
They began appearing about two decades ago,often around the holidays,and often at high-end venues:troupes of Chinese dancers swirling gracefully in colorful costumes.
他们是大约20年前开始出现的,通常是在节假日前后,而且经常出现在高端场所:一群身着多彩演出服的中国舞蹈演员优雅地旋转。
First in New York City,then in Paris,Toronto and Taipei,the dancers—mostly teenagers and young adults—flipped and vaulted onstage in soaring routines meant to awe and entertain and also to spread the message of Falun Gong,the persecuted Chinese religious movement behind the performances.
先是在纽约市,然后是巴黎、多伦多和台湾台北,这些舞者——大多是青少年和年轻人——在舞台上翻腾跳跃,上下翻飞,想给人们带来惊叹和娱乐,同时也是为了传播受迫害的中国宗教运动法轮功的教义,法轮功是这些表演的幕后主宰。
Since then,the dance group,Shen Yun Performing Arts,has grown into an economic engine for the movement and its leaders,with brisk ticket sales on five continents and holdings of more than$265million.
自那时起,神韵艺术团已成为法轮功运动及其领导者的摇钱树,其门票销售遍及五大洲,票房收入超过2.65亿美元。
But for the young people who powered the show,the success has come at a steep cost.
但对于支撑起这些演出的年轻人来说,成功的代价是高昂的。
In pursuit of ever larger audiences,Shen Yun has treated many of its performers as an expendable commodity,a New York Times investigation has found.It has routinely discouraged them from seeking medical care when their bodies have broken down,and commanded their obedience to grueling rehearsal and tour schedules through relentless emotional abuse and manipulation.
《纽约时报》的一项调查发现,在吸引越来越多观众的同时,神韵将许多表演者视为可牺牲的消耗品。当演员身体不适时,神韵总是不鼓励他们就医,并通过残酷的情感虐待和操纵来强迫他们服从艰苦的排练和巡演安排。
In interviews,some former dancers recounted performing through dislocated kneecaps,sprained ankles or other serious injuries,unwilling to seek medical treatment because the group’s belief system regarded such care as a crutch of the unfaithful.
在采访中,一些前神韵舞者回忆自己曾在膝盖脱臼、脚踝扭伤或其他严重受伤的情况下表演,他们不愿意寻求医疗,因为该团体的信仰体系认为,只有缺乏信仰的人才会依赖这样的治疗。
Others were racked with emotion as they recalled being made to participate in regular weigh-ins by instructors who publicly berated them for being too fat.
还有一些人痛苦地回忆起自己被教练要求定期称重,并被公开斥责他们太胖。
Most described feeling used by a religious movement that was focused on spreading its views even if performers were harmed in the process—while raking in money from ticket sales.
大多数人表示感到被这一宗教运动利用了,该运动专注于传播其观点——即使表演者在此过程中受到伤害,同时通过销售门票赚钱。
Many of the dancers and musicians who spoke to The Times hesitated to share their stories publicly,fearing retaliation by Falun Gong and its spiritual leader.That leader,Li Hongzhi,introduced the movement in China in1992,at a time when ancient energy-based exercises were surging in popularity.He has led it in exilewhile presiding over the guarded400-acre compound in upstate New York where many of Shen Yun’s performers live and train.
很多接受时报采访的舞者和乐师对公开讲述他们的故事感到犹豫,害怕受到法轮功和其领导者的报复。作为法轮功领导者的李洪志于1992年开始在中国开展这一运动,当时古老的气功正风靡一时。李洪志在流亡期间领导法轮功,同时掌管着纽约州北部一座占地160公顷、戒备森严的园区,许多神韵演员都在那里生活和训练。
In a statement,representatives of Shen Yun and Falun Gong said the performers who spoke to The Times were presenting a picture of the dance group and religious movement that distorted reality“in bizarre and dramatic ways.”They said that The Times was playing into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party,which has sought to stamp out the movement,by committing a“bigoted attack”on a faith that promotes good health,moral living and strong families and communities.
神韵和法轮功代表发来的一份声明中表示,接受时报采访的表演者对神韵舞团和法轮功运动的描述是以“古怪和夸张的方式”扭曲的事实。他们称时报的做法正中了想要根除法轮功的中共下怀,是在对一个提倡健康、道德生活和强大家庭与社群的信仰进行“充满偏见的攻击”。
Based in part on elements of Buddhism,Falun Gong holds that people who practice its poses and meditation regimen can attain enlightenment.But in speeches and writings,its founder,Mr.Li,has also incorporated less conventional ideas,implying that he is the creator of the universe,saying that faithful adherence can purge the body of illnesses and suggesting that followers can develop supernatural powers,such as the ability to levitate.
法轮功部分基于佛教元素,认为修炼其姿势和冥想之道的人可以开悟。但在演讲和写作中,其创始人李洪志也融入了一些不太传统的思想,暗示他是宇宙的创造者,称虔诚的修炼可以清除体内的疾病,并暗示追随者可以发展出超自然力量,例如悬浮的能力。
And,for the past two decades,Mr.Li has positioned his group in direct opposition to the ruling Chinese Communist Party,which has imprisoned Falun Gong followers and demonized them in state propaganda.
在过去二十年间,李洪志将法轮功置于与执政的中国共产党直接对立的位置,中共曾监禁众多法轮功信众,并在国家宣传中将该组织妖魔化。
Against that backdrop,Mr.Li’s movement has put Shen Yun forward as a propaganda tool of its own,amplifying the show’s anti-Communist message through a network of companies founded by Falun Gong practitioners,including a widely read newspaper,The Epoch Times.
