Issued by Clearwisdom Net

The US-based Divine Performing Arts global tour performances have caused a sensation all over the world in terms of presenting many sold-out performances and drawing warm responses from the audiences. During their over 70 performances, the audiences were enthralled by the consummate presentations of divine beauty. In Taiwan, the first three performances in Taipei have drawn to a successful conclusion. The second stop of the performance tour was in Tainan, known as the ancient cultural capital of Taiwan. On the evening of Monday, April 9, the Divine Performing Arts solemnly staged a performance at the Tainan Municipal Cultural Center, and were warmly welcomed by the people of Tainan. People from surrounding cities and counties, including Kaohsiung and Pingtung, as well as other places, also came by tour bus to attend the performance, creating an unusual spectacular in Tainan's history of art performances.

The Divine Performing Arts performance is warmly welcomed by the audience in Tainan

Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih and his wife, Tainan County Culture Bureau Director Yeh Tse-shan and his wife and other dignitaries came to appreciate the authentic cultural feast of pure compassion and beauty showcased by the Divine Performing Arts.

The first performance in the Fu Cheng on the evening of April 9 gradually concluded amid longstanding applause and praise from the audience.

The Divine Performing Arts performance conveyed authentic Chinese divinely-inspired culture. The audience of diverse cultural backgrounds was amazed and moved after watching the performance. The guests highly praised the performance.

Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih and his wife

Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih and his wife said after watching the performance that the backdrop of the program was different from any other, as it utilized animation. People could move, and smoke could fly. It was very creative. The magistrate's wife Guo Chun-hua commended the performance from a fine arts point of view. She said that the background and the dance performances were very good, and that the costumes were beautiful. It looked very good overall.

Magistrate Su said that Chinese history is of long standing, with vast dimensionality and rich and diverse culture. The Divine Performing Arts performance was somewhat different from previous performances that display traditional Chinese culture. He said that the Divine Performing Arts incorporated Buddhism into Chinese culture and combines spiritual elevation. This is a new orientation, and will have significant influence in the world.

Magistrate Su, who is a lawyer, also mentioned that he was quite clear about the persecution of Falun Gong in the mainland. In such a short period of time there have been so many Chinese people and Westerners in the mainland and around the world who practice Falun Gong. The Chinese Communist Party is therefore afraid of Falun Gong, and thus suppress and persecute Falun Gong in China. He believes that this is a topic worth discussing.

Member of Legislature Yuan Lai Ching-De

Member of Legislature Yuan Lai Ching-de, places a high priority on human rights and has been concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong. He is currently a member of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) Asia Branch. He watched the performance and expressed his understanding of "Huan Mulan." He said it was completely different from "Hua Mulan," which he had seen before. Performers were from different nationalities. The scenes were very vivid and lifelike. The performance was particularly magnificent, using body movements and dancing to effectively illustrate the whole story. He said he was fortunate to see such a wonderful performance. He also hoped that many Tainan citizens would attend the spectacular performance.

Mr. Lai also said that he hoped to take the opportunity of such a wonderful performance to convey an even more important message: Let every one of us pay attention to the persecution of Falun Gong and other Chinese people by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Mr. Lai also invited the sponsor to join him the next day in a radio broadcast informing the citizens of the performance by the Divine Performing Arts.

Tainan County Culture Bureau Director Ye Tse-shan said he was glad he could attend the performance by the Divine Performing Arts, and he felt the performance was unique when compared with general artistic performances. Taking the performance of Yue Fei as an example, it can be seen that dancers not only used body language to display art, the audience can also understand how loyal and filial Yue Fei was at that time. So we, in modern times, can see the profound contrast with the complex environment of our confusing modern society. It is very difficult to achieve a balance between being loyal and being filial. The performance was inspiring. In "A Dunhuang Dream," the dancers' dynamic performance portrayed the Dunhuang more vividly, and at the same time enabled one to become more peaceful, joyous and content. Such a spirit should be conveyed and shared with more people.

City Councilor: Dance Troupe Put Forth Great Effort, Deserves PraiseTainan City Councilor Tsai Wang-chuan said he was moved by the performance, "A Dunhuang Dream." He said that he admired the ancient craftsman's devotion to the art. The Divine Performing Arts used a technique interweaving reality and illusion to present the communication between craftsman and Gods and Buddhas.

In order to reach a realm as lofty as a Buddha and Bodhisattva, one has to imporve one's body and mind. Human beings are pursuing such truths.

From "Creation" to "A Dunhuang Dream," the audience was brought to the Buddha's Paradise. We could feel the dancers have put forth great effort, and been able to truly present their principles and values, which deserves praise.

