By Meng Xianteng from central Taiwan
(Clearwisdom.net) Watching the Divine Performing Arts performances I
became aware of the beauty and high level of morals this presentation
demonstrates. The choreography and the movements show the artists' inner beauty. The dancers' personal cultivation of virtue enhances the performances, making
them rich and exquisite. The rich beauty of the traditional Chinese culture is
well conveyed to the audience. Divine Performing Arts represents mankind's
orthodox culture. Such traditional culture, relayed through the medium of
legends and historic tales, enables viewers to raise their spiritual levels.
This is one reason the artists' skills can deeply touch people's souls. What did tone, rhyme, dance and music connote in traditional culture? Looking
at the meaning of these few characters might provide us a glimpse.
"Yin" (tone) was written in Xiaozhuan, an ancient style of
calligraphy, with the character "yi" (one) on top of the character
"yan" (speech). The "Dao"(way) takes shape from "yi"
(being one). When the ethics of the sound are ordered and are able to conform to
the Dao, the sound is then called "yin" (tone), therefore the tone
itself means "preaching" and carries the meaning of seeking for higher
moral standards. The character "yun" (rhyme) is written with the
character "yin" (tone) plus the character yuan. The
character "yuan," when discovered in ancient inscriptions on bones or
tortoise shells, was formed with the character "bei" underneath the
character "kou," with "bei" referring to the tripod cauldron
for cultivating pills of immortality, and "kou" referring to the pill
after sublimation. The character "yuan" therefore carries the meaning
of "ascending through cultivation" from the human world. Putting
"yin" and "yuan" together forms the character "yun"
(rhyme). The original meaning of "yin yun" (tone and rhyme) is
"to raise one's morals in harmony with heaven and earth through tone and
rhyme." The book Shuo Wen Ju Du, written by Wang Yun during the Qing Dynasty,
explains that "wu" (dance) is part of "yue" (music). "Yue"
therefore refers to both singing and dancing. Shuo Wen Ju Du explains
that our ancestors had composed "yue" as a form of worshiping moral
values. "Yue" is likened to a drum on a wooden frame. Beating the drum
was called "yue." "Yue" (music) is created from happiness,
and happiness comes from compassion. Beating the drum to worship the heavens
therefore creates "yue" (music). The character "ren"
(compassion) is made up of the character "person" plus the character
"er" (two). Here, "er" is not merely a number two. In
ancient bone and tortoise shells inscriptions, the character, when written with
the top horizontal bar shorter than the bottom horizontal bar, means "shang"
(above). The character "ren" (compassion) refers to people who have
ascended through cultivation. Furthermore, "ren" (compassion) comes
from "Dao." Mankind's traditional culture aims to raise people's moral
values and raise the quality of life through "yin" (tone), "yun"
(rhyme), "wu" (dance) and "yue" (music). The Divine
Performing Arts has transmitted the beauty of such culture, as each individual
performer's skill and moral character comes through in the content of the
performance. The Divine Performing Arts artists pay special attention to individual moral
cultivation. There is a general assumption that their achievements in performing
arts depend on how well they have cultivated their character and the level of
their morality. For example, David, a dancer in the troupe, said that his
training did not merely focus on basic skills and posture in Chinese dance and
ballet, nor the learning of classical Chinese dances and folk dancing, but
focused on the training of moral values, manners and traditional culture. Ren
Fengwu, another dancer, also says that the highest realm of art is selfless.
Dancers let go of their egos through cultivation and raising their morals, and
they ultimately care about nothing else but the audience. Vina Li, a lead dancer, says that Western education emphasizes democracy and
equality, even between parents and their children. The young performers in the
troupe who previously communicated only in the English language have gone
through a process - from unfamiliarity with Chinese culture to understanding it,
and from understanding it to being part of it. They have learned the meaning of
"filial piety" and "loyalty" through the performances of
Mulan and Yue Fei. They have formed closer relationships with their family
members in the process of training. Nurtured in such an atmosphere, they now
conduct themselves just like typical Chinese, with traditional values. This is a
clear demonstration that the members of the Divine Performing Arts not only
expound the essence of traditional Chinese culture to the audience, but at the
same time this enables the performers to change on a spiritual level. The
performers' adherence to moral values and traditional etiquette is the very
driving force that enables the whole troupe to truthfully depict the inner
meaning of each dance and demonstrate the beauty of moral ascention. The audience feedback shows us how they were touched by and understood the
beauty of such moral ascention. In the dance Yue Fei, the hero shifted his
feelings for his mother to aspirations for his country and the people. He gave
up his own interests and served his country with unreserved loyalty. Although he
sacrifices himself, he raises his morals and sets a typical example of loyalty
for the Chinese people. It is for this reason that this story has enjoyed such
high respect from generation to generation. Mulan is about a heroine who fought on behalf of her father, reminding people
of what was said in a Chinese textbook: "The noise from the weaving machine
kept going. As Mulan worked the loom by the window, her father could not hear
the sound of the loom for the sound of his daughter's sighing... Of the 12
military orders, Mulan's father's name is listed in each one. Father does not
have a grown-up son and Mulan does not have an elder brother. 'I want to get a
saddle and a horse, and go out there to fight on behalf of my father...'"
Hua Mulan joined the army to fight on behalf of her father and gained compassion
through her actions. Stories about her are still widely disseminated today. The wife of Councillor Chen Wantong from Taizhong County said she really
enjoyed the performances and felt an inner serenity. The dance of Yue Fei
particularly touched her - for the hero's unreserved loyalty to his country. Ms.
Ye also commented that she felt peaceful and happy after watching the
performances and would love to watch them again. She said that there is too much
confusion and chaos in present-day society, and performances like these
expressing the human nature of truthfulness, kindness and beauty, should be
shown more often, so that people can keep in touch with these values. Only in
this way can we educate and influence people, inspire kindness in human nature
and eliminate violence. Only then can people live in harmony, and may society
improve and become more peaceful.
Ancient Chinese characters: Yan (speech), Yin (tone), Yuan (rhyme), Yue (music)
Posting date: 5/9/2007
Original article date: 5/8/2007
Category: Open Forum
Translated on 5/3/2007
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/4/19/153088.html