(Clearwisdom.net) Since ancient times, the Chinese ancestors' ideology about ruling a country included first "rectifying the mind, cultivating the self, and harmonizing the family," which eventually lead to "governing a country well and bringing peace to the entire world." This is also stated in "The Classics of Rites (Li Ji)" in the book The Great Learning by Da Xue: "The ancients who wanted to illustrate illustrious virtue to all in the world first governed their own states well. Wanting to govern their states well, they first harmonized their own families. Wanting to harmonize their own families, they first cultivated themselves. Wanting to cultivate themselves, they first rectified their minds... When the mind is rectified, the self is cultivated. When the self is cultivated, the family is harmonized. When the family is harmonized, the country is well governed. When the country is well governed, there will be peace throughout the world."
"Bringing peace to the entire world" is a process of "illustrating illustrious virtue to all in the world," namely, to promote following the guidance of the sages, to manifest good virtue to all in the world, to unite people's minds, and to bring peace to the entire world. Obviously, what the ancients referred to as "bringing peace to the entire world" does not rely on military force to conquer enemies, rather it refers to cultivating the self first. A nobleman cultivates himself in order to make it easier for others. He rules a country in a civilized way to promote a king's principles and educates people with morality. He eventually "illustrates illustrious virtue to all in the world."
Cultural exchanges among different civilizations can obviously promote mutual understanding and eliminate gaps, and in turn enhance peace. The question is to what extent can there be cultural exchange between the East and West? The Chinese culture of the East, being introverted and subtle, is specifically different from that of the West. To what extent can Westerners understand and appreciate Chinese culture? For instance, Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard University, who is famous for his theory of cultural conflict, pointed out the great difficulty in eliminating the huge differences between East and West civilizations, and concluded that the clash between East and West was instrumental in determining world politics post-Cold War. Although his theory is debatable, we cannot deny the fact that the huge differences regarding the concept of beauty, historical characteristics, the language barrier, and the lack of cultural exchange between Eastern and Western civilizations have made it difficult to bring Eastern culture to the Western world.
In the Western Han Dynasty in Chinese history, after Zhang Qian went on a diplomatic mission to Western Regions and explored the famous Silk Road twice, cultural exchange between the East and West gradually expanded as trade increased. In the one thousand plus years following the great Tang Dynasty, China was always a major cultural exporter, and its culture spread throughout European and Asian countries via the Silk Road.
Merchandise exchange brought cultural exchange. The world began learning of the Chinese culture through silk, porcelain, and tea. Although a vast majority of Westerners know about China's magnificent Great Wall, ancient China's outstanding printing technology and paper-making crafts, the Dunhuang Caves' beautiful historical frescoes and the basic inner meanings and core values of Chinese culture still remain a mystery to them.
The Dao's view of the universe is based on the theory of yin and yang and the five elements, as well as the Taiji and Eight Trigrams. Confucius' teaching is based on cultivating virtues such as "benevolence, loyalty, courtesy, wisdom and trust," and its view of life emphasizes respect for heaven, accepting one's destiny, and the unity of the divine and humanity. The Buddhists cultivate compassion and emphasize that all living beings can make improvements through cultivation. There are also all sorts of cultural phenomena that have extended from these, including Chinese medicine, martial arts, Feng Shui, prophecies, and so on. Yet, most Westerners still consider all these to be inexplicable "Eastern mysticism."
Because of the chaos caused by war in the past century, and especially because the Chinese Communist Party has destroyed so much of the Chinese culture over the past 50 years, today's China now has a large "cultural deficit," whereas it used to take pride in being a big cultural exporter. For instance, in book trading, China has a deficit of 100:1 compared with European countries and the United States. Performing arts is another example: China and Russia exchange a great deal in regards to performing arts. However, the number of Chinese performing arts groups that have visited and performed in Russia over the past several years is less than one tenth of the number of Russian groups that visit and perform in China.
Except for China's delicious gourmet food, Westerners' impression of China revolves around its cheap merchandise. This impression has now almost been completely ruined by all the fake, defective, or poisonous merchandise manufactured in China.
A group of artists from New York, however, is in the process of changing history. The Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular has been touring around the globe. Their powerful performances have touched and shaken the minds and souls of both Eastern and Western audiences and earned a series of rave reviews everywhere they go. The difference between the last exchange of culture via the Silk Road and the Divine Performing Arts is that it has bypassed the exchange of merchandise as a media and directly shared with the audience the essence of Chinese culture. Through the vehicle of performing arts, the "divine nature" of Chinese culture is being understood, appreciated, and regarded with amazement by not only artists and scholars, but also the average audience member. Below are a few examples.
Alexei Doohovskoy, trombonist of Empire Brass, said he could feel the very deep meaning behind each of the scenes during the show. He said it was a unique and wonderful show that represented artistic and moral values. He expected the show to become popular on Broadway.
"It's wonderful, so beautiful! All the cultures look for the same thing, regardless of where they come from. We all seek the truth. I hope we can all find it," said Katherine, who works at a Walmart Vision Center.
"I thought only Korean culture remained a traditional culture. In Korea I saw some performances from Mainland China but thought they lacked true tradition. In watching the Divine Performing Arts, I saw traditional Chinese culture and realized how broad and profound it is. Human beings should have the same moral values as those portrayed in the show," said Woonki, a Korean PhD student at the University of Texas in Arlington.
"I love the cultural message presented in the performance. Chinese culture is so unique--everyone should come see the show. I liked the spiritual meaning conveyed by the show--I enjoyed that the most," said Aura Medina, a postoffice worker in San Francisco.
Undoubtedly, the Divine Performing Arts has overcome racial and cultural barriers and won over the minds and souls of both Eastern and Western audience members. One may ask, "So many governments and international organizations have dreamed about having an in-depth and meaningful cultural exchange between East and West and have spent huge amounts of money during the past several decades to make it come true. How did the Divine Performing Arts accomplish this in such a short period of time?"
In fact, the ancient Chinese sages answered this question long ago. The artists of the Divine Performing Arts have started with themselves by "rectifying the mind and cultivating the self." They first purified themselves in order to reach the artistic realm of pure compassion and pure beauty, and they ultimately "illustrated illustrious virtue to all in the world" using performing arts to unveil the pure compassion and pure beauty of ancient and profound cultural essence. With "divine nature" they captivated the Eastern and Western audiences while at the same time spreading the seeds of peace and hope to the world.
The Divine Performing Arts success is not just the pride of the Chinese. As an audience member from Toronto put it, "The Divine Performing Arts does not belong to only one nation." Indeed, the Divine Performing Arts belongs to all of mankind.
