TAIPEI, Taiwan—On the evening of Feb. 25, Shen Yun Performing Arts put on its first performance in the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. Members of several tourists groups from mainland China attended the venue.
Mr. and Ms. Wang, father and daughter, had seen videos of Shen Yun in China and decided to come to Taipei to see it live. Mr. Wang was excited, “It’s fantastic seeing it live. I am very glad!”
Ms. Wang was touched by the meaning of the songs sang by the soloists: “I hope everyone can find the meaning of his life and not be blinded by economic interests.”
“When the curtain rose, something from the depth of my soul came out. The feeling was sealed for a long time and it was something I had been looking for for a long time,” she said.
Ms. Wang said that she cried several times during the show, in the first and last program where she saw the universe being created and being saved by the creator. She also cried when she saw Falun Dafa followers being suppressed for having faith and when justice conquered evil. “These are stories and culture you can’t see in China,” said Ms. Wang.
Hearing the Meaning of Life in the Songs
After listening to soprano Jiang Min’s “This Music is Truth,” Ms. Wang felt that she found the reason why she existed. “The song repeatedly says ‘This you have awaited for millions of years. It is your last hope,’ it’s telling everyone the purpose of our existence and the meaning of life,” said Ms. Wang.
Ms. Wang has a music background and said that normally she thought combining Western and Eastern musical instruments was too farfetched and that they often clash. However, she said that Shen Yun’s orchestra made the two musical systems blend perfectly and she experienced the different kinds of music comfortably.
At 7 p.m. on February 26, dozens of Chinese tourists from a group lined up to enter Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall to see Shen Yun. An old couple from northern China came to Taiwan to live with their son. They’d heard about Shen Yun before they came and they were glad to see it live.
“It doesn’t have any political agenda like the shows we saw in China. Shen Yun’s performance is completely Chinese tradition and is very pure. I love it,” said the man.
A group of Chinese tourists sat in the middle of the theater where the audience got the best visual effect. A college student said, “Compared to the DVD I saw, this is so much more thrilling. We learned about Shen Yun from the Internet in China.”
A girl continued, “It is eye-opening. The artists did wonderfully and it was a great performance. It’s hard for us to see this kind of performance in China. Shen Yun was elegant and it revived the 5,000 years of Chinese culture. For young students like us, it is overwhelming and amazing. If it was possible, I would bring more friends and family to see the show.”
“The background animation and the artists’ movements connect seamlessly, it was brilliant,” said another man. Another person said that they had planned to see Shen Yun overseas since last December and they were contemplating whether to go to South Korea or Taipei. “We decided to come to Taipei. It’s definitely worth the trip. Everyone in our tour group, over 20 of us, all came in here to see the show.”
Mr. Wang heard about Shen Yun long ago. After seeing the performance, he was convinced, “It is way superior than other performances. It’s a world-class, top show!”
Wang went through the Cultural Revolution and was touched to revisit the historical stories and culture that he once was familiar with. “The stories are very classical and we used to know them by heart. Shen Yun put them on stage and see them again makes me feel nostalgic and warm,” said Wang.
The performance brought Wang a joyous feeling, “I can’t describe it. It just makes me happy and cheerful.”
Wang said that he could feel that in a country with freedom of belief, Falun Gong was very welcome. “I hope Shen Yun can gradually work its way out and perform in China. People in China can see the superb quality of art and the truth of Falun Gong.”
Reporting by Yuan Chung, Tsai-Wen Huag and Hsin-Yi Lin
Read the original Chinese articles: [1] [2] [3]
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
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.
