Presenting the Inner Meaning of Traditional Chinese Culture
A conversation with Chen Rutang
By Xin Fei
Epoch Times
Dec 17, 2005
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 attained for this year's Gala, and fully expects it will be an enjoyable event with many delightful surprises for the audience. Following are excerpts from the conversation with Mr. Chen:
Traditional Chinese culture includes many myths and legends. They reflect how our ancestors' showed reverence to the divine and tried to embody the virtues of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The Gala will present the essence of these myths and legends for modern audiences.
The typical response from audiences in our previous two Galas is that they want to watch the second one right after they see the first one. They find that our Galas are really different from what they are used to. There are many things that are worth thinking about afterwards.
After seeing the two previous Galas, a Westerner said that he had never seen such wonderful programs even after visiting mainland China many times. In fact, having lived in China and worked in the performing arts there, I felt that you couldn't devote yourself to the promotion of traditional Chinese culture on the Mainland. However, this is exactly the focus of our Gala and we are dedicated to sharing it with the world.
Representing the essence of Chinese culture
The artists for this Gala are very thoughtful in how they approach their art. They have been exploring the essence of traditional Chinese culture. They also have been exploring how to represent it in a meaningful way. 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 is traditional Chinese culture? For several dozen years, many people somehow have forgotten what it is, don't understand it very well and/or can no longer represent our traditional culture. This is a true regret for us Chinese.
As artists, we have the responsibility to convey the essence of traditional culture and create meaningful works that can touch people's hearts.
The 2006 Gala is our third. We feel that the artistic level of the performances is even higher than the previous two. The programs are more vibrant and include a variety of artistic forms. I firmly believe this will be a first class performance. The Gala has become an annual feast for the senses and we strive to improve upon it each year.
Traditional Chinese culture is as vast as the sea and the inner meanings are broad and profound. If we can open our minds and our hearts, we will have a steady flow of ideas and walk a broader path.
Valuing teamwork and individual strength
The performances we've put together are the accomplishments of our collective creation- the ideas come from the whole team. Because artistic pursuit is boundless, every artist has his or her own strengths, and each artist shares his or her own best ideas and approaches. The whole group discusses the proposed ideas and chooses the best ones. The door to the Gala is wide open. We welcome the ideas, input and participation of professional performing artists from all fields. We look forward to the Gala getting better and better each year.