Ancient Chinese believed their culture was a gift from the heavens. Since the Communist Party took power in 1949, the regime has sought to break people’s belief in the divine.
Juan Miguel Zunzunegui is a Mexican writer, historian, and university professor who saw Shen Yun on April 6 at the Mexico City Auditorio Nacional. He admires Shen Yun’s efforts to revive traditional Chinese culture through the arts, starting with its connection to the divine.
“It is very interesting for me that the performance shows the audience what you see in China today. What you are told about China today. The China that has been transformed by the West and the Chinese Communist Party,” said Miguel. “The performance shows, 5,000 years ago China is different. So it appears to me, that it’s a way of telling you that the soulless China that you see, is not China. The real China, which had a 5,000 years soul, and here it is. That is the most beautiful part.”
Story-based dance is one of the ways Shen Yun portrays Chinese traditional culture. He expresses his appreciation of the great values that the performance displays.
“If you go back to Chinese history. [When] the meeting with the west and China was not harmonious. That is when the destruction of China began,” he added. “And this [performance] is like saying, look the west and the Chinese can be very harmonious. We just have to respect each other and learn to see what is the best way to behave.”
He also believes that the performance reminds people to not lose their souls and traditional wisdom.
“Not only did China had its soul stolen, the West as well. I have mentioned it many times, that China is a civilization that has lost its soul. When suddenly you only care about the outside. It’s good to make money, to generate wealth, to have modernity; it’s OK to have all that, but never lose your soul. And I believe a lot of people in the world today have lost their souls. On the last scene where everyone is watching their cell phones, is quite evident what they’re referencing it to.”
“I believe that the show invites you, without rejecting all the good things modernity can bring, not to reject all the good things that tradition brings,” Miguel added. “Nowadays we are taught that past traditions are silly superstitions, and that’s not true. Past traditions are millenary wisdom, and if millenary wisdom can come along with modernity, we will be able to do wonderful things.”
NTD News, Mexico
