As soon as I saw this in our mailbox today, it reminded me of something I’d read in the news a couple years ago. A certain religious group in China, famous for being brutally persecuted by the gov’t in the late 90′s, was apparently squandering Western public sympathy by selling tickets to Chinese cultural stage performances that contained explicit (but unadvertised) political and spiritual messages. This was making some Euro-Americans feel deceived. People felt ripped off that they’d come for a family show and got explicit politicking and proselytizing.

I didn’t know if this was them or not. My suspicious were heightened when I read the vague but very spiritual introduction section and this statement:

A performance like Shen Yun can no longer be found in China today because many of China’s best artistic traditions have been lost in recent decades.

The last page confirmed my guess. Turns out the performance advertised in the pamphlet (not mailed but hand-delivered to our door by an elderly Chinese man) is put on by the “evil cult” at the top of the Chinese government’s hit list — one of the largest, most viciously persecuted Chinese religious groups in the last fifteen years. There were propaganda posters in our neighbourhood in Tianjin denouncing them (see here for images and translations), and you have to walk past their demonstration to get into the Chinese consulate in Vancouver. To avoid tempting China’s net nanny I won’t write their name here, but here’s a picture:

I don’t blame them for presenting their religion and protest message through art and entertainment like they do. We Westerners are, after all, well-accustomed to ideological propaganda in our entertainment; that — and money — is what our entertainment is all about. But it takes a little more nuance and subtly to do this effectively to a Western audience, as evidenced by the negative reactions they’ve provoked (here’s an example). Who knows, maybe this go around they’ve tailored their message a little better.

Anyway, it’s interesting to find yet another example of China popping up in the daily life of Canadians. For more about this particular “evil cult”, see:

• Recent propaganda from Tianjin, China: evil, scheming, bloodthirsty cults! (China Hope Live)
• Shen Yun Performing Arts
• Politics and art blend in contentious Chinese show (Toronto.com)

P.S. – “Shén​ Yùn” refers to charm or grace in art and poetry. Literally it is “God/spirit/divine” (神) + “beautiful sound/charm/appeal” (韵). Here are some different dictionary entries.

A visit to a temple prompts some interesting remarks about popular religion in China:
“The Goddess of Mercy has turned into a goddess of Fortune, and for a Westerner like me, the place seemed to be an Eastern variation of a Marian cult.
[...]
The cult of “good luck” has always been a factor in Chinese society. But in recent decades, this cult has achieved an unprecedented renaissance. …wealth… seems to be the topic of every conversation, the motive for every action toward ones family or beyond. It is part of the global manifestation of modern “low paganism,” and in such a society one cannot even have the status of personhood without one’s value in money.”

For the rest see: The Cult of Prosperity.

“The question is, can the State accept the idea that many of their citizens follow the word of their gods above the word of the Party?”

Watch the program and read a partial transcript here. See McDonell confront the agents trailing him — on camera — here.

It’s all interesting, but I was especially surprised by what they managed to film starting at 21:30.

We often take our daughter for walks around here because it’s the neighbourhood right next to ours:

This month, the right half of the notice board is filled with what are probably the most colourful and, um, educational propaganda posters we’ve seen so far, compliments of the Tianjin City Anti-Evil Cults Association (天津市反邪教协会) and the Tianjin People’s Government Guarding-Against-and-Dealing-With-the-Evil-Cults-Problem Office (天津人民政府防范和处理邪教问题办公室). Click either picture for a bigger view:

Here’s what the posters say (mouseover the Chinese text to see the pronunciation and definition). Translation corrections welcome.

1. The “Five Musts”

To Guard Against and Resist Evil Cults, Must Do the “Five Musts”
防范和抵制邪教要做到“五要”

1. Must not listen to, not believe, not pass on;
   要做到不听、不信、不传；
2. Must actively report and expose the illegal activities of evil cults;
   要主动检举揭发邪教的违法活动；
3. Must eliminate superstitious thinking and properly treat ‘the four miseries of human life’;
   要破除迷信思想，正确对待生老病死；
4. Must properly treat the bumps in life’s road; strengthen and pursue confidence in a nice life;
   要正确对待人生坎坷；增强追求美好生活的信心；
5. Must establish becoming-rich-with-science-and-technology and becoming-rich-by-one’s-own-efforts thinking; create a nice life with your own two hands.
   要树立科技致富、勤劳致富思想，通过自己的双手创造美好生活。

Left image:

• [Yellow bubble] “Hold up science, oppose superstition” 崇尚科学，反对迷信
• [Red books] Science 科学
• [Sign board] Little demi-god 小半仙
• [Bad guy speaking] “No one at all believes in computer fortune-telling!”
  “电脑算命都没人相信了！”

Right image:

• [Blue card] ** (name of evil cult/teaching)
• [Woman speaking] “Put your hand and foot down!” “把手脚放下！”
• [Woman’s paper] Divorce 离婚
• [Red book] Law 法律

2. What is an Evil Cult?

Uphold Science, Oppose Evil Cults, Build Harmoniousness Together
崇尚科学，反对邪教、共建和谐



What an Evil Cult is 什么是邪教

An evil cult organization fraudulently uses religion, qìgōng or the name of other kinds of established things, deifies the ringleader, exploits and uses methods like creating and spreading superstitious rumours and heresy (etc.) to seduce and deceive people, and to expand control of their members and their illegal harmful-to-society organization.
邪教组织是指冒用宗教、气功或者其他名义建立，神化首要分子，利用制造、散步迷信邪说等手段蛊惑、蒙骗他人，发展控制成员，危害社会的非法组织。

Image:

• [Left] *** / *，*，* (name and slogan of the evil cult)
• [Right] Anti-science, anti-humanity, anti-society (mirrors the evil cult’s slogan) 反科学、反人类、反社会

3. The Characteristics & Dangers of Evil Cults



The Characteristics of Evil Cults 邪教的特征

1. Use the pretense of religion and science to concoct sophistry and heresy;
   打着宗教、科学的幌子编造歪理邪说；
2. Deify the gang leaders of evil cults, conduct mind control;
   神化邪教头子，进行精神控制；
3. Establish underground organizations, conduct illegal activities;
   建立地下组织，进行非法活动；
4. Scam to raise funds by any and all means;
   不择手段地骗敛钱财；
5. Oppose the government, look with hatred on society;
   反对政府，仇视社会；
6. Proclaim that “Doomsday is approaching”.
   宣扬“末日来临”。

The Dangers of Evil Cults 邪教的危害

1. Incite opposition to the government, harm ‘grass-roots political power’;
   煽动反对政府，危害基层政权；
2. Engage in illegal criminal activities, harm society;
   从事违法犯罪活动，危害社会；
3. Wreck regular production and living, harm the masses’ mental and physical health;
   破坏正常的生产生活，危害群众身心健康；
4. Corrode and poison the minds of minors.
   侵蚀和毒害未成年人。

Image:

• [Speech bubble] I want to reach a higher level! 我要上层次！
• [Blue book] ** (evil cult’s name/teaching)
• [Headband] *，*，* (evil cult’s slogan)
• [Knives] Slaughter children, chop fathers, kill mothers 宰子女，砍父，杀妻

4. Evil Cult’s Scam Tricks

Evil Cults’ Mass Deception Scam Tricks 邪教欺世骗人的伎俩



1. Use the pretense of religion or qìgōng to deceive people;
   打着宗教或气功的幌子蒙骗人；
2. Use cures and bad luck avoidance to entice people;
   用治病、免灾诱惑人；
3. Use all kinds of cheap tricks to frighten people. For example: reading facial features to tell people’s fortunes, deceiving people by pretending there are ghosts, writing characters with ants, making words appear on white paper, doing the Fu talisman trick, smearing eel blood to attract bats, circulating things like poisonous toads;
   用各种把戏吓唬人。如看相算命、装神弄鬼、蚂蚁写字、白纸显字、玩符谶把戏、抹鳝鱼血招蝙蝠、投放癞蛤蟆等东西；
4. Get close to people to rope them in;
   套近乎拉拢人；
5. Bribe people with small favours;
   小恩小惠收买人；
6. Use violent methods to coerce people.
   用暴力手段胁迫人。

Image:

• [Bottom left] Reading ants 蚂蚁识字
• [Bottle] Honey 蜜
• [Clothes] Divine 神

5. The Main Differences Between Religions & Evil Cults

The Main Differences Between Religions and Evil Cults 宗教与邪教的主要区别



1. 1, Our nation’s religions advocate that their believers fit into society, serve society, benefit the people, defend society’s harmoniousness, support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and support the socialist system. The essence of evil cults is anti-societal; they poison and inflame members to look with hatred on society, they harm society even to the point of having wild political schemes, they agitate for and inflame people to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership and the socialist system.
   一、我国宗教倡导信徒融于社会，服务社会，造福人群，维护社会和谐，拥护中国共产党的领导，拥护社会主义制度。邪教本质是反社会的，它们蛊惑、煸动成员仇视社会，危害社会，甚至带有政治野心，鼓吹、煸动推翻中国共产党的领导和社会主义制度。
2. 2, The things religions believe in and worship are each religion’s specially designated god, which are fixed and don’t change. Religions believe in opposing people who compare themselves to deities and boast about possessing “spiritual powers”. An evil cult, by contrast, worships the founding person himself.
   二、宗教信仰和崇拜的对象是各个宗教特定的神，是固定不变的，宗教信仰反对人自比神明和自吹具有“神力”。邪教崇拜的则是教主本人。
3. 3, Our nation’s religions have lawfully registered organizations and activity locations. Religious citizens’ collective religious activities are held at registered religious activity locations.
   三、我国宗教有合法登记的团体组织和活动场所，信教公民的集体宗教活动在经登记的宗教活动场所举行。

Bottom bar:

• Tianjin People’s Government Guarding-Against-and-Dealing-With-the-Evil-Cults-Problem Office 天津人民政府防范和处理邪教问题办公室。
• Tianjin City Anti-Evil Cults Association 天津市反邪教协会。

Image:

• Guilty of unpardonable evil 十恶不赦。
• *** (name of the evil cult’s founder)

6. Five Reasons the Common Masses Follow Evil Cults

Five Reasons the Common Masses Mistakenly Enter the Evil Cult Wrong Road
普通群众误入邪教歧途的五种诱因



1. The first is that when people meet sudden misfortune in life, they have a desperate state of mind toward real life, and evil cults will then enter by taking advantage of this weakness, they will use vague and illusory devious heresy to mislead, and cause people to be taken in and cheated;
   一是当生活中遇到突然变故，对现实生活产生绝望情绪时，邪教便会乘虚而入，利用虚无缥缈的歪理邪说进行诱导，使其上当受骗；
2. The second is that when people meet special difficulties in life, evil cults will seize the opportunity to show a helping-in-trouble and assisting-the-poor appearance, they’ll use small favours or help in a short-term difficulty, thereby people are filled with thankfulness psychologically and join an evil cult organization;
   二是当生活中遇到特殊困难时，邪教会趁机以济困助穷的面目出现，施以小恩小惠，帮其暂度难关，从而怀着感恩的心理加入邪教组织；
3. The third is when people suffer illness and are unable to get well for a long time and are suffering, evil cults will, by introducing ancient traditional secret recipes and by promoting some kind of qìgōng extra-sensory-perception abilities, lure people into taking the bait;
   三是当身患疾病、久治不愈、饱受折磨时，邪教会以介绍祖传秘方、宣传某种气功的特异功能为由，引诱其上钩；
4. The fourth is when people need to make their health and bodies stronger, some evil cults will seize the opportunity to proclaim some qìgōng methods’ mystical capabilities, luring people through group exercise over a long period of time, etc., cause people to unwittingly become members of an evil cult;
   四是当有强身健体需求时，一些邪教会趁机宣扬某功法的神奇功能，引诱其通过长时间集体练功、会功等，使其在不知不觉中成为邪教成员；
5. The fifth is the psychology of blindly following. They see the people around them practicing some kind of qìgōng method and they are caused to follow the crowd, the “hurry after the crowd” effect, so they confusedly become members of an evil cult.
   五是盲从心理。看到周围的人在练某一种功法，受到他人怂恿或随大流、“趋众”影响，糊里糊涂地成为邪教成员。

7. How to Report an Evil Cult



Methods for Exposing and Reporting the Discovery of Evil Cults’ Illegal and Criminal Activities 发现邪教违法犯罪活动的揭发检举手段

1. Report to the lowest-level Party organization. 向基层党政组报告；
2. Make the situation known to the local police station. 向派出所反映情况；
3. If you meet a public trouble-causing gathering, etc., you can immediately call 110 and report it to the police.
   遇有公开聚集滋事等情况可直接打110报警。

Image: (A man turns over some evil cult materials that he found in his mailbox to the Anti-Evil Cults Committee 反邪教委员会。)

8.



Left image:

• “The fire-fighters are great!” “消防宫兵们真棒！”
• “Look! As soon as I use my kungfu powers, the fire is extinguished!”
  “瞧！我这一发功，雨就下了，火也灭了吧！”

Right image:

• “You only have to believe our **, and this bracelet is yours.”
  “只要相信我们**，手镯就是您的了。”

9.