在这样的背景下,李洪志的法轮功运动将神韵推向前台,作为该组织自己的一种宣传工具,通过由法轮功修炼者创办的公司网络(包括拥有广泛读者的报纸《大纪元时报》)放大该演出的反共信息。
Inside Shen Yun,the group’s leaders told their young performers that each show was an urgent spiritual mission,and they led them to believe that anyone who spoke out against the movement would face dire consequences.
在神韵内部,领导者告诉年轻演员们每一次演出都是一次紧迫的精神使命,并让他们相信,每一个公然反对该运动的人都将面临严重的后果。
Even so,25former dancers,musicians and instructors spoke openly to The Times about their experiences in Shen Yun,including a handful who had left the group within the past18months.They described a pattern of abusive behavior by Shen Yun’s leaders that spanned nearly two decades and occurred as hundreds of performers cycled in and out of the dance company.
即便如此,仍有25名前舞者、乐师和教员向时报透露了他们在神韵的经历,其中包括数名在过去18个月中离开该团体的人。他们描述了神韵领导层近二十年来的一系列虐待行为,在此期间,进出该舞蹈团的演员有数百人。
Their accounts,along with hundreds of pages of public records and dozens of photos and recordings smuggled out of the group’s headquarters,offer an unusually candid look at life inside the productions,which Shen Yun’s ubiquitous advertising has billed as“entertainment of the highest order.”
他们的讲述,以及数百页的公开记录和数十份从该组织总部偷带出来的照片和录音,让我们得以罕见地直接了解到神韵组织内部的生活,神韵无处不在的广告将之称为“艺术的极致境界”。
Nothing in the advertisements signals that the show is aimed at promoting a religious movement.And audience members,who may pay$309a ticket,have little indication that the performers are laboring for that movement.They see smiling dancers who leap onstage and spend the next two hours performing synchronized spins and flying splits.Some scenes portray Falun Gong followers being beaten by Chinese state police.
广告中没有任何内容表明该演出旨在推广宗教运动。那些花钱来看神韵演出的观众——票价最高可达309美元一张——不会知道表演者是在为法轮功卖命。他们看到的是面带微笑的舞者跃上舞台,在接下来的两个小时里表演同步旋转、空中劈叉等节目,其中有描绘法轮功信徒遭到中国警察殴打的场景。
But many of the former dancers and musicians said they pushed themselves to their physical and mental limits because they were taught that performing a flawless Shen Yun show would save their audiences from an approaching apocalypse.It was a message that was constantly reinforced in lessons that instilled a fierce sense of obligation,as well as mistrust of the outside world,they said.
但很多前舞者和乐师表示,他们把自己推向了身体和精神的极限,因为他们被教导,表演一场完美的神韵演出将拯救观众免遭即将到来的世界末日。他们说,这一信息在课程中不断得到强化,灌输了一种强烈的责任感,以及对外部世界的不信任。
Often,they worked15-hour days—rehearsing,performing,even setting up and breaking down heavy orchestra equipment—for low or no pay,toiling under the impression that they were indebted for the cost of the schooling,food and lodging that the movement provided them.
他们通常每天工作15个小时——排练、表演,甚至安装和拆卸沉重的管弦乐队设备——但工资很低,甚至没有工资,因为他们被灌输自己已经欠下了法轮功为他们提供的学费、食宿费用。
Nearly all the performers were sent to Shen Yun by family members who were ardent Falun Gong practitioners.Some had arrived at the movement’s New York State headquarters,known as Dragon Springs,having not yet turned12.
几乎所有表演者都是被家中虔诚的法轮功修炼者送到神韵的。一些人一些人在来到法轮功在纽约州的总部龙泉寺时还不到12岁。
They were unable to leave the compound without special permission and were typically limited in how often they could see their families.Many had traveled to New York from across the United States and other countries and remained in the complex well into their20s.
未经特别许可,他们不能离开这里,与家人见面的频次通常也受到限制。许多人从美国各地和其他国家来到纽约,一直到20多岁还待在园区里。
Cheng Qingling,who grew up practicing Falun Gong with her mother in New Zealand,arrived at Dragon Springs at age13.Ms.Cheng,a former dancer,now27,said she rationalized her bad experiences there—the untreated injury that made her left arm go numb,the constant yelling by instructors,the shaming of her classmates for breaking minor rules—by giving them a higher meaning.
从小随母亲在新西兰修炼法轮功的程清翎13岁时来到龙泉寺。现年27岁的程女士此前是一名神韵舞蹈演员,她说,她给自己在那里的不愉快经历——比如受伤未得到治疗导致她的左臂麻木,教练的不断吼叫,因一些微不足道的违规行为而受到同学的羞辱——赋予了更高的意义,从而显得合理起来。
“They’re just testing our devotion,”Ms.Cheng said she told herself.“But then I thought,if I use normal human values and judge this,this is wrong.”
“他们只是在测试我们的虔诚,”程清灵说她这样告诉自己。“但后来我想,如果我用正常人的价值观来判断,它就是错的。”
Some performers who wanted to quit before the group was ready to let them go faced threats and intimidation.Their managers told them they would go to hell or face danger if they left,because they would lose Mr.Li’s protection.Seven former performers said they were also told that they would have to repay the cost of tuition if they quit Shen Yun.
