PARIS—At 10:30pm on Feb. 28, the third show of the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts Company came to a successful close at the Palais des Congres de Paris amid thunderous applause. The audience who came from all walks of life were fascinated by the excellent Shen Yun performance.
Enthusiastic applause and interaction between the audience and performers created a warm atmosphere. Many of the audience members watched the Shen Yun performance last year or had attended another show this year. While praising shows as top-notch, they admired the profundity of traditional morality and values conveyed in the programs.
Now residing abroad in France, Ms. Lin Xilin, known as “the last rightist in China,” arrived at the theater to see the evening’s performance. Although not totally recovered from a serious illness, she attended the Shen Yun show for the fifth time and after watching the show, she shared her feelings.
For Chinese who suffered political oppression in the Anti-Rightist Movement, the Lin Xilin is a household name. Lin Xilin, now in her 70s, is a former reporter for the China Youth Daily. Ms. Lin and 550,000 others were labeled as rightists in the 1957 Anti-Rightist Movement. In 1977, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reversed a miscarriage of justice for rightists, Deng Xiaoping issued an order that a miscarriage of justice could never be redressed for Lin Xiling, Zhang Bojun, Luo Longji, Chu Anping, and Chen Renbing.
The four others have passed away, and with only Lin Xiling left, she is referred to as “the last rightist in China.” Fond of literature all her life, she was swept into the whirlpool of politics which brought destruction to her family. Lin Xiling has been residing abroad in France for many years.
She told the reporter, “It’s never easy for me to come here. I was discharged from the hospital two months ago, unable to go outdoors. And there was the traffic jam this afternoon, but I made it to the Shen Yun show this evening. This is the fifth time that I’ve attended the show. Last year I watched it in the United States and my interview sparked a furor among the public. The CCP was so mad with me that they intended to give me a hard time.
“This year I told myself that I would come to the show, even if I had to crawl here. My presence at the theater is a protest against the CCP’s persecution against me, against Falun Gong, and against those who stand up for Falun Gong. As a result, I came to the theater to watch the show.”
As for the presentation of Shen Yun, she said, “The director is good. Its backdrops and cosmetics are good, simple, elegant, and modest. The show displays ethnic features and folk customs, appealing to the emotions. I could sense a kind of affectionate sentiment that is endearing to refined and popular tastes.”
As for the artistic quality of Shen Yun, she said, “News of the superlative Shen Yun performance and hearty responses by overseas audiences will be spread back in China and have a great impact on performing groups in China and then attract them to the show. That’s why I said Shen Yun makes great contributions to the promotion of ancient Chinese culture and art.
“Despite the comments of the CCP’s performing groups, the general public is unanimous in what an appealing performance is and what an unattractive performance is.” In addition, she said that the CCP’s official performing groups are characterized by how much they cost to produce. They invested lots of money in their costumes, making their show sumptuous and also treating lots of people to the show. But they lacked one element, that is, “divinity,” she said.
“I think ‘divinity’ vividly expresses everything. It is divinity that they [the CCP] lack. As an art lover, I think of Shen Yun’s spirit and inner concern they have over human beings and culture as truthfulness, compassion, and beauty is clearly demonstrated.
“I have watched the Shen Yun show five times. Their distinguishing features are divinity, spirit, love, truthfulness, compassion, forbearance, and brotherly love. These are what the CCP’s performing groups lack.”
When it comes to the reason for the CCP’s interference with Shen Yun shows abroad, she said that she was quite familiar with the CCP’s immoral behavior, which at the same time, exemplified their diffidence and guilty conscience.
She continued, “They are alienating, desperately struggling, and end up looking like hooligans. In my opinion, they are asking for trouble by reversing right and wrong, false and real, honor and humiliation.”
At the end of her interview, she said that the CCP regards overseas Chinese as their tools, forcing them with threats into cooperation. If they refused to follow orders, they will be accused of being unpatriotic. In fact, the CCP is trying to cover up its misdeeds by shifting the blame on others. In her opinion, the CCP is a betrayer that betrays the country in the name of patriotism.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit shenyunperformingarts.org
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