Fulun is occasionally mentioned in the press as outlawed in China, but little is said about why the group is persecuted.
Jesse and I stepped into the middle of a Fulun world at a concert called Shen Yun, ostensibly a presentation of Chinese heritage in music and dance. The traditional folk dances and costumes from various regions of China, interspersed with technological effects portraying gods and goddesses and fabulous scenery, were riviting. The talent was mainly ethnic Chinese; the orchestra was a combination of Western and Chinese instruments. The emcees spoke in both English and Chinese.
The Fulun philosophy or perhaps theology was explicated by tenors in tuxedos, contraltos in evening gowns. The songs were about reincarnation, doing good deeds and the hope of heaven. The words were printed in the program in English and Chinese. I was reminded of a Christian variety show, though this was obviously not Christian.
The sequences of modern China included brown-shirted police beating Fulun demonstrators in blue jeans, the police killing a young man reading from the book of Fulun to his mother, a school teacher arrested for teaching compassion and diversity to school girls. In each vignette the Fulun practioner was martyred and sent to heaven. In the final scene, the gates of Heaven opened and a new era began.
The plum blossom, a small pink flower, was celebrated as a historic symbol of China, and the plum blossom dance was gorgeous. I was reminded of the use of eidelweiss in the Sound of Music as a symbol of Swiss resistance to the Nazis and of the symbol of Irish resistance, the shamrock.)
The message of Shen Yun seemed to be, though Chinese heritage is being trashed and the followers of Fulun persecuted, spring will come.
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| Chinese Culture and the Fulun |
Jesse and I stepped into the middle of a Fulun world at a concert called Shen Yun, ostensibly a presentation of Chinese heritage in music and dance. The traditional folk dances and costumes from various regions of China, interspersed with technological effects portraying gods and goddesses and fabulous scenery, were riviting. The talent was mainly ethnic Chinese; the orchestra was a combination of Western and Chinese instruments. The emcees spoke in both English and Chinese.
The Fulun philosophy or perhaps theology was explicated by tenors in tuxedos, contraltos in evening gowns. The songs were about reincarnation, doing good deeds and the hope of heaven. The words were printed in the program in English and Chinese. I was reminded of a Christian variety show, though this was obviously not Christian.
The sequences of modern China included brown-shirted police beating Fulun demonstrators in blue jeans, the police killing a young man reading from the book of Fulun to his mother, a school teacher arrested for teaching compassion and diversity to school girls. In each vignette the Fulun practioner was martyred and sent to heaven. In the final scene, the gates of Heaven opened and a new era began.
The plum blossom, a small pink flower, was celebrated as a historic symbol of China, and the plum blossom dance was gorgeous. I was reminded of the use of eidelweiss in the Sound of Music as a symbol of Swiss resistance to the Nazis and of the symbol of Irish resistance, the shamrock.)
The message of Shen Yun seemed to be, though Chinese heritage is being trashed and the followers of Fulun persecuted, spring will come.