一些表演者想要退出,但艺术团还不愿放人,于是他们遭到了威胁和恐吓。他们的经理告诉他们,如果离开,他们会下地狱或面临危险,因为他们将失去李洪志的保护。七名前演员说,他们还被告知,如果退出神韵,他们必须偿还学费。
The representatives of Shen Yun and Falun Gong declined to make Mr.Li and other Shen Yun leaders available for interviews.
神韵和法轮功的代表拒绝让李洪志和神韵领导人接受记者采访。
In their statement,the representatives,Ying Chen and Levi Browde,called the performers who spoke to The Times a“relatively tiny,disgruntled group”who shared“fantastical stories.”
在一份声明中,代表他们的陈颖(音)和李维·布劳德表示,接受时报采访的表演者是“一个心怀不满的小团体”,讲述了“虚构的故事”。
They denied that performers who got hurt routinely went without medical care,and they said that any suggestion of a toxic environment at Dragon Springs was“highly subjective and smacks of cultural bigotry.”
他们否认受伤的演员经常无法得到医治,并称任何关于龙泉寺有毒文化的指称都是“非常主观且带有文化偏见的”。
“The community at Dragon Springs is a close-knit,predominantly Asian community that values disciplined study and training,and is characterized by open,honest and direct interactions,”they said.“We are,essentially,a big family with a shared faith.”
“龙泉寺的社群是一个紧密连接、以亚裔为主的社群,重视纪律严明的学习和训练,并以开放、诚实和直接的互动为特点,”他们说。“我们实际上是一个拥有共同信仰的大家庭。”
The Times’s reporting on Shen Yun,they added,was likely to become“the crown jewel”in the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to discredit Falun Gong.
他们还补充说,时报对于神韵的报道很可能会成为中共对法轮功污名化“皇冠上的明珠”。
The Chinese government banned Falun Gong after more than10,000practitioners staged a silent protest outside the Communist Party’s headquarters in Beijing in1999.Since then,many practitioners have been detained and died in police custody.Chinese officials have continued to target them.
1999年,在超过1万名法轮功修习者在北京的中共总部外静坐后,中国政府取缔了法轮功。自那时起,很多法轮功修炼者被拘捕,很多人警方拘押期间死亡。中国官员一直在针对法轮功追随者。
Still,the movement has flourished,amassing a global following whose members can be seen practicing gentle movement exercises in public parks worldwide.
尽管如此,法轮功运动仍然蓬勃发展,在全球吸引了大批追随者,在世界各地的公园里都可以看到法轮功学员练习法轮功柔和的动作。
As Falun Gong spread,Mr.Li gained influence as well.He helped create the Shen Yun performance group in2006.Now,with his wife,Li Rui,he presides over Dragon Springs,the upstate compound that is fitted with a towering pagoda and a giant golden statue of Buddha—with a face that bears a striking resemblance to his own.
随着法轮功的传播,李洪志的影响力也越来越大。他在2006年帮助创建了神韵艺术团。现在,他和妻子李瑞一起管理位于纽约州北部的龙泉寺,寺内有一座高耸的宝塔和一尊巨大的金佛,佛像的面容与李洪志本人十分相似。
Students living on the mountain,as the compound is also known,are taught to greet Mr.Li as“shi fu,”the Chinese word for“master,”while clasping their hands and bowing.They quickly learn that Ms.Li is a primary enforcer of his rules.
住在山上园区内的学生们被教导,见到李洪志时要称其为“师父”,并躬身抱拳。他们很快就了解到,李瑞是其规则的主要执行者。
Many of the former performers reached by The Times said that Shen Yun gave them the opportunity to travel and improve their Chinese language skills,and that they appreciated the work ethic it instilled.
很多接受时报采访的前神韵表演者表示,神韵给了他们旅行和提高汉语能力的机会,他们也认可其灌输的职业道德。
“Personally,I cherish the time I spent at Shen Yun.I learned and matured a great deal,”said Susan Zhou,a former dancer with the company,in an email to The Times.“I think it’s a wonderful institution that creates an inspiring show for people all around the world.”
“就我个人来说,我很珍惜在神韵的时光。我学到很多东西,也成熟了很多,”神韵前舞者苏珊·周(音)在写给时报的邮件中说。“我认为这是一个很棒的机构,为世界各地的人们创造了鼓舞人心的表演。”
But the vast majority said it also exposed them to unyielding indoctrination.
但大多数人表示,神韵也给他们灌输了一些坚定的教条。
During a lecture last year,Mr.Li,who is in his early70s,told students in Chinese that he created the earth and“established the music of mankind,”according to a recording of his remarks provided to The Times by an audience member.
根据一份听者提供给时报的李洪志讲话录音,在去年的一节课上,70多岁的李洪志用中文告诉学生们,他创造了地球,并称“人类的音乐是我奠定的”。
Questioning such rhetoric was seen as a grave offense.
质疑这样的言辞将被视为一种严重的冒犯。
“What I experienced there is tremendous psychological pressure to conform,”said David Fiedler,66,who taught violin at Dragon Springs from2013to2016.“You have to either leave or you have to be willing to abandon your reason,because you can’t hold onto both.”
“在那里,我感受到的是让我俯首听命的巨大心理压力,”66岁的大卫·菲德勒说,他曾于2013年到2016年在龙泉寺教授小提琴。“你要么离开,要么主动放弃自己的理智,没法两者兼得。”
‘The best place to be on earth’
“地球上最棒的地方”
At age11,Kate Huang dropped out of school in Kaohsiung,Taiwan,and traveled some8,000miles with her mother to rural Cuddebackville,in Orange County,N.Y.—the home of Falun Gong’s headquarters.
