Presenting the Inner Meaning of Traditional Chinese Culture

The Epoch Times recently spoke with Chen Rutang, the chief artistic director of NTDTV's 2006 Chinese New Year Global Gala. Mr. Chen is pleased with the level of artistry of the cultural presentations of the gala. He believes that the gala will have many wonderful surprises and bring great enjoyment to the audience. The following is edited from the transcripts of the interview with Mr. Chen,

Traditional Chinese culture includes many myths and legends. They reflect our ancestors' understanding of showing reverence to the divine and cultivating virtues based on Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The gala will present the profound inner meanings of these myths and legends. In this regard, NTDTV's gala is unprecedented.

Commenting on the two previous galas, a Westerner said that he had never seen such great programs even after having visited mainland China more than a dozen times. In fact, having lived in China for several dozen years and being involved in the performing arts there, I felt that you couldn't devote yourself to the promotion of traditional Chinese culture in the Mainland. However, this is the focus of our gala! We can't deny the roots of our traditional Chinese culture and we are determined to carry it forward.

The typical response from audiences in our previous two galas is that they want to watch the second one right after viewing the first one. They find that our galas are really different from what they are used to. There are many things that are worth pondering. In some programs, we only showed the intentions of writers and left our audience with some room to appreciate and develop an understanding of what they saw. This is a major element by which an artistic product gains life and vitality.

Representing the Essence of Chinese Culture

The artists for this gala are very careful and responsible. They have been exploring the inner meaning of traditional Chinese culture. They have also been exploring how to represent the essence of [that] culture. The artistic performances representing righteousness, kindness and good qualities are beneficial to everyone. They can purify the hearts of the people, widen people's vision, and uplift people's aesthetic comprehension.

The culture is the soul of a nation. If the soul is lost, forgotten, or even distorted, it can bring disaster to the nation. What on earth is the traditional Chinese culture? For several dozen years, many people somehow have forgotten what it is, or can't interpret it very well and/or can't devote [themselves] to the representation of traditional culture. This is a true regret for us Chinese.

As artists, we have the responsibility to represent the essence of traditional culture and create good works that can touch people's hearts.

The 2006 gala is our third gala. We feel that the artistic level of the performances is higher than the previous two. This third gala's programs are more colorful and include a variety of artistic forms. Each performance is brief and enjoyable. There is nothing lengthy or boring. Additionally, the staging effects will bring to our live audience more pleasurable experiences.

From the artistic point of view, I firmly believe this will be a first class performance. We set higher criteria for selecting programs. These programs have to meet high requirements to be selected or otherwise we would rather go with fewer programs than be content with anything less satisfactory. This gala has become an annual art feast and we want to improve each year. This sets a higher standard on us.

Traditional Chinese culture is as vast as the sea and the inner meanings are broad and profound. There are many things worthy of being shown on stage. There are many subjects for us to choose. If we can open our minds and hearts, we will have a steady flow of ideas and walk a broader path.

Valuing Teamwork and Individual Strength

The programs are the accomplishments of the collective creation. The ideas come from the whole team. Because the artistic pursuit is boundless, every artist has his or her own strength.

In order to have a successful gala, we need all kinds of specialized people. Our programs are also collective efforts. Each artist shares his or her own best ideas and approaches. The whole group discusses the proposed ideas and chooses the best ones.

There are many high level artists among overseas Chinese but they can't perform in the gala due to the conflicting performance schedules. This is the reality.

The door to the gala is wide open. We cordially invite more professional artists to join our gala if their schedules allow. We believe that our lineup of first class artists will be expanded and the gala will get better and better.

The Epoch Times is proud to join with New Tang Dynasty T.V. and Sound of Hope Radio in co-sponsoring "Myths and Legends," NTDTV's Chinese New Year Global Gala. This article is one of a series meant to introduce this unique and important event.