SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shows Chinese Culture Can Never Be Eradicated, Says History Professor

Apr 17, 2025

4/17/2025Updated: 4/17/2025

HAMILTON, Ontario—Ian Gentles is a professor of history at York University. After seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts, he noted the irony of Shen Yun not being able to perform in China.

“[Shen Yun] brings back the intention, what Chinese culture and civilization was before the middle 20th century when communism took over and basically eradicated the past, which, as a historian, I deplore because the past is very important to us. The past shapes the present, and we need to be conscious of our past,” Mr. Gentles said.

Shen Yun is based in New York, and its mission is to revive 5,000 years of “China before communism.”

“I think fewer things could be more important. It’s very, very important. And it’s spreading wonderful knowledge of Chinese civilization to the rest of the world. ... The sad thing, the ironic thing, is that people in China are not allowed to see it,” Mr. Gentles said.

Mr. Gentles elaborated, saying that China might be one of the only nations in the world that would attempt to erase or change its history.

“The British, for example, are very conscious of their past. The Americans are very conscious. The French are very conscious of their past. But in China, you have probably the oldest civilization, which has been unfortunately eradicated, or they’ve tried to eradicate it. But of course, Shen Yun is bringing it back to life. And you can never really eradicate the past,” he said.

Shen Yun’s artists are trained in classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.

“It’s very beautiful and colorful and athletic. Especially the men’s dance at the beginning was very athletic,” he said.

Classical Chinese dance has similarities to ballet, but it was the differences that appealed to Mr. Gentles.

“I think there are many similarities to Western ballet, but I think the Chinese dance has more variation. That’s what I really appreciate,” he said.

Mr. Gentles also saw parallels between Chinese and Western culture. China was once the land of the divine, and that spiritual belief in a higher power is very similar to the religions found in the West.

“Lewis once pointed out that all the great religions share a very similar moral code. The moral code of all the great religions, including Falun Dafa, are quite similar,” he said.

One of Shen Yun’s dances tells the story of Falun Dafa practitioners being persecuted for their faith. Falun Dafa teaches people to live according to the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance.

“The talk about original sin, for example, the talk about how we used to be gods but are not so anymore. And the talk about peace and truth and compassion, all those things are very similar to Christian teaching. ... I think what the Shen Yun teaches us is the fundamental unity of the human race. We are all really united,” Mr. Gentles said.

Reporting by NTD and Maria Han.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.