NISHINOMIA, Japan—Mr. Wang (pseudonym), a Chinese student studying in Japan, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company’s 2013 premiere at Hyogo Performing Arts Center on April 24. Marveling at the unparalleled artistic feast with profound spiritual connotations, Mr. Wang was moved to tears.
He explained, “We should be in awe of heaven and earth, and should be in harmony with Mother Nature. This is something important. However, after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power, it has tried to eliminate the traditional culture. So, it is important to revive this traditional culture.
“Though we cannot see Buddhas and gods with our naked eye, they do exist. They are in the air and in our hearts. As long as everyone has a kind heart, it is very likely that we are able to revive our traditional culture.”
With regard to the wide variety of performances in China, Mr. Wang said: “I think Shen Yun is the genuine inheritor of the authentic Chinese culture, and its performances are totally different from those in China. The performances in China are nothing more than promotion of the Communist Party’s culture and the eulogy of its legality of ruling, without genuine artistic values.”
Mr. Wang expressed that he has learned from media reports that the Chinese regime has illegally plagiarized Shen Yun’s creations, trying to model Shen Yun’s performances. In this regard, he said: “The CCP may mimic something from the outside, but it can never imitate something from the inside. As Shen Yun demonstrates its awe of heaven, I think this is something that the CCP cannot copy [from Shen Yun].”
“Seeing Shen Yun’s fantastic performance, inter alia, from their form, body movements and facial expressions, we can tell that the Shen Yun artists have a passion for dance and are in awe of gods and nature, from the bottom of their hearts. I think it is really great.
“Performance is the demonstration of a kind of feeling deep inside one’s heart, and it is far more important than other elements. I think Shen Yun will perform in China eventually, and will cause quite a stir there.
“The atheism advocated by CCP, in fact, is something very terrible, as it is to completely eliminate the traditional Chinese virtue of respectiing heaven and earth. ... Seeing the Shen Yun performance made me have new hope for the Chinese nation. Shen Yun also made me feel proud of the long Chinese history and its splendid civilization,” he said.
“The 5,000 years of Chinese history is, in fact, a divinely inspired history. As Shen Yun is promoting authentic Chinese culture, I think it will have a far-reaching effect on the revival of traditional Chinese culture.”
Seeing the program depicting Falun Gong practitioners’ steadfast faith in their belief, despite the persecution against them in China, Mr. Wang said: “Very touching! I was in tears.”
He was deeply moved by the dance An Unexpected Encounter, which portrayed the story about a father and his daughter being arrested by police because of having a picture taken with Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing. He said, “While they were in prison, gods came to their rescue due to their compassion.”
Mr. Wang also commented on the dance, Divine Mercy. He said, “The last program suggested that someday in the future gods would proceed with a purge, and people would come to realize the truth.”
Mr. Wang appreciated Shen Yun’s brilliant performance. “The synchronization among the backdrops, the dancing as well as the orchestra was perfect. I really appreciate Shen Yun for its unparalleled artistic feast. I was moved to tears. Thank you very much Shen Yun Performing Arts,” he said.
Reporting by Zhang Xiayu and Bill Xu
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