Tainan local prosecutor Chen Chu-Chun said that there are different sets of rules in the world, playing the role of regulating people's behavior, but one's heart is hard to regulate. Such a large-scale dance drama plays the role of rectifying our entire culture. One's thinking changes, and one's mind and conduct may be changed. The law only restricts one's external behavior, but ultimately ethics and art are needed to educate people, and therefore achieve the function of performing art.

Chen Chu-chun also said that the Divine Performing Arts integrated modern and tradition, East and West, as well as science and technology. The background was superb. She was impressed by the performance "To the Rightful Place." This piece has some similarity with traditional thought, that is, good will be rewarded, and evil will meet with retribution. Though the time has not yet come, there will be such a force, when one will be given the due position one deserves.

Masters Degree-holder from the Institute of Design at the National Taiwan Normal University and Director of the Tainan City Hsi Mei Association, Liu Rong-ying, said that she is learning Chinese ink painting, and has been looking for a Chinese artistic conception for Chinese ink painting. After attending the performance by the Divine Performing Arts, she found that the beautiful realm it showcased is just the feeling she wants to pursue in her Chinese ink painting.

She said the performance, including the costumes and graceful lines, expressed a different feeling from the West. This performance contained very beautiful and profound inner meaning, and expressed an inner meaning that emphasizes that realm. Liu Rong-ying, who is also a teacher in the Department of Visual Arts at the Nan Hua University, said that students in Taiwan nowadays lack the part of inner meaning.

Liu Rong-ying said that the color of the Lotus on Snowy Mountain was very beautiful, and she liked it very much. She thought it would be very conducive to her creation in Chinese ink painting. She also thought that living in Taiwan, one may not have a deep understanding of cultural things, as the spirit of the East includes the feeling of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, and has a comparatively more profound inner meaning. What touches people's hearts is not the surface content, but a very profound impression.

NEWS - Apr. 09, 2007    Falun Dafa Information Center [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]

NEW YORK, NY -- Falun Dafa Information Center representatives were among a dozen speakers featured in a New York City rally Sunday meant to show solidarity with the 20-million-plus persons in china who have now publicly quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.

"There are many in the world who believe the CCP has changed, and it's not the same Party that killed tens of millions of its own citizens during political purges between the 1950's and 1970's," said Information Center spokesperson Levi Browde. "However, the persecution of Falun Gong in China that has raged on for the past seven years tells a very different story... that the CCP is still very, very much the same."

Browde was one of a dozen speakers to address a crowd of thousands who braved near-freezing temperatures, and at times snow, yesterday in New York City's Union Square. "China's Communist regime has imprisoned millions of Falun Gong adherents," Browde told the crowd, "holding tens of thousands in concentration camp-like facilities where vital organs are taking from living people and used to fuel a booming organ transplant business... this is a regime that is no longer fit to rule... a Party that should not exist."

European Parliament Vice-President Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott was called in from his home in the UK to address the rally. McMillan-Scott is the longest-serving member of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and founder of the $160 million EU Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights -- which funds the International Criminal Court (ICC). McMillan-Scott visited Beijing in April 2006 to investigate human rights abuses there and has strenuously raised the cases of Falun Gong victims of the Beijing regime with the EU, UN, and other bodies. McMillan-Scott told Sound of Hope radio last week that the names of those responsible for crimes against humanity in China are being collected for an eventual ICC trial.

Also among the speakers were Wang Jun, Chairman of the China Democracy Party World Union, Tang Baiqiao, Director of the China Alliance for Peace and Democracy and John Nania, Editor-in-Chief of the Epoch Times, English Edition.

Known as "Tuidang" in Chinese (literally translated as "Quit(ing) the Party" or "Quit(ing) the Gang"), the grassroots movement was set off in 2005 by the publication of a nine-part essay series, entitled Nine Commentaries on the [Chinese] Communist Party. The series was authored and run by the Epoch Times newspaper. The Commentaries offer a searing look at the CCP's legacy, and detail the political campaigns waged by the CCP since coming to power in 1949 and which have left more than 80 million dead. (Commentaries full text) The persecution of Falun Gong is discussed at length in the Commentaries. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people are said to be publicly divorcing themselves from the CCP each day.

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NEWS - Apr. 09, 2007
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

On the afternoon of April 1, 2007, an activity to support twenty million people quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Mainland China and the world was held on Town Hall Square in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Lots of people passing by stopped to look, converse and discuss.

