Dean of Humanities and Arts College: Shen Yun Purifies Human Hearts with Artistic Form

CHIAYI, Taiwan—Liu Rong-Yi, dean of the College of Humanities and Arts, National Chiayi University, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company’s final show at Chiayi Performing Arts Center on the evening of March 12. Impressed with Shen Yun’s persistence in promoting traditional morality and culture, Dean Liu praised Shen Yun’s spirit from the perspective of his own belief, saying, “[Shen Yun] is saving people with the compassionate concept that gods love the world.”

He added: “Based on moral tradition, Shen Yun preserves the most traditional dances in our culture.

“It [Shen Yun] purifies human hearts and beautifies human lives with artistic form. What Shen Yun has been doing deserves our recognition.”

Further commenting on Shen Yun’s dedication to preservation of traditional Chinese dance, he said: “This group of people [Shen Yun artists] have been working hard to preserve traditional Chinese dance, in order to pass it down to our future generations. In particular, the all-new show it presents every year always makes people feel very refreshed. I hope that more people can understand the magnificence of our traditional dances.”

He expressed that the traditional culture can be passed down to the younger generations through the legends performed by Shen Yun, such as Sand Monk Is Blessed and The Emperor Journeys to the Moon. He noted: “It is very creative to adapt traditional Chinese stories or legends into dance dramas, which can let young people have more insight into our traditional culture through such dances.”

Impressed by the Shen Yun Orchestra’s seamless blend of the Eastern and Western musical instruments, professor Liu said: “They [Shen Yun] did an excellent job in terms of the sound effect. Especially, the combination of the Shen Yun Orchestra’s blend of Western instruments and our own traditional musical instruments; it is very outstanding.”

He went on to express his feelings about the Shen Yun Orchestra, saying: “While the traditional Chinese pentatonic scale is applied to the Shen Yun Orchestra’s musical arrangement, the music is played by [both Eastern and] Western instruments. Accompanied by a Western orchestra, the rhyme in Chinese music is played by the erhu. The rhyme can be fully demonstrated by the tremendous grandeur of their performance. This kind of music is very unique and very wonderful.”

‘[Shen Yun] will bring you happiness and enjoyment!’

Among the some ten Yunlin County Government officials who attended the Shen Yun performance, along with County Magistrate Su Chih-fen, was Yunlin County Education Director Chiu Hsiao-wen. After seeing the first half of the performance, Director Chiu said, “I feel very happy and delighted. The pace was very fast, and [the overall performance] was very refreshing.”

Watching Shen Yun for the second time, Director Chiu was enthralled by the creative all-new program. He commented, “[Shen Yun’s] program is very fast-paced and succinct, and the dance as well as the overall artistic presentation are impeccable. I can tell they [Shen Yun artists] would have undergone a lot of rigorous training in basic skills. Whether it is the dance, music, stage or backdrop, every detail was well taken. Therefore, the atmosphere and ambience they generated was very comfortable and refreshing.”

In terms of an all-new program every year, Chiu noted: “I attended a Shen Yun show several years ago in Taichung, but what I saw this year is completely different. The style and the savor presented are completely different as well. … As to legendary programs, the performance approach was not the same too. It took just a very brief time to demonstrate what they wanted to present [on the stage] with movements and body language. I think it is not something easy to come by.”

Deeply moved by the touching solos in the first half of the program, Chiu Hsiao-wen exclaimed, “I was amazed by the songs sung by the two vocalists. They touched the bottom of my heart.”

Dazzled by the brilliant colors, he noted: “The colors were very brilliant and eye-catching. The overall designs were really very wonderful. All the performers, designers, and those behind the scene have really done a great job.”

Chiu Hsiao-wen concluded by saying, “[Shen Yun] will bring you happiness and enjoyment! This kind of artistic conception performed with fast-paced and succinct programs is indeed not easy to come by.”

Read the Chinese articles  [1] [2]

Reporting by Meng Xianteng, Dong Huiling 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

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