11岁时,凯特·黄(音)从台湾高雄的学校辍学,和她的母亲一起来到1万多公里之外纽约州奥兰治县库德贝克维尔乡下,这里是法轮功的总部所在地。
There,she enrolled in Fei Tian Academy of the Arts,the boarding school where Shen Yun performers are trained.
在那里,她进入了飞天艺术学院,神韵的演员就在这所寄宿学校接受训练。
Ms.Huang had no dance experience,but she grew up around Falun Gong followers who had told her to seize the chance to be closer to Mr.Li.Her grandmother had practiced the exercises every morning at4a.m.Her mother had sold tickets to Shen Yun shows.
黄女士没有跳舞的经验,但她的成长环境里有许多法轮功信徒,他们叫她抓住这个可以和李洪志接近的机会。她的祖母每天清晨4点开始练功。她的母亲曾售卖神韵的演出票。
“Everyone said it was the place you should be,because it’s the best place to be on earth,”said Ms.Huang,now26,who asked to be identified by her English first name.
“每个人都说你应该去那里,因为那是地球上最棒的地方,”现年26岁的黄女士说,她要求在文中使用自己的英文名。
Soon afterward,she was in a dance class,lying on her back for a flexibility exercise.Hovering over her,a teacher gripped her ankle and began pushing it toward her head—moving it farther and farther until Ms.Huang heard a snap from her thigh that seemed to echo across the classroom,she said.
很快她开始上舞蹈课,仰卧着进行柔韧性练习。一位老师抓住她的脚踝,把她的脚压向头部,越压越低,直到黄女士听到大腿发出了“咔”的一声,她说那声音似乎在整个教室内回荡。
Her teacher notified Mr.Li and the school principal,who touched her leg as if to see if anything was broken.She limped for weeks,she said.
她的老师通知了李洪志和校长,校长摸了摸她的腿,似乎想看看有没有骨折。她说,有好几个星期她走路都一瘸一拐。
A few years later,before a performance in Seattle,Ms.Huang was landing a front flip when she felt a searing pain in her right leg.She had dislocated her kneecap,she said.A classmate popped it back into place.
几年后,在西雅图的一次演出前,黄女士在做前空翻落地时感到右腿一阵剧痛。她说,她的膝盖脱臼了。一位同学将她的膝盖骨按回了原位。
One of her managers gave her a bag of ice and asked if she could still perform,Ms.Huang said.She danced in excruciating pain for the next two hours.
黄女士说,一名主管给了她一个冰袋,问她是否能继续演出。她忍受着钻心之痛完成了后面两小时的表演。
She said that she was not offered treatment for either injury,nor did she seek it,because Mr.Li says that true healing occurs only by following his teachings.
她说,这两次受伤她既没有主动提出也没有得到治疗,因为李洪志曾说,只有遵循他的教诲才能得到真正的治愈。
“If I ask for the hospital,I will be labeled as not a fervent believer,”said Ms.Huang,who added that her knee has never felt the same.“I didn’t want to stick out or become a target of everyone.”
“如果我说想去医院,就会被贴上不够虔诚的标签,”黄女士说,她还说,她的膝盖再也没有恢复过来。“我不想引人注目,或者被其他人针对。”
Ms.Huang was one of14former Shen Yun performers who told The Times that they suffered untreated injuries or ailments—or saw others get hurt without receiving care.
共有14名前神韵演员告诉时报,他们的伤病没有得到治疗,或者他们曾看到其他人受伤但没有得到照料,黄女士是其中一名讲述者。
Performing in any competitive dance company carries a risk of injury,sports medicine experts said.But unlike many other major companies,Shen Yun does not provide routine access to physical therapists or doctors,The Times found.
运动医学专家表示,在任何竞技舞蹈团演出都有受伤的风险。但时报发现,与许多其他大型舞蹈团不同的是,神韵并不提供常规的理疗师或医生服务。
And the group’s reliance on teenage dancers,whose bones and muscles are still developing,has meant that they were more prone to getting hurt,the experts said.
而且神韵的演员主要是青少年,专家们表示,青少年舞者的骨骼和肌肉仍处于发育阶段,因此更容易受伤。
The risk was especially acute given Shen Yun’s demanding choreography,which calls for back-bending moves that incorporate elements of ballet and gymnastics.It was increased further by the group’s punishing schedule,which sent the student performers on tour for months out of the year,with bus rides between venues that could drag on for16hours at a time.
由于神韵的舞蹈编排要求很高,需要做背部弯曲的动作,其中还融合了芭蕾和体操的元素,因此风险尤为突出。此外,神韵的日程安排也非常严苛,要求学生演员每年把几个月的时间用于巡回演出,在演出地点之间乘坐大巴的时间可能长达16个小时。
Often,they put on two shows a day.On its most recent tour,Shen Yun’s eight troupes were scheduled to perform more than800shows in five months.One played14shows in12days at New York City’s David H.Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.
他们经常一天演出两场。在最近一次巡回演出中,神韵的八个表演团计划在五个月内演出800多场。其中一个团在纽约林肯中心的大卫·科赫剧院12天内演出了14场。
Encouraging people to dance in pain or discouraging them from treatment is“pretty barbaric and old school,to say the least,”particularly with minors,said Dr.Donald Rose,an orthopedic surgeon and founding director of the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Langone Health.“Especially in that age group that doesn’t have the ability to advocate for themselves,permanent damage can definitely be done.”
