Unmasking the Unknown: Shen Yun Dancer's Back Story

Shen Yun, a global cultural sensation. While its posters are everywhere, today we unveiled a captivating story of one of our dancers. Today we have Hongwei Sun with us. He is a principal dancer with Shen Yun Performing Arts. We're going to learn a little bit about what motivates him, how he started dancing, and a little bit about his childhood because your mom was in prison in China for seven years because of her faith and that must have affected you a lot. So let's get started. How long you've been with Shen Yun? I've been dancing with Shen Yun for 12 years. Let's give a little bit of background. You were born in China? No, I was born in Taiwan and my parents are from China. Why were you born in Taiwan? Because the one child policy in China. I already had an older brother. So how did they work around that? In the beginning, my dad wants to get rid of me but my mom really wants to keep me. They went to a very famous local temple to ask for a fortune. Turns out the fortune was very good. This child was given by the god. The child will bring fortune and good luck. So after that, my parents was very happy and then they want to keep me. My grandfather was in Taiwan. So they decided to give birth in Taiwan to avoid this one child policy. After they had you, you guys all went back to China? Yeah, with my grandfather too. I want to ask you about your mom now because being with you for so many years dancing, I know that your mom was in prison. Can you give a little bit of explanation of what was the reason she was in prison for? Because she's practicing Balandava. In July 20th, 1999, the CCP decide to ban this practice. So you get in prison if you practice. How old were you at that time? It's 2002, I was seven. The persecution started in China. People who practice were being forced by the government to stop practicing. But a lot of people didn't want to stop because the practice brought a lot of benefits to them, both spiritually and physically. And the practice teaches truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance as the guiding principles. This is what you want to lead your life with. Why didn't your mom want to give up the practice? Because from what I hear, at the time in China, if you give up a practice, you can go to school, you can go to work, you can do everything normally. But why didn't she want to give it up? I think because she benefited a lot from the practice. She used to have Guan Jie Yan. After practice, everything went away. I think it was a pretty hard choice for her. Our business is doing pretty well, and then our life is pretty well off. If you keep practicing, everything might be taken away from us. It's a very big risk. One day, my mom was preparing food in the kitchen, and she saw a Buddha in the sky. I think that strengthened her faith in Falun Dafa. Once your mom decided that she didn't want to give up her faith, and she went to prison, and I understand it's very, very harsh in there, they try to convert you, and they beat you, and people are getting tortured in there. For you, life was really hard as well, because now you're growing up without your mom. She was in there for seven years? Yeah, seven years. So what was life like for you during that time? My life was turned upside down. Before, in our family, my mom takes care of everything. My dad just doing the business thing. After my mom got sentenced, my dad smoking, come home late, and depressed. Our business is going down, too. Eventually, the business is closed down. Did it affect you at school or anything because you're practicing Falun Gong or your mom used to practice? When people talking about mom, mother, I feel very self-conscious. I remember there's a class in China called Si Xiang Ping De, and basically, it's a class on mind and moral. There's a lesson about cult, and then Falun Gong was in there. The government told us Falun Gong is a cult. Don't practice Falun Gong. And then about Tiananmen Square, Zhifen. So there was a self-immolation incident. They set up someone who pretended to be a Falun Gong practitioner. He put himself on fire. So from there on out, everyone in China thought the Falun Gong practitioners are crazy, but it was set up by the CCP, and they had all their cameras and everything ready, and they have evidence that it's all fake now. So that's what they taught you in school. I still remember when I had that class, I was like, I can't lift my head. I was just like this. I'm afraid. So after seven years, your mom's prison term was up, and they had to release her. So what changed about your life from that point on? We were very happy because my mom came out from the prison, but the persecution didn't stop there because she didn't convert. So the CCP police still keep an eye on her all the time. The CCP police try to find trouble, tell her if you don't convert, stop practicing. Your little child, that's me, cannot go to school here because he is Taiwanese. He's not from China. In the end, we decide I go back to Taiwan and go to school there. Your mom had to make a very hard choice here, but in the end, she still decided to send you to Taiwan? Yeah. I think she thinks go to Taiwan is a better choice. I can practice freely there, and then she don't have to convert. It's so cruel how she has to make this choice. Like in America, in Taiwan, you can believe whatever you want. You can have your family, but the CCP is causing a rift between the family. They cause you guys to be apart from each other, which is horrible, and we'll continue with your story. So in Taiwan, who did you stay with? It was a fellow practitioner friend. He took me in, and I'm very grateful for that. Now we're going to go a little bit into your dance