DUISBURG, Germany—In September 2006, a literary work— What Kind of God, a survey of the current safety of China's food—won a spot among the seven finalists for the 2006 Lettre Ulysses Award.
The author, Zhou Qing, has since become an influential figure in international literary circles. What Kind of God has been translated into many languages. The Japanese edition had a first run of 50,000. On the evening of February 13, Zhou, while visiting Germany, watched the Divine Performing Arts European opening show and agreed to an Epoch Times interview.
Epoch Times: Mr. Zhou, greetings! I have heard that you were invited by the Goethe Institute for this visit. As chance would have it, this is the first show of Divine Performing Arts European tour.
Zhou Qing: That is right. I came from Beijing. When [people] hear that I am from Beijing, many ask me: "Do you dare to watch the Divine Performing Arts show?" I feel some Chinese concerns are really absurd. If one has to make a choice even about watching a show, it is just too preposterous.
Copernicus talked about the sun's motion around the earth. Because of this, he was beheaded. But this is not yet the worst. Ordinary people killed Copernicus because they were concerned about "Geocentric Theory," but it did not affect everyone's lives. If I was sent to prison just because I wanted to appreciate some art—to watch a show—this society would truly be in a terrorist state. Watching a show is normal entertainment for a person.
I don't normally watch TV or entertainment programs in China. Why don't I watch them? It is because I watched "Eight Model Plays" [1] in my childhood. They were all about grinding teeth to kill others. The programs talked about illegally taking others' lives in high-sounding tone. I felt horrified. I abhorred such propaganda.
Art is not only entertainment. It can provide oxygen to people's body and soul. In more than 50 years of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule the most horrible thing is that the CCP distorted the attributes of the art that nourishes people's body and soul. What is their kind of so-called art? It is nothing but glorified brainwashing; it uses art to reform people.
For instance, when I take the public transportation, it plays songs that praise the CCP. This is a kind of strong-arm behavior because this is a one-party dictatorship ideology that intrudes on people's privacy. This kind of compulsory implantation by force-feeding is just like a bandit bursting into someone's house.
If a regime is going to disintegrate because people go to a show or read a book, then it should have been disintegrated long ago because it has no reason to exist."
Epoch Times: It seems like the CCP is afraid of the Divine Performing Arts performance. Some students studying abroad revealed that Chinese consulates issued a notice through Chinese student associations telling students not to go to the show. What is your view about the CCP's nervousness?
Zhou Qing: When one has engaged in too much wickedness, he is not only afraid of the sound of wind and rain, he is even afraid of his own shadow.
At the end of last year Hu Ziwei [2], in a news release on the inauguration of the Olympics channel, quoted a French statesman: "If a country cannot export value, this country is hopeless."
Epoch Times: Can you talk about your overall impression of this evening's show?
Zhou Qing: I personally like the Divine Performing Arts show very much, particularly the folk dances. From those programs, we are able to see that Chinese culture used to be very diverse. In Chinese history, no one would be jailed for believing in Lamaism. After the Manchurians took over China, the first thing was to yield to Chinese culture. From the dancing programs in the evening show, we can see the peacefulness. It is exactly this kind of peacefulness that enables harmony in us.
Additionally, I am from Xi'an [3], so I like programs like "Drummers of the Tang Court." Why is the Tang Dynasty a period of great prosperity? I think this has a lot to do with the extent of openness of the society. The Tang Dynasty was the most open dynasty in Chinese history. In the early Tang Dynasty, Chang'an (the ancient name of Xi'an ) had 50,000 foreigners residing there and up to 300,000 foreigners later on during its peak. Now if the proportion of foreign residents in Beijing would be as high as Chang'an at that time, I surmise that the CCP would be worried that foreigners would take over China. I think only a diversified culture is a healthy culture. "
For information about upcoming Divine Performing Arts shows, please visit: www.DivinePerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts company. For our complete coverage please visit: http://en.epochtimes.com/features/dpa2008/
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_model_plays
[2] http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-1-7/63763.html
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi'an
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