纽约大学朗贡卫生学院哈克尼斯舞蹈损伤中心创始主任、骨科医生唐纳德·罗斯博士说,鼓励人们忍着疼痛跳舞或劝他们不要接受治疗,“至少可以说是非常野蛮和老派的,”尤其是对未成年人来说。“特别是在这个没有自我保护能力的年龄段,造成永久性伤害的可能性绝对是有的。”
Some Shen Yun performers who suffered severe injuries did receive treatment.When Sam Pu,one of the group’s highest-profile dancers,ruptured his Achilles’tendon,he underwent surgery to repair it,he said in a video posted onlinelast year.
一些受到重伤的神韵演员确实接受了治疗。神韵知名度最高的舞蹈演员之一蒲彧去年在网上发布的一段视频中说,他在跟腱断裂后接受了修复手术。
In their statement,the representatives of Shen Yun and Falun Gong denied discouraging medical treatment.
神韵和法轮功的代表在声明中否认曾劝阻治疗。
“Shen Yun performers are offered and receive medical treatment whenever it is needed,and we have the medical records to prove it,”they said.
他们表示:“神韵演员在任何需要的时候都会得到医疗服务,我们有医疗记录为证。”
But former performers and instructors told The Times that such interventions were rare.
但前舞者和表演指导告诉时报,这种干预非常少见。
Daisy Wang,who started touring with Shen Yun when she was13,said she sprained her ankle five times in eight years but never asked for a doctor.
13岁就开始参加神韵巡回演出的黛西·王(音)说,她在八年里五次扭伤脚踝,但从未要求过看医生。
Doing so,Ms.Wang and others were told,would mean that something was wrong with their spiritual state.
王女士和其他人被告知,想看医生意味着他们的精神领域出了问题。
“It’s supposed to self-heal if you just send forth righteous thoughts,”said Ms.Wang,now28,referring to the meditation technique Mr.Li prescribes to purge the bad karma he says causes illness.
“只要发出正念,身体就应该会自己愈合,”现年28岁的王女士说,她指的是李洪志提出的冥想技巧,他说这可以清除导致疾病的恶业。
Dancers were not the only members of Shen Yun who performed through the pain of injury.
神韵成员中忍着伤痛表演的不只是舞者。
A former musician who asked to be identified only by his last name,An,said he frequently sliced his hands on metal instrument cases when packing the dance group’s cargo trucks after performances.One cut was so severe that he had to stitch himself up with a hotel sewing kit,he said.
一位不愿透露姓氏的前音乐演奏者安(音)说,他在演出结束后帮舞蹈团装车时经常被金属器材箱划伤手。他说,有一次被划伤得很严重,他不得不用酒店的针线包缝合伤口。
After playing in Shen Yun’s orchestra for about four years,another musician,a violinist named Joshua Lin,began to feel sharp pains near his right shoulder.He was brought to see Mr.Li,who touched his head and shoulder and told him he was healed.
在神韵的乐团演出大约四年后,另一名乐师、小提琴演奏者约书亚·林(音)的右肩附近开始剧烈疼痛。他被带到李洪志面前,后者摸了摸他的头和肩,然后对他说,他已经被治好了。
The pain persisted for years—a sign,his classmates told him,of his weak faith.“I just kept playing through the pain,”Mr.Lin said.
疼痛接着持续了许多年,林先生的同学们告诉他,这表明他信仰不坚定。“我就一直忍着痛坚持演出,”林先生说。
He did not see a doctor until he left Shen Yun.Only then did he learn the likely cause of the pain:a bulging disc in his spine.
直到离开神韵后他才去看了医生。那时他才了解了疼痛的大概原因:脊柱有一处椎间盘突出。
Keeping up appearances
维持外表形象
Former students also said they suffered emotional abuse and manipulation.
一些前神韵学员还表示,他们遭受了情感虐待和操纵。
Five former dancers said they were humiliated by instructors in front of classmates when they failed to lose weight.
五名前舞者说,他们曾在减肥失败后被指导员在全班同学面前羞辱。
One of the dancers,Chang Chun-Ko,said that when she was13,stood5-foot-5and weighed about110pounds,her dance teacher singled her out for being heavier than others in her troupe.The teacher told her classmates to report Ms.Chang if she bought snacks—in line with Shen Yun’s broader culture of encouraging students to inform on one another,she and others said.More than once,classmates physically blocked her from entering a market on campus,she recalled.
其中一名舞者张郡格说,13岁那年她身高1米64、体重约50公斤,她的舞蹈老师因为她比别人重而针对她。这名老师告诉她的同学,如果发现张女士买零食就举报她。张女士和其他人说,这符合神韵鼓励学生相互举报的广泛文化。她回忆说,有同学不止一次用身体阻拦她进入园区内的市场。
On another occasion,the teacher called her shameless for buying three cans of Pringles on her day off.When the teacher questioned whether Ms.Chang wanted to stay in Shen Yun,Ms.Chang began to cry.
还有一次,老师说她不知羞耻,因为她在休息日买了三罐品客薯片。当老师质问张女士还想不想留在神韵时,她哭了出来。
Still,she desperately wanted to fulfill what she considered to be her oath to Mr.Li.