Left image:

• [On clothing] Kingdom of Heaven 天国； *，*，* (evil cult’s slogan)； perfection 圆满； divine 神； look with hatred on society 仇视社会； Doomsday is approaching 末日来临； Reach a higher level 上层次。
• [Underneath] illegal activity 非法活动

Right image:

• [On clothes] *，*，* (evil cult’s slogan)
• [Papers] Don’t need to take medicine 不用吃药； qìgōng healing 气功治病； use kungfu powers to avoid disaster 发功免灾； divine 神。

10.



Image:

• [On building] Local Police Station 派出所
• [Arm band] “On duty” (a member of the Neighbourhood Committee 居委会)
• [On prisoner] “****” (name of the evil cult)

These posters most definitely have a specific “evil cult” in mind; they name it repeatedly in the pictures, just not in the main text. In the picture on the right, this group’s name is written on the “faithful running dog” (忠实走狗) of Uncle Sam (山姆大叔), who isn’t directly named but is clearly insinuated by the tall skinny legs and striped pants. In other words, they’re insinuating that the U.S. uses this group to try and destabilize China.

This group is among the top three most hated/least tolerated groups in China, and were one of the biggest China stories of the 90′s. They’re the people who were outside the Chinese consulate in Vancouver when my parents went to get their visas, who my mom didn’t know about and almost walked in to apply for a Chinese visa with their material in hand (my dad made her leave it in the lobby). I didn’t translate the parts of the posters that identity this group specifically because those terms are just too sensitive for the Chinese internet.

I’m not blogging this for the politics so don’t go writing or linking about them explicitly in the comments. I’m blogging it for the Chinese practice and to show what normal people in one average Tianjin neighbourhood like ours are getting propagandized with (each neighbourhood seems to choose its own posters; I’ve only seen this particular kind of poster in two or three different neighbourhoods; it’s not a city-wide thing). If you want to know more about this particular “evil cult”, read the third chapter of Ian Johnson’s Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China. I do, however, wonder if this kind of “evil cult” rhetoric will begin to appear in the increasingly tense on-going showdown in Beijing. There are alarming similarities between both situations, but also crucial differences.

And if you just can’t get enough of translated propaganda posters, here’s one more:

• Behaving yourself… with Tianjin characteristics
• Share:
• Email
• Facebook
• StumbleUpon

I’m biking home from work tonight around 9:30. I’m on a two-lane road near our place, and it’s clogged up ahead. This barely registers because getting clogged is just what Tianjin roads do. But then I hear the music — looped Buddhist funeral chanting. As I get closer, I see what must be the relatives standing silently lined up in the middle of the road — there’s at least twenty of them, all in dark clothing. Several meters ahead of them are a about five guys piling Chinese funeral wreaths in the middle of an intersection (as they often do at Tianjin funerals), dressed casually and yelling, “Throw that there! Move that over! Don’t put those there!” There’s a big paper-maché-looking horse at the front of the pile. Mildly curious onlookers are scattered on the surrounding sidewalks and cars are waiting in both directions.

The pile is finally ready; it’s about six feet high. The last thing to go on is a white, paper something placed on top by the lead family member — looks like he could be the son. Then they light the pile and it flares up quickly. The family members are all kneeling on their hands and knees, heads bowed, in the middle of the road. The horse literally bursts into flames, and the flames from the pile threaten the overhanging tree branches and telephone and electrical wires. The lead pile-arranger has a long pole that he stokes and corrals and beats down the fire with.

Once the flames are on their way down (but still high; this is a full-on bonfire), the family gets up and the women start wailing. They slowly walk away down the road, arms around each other, crying, dabbing eyes, etc., following the amplifier on wheels that’s playing the looped Buddhist chanting and being pulled by some guy.

The guy in charge of the bonfire is trying to get the cars to start going around it. The drivers hesitate, but one nimble taxi cuts out of line and flies past like he’s afraid of getting his paint scorched. As the flames get lower, some of the onlookers chuckle and applaud and begin to disperse.

I didn’t have the camera with me, but you can see examples of what I saw here:

• Chinese funeral next door
• There’s hell to pay

Here are some photos from around our neighbourhood in the days before Tomb Sweeping Festival 清明节 (April 5). Tomb Sweeping Festival is when Chinese traditionally honour their ancestors by tidying their graves and making offerings to them, mostly by burning spirit money (纸钱) and other paper offerings. See more photos in the Tomb Sweeping Festival 2011 photo gallery.

A family tradition. A family burns spirit money on the sidewalk outside our apartment complex:

Spirit money for sale on the corner nearest our apartment complex:

Spirit money (纸钱) is usually called “ghost money” or literally translated as “paper money”. This man is also in the following photo.

