DAEGU, South Korea—After watching Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Suseong Artpia on April 7, Xu Zhen-Ji said he had encountered celestial beings during the performance.
“The Chinese characters of celestial beings are composed of two words, namely, people and mountain,” said Mr. Xu, former president of the Ulsan Culture Center. “But today, I seemingly bumped into celestial beings, while attending the Shen Yun performances here, without going to mountains.”
Mr. Xu has held a range of positions, and is a popular figure in Korean cultural circles. He was a policy researcher of Korean Artistic and Cultural Federation, and an adviser to Ulsan branch of the Korean Artistic Federation.
Shen Yun, a New York-based company, tours the world presenting the 5,000 years of ancient Chinese culture.
“Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture,” states its website. “Its stunning beauty and tremendous energy leave audiences uplifted and inspired.”
Chinese culture is believed have been handed down by divine beings, thus is referred to as semi-divine. China is also known as the Celestial Empire.
Mr. Xu said the principles in the performance touched him. Chinese culture is replete with a range of virtues, such as wisdom, sincerity, and a respect for the heavens and the divine.
Shen Yun “perfectly demonstrated human potential, and showcased human top arts in a very touching manner,” he said. “Whoever sees it would praise that it is full of pure sincerity, abundant compassion, and sheer beauty.”
While spirituality is typically an at least somewhat abstract idea, Shen Yun brought it onto the stage.
“Spiritual things are invisible, but they do exist in our hearts, and they are hard to express,” said Mr. Xu. “However, Shen Yun showcased them in the form of performance on stage.”
Stories and legends from across space—China’s vast lands—and time—the different eras and dynasties—are drawn on for the performance, showing divinely inspired principles in real life.
Mr. Xu said he saw compassion in Shen Yun’s performance.
And the different aspects of the performance also evoked praise from Mr. Xu.
On the dancers: “Their movements seemed to be beyond the level of human beings. So, as opposed to mechanical-like performance, their performances sounded like full of internal energy, very graceful and peaceful. Their facial expressions were also excellent.”
On the Masters of ceremonies: “The male and female masters of ceremonies were so humorous they were seemingly qualified to be comedians. It is really very wonderful. We were indeed overwhelmed, and we were so lucky.”
On the overall presentation: “It never had a dull moment. Instead of having only one set (of performance), the show (Shen Yun) was presented one play after another, as if they were the delicious dishes served one by one.”
Finally, Mr. Xu said he was delighted with the performance.
“Exquisite, life-like; perfect choreography; and touching,” he said.
Reporting by Zhao Runde and Bill Xu
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