尽管如此,张女士还是迫切希望履行她认为自己对李洪志许下的誓言。
“Master told us he had endless magical powers,”said Ms.Chang,now28,in Chinese.“We were little children,and we believed.”
“师父告诉我们,师父有无尽的法力,”现年28岁的张女士用中文说。“我们小孩子就相信了。”
By the time she was20,she was usually eating just one meal a day.As she sipped rice porridge one day,a different teacher asked why she was eating at all.She ran to the bathroom and kicked the walls.
到了20岁时,她通常一天只吃一顿饭。有一天,她喝着米粥,另一名老师问她怎么还要吃东西。她跑到浴室踢了一顿墙。
Another former dancer recalled weekly weigh-ins that felt like walking to a guillotine.She put her body into“starvation mode,”she said,and would strip off clothing before stepping onto the scale.Her weight was recorded on a sheet posted in a classroom,with the names of those deemed to be too fat scrawled in red.
另一位前舞者回忆说,每周称体重的感觉就像走向断头台。她说,她让身体进入“饥饿模式”,并在踏上体重秤之前脱光衣服。她的体重被记录在教室张贴的一张纸上,被认为太胖的人的名字被涂成了红色。
A third recalled Ms.Li telling her to eat only cucumbers and tomatoes to lose weight,she said.At16,she developed an eating disorder.
还有一名舞者记得李瑞让她只吃黄瓜和西红柿来减肥。16岁时,这名舞者患上了饮食失调症。
Ms.Huang,the former dancer from Taiwan who dislocated her kneecap,was repeatedly told by teachers that she was becoming too heavy.At17,she was reassigned to a warehouse job on campus designing patterns for Shen Yun costumes on a computer.
那位膝盖脱臼的台湾舞者黄女士曾多次被老师提醒说她太重了。17岁时,她被调到校园的仓库工作,在电脑上设计神韵演出服的图案。
Near the end of high school,she was notified that she would not be accepted into the postsecondary school in Dragon Springs,Fei Tian College,and would have to leave the compound.
高中快毕业时,她接到通知,飞天学院在龙泉寺的大专学院没有录取她,她只能离开园区。
The culture of body shaming reflected a fixation on the part of Shen Yun’s leaders on outward appearances,former students said.
前学员说,这种身体羞辱的文化反映了神韵领导人对外表的执着。
During a2016 Falun Gong conference,Mr.Li said Shen Yun was crafting its aesthetic to appeal to“those in the middle class and above,”including“people who are well educated,civilized and high-caliber,”according to a translation of his remarks.
根据对李洪志的演讲的翻译,在2016年的法轮功大会上,他说,神韵打造的美学吸引的是“中层和以上的阶层”,包括“受过良好教育的、文明的、高素质的人”。
The focus on image was reinforced by Ms.Li,who often wore designer clothes and took dancers shopping on their days off.Some former students said they were confused to see her dress so fashionably given that her husband’s teachings were critical of material attachments.One former dancer said Ms.Li once gave her a Chanel wallet.
李瑞经常穿名牌服装,休息日还带舞蹈演员去购物,这更加重了对形象的关注。一些以前的学生说,看到李瑞穿得如此时髦,他们感到很困惑,因为她丈夫的教导对物质享受持批判态度。一位前舞者说,李瑞曾送给她一个香奈儿钱包。
Ms.Li sought to manage not only the students’appearances,but also their dating lives.
李瑞寻求的是不仅管理学生的外表,还要管理他们的感情生活。
Dating required permission from Ms.Li’s office,another way in which Shen Yun’s leaders exerted control over their performers,former students said.Eleven of those students said that Ms.Li and her lieutenants tried to arrange relationships between foreign students and American citizens,which they believed were encouraged for visa purposes.
前学员说,约会需要得到李瑞办公室的批准,这是神韵领导人对演员施加控制的另一种方式。其中11名学员说,李瑞和她的副手们还试图安排外国学员和美国公民约会或相亲,他们认为是为了使学员得到签证而鼓励这样做的。
Ron Luo,who played viola for Shen Yun until2021,said he thought the matchmaking was a tactic to tie young people more closely to the movement.
荣·罗(音)在2021年之前一直为神韵演奏中提琴,他说,他认为这种牵线搭桥是一种策略,目的是将年轻人与神韵运动更紧密地连接在一起。
“It’s like keeping your labor,”he said.“Getting a person that fits the mold of what they want is quite difficult.You need the religious background.You need to be subservient to unreasonable demands.”
“这就相当于想留住劳动力,”他说。"找到一个符合他们要求的人相当困难。你需要有信仰背景。你需要服从不合理的要求。”
‘Can’t you endure hardship?’
“你们不能吃苦吗?”
From the moment Sun Zan enrolled at Dragon Springs at15,he heard Mr.Li preach about the holy mission Mr.Sun and the other performers were undertaking:to save nonbelievers by allowing them to watch a Shen Yun show.
孙赞从15岁那年进入龙泉寺起,就听李洪志一直宣讲他们这些表演者肩负的神圣使命:让不信教的观众通过观看神韵演出获得拯救。
Compounding the pressure,Mr.Sun and six other former performers said,Mr.Li and his subordinates told them that any mistakes onstage might eventually doom their audiences to hell.
孙赞和其他六名前神韵表演者表示,令他们压力倍增的是,李洪志和他的下属告诉他们,舞台上的任何失误可能最终导致观众下地狱。
It made them approach each show with unswerving seriousness.
