PITTSBURGH—After attending Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time on Jan. 27, physician and senior medical director Houssam Abdul was amazed by the depth of traditional Chinese culture.
“It’s very colorful. It’s relaxing. You feel like you’re in a dream, and you went back in history to see what happened,” Mr. Abdul exclaimed, sitting in the audience of the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts.
“Then, you see the wisdom and the synchronicity of those dances—It’s just amazing. It’s captivating. I loved it,” he said.
Reflecting on this mission, Mr. Abdul said, “There is a lot of depth in Chinese culture that we don’t much realize.”
“It’s like an ocean, there’s a lot of things in it, and you have to dig deep to understand it and capture it. There’s always something new, always something exciting,” Mr. Abdul expressed.
“What a nice [performance]—it catches your soul, there’s a lot of values in it. You can see that every move they make is built on the values of goodness and commitment to traditions. [They’re getting] good outcomes out of an organized function based on high morals and values,” he said.
He would like to research further into the issue.
“It’s heartbreaking. They take those organs against the wishes—those people are alive, and they’re taking the organs out. You invade human autonomy when you do something against [the people’s] wishes, let alone taking their organs out,” he said.
“That’s very, very alarming. I’m not sure how, from our level, we can influence this kind of action and stand against it. Maybe take it to a higher level and say, ‘It shouldn’t happen. We [need to] stop it.’”
“It’s based on [community] and creativity and good values,” he added.
“It’s capable of innovation. Despite [being] one of the oldest cultures, it’s always capable of renovating itself, and that tells you how deep the culture is. It’s always surprising you with something new. It’s not the same stuff, and that’s very fascinating,” he said.