Piles of spirit money ash. Intersections are prime locations for sending burnt offerings to your ancestors:

Local media pooh-poohs on the practice of burning piles paper in public spaces and then leaving the ash to blow around. This neighbourhood notice board says:

“Civilizedly offer sacrifices and tidy the ancestral tombs,
safe and sound Tomb Sweeping Festival”
文明祭扫 平安清明

See more 2011 Tomb Sweeping Festival photos here.

More about Tomb Sweeping Festival:

• Tomb Sweeping Day (清明节) 2010 in Tianjin [photos]
• Tomb Sweeping Day [info]

On the 30th I had a free talk class of mostly college-age students from richer families. Since it was almost Halloween and a Party organ has listed the rise in superstition as one of seven symptoms of moral decay among government officials, I picked “superstitions” as the topic and asked the students to tell me about common Chinese superstitions. I was interested to see how they defined the term and what things they would consider “superstitious.” We also talked about why people do certain things, about how belief is only one of several reasons a person could have for their “superstitious” behaviours.

I asked about the stuff taxi drivers hang from their rear-view mirrors, and that led the students to produce, from around their necks and wrists, a surprising number of Buddhist trinkets. I see these things all the time, especially the round wood bead bracelets on men, but I was surprised at the number of Buddha (for the girls) and Guanyin (for the guys) necklaces. They said their parents buy them from monks in the temples — one girl said her mom paid 300元 for hers ($45!). The monks perform some sort spiritual service on behalf of the child, and there’s something about power being place in the object or released from the object — their English level wasn’t high enough for me to get the theological details out of them and I suspect they wouldn’t really know anyway. As visions of Martin Luther and medieval Catholic indulgences flitted through my mind, my students said: “But we’re not superstitious. We just have these for good luck. And protection.” I wish I’d had time to press them on that, but it was funny to see how they were serious; they didn’t seem to see any contradiction at all. Apparently we’re working with different definitions of “superstitious”!

“Superstition” is 迷信 (mouseover the Chinese!).
The Chinese term my students were translating as “protection” is 避邪 (“avoid evil”).

I’ve written several times about this kind of thing, including:

• ‘Tis the season for… RED PANTIES!
• Sending Winter Clothes to the Dead in Tianjin
• There’s hell to pay
• Chinese funeral next door

It’s Tomb Sweeping Day (清明节 / qīng míng jié), the time when families go maintain their ancestors’ graves and burn offerings to them. See the links at the bottom for more about Tomb Sweeping Day and the tradition of burning spirit money. These photos are from around our neighbourhood tonight.

According to one of our Chinese tutors, who has a law degree and teaches at Tianda for her day job, among Tianjin’s new April enforcement of previously unenforced laws (like spitting and bikes going through red lights) is a crackdown on street vendors. That includes the little wheelie carts selling spirit money and a surprising variety of other paper offerings.

Burning paper money in the street is not illegal, according to our tutor, but it is discouraged and in some cases grudgingly accommodated (see the propaganda posters in this post). Selling the spirit money, however, is illegal, and apparently they’ve had the obligatory news stories of vendors getting raided, etc.

If they stop letting bikes go through red lights (traffic has been noticeably changing) I’m going to be bummed. I have a couple language school buddies who’ve developed a whole set of terms a la CHiPS for essential bike rider maneuvers in Tianjin traffic. Looks like our days of no-rules, every-person-for-themselves, in-the-way-means-right-of-way bike riding might be numbered.

More about Tomb Sweeping Day and burning money in the road:

• Tomb Sweeping Day
• Sending Winter Clothes to the Dead in Tianjin
• After church in Tianjin, Karaoke party, Burning ghost money
• There’s hell to pay
• Same planet, different worlds

The Bi Gan Temple (比干庙) near Xīnxiāng (新乡) in Hénán (河南) claims 3000 years of history, priceless historical treasures and the two kinds of mythological figures especially beloved by Mainland Chinese: money gods and honest government officials. Click the link or the photos below to read the somewhat gruesome legend and see the photo gallery:

Bi Gan Temple 比干庙 near Xinxiang, Henan 新乡，河南 – 2010 Feb 22

Or maybe Santa Claus is the Western money god…

财神到
cái shén dào
“The god of wealth arrives”

This just went up at the subway station/shopping center that I walk through to get to work (小白楼). He faces a McDonald’s. Chinese New Year’s decorations are going up everywhere.

You can see lots of Chinese money god （财神 or 财神爷） images by doing a google image search for 财神。

For details on the story behind one particular incarnation of the Chinese money god, see Bi Gan Temple 比干庙 near Xinxiang, Henan 新乡，河南 – 2010 Feb 22.