这使得他们以无比严肃的态度对待每一场演出。
Mr.Sun,a former principal dancer,said he typically slept just five hours a night so he could rehearse routines to perfection.He danced through the grief of his grandmother’s death and the pain of a sprained ankle that,offstage,left him barely able to walk.
曾在神韵领舞的孙赞说,为了将舞蹈动作练到完美,他一般每晚只睡五个小时。奶奶去世的悲痛、脚踝扭伤让人几乎无法走路的疼痛都没能让他停下练舞。
“It’s actually the mental trauma that still affects me until today,”Mr.Sun,who left in2015,said.“If you don’t do it right,then it’s on you.Then the universe is not saved because of you.”
“实际上,直到今天仍然影响我的是心理创伤,”2015年离开神韵的孙赞说。“如果你做得不好,那就是你的错。宇宙因为你没有被拯救。”
Some troupe managers would seize on errors after shows ended and shame those who made them in front of their peers.Often,they cast the mistakes as spiritual failings.
演出结束后,一些舞团经理会抓住表演中的失误不放,并在同事面前羞辱犯错的人。他们常将这些失误归咎为精神上的失败。
Nathan Xie,a cello player,once played the wrong notes at a performance in Mexico City,and afterward,his orchestra manager grilled him for an hour.She accused him of focusing too little on Mr.Li’s teachings and reading other things too much,he said.She confiscated his Kindle.
大提琴手内森·谢(音)曾在墨西哥城的一场演出中拉错了音,事后乐团经理质问了他一个小时。他说,她指责他对李洪志的教诲不够专注,读了太多其他东西。她没收了他的Kindle。
Such chidings were commonplace.In an audio recording from last year obtained by The Times,an orchestra manager can be heard chastising a group of performers for more than an hour,saying that they needed to work harder to reach Mr.Li’s standards.
这种训斥屡见不鲜。在《纽约时报》获得的一份去年的录音中,一位乐团经理训斥一群表演者训了一个多小时,告诉他们需要更加努力,才能达到李洪志的标准。
“Didn’t we all make a promise to Master?”she asked in Chinese.“Can’t you endure hardship?”
“我们不都跟师父保证过的吗?”她用中文问,“你们不能吃苦吗?”
Mr.Li and his wife encouraged students to view him as a father figure,they said.
他们说,李洪志和妻子鼓励学员将他视为父亲。
Some recalled celebrating Mr.Li on Father’s Day and his birthday.They said they wrote poems for him and gave him gifts like folded paper cranes.
一些人回忆说,曾在父亲节和李洪志生日时为他庆祝,给他写诗,并送上千纸鹤等礼物。
At the same time,some former students said,they were instructed not to share aspects of their Shen Yun experience with their parents.Many students saw their families only once a year,during a two-week summer break.
与此同时,一些前学员表示,他们被告知不要与父母分享神韵的某些经历。许多学员每年只在两周的暑假期间和家人见面。
Their supervisors at the mountain also exerted control over their access to outside information,discouraging dissent and critical thinking,they said.
他们说,山上的主管还控制他们接触外界信息,阻止他们提出异议和进行批判性思考。
Students typically were not permitted to have a smartphone before they reached their early20s.In recent years,those without phones were allowed to browse the internet for just15minutes a day,and only from designated computers.
学员通常要到20岁出头才可以拥有智能手机。近年来,那些没有手机的人每天只能用指定的电脑上网15分钟。
The school controlled the music they listened to,the movies they watched and the books they read.They were barred from looking at“ordinary media,”the movement’s name for unapproved news outlets.
学校控制他们听的音乐、看的电影和读的书。他们被禁止浏览“普通媒体”,即未经法轮功批准的新闻机构。
And their sense of obligation to the movement led many of the performers to tolerate long hours and low pay,they said.
他们说,对法轮功运动背负的责任感使得许多表演者忍受长时间工作和低工资。
Eight former Shen Yun performers said they were not paid at all in their first year on tour.One former musician said her orchestra manager explained that this was because newer performers had not yet saved enough people.
八位前神韵表演者表示,他们在第一年巡演时没有得到任何报酬。一位前乐手说,她的乐团经理解释说,这是因为新表演者还没有拯救足够多的人。
In their second year on tour,students were typically paid a few hundred dollars a month,with the rate increasing over time.
在第二年巡演时,学员通常每月会获得几百美元的薪水,随着时间的推移,工资会有所增加。
A former violinist who asked to be identified only by his last name,Liu,said he came to feel exploited as cheap labor.
一位只愿意透露姓氏的刘姓前小提琴手表示,他开始感觉自己被当作廉价劳动力,受到剥削。
“The amount of money we were making them,and also saving them,was pretty ludicrous,”said Mr.Liu,who moved to Dragon Springs in2012,at age12,and left in2017.“At the time,I definitely was very concerned about the fact that we were getting nothing,and they were getting lots of money.”
“我们为他们赚了这么多钱,也为他们省了这么多钱,这真的很荒谬,”刘先生说,他2012年12岁时来到龙泉寺,2017年离开。“当时,我确实感到很困扰,我们什么都没得到,他们却赚了很多钱。”
Shen Yun spends a far smaller share of its revenue on salaries than several other large nonprofit dance and theater companies based in New York,a review of tax filings shows.
对纳税申报文件的审查显示,神韵的薪酬支出在收入的占比远低于其他几家总部位于纽约的大型非营利舞蹈和剧团公司。
Students often worked six days a week and were made to feel like they should be grateful for any pay,some of them said.
