NEW YORK—Preparations for the New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) 2007 Chinese New Year Spectacular are well underway. Since its inception in 2004, the Spectacular's variety of singing, dancing, and instrumental performances have been lauded as "abundant feasts" and attendance has grown exponentially. It is estimated that more than 70,000 people will enjoy the performances in New York this winter.
The people of ancient Chinese society cultivated their moral character, preferring gracious and uplifting music. They listened to music that honored gods, that encouraged kindness and restrained human desires. NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular is devoted to sharing genuine traditional Chinese culture with its audience.
Traditional Chinese culture embodies rich and profound inner meaning. All behavior was grounded in the "three pillars" of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Every aspect of that culture stressed the "harmony between heaven and humans." People learned to cultivate kindness, to respect higher power, and to harmonize with nature.
Unfortunately, when the Chinese Communist Party took power of China in 1949, its leaders did everything possible to sever the people from their 5,000-year-old culture. Everything moral and spiritual was suddenly uprooted from people's lives. The arts became a tool for fulfilling political aims, evoking the dark side of human nature. China's folk music was used to serve the communist revolution.
Those born after 1949 have opened their eyes to a spiritual desert. They are no longer familiar with their own heritage, which has been decimated and replaced with the communist-atheist model.
Uplifting and Cleansing
After watching the NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular, some Chinese audience members have felt "uplifted" and "cleansed." For Chinese and Western audiences alike, the Spectacular aims to create performances representing authentic Chinese culture that upholds virtue and respects the divine.
In ancient China, the most simple and harmonious music was regarded as the best. Music was fully integrated into the entire body of human knowledge. Ancient Chinese people believed that everything in the universe, including the human body and even sound, was composed of the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Notes of the ancient Chinese five-tone scale had their own material existence and corresponded to each of the five elements as well as the major organs of the human body. It was believed that good music would have a beneficial effect on the human body.
Modern science has discovered the same thing—that music can alter a person's mood and has a measurable effect on one's health. One psychologist conducted a study comparing the repertoire and mental state of two orchestras. The study concluded that musicians in the orchestra playing classical music displayed greater happiness and were less likely to be sick. On the other hand, over 70 percent of the musicians playing contemporary music showed symptoms of neurotic behavior, 60 percent displayed agitation and tended to lose their temper, and over 22 percent were depressed.
Art is the voice of the soul. Some of the best classical music was made in praise of divinity. Listeners appreciate the music's sacred quality. Contemporary music, on the other hand, can even leave the listener with a gnawning emptiness in his or her heart.
The music in NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular is bright and melodious with a definite classical slant. Listeners have said it touches their soul—perhaps because it engenders kind thoughts and respect to and appreciation of the divine. Many Spectacular performers have said that when they practice their instruments it is really a process of cultivating their hearts and minds.
Ancient China has been called the "Land of the Divine." Legends about Buddhas, Taos, and Gods have been passed down generation after generation. Human beings have been searching for the meaning of life for thousands of years. The performances in NTDTV's 2007 Chinese New Year Spectacular represent that longing for meaning, beauty, and spiritual elevation.
Performers in NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular have worked hard to emulate the musical style of the ancients—music that is melodious and filled with the power of compassion and the divine. Go and enjoy!
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