This activity was initiated by Denmark's Quitting the CCP Service Centre and various other non-governmental organizations in Denmark. Some of them were westerners who are passionate about Chinese culture, some were Chinese, concerned about the fate of the China, and some were from the media working for several newspapers, TV and radio stations. There were also some Falun Gong practitioners who have suffered the CCP's persecution.

Mr. Bill Andersen, a retired Dane of nearly eighty years, has been calling for justice for the persecuted people in China. His articles on China's human rights issues which expose the CCP's persecution of kind-hearted people are often published in many of Denmark's most popular newspapers. On that day he was there again, distributing material to passersby about the current tide of withdrawals from the CCP in Mainland China.

Retiree Bill draws people's attention to the current tide of withdrawals from the CCP in Mainland China

It was sunny and bright that day, and people were leisurely enjoying the pleasant weekend weather. There was an endless flow of people on the streets. Many people were intrigued by such unusual news that twenty million people have quit the CCP. They stopped by and came to find out in more detail.

On the central square of the oldest city in northern Europe, banners and signs caught people's eyes. An interesting selection of pictures which accompany The Epoch Times' series of editorials Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party depicted the countless tragedies under the CCP's reign of terror, and were shocking to the eye and touching to people's hearts. A loudspeaker relayed "The Nine Commentaries" in English, which reveals the Communist Party's crimes, vividly yet fully and accurately. Out of the tourists who come from all over the world, lots of them received a copy of "The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" in their own language. The organisers and participants of the event were very keen to put the latest news from China into people's hands and explain to people that this event happening in China is an important historical milestone, which is changing China's fate and determining China's future.

A westerner was really hoping to get hold of a formal and properly bound book of "The Nine Commentaries". To his delight, he was quickly given a bound copy of "The Nine Commentaries" in English.

A gentleman from Norway said that in the past he was involved with helping Yugoslavians gain their freedom, and he knew a lot about the crimes committed by the Communist Party in Eastern Europe. Eastern Europeans have already escaped from the Communist Party's enslavement and very soon the Chinese people will break free of the evil CCP as well. He took away a copy of "The Nine Commentaries" in English, and planned to read it in detail.

A tourist from Nepal said that as he was living in China's neighbouring country, not only does he know a lot about the CCP's suppression of Tibetans, he has also deeply experienced how the CCP intimidates and terrorises its neighbours. The anxiety and dread is beyond words. When he talked about how the CCP does not want Tibet to become independent out of consideration for its own safety, the Chinese lady who was talking to him told him that the matter of the question is not about whether giving Tibet independence will affect the CCP's security, but the point is that with the CCP's unscrupulous nature it can never win anyone's trust. This feeling of unresolved and constant crisis makes it regard people of other religions as threats and there is no way that it can treat its neighbours with a sincere heart and live in harmony. After hearing this, the Nepalese tourist seemed to suddenly understand something. A quicker disintegration of the CCP is the strong collective wish of people in the neighbouring countries who have long endured the CCP's intimidation.

A Danish gentleman who was riding a bicycle stopped when he saw the scene and started to look at the pictures in detail. After gladly receiving a copy of "The Nine Commentaries" in English, he said that five years ago he took part personally in a parade in Hong Kong together with the citizens of Hong Kong to protest against the unreasonable and malicious law "Article 23". The way in which the conscience for democracy was awakened so quickly in the people of Hong Kong, even under the circumstances that their own rights were at risk, left him with a deep impression. He said that in the Western world, although some political figures are still holding their indifferent stances towards the CCP's violence for the sake of short-term economic profit, the CCP's threat towards world peace is being more and more recognised. For example, the CCP's aggressive and predatory policy towards the environment contrasts strongly with the Danish society's high respect for nature and Denmark's adoption of all kinds of ways to protect the environment. By doing this the CCP has also threatened the whole world's environment. All of these things are gradually waking up the people of the western world to the CCP's lies.

"Let me take a good look and find out about the truth in detail"

On that day, lots of Chinese tourists saw the big banners which read in both Chinese and English - "Supporting twenty million quitting the CCP", "The CCP's roots have been uprooted, what are you waiting for?" and "Heaven destroys the CCP, quit the Party and save yourself, don't follow the CCP to the grave", the Chinese people were really astonished. In addition to those from Taiwan and Hong Kong, many tourists and students from mainland China are starting to accept materials and "The Nine Commentaries" booklets as well. The newest materials prepared by the organisers of the activity beforehand even started to run short. When people from Mainland China accepted the materials, when they saw the words "Chinese Communist Party is doomed" which were naturally formed on the huge rock in the Zhangbu region of Pingtang County, Guizhou Province, they could not express the shock that they were experiencing inside. It was apparent that their hearts were undergoing tremendous changes. Many people thought silently about the facts that they did not know before, and about the careful decision that they were going to make about their lives.