有些学员表示,他们经常每周工作六天,并被灌输这样的思想:只要有报酬,他们就应该心存感激。
By their early to mid-20s,most of the former performers were being paid$12,000a year or less,they told The Times.After graduating college at Dragon Springs,some of the student performers remained with the group as professionals and earned more.The group also recruited some outside professional musicians for its orchestra.
他们告诉时报,大多数前表演者在二十五六岁之前的年收入不超过1.2万美元。从龙泉寺毕业后,一些学生表演者会留在神韵团体中成为一名专业舞者,赚得比之前多一些。神韵也会从外界为其乐队招募一些专业的乐手。
In their statement,the representatives of Shen Yun and Falun Gong said that the accounts of low pay for underage performers were a“gross mischaracterization”of the group’s employment practices.
神韵和法轮功的代表在声明中表示,关于未成年演员报酬低的说法是对神韵雇佣行为的“严重误解”。
“Shen Yun Performing Arts is a professional arts company staffed only by professional adults,”they said,adding that qualified students at Dragon Springs are allowed to tour with the group as part of their studies.
他们表示,“神韵艺术团是一个专业的艺术团体,仅由成年的专业人员组成。”他们补充说,符合条件的龙泉寺学员可以随团巡演,作为他们课程的一部分。
“The program is legal,transparent and a highly sought-after opportunity for aspiring artists,”they said.“The stipend that students receive while on practicum is an industry standard practice.”
“这个项目合法、透明,是有抱负的艺术家们非常向往的机会,”他们说。“学生在实习期间获得津贴是行业标准做法。’”
Leaving the fold
离开组织
The tactics used by Shen Yun’s leaders often terrified those performers who thought about leaving.
神韵的负责人使用的策略常常令那些想要离开的表演者感到恐惧。
They were told that they would go to hell,or face stiff financial penalties,or be put in physical danger if they lost Mr.Li’s spiritual protection.
他们被告知,如果失去李洪志的精神保护,他们会下地狱,或者面临巨大的经济处罚,或是人身危险。
When Daisy Wang,the former dancer,was caught texting with an outsider in2017about life off the mountain,Ms.Li interrogated her for hours until Ms.Wang gave up the other person’s identity.She quit a few months later,but it took years,she said,for her to get over her fear of going to hell.
2017年,现已离开的舞者黛西·王被发现与一个外人发短信谈论山下的生活,李瑞盘问了她好几个小时,直到王女士说出对方的身份。几个月后,她辞职了,但她表示,花了好几年时间才克服对下地狱的恐惧。
Nathan Xie,the former cellist,announced he was leaving in2020,and Ms.Li angrily told him he would have to repay eight years of tuition—an amount that might have exceeded$200,000.It was a threat that six other performers said they also had received.The group never followed through,but the episode rattled Mr.Xie.He was22and had just a few hundred dollars in the bank.
前大提琴手内森·谢在2020年宣布离开时,李瑞愤怒地告诉他,必须偿还八年的学费——金额可能超过20万美元。其他六名表演者表示,他们也收到过类似的威胁。尽管该组织从未真正执行过这些威胁,但这让谢先生感到害怕。当时他只有22岁,银行账户里只有几百美元。
Chang Chun-Ko,another former dancer,feared that she would die in an accident at any moment after leaving Dragon Springs in2020,convinced that she had lost the mystical protection Mr.Li was said to have extended to the Shen Yun performers assisting him in saving the world.
另一位前舞者张郡格表示,在2020年离开龙泉寺后,她害怕自己随时会意外丧命,因为她确信自己失去了李洪志对协助他拯救世界的神韵表演者的神秘保护。
And when Joshua Lin,the violinist,began to have doubts about the movement around2012,he tried to push them aside.
约书亚·林在2012年前后开始对法轮功运动产生怀疑,但他试图把这些疑虑抛在一边。
He had lived at Dragon Springs since he was15and for years had poured himself into studying Mr.Li’s teachings.But by2017,at age24,his devotion had fully waned.He watched a YouTube video about cults and was caught sharing it with another musician soon after.
他自15岁起就住在龙泉寺,多年来一直全身心地投入学习李洪志的教义。但到2017年,24岁的他已经完全不再相信法轮功了。他看了一段关于邪教的YouTube视频,还很快被发现转发给了另一名乐手。
He was expelled mid-tour.On the plane home to Australia,he thought of all the friends he had grown up with on the mountain,and how he might never see them again.
他在巡演中途被开除。在飞回澳大利亚的飞机上,他想到那些在山上一起长大的朋友,也许再也见不到他们了。
Only later did he come to view his expulsion as a blessing.He has worked as a swim teacher and co-owned a chain of chicken restaurants,and now he hopes to open an auto repair business.Mr.Lin,31,said he wonders what he might have done with his life had he not spent nine years at Dragon Springs.
后来,他才认为自己被开除是件好事。他成了一名游泳教练,与人合伙开了一家连锁炸鸡店,现在希望开一家汽车修理店。31岁的林先生说,他时常想,如果没有在龙泉寺度过九年,自己的人生会是什么样子。
He worries about the students still living on the mountain.
他还担心那些仍然住在山上的学员。
“It’s just not good for the people that are coming in,being taken advantage of now,especially the younger ones,”Mr.Lin said.
“对那些刚加入的、正在遭到利用的,特别是年轻人来说,这真的不好,”他说。
“It’s just going to be an ongoing cycle.”
“这只会不断重复。”