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Shen Yun captures the culture of China
By John Benson
It was nearly a decade ago when Tianlun Jian traveled through a massive snowstorm to see Chinese performance group Shen Yun in Boston.
“Shen Yun touched my soul and shook me deeply,” said the Cleveland-area resident who was instrumental in bringing it to that city in February. “It was the first time that I got to know the genuine traditional Chinese culture.”
In a nutshell, the awe-inspiring performances pull from Chinese literary classics that have survived the nation’s 5,000 years of uninterrupted history. The storyline may seem like science fiction, but the folklore provides the Shen Yun performers with a springboard for its performance.
There’s the daughter who disguises herself as a son and takes her father’s place at war, as well as a magical monkey, an ogre and a humanoid pig that protect a Buddhist monk as he journeys to the western heavens on a quest for true teachings. In addition, a folk hero gets drunk and then saves a village from a vicious tiger.
“China has a long history and great culture,” Jian said. “Each year the program covers a piece of Chinese history, and cultures of 56 ethnic groups. Therefore, dances, music, songs, backdrops, costumes, and stories are all different from previous years.
“Whether you have seen Shen Yun before or not, you will enjoy while learning the most authentic traditional Chinese art and culture, by traveling through China’s history of different dynasties, through the vast land of different landscapes and eyeballing the different lifestyles and costumes of ethnic groups.”
While banned in communist China, Shen Yun has found a new life based in New York City. The non-profit boasts artists from around the world all hoping to revive the heritage. Since its establishment in 2006, the company has become a global sensation, performing for more than a million audience members across five continents around the world.
The Shen Yun touring company will stop in Pittsburgh for three shows Saturday and Sunday at Benedum Center.