career. So in Taiwan, that was when you first watched Shen Yun Performing Arts, and you told me that's how you actually started getting into dance? It was in 2010, and when Shen Yun came to Taiwan and I went to watch in Taipei. After I watched the show, I was very excited. I want to join Shen Yun and to be a part of it. What was your main motivation for wanting to join Shen Yun? What made you excited? The Shen Yun's mission, how it revives 5,000 years of Chinese traditional culture is kind of similar to what my mom was doing in China, fighting for her faith, and then Shen Yun is fighting for the traditional culture against the CCP. So the CCP had the Cultural Revolution, and they were trying to systematically destroy traditional Chinese culture. And even when they teach history and Chinese culture in schools, a lot of time they're criticizing it. Eventually, you did make it into Shen Yun Performing Arts, and you're a principal dancer now. So you're a very, very talented dancer. One of the things about Hongwei is that I've known him for so long. He's a very dedicated person, and as a principal dancer, we're in the same company, we're dancing together. I trust him with a lot of things. I trust him to be on stage, to be a leader in the group, actually. As dancers, you go through a lot of hardships. One time when we were performing, it was right before the curtain was about to lift up for a Mongolian dance. I forgot which year it was, but you did a back handspring right before the dance, and then you were warming up, and you stubbed your toe. And it was not like a light stub, it was a very serious stub. Which foot was it, do you remember? I think it was the right foot. So you're a right foot, right? You stubbed your big toe. Yeah, big toe. You had a very difficult tumbling technique. It was a back handspring into a front flip. Yeah. I remember it was so serious that you actually had tears in your eyes right before the curtain came up. Yeah, because it hurts too much. I was like, I can't control it. Just tears, just in my eyes. What was going through your mind during that period of time? Like, when you stubbed your toe, when it hurts so bad, the curtain's about to come up. How did you push through that? After I stubbed my toe, there's only a few seconds before the curtain goes up. I just went to my position, and then the curtain went up, and then I just started dancing in extreme pain. I can't feel my toe. And then all I think about is the flip afterwards. After I got off, preparing for that flip, I was like, can I do it? Let me just give a little bit of context real quick. So the flip is in the middle of the dance, and you're waiting on side stage, and you had to rush on stage, and it's across the stage, and you flip and you run off, right? So your mindset at the time was? It was only maybe like 20 seconds waiting time, but at that moment, I feel like ages. I was like, wavering in my head. I was like, should I do it? Should I not do it? But in the end, I decided to do it. Stringing is not a normal show. It's not like just entertaining people. I think it has a bigger, more grand mission behind it. I cannot let down the audience. I cannot fight the quality of the show. I think I should do it, no matter what. And also, because I believe in Dhaka, if I do my best, I give my everything, that God will help me go through my hardship. So I decided just don't think about anything, just go for it. And then in the end, the result's good. I succeeded, and then I ran off stage. How did it recover after? Second day, I think it's worse. And you had more performances? Yeah, I think so. I still remember it very clearly. It's in Vancouver. And I think one-to-one, I stubbed my toe on the one. So next day, two shows. Oh my goodness. Next day, I just rubbed my toe, and then just keep going. You were already a principal dancer at the time, right? Yeah. So you have a lot of responsibility for the show. It's really inspiring how your faith and your sense of responsibility push you through that. My childhood really helped me to build my character, to make who I am today. You came to America, and then you're dancing at Shen Yun. What about your mom? My parents left China in 2014. They came to the States. You didn't see them for a long time. I went to Taiwan in 2009, and then my parents came to the States in 2014. So I think five years. How was the reunion like? I was very excited. We were never as close as me and my dad, because throughout my childhood, always my dad was there for me. And my mom was like, when I was seven, she left me. And then right after she came out from the prison, and then I had to go to Taiwan. Seven plus five, 12 years. Did you ever have any kind of resentment for not raising you? Not really. Deep in my heart, I know how Dapeng is good. I'm also very grateful that she brings Dapeng to our family. Hongwei, that's about all my questions for you. And I'm wondering, before we end, is there anything you would like to say to your mom to wrap up the video? Mom, in my heart, you are the greatest. When I was young, I did not understand why you chose to be a believer and not grow up. I've been practicing, and the more I think about it, how great it was for you to make such a decision. I respect you from the bottom of my heart. I'm really grateful for your help on this journey. Thank you, Hongwei-san, for joining us. Thanks for having me. I'm just glad to share a story. It was very, very interesting and very insightful, and there's a lot that I've learned from it. And hopefully we'll have you on again. Sure, no problem. Okay, and if you guys like this format, let us know if it's something new that we're trying. Comment below if you liked it, and subscribe to support us. And we'll see you all next time.