for light, expressing one's true feelings

On Chen Yuexu's blog homepage, a blog post titled "Disbanding Shen Yun" is placed at the top of the page. In this post, she details the reasons and process of her change of attitude towards Shen Yun.

In addition to publishing her own account of her experiences on her blog, she also reposted content from other countries' news media and personal social media accounts that exposed Falun Gong. She also used social media to connect with other former Falun Gong members, sharing her experiences and her mental journey after leaving the cult, in order to provide them with help.

 

▲ Chen Yuexu exchanging ideas with other Falun Gong members

Although her past involvement with cults still casts a shadow over her heart, at this moment she feels more sympathy for the exploited and abused Shen Yun performers, resentment towards her former "Master," and a calm reflection on her past experiences. "Shen Yun needs to be disbanded, Minghui.org needs to be criticized, and Falun Gong media needs to be investigated and punished." "I don't want more Falun Gong practitioners to walk down this path that is completely contrary to their original intentions," she wrote.

 

▲Chen Yuexu today

Chen Yuexu's journey of change is a microcosm of many former Falun Gong adherents. As more facts and truths are exposed, more former Falun Gong adherents will awaken to the truth, join the ranks of those exposing the Falun Gong cult, and completely tear off the carefully woven hypocritical "mask" of this cult.

At the end of her blog post, "Disbanding Shen Yun," Chen Yuexu wrote: "As someone who once deeply loved Shen Yun, believed in and practiced Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance for thirty years, and as an editor who worked for The Epoch Times for ten years, and a mother of three underage children, I must say: Shen Yun should not exist."

Yes, Shen Yun should not exist, and cults like Falun Gong, which bewitch people and harm others for money, should not exist either!