A young man from Mainland China said that he was a devoted Christian and because of his faith, he was forced to find a new life overseas. After a long and honest conversation with a lady from the Quitting the CCP Service Centre, he finally realised that in the past he was wrong to think that because he converted to Christianity, he did not need to make any further announcements about being part of the Chinese Communist Party's organisations many years earlier. Only by making an open statement to cut oneself off completely from the Party's vows, to wash the mark of the beast off cleanly, could one really free his heart. He quit the Youth League and Pioneers with his real name on the spot.

People listening to the facts

Liu Xiaotian is an orphan of Falun Gong practitioners. Because his parents refused to give up their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance", they were both persecuted to death by the CCP in a period of five months. He underwent all kinds of hardships and fled eventually to Denmark. His story moved the hearts of many kind-hearted people in Denmark and around the world. Today, he took a break in his work to attend this activity. He said that if everyone stood up to condemn this malevolent Party, then tragedies like his family and tens of thousands of persecuted Chinese people would not have to be repeated again.

Twenty million brave people have quit the CCP, and "Heaven destroying the CCP" has become a certainty. People's decision on whether or not to quit the CCP will be a deciding factor in their own futures.

"Human dignity cannot be divided on our small planet. Different religious communities and members of democratic societies have to get together to protect those who are oppressed like Falun Gong, otherwise numerous existing dictatorships will continue to oppress people around the world," said Mr. David Kilgour in his speech during a forum in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, on April 3, 2007.

Mr. Kilgour was invited by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee to present his "Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China," also entitled "Bloody Harvest," written in cooperation with reputable Canadian human rights lawyer Mr. David Matas. This independent report has been introduced and received strong support in more than thirty countries around the world, as well as the United Nations and the European Parliament.

David Kilgour (right) presents the revised report in Bulgaria

The investigation was published on July 6, 2006 and updated in February 2007, after new evidence was discovered. The report presents thirty three different kinds of proof that organs are being harvested from Falun Gong practitioners in China, including interviews with witnesses, data from blood tests taken from prisoners, and records of telephone conversations with hospitals in China, offering organs usually available in one or two weeks.

Mr. Kilgour emphasized that Falun Gong is practiced in seventy eight countries but only in China is it banned and persecuted. In his opinion, the Communist propaganda machine incites religious hatred towards Falun Gong, not only in its own people but also in developed democratic countries, which is unlawful. The former Canadian state secretary for Asia and Pacific and MP, said that everywhere he has been while presenting his report, he has met with practitioners who are "kind and good people, exemplary citizens, whose principles are truthfulness, compassion, tolerance."

According to Mr. Krasimir Kanev, chairman of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the report was "distressing and it speaks about things practiced by a regime well known in Bulgaria - the Communist, totalitarian regime - which doesn't tolerate any resistance, never mind what it is based on." He stated explicitly his "profound shock when he read the report, as what is described there is similar to genocide."

For those who don't believe that in China organs are harvested from practitioners, or the evidence presented in the investigation, Mr. Kilgour reminded them that in the middle of the last century one Jewish person who escaped from Auschwitz, declared that people were killed there but no one believed him. Many years later, those facts became known all over the world. The former Canadian politician said that he and Mr. Matas were, while writing their report, as shocked as those who read it. He appealed to the public to raise this issue and not let such atrocities, described in the report as a "new form of evil," to continue into the 21st century.

Mr. Kilgour said that the Olympic Games should not be held in a country which kills its own people. He and Mr. David Matas wrote a letter to the IOC chairman, Mr. Jacques Rogue, appealing to him to reconsider China's human rights record, as well as to put pressure on China to improve human rights, as promised while applying to host the Games.

Fourteen members of the media, including two Chinese reporters from Xinhua and Economic Daily, came to the forum and asked questions. In some of the electronic and print media, preliminary information about the forum was published. The Bulgarian national information agency (BTA) also published an announcement about the event.

Mr. Kilgour met Mr. Ivan Ivanov, MP from the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria, who has supported Bulgarian practitioners of Falun Gong on many occasions. Although he couldn't attend the forum, he wrote a short address which was read to the audience stating his support and appealing for an end to the crimes of the Communist regime in China. Mr. Kilgour also met with the Honorary Counsel of Canada in Bulgaria Mr. Levon Hamparcumian.