Houqiang Yu, the executive chairman of the China Democratic Party in Canada, said, “I hope that in the future we can see even more [Shen Yun] performances, because China actually has thousands of years of rich culture.”
Haiyang Liu, a recent Chinese immigrant, said, “Today I’m honored to come here and experience another facet of Chinese culture, a sense of the inheritance of the Chinese nation. It’s making me feel quite excited today, very excited.”
Xueming Zheng, a recent Chinese immigrant, said, “Shen Yun’s performance showcases the beauty of traditional Chinese culture and demonstrates the inheritance of Chinese culture.”
China has a long history of spirituality and morality, with virtues such as truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, displayed on stage through story-based dances and a live orchestra. Chinese audience members said they were proud to see so many Western theatergoers enjoy the performance.
Mr. Liu said, “During the performance, I noticed that a lot of the audience members around me were from Western countries. They kept applauding and praising Chinese culture. As a Chinese person, that made me immeasurably proud.”
Li Han, a recent Chinese immigrant, said, “[Shen Yun] uses traditional Chinese myths and legends to allow local audiences to learn about Chinese history and culture in a simple, easy-to-understand way. This is also an opportunity for local audiences to understand Chinese culture, so I am grateful to Shen Yun for doing these things, so that true Chinese culture can grow and be shared.”
Mr. Liu said, “Kindness is the virtue passed down to us from our ancestors. Chinese people are truly kind and honest. It’s our inheritance. It’s ingrained in us.”
Ms. Li said, “[Audiences] can also subtly absorb values such as the principle of good deeds being rewarded and evil deeds being punished, as well as Chinese concepts like doing good deeds and karma.”
Mr. Yu said, “Chinese culture has been about respecting Heaven, Earth, and ancestors for thousands of years. But for the CCP, it’s all about the party and its leader, which is absurd.”
Ms. Li said, “China is actually a country of many ethnic groups with very kind people. It’s not actually the terrible image that the CCP has painted it to be.”
Mr. Liu said, “Actually, I didn’t have this feeling [of culture] in [mainland China]. I couldn’t feel any presence of this cultural heritage at all. It was all this dogmatic propaganda, these dogmatic slogans. But here I truly felt this selfless transmission of culture through truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.”
Mr. Yu said, “I believe the moment the CCP collapses, the traditional Chinese virtues of compassion, truthfulness, and tolerance will all return. Because I think these things are written into people’s genes. They’re just suppressed by fear right now. I believe they will definitely return.”
