SAN FRANCISCO—As a Chinese American and the president of a Republican women’s club in Novato, Carol Smith brought her club members and her husband, altogether 18 people, to watch
Shen Yun Performing Arts at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco on Jan. 4.
Mrs. Smith said that during the performance, she “cried the whole time,” and even after the performance, she was still very emotional, “because that’s how we grew up, that’s my culture, that’s my treasure. I grew up with it, so it’s always with me.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts was
founded in New York in 2006 by a group of elite Chinese artists who are Falun Gong practitioners and who fled religious persecution in China. The mission of Shen Yun is to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture, which is being destroyed by the Chinese regime. Since its inception, Shen Yun has been touring the world presenting the beauty and goodness of China before communism through classical Chinese dance and music.
This year was the third time Mrs. Smith watched Shen Yun. She believes strongly in Shen Yun’s mission, “People will absolutely benefit from it,” she said. “That’s why I brought my club members. I want them to see my culture. I want them to see what we can offer as Chinese.”
“I want them to know about Shen Yun and Falun Gong, and I want them to know how horrible [the] Chinese communist party is. They persecute their own people; it’s not okay with me.”
Falun Gong is a type of self-cultivation practice in the Buddhist tradition. It has meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, forbearance. Due to its popularity in China and its spiritual teachings, the Chinese Communist Party (
CCP) started a brutal campaign against the practice in 1999. In addition to presenting China’s splendid past, Shen Yun exposes this human rights atrocity that has lasted for a quarter century in today’s China.
Mrs. Smith said, “It’s a wonderful way to spread our culture and [to raise] awareness of how horrible [the] Chinese government is.”
She appreciated Shen Yun’s live
orchestra, “They are fantastic. I cannot dream of a better team than they are.”
Mrs. Smith wanted more people to see Shen Yun and hoped that Shen Yun would continue their efforts. She said, “Carry on. Do not stop, I‘ll cheer you on, I’ll do everything I can to support you!”
Reporting by NTD and Sophia Fang.
