Back in China, young people often return to their parents’ houses to gather and share mooncakes at the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival. It is a festival that combines various customs and events such as the Emperor’s Sunset, Autumn Society, Moon Appreciation, and the Legend of the Moon Palace.
The Mid-autumn moon festival originated from the ancestors’ worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the moon worship on Autumn Eve in ancient times.
The tradition of consuming mooncakes originates from a legend about a woman named Chang’e. According to the legend, Chang’e was tricked into consuming the elixir of immortality, and as a result, she floated to the moon, and was not allowed to reunite with her husband, Hou Yi. Hou Yi was very popular among the people, and after learning about Chang’e’s plight, they joined him in honoring her with her favorite dessert, the mooncake.
The round shape of the mooncake symbolizes the full moon that appears on the night of the festival, representing “completeness” in Chinese culture, as represented by the word “园(yuan).” Therefore, mooncakes symbolize family reunion and completeness. This tradition of consuming mooncakes at the Mid-Autumn Festival is deeply ingrained in Chinese culture.
This year, the ISP club will serve various mooncake flavors in room 114 for NDB’s school event. Director of International Student Program and ISP Ambassador club monitor Raena Mullan, discussed the details of the event that will take place at NDB and the festival’s goal to develop the NDB international program.
“[It is set on] September 19, during collaboration in room 114. There will be samples of mooncake. There will be videos up on the screen explaining what is and also there will be white board with our students answering more questions.”
Mullan emphasized the significance of the festival in Asian culture and for the international program at NDB.
“We want to celebrate this festival because it’s very important in Asian culture and for our international program. All of our students currently are from China, and we want to share that with the rest of our community here at NDB, so that they can celebrate it with us,” said Mullan.
Mullin is not the only staff member to care about this Chinese tradition, Science teacher, Ian Aseltine, has a special international growth culture background. He was born in Thailand, took high school in an international school in China, and taught high school for six years in Japan.
Aseltine appreciates the Chinese tradition, especially the communal aspect of gathering with loved ones and enjoying the mooncake.
When discussing the culture, Aseltine stated, “ I just think it’s great that everybody has their own holidays, and everybody has their own version of the harvest festival.” He also suggests organizing a school event in a garden or park to better view the moonrise and moon with mooncakes.
The ISP club is ecstatic to host this event and continue to integrate various aspects of Chinese culture into NDB.
