SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Jason Jones, a writer and filmmaker, has seen Shen Yun Performing Arts numerous times, and since the first time, he has been in awe of the performance.
“I’ve seen Shen Yun in Washington D.C. I’ve seen Shen Yun in New York City. I’ve seen Shen Yun in Paris. And now I’ve seen Shen Yun in San Antonio, Texas,” he said.
Shen Yun, based in New York, is on a mission to present “China before communism,” and revive people’s connection with 5,000 years of Chinese civilization and culture.
“My wife is an American-born Chinese. So I wanted my daughters to see their traditional culture,” said Mr. Jones, who also runs a human rights organization. “This is the most beautiful show, and it’s just important for my children to see this. And one day they'll get to go back to a free China, and that means a lot to me.”
Mr. Jones understands that Chinese civilization has been distorted and almost completely destroyed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but it doesn’t mean that Chinese culture is dead.
“I saw wherever Shen Yun goes, whether it’s Paris or Milan or Berlin, China is alive. So you say this is China before communism, but it’s actually China now because where you are, China lives. And it’s also China after communism, because one day we’re going to see a free, beautiful, vibrant China again,” he said.
“It was very obvious that this is a beautiful rescue of a civilization that’s been ravaged by a brutal ideology,” Mr. Jones added.
Although China was once known as the land of the divine, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s ideology is rooted in Marxism.
Mr. Jones displayed his clear knowledge of modern Chinese history.
“First, you had the Cultural Revolution, which was a war on ancestors. Then you had the one-child policy, which is a war on your own descendants. Now you have organ harvesting, which is cannibalism,” he stated.
“The CCP will collapse. And that is what I think makes Falun Dafa practitioners and Shen Yun, specifically, so important,” he said.
Mr. Jones compared Shen Yun to the story of Noah’s Ark.
“This was like Noah’s ark. And all of the civilization has been put on this ark. And one day the ark will land where it came from. And then all of the beautiful life on that ark will flow out into the land, and we'll see a revitalization. So I think everyone can feel the CCP’s days are numbered,” he said.
Shen Yun’s artists are trained in classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.
“One of my daughters is a dancer, and so I brought two of my daughters,” Mr. Jones said. “When you look at the dancers, how powerful they are, how delicate they are, how they’re really the most beautiful performers in the world.”
As a filmmaker, Mr. Jones found what he values in a good production in Shen Yun.
“The production value is amazing, but as a producer, I look for story. And to me, story is the most important. And what really is captivating is how each year you find all of these beautiful stories. You have all this civilizational treasure that you can reach into and draw from and share. That’s what you do, and it’s quite beautiful,” Mr. Jones said.
One dance story portrays the modern true story of Falun Dafa practitioners being persecuted for their faith in China. Falun Dafa is a peaceful practice that teaches the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Perhaps the most heinous of crimes committed by the CCP is harvesting the organs of Falun Dafa practitioners for profit.
“This is something that sounds too crazy to be true. So it’s very important that we share with people the truth about organ harvesting,” Mr. Jones said.
