Newcastle University student attends Shen Yun for the third time.
LONDON—On March 9, Shen Yun obtained a full house and overwhelming applause after their fifth show in London. Mr. Liu, coming from Shenzhen, China, was among the audience. He is currently a junior studying finance at Newcastle University and came all the way from Newcastle to London to see Shen Yun for the third time. He said that he felt very shocked when he realized that from the heart, he felt great respect for the gods.
“I can only use the word “beautiful”, because I cannot find any other word to describe this performance. I do not want to use modern words to describe this show, because I feel that would be a kind of profanity against [it]. It is also because it is beautiful that I watch it every year,” Mr. Liu said.
“What is displayed in the show is a completely different kind of beautiful from Western art forms: It is very traditional Chinese culture. Even though I lived in China, I never saw this kind of beauty there. China is also mentioning five thousand years of history; however, I have never seen this in China and was only able to experience it after coming out of China. I believe this is true Chinese culture.”
Mr. Liu found out about the Shen Yun performance at the beginning of 2011, and when he searched online for related information, he felt that he must come see this performance, so he immediately traveled to London. In 2012, he came to see it again, and by 2013, he felt that he must see Shen Yun no matter what.
Mr. Liu lamented that he did not know how much he respected the gods from the depths of his heart until after seeing Shen Yun. He said,”Actually, since I was little, I really respected the gods, although I did not realize it then. However, after watching Shen Yun, [my] sudden awareness of a respect for the gods was very strong.”
Mr. Liu also said that he often came across Falun Gong practitioners when he was little because some his neighbors were practitioners. They truly believed in gods, and he felt that they were very peaceful and gave people a warm feeling. And it was because of this that he was not too affected by atheistic ideas.
Mr. Liu feels that Shen Yun as a phenomenon touring around the world is great because nowadays,it is very hard to come into contact with traditional Chinese culture.
“China has a five-thousand-year history and foreigners do not understand. Actually, even many Chinese people do not really comprehend it. I believe that this show teaches people that true traditional Chinese culture is something worthy of celebrating for the entire world. At the moment, China and abroad are all filled with modern culture, and even the culture of the Renaissance is being forgotten. I hope Shen Yun will have more troupes to tour the world,” he said.
Mr. Liu believes traditional culture is extremely vital for people. He has read ancient texts to understand the values of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and belief that were emphasized in ancient China.
“The ancients emphasized integrity and forbearance. People nowadays have forgotten these values and when their interests are at stake they have no thought to modestly decline,” he said.
He says that he sees a sense of righteousness in the performance, “Like in the Tang Dynasty dance, every man is very righteous and the women are very gentle. In modern times, women are all very strong, but the women in past were all very soft. If people could have a sense of righteousness, then a return in culture could be achieved.”
Read original Chinese article.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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