Mid Autumn Event | Photo by Bethany Althauser | The Wright State Guardian
On Thursday, Sept. 28, Wright State cultural organizations came together to host the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, a staple of various Asian cultures complete with craft-making, national snacks and more.
History and culture
While the closest American holiday to the Mid-Autumn Festival would be Thanksgiving, the festival is unique in its culture and traditions and is celebrated across Asian country lines.
According to the Singapore National Library Board, the festival is on the 15th day of the eighth Lunar month, making it the middle of a month in the middle of autumn.
Previously, Wright State cultural organizations collaborated to put on a Chuseok event, a holiday in Korean culture, around the same time last year; however, this year they wanted to be more inclusive.
“Last year, we had a lot of instant ramen and banana milk and all that, and it was a huge hit. There were so many people. So we were like, ‘Okay, we gotta do this again,’ but we wanted to expand it a little more,” Emilia Ranalli, treasurer of the Asian Student Association, said.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was a way to include Chinese and Vietnamese traditions as well, according to Ranalli.
Event
The Mid-Autumn festivities occurred in the Cultural and Identity Centers. The large, windowed room was transformed into an open space with tables of the hosting organizations along the back wall. On the opposite side were two long tables with space to eat or partake in lantern decorating or origami making.
Host organizations included the Korean Club, Chinese Club and the Asian Student Association.
The event primarily focused on the Mid-Autumn culture of East Asia, including China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Each organization’s table spotlighted a different country. On these tables were different snacks, such as Durian cakes from Vietnam, Korean rice cake soups, Chinese mooncakes, lychee candies and more. Hot cards on the tables detailed the Mid-Autumn traditions of these countries.
“The moon is significant, due to the Chinese (中文) Legend of Archer Hou Yi (后羿), his wife Chang’e (嫦娥) and the Jade Rabbit (玉兔),” a portion of the China hot card read.
Other details were helpful Chinese words, Chinese traditional meals, landmarks and history associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival in China.
Korean Club and Chinese Club President Abi Bond researched to learn about these cultures she was not familiar with.
“I challenged myself and researched the traditions of Vietnam and Japan, which I am unfamiliar with. Thankfully my fellow Raider classmates were more than willing to share their customs, favorite snacks and some phrases so we could put together educational materials and snacks to share,” Bond said.
In addition to these educational hot cards, students could also grab a hot card for the Engineering study abroad to Taiwan and a brochure by a third-party study abroad partner, the University Study Abroad Consortium (USAC).
Overall, the event had high attendance and is expected to return due to the consistent success.
“My favorite part was honestly getting to see all the different types of people who come to learn about different cultures and all that stuff,” Ayumi Enorme, president of the Asian Student Association, said. “To get them integrated into an Asian community on campus is really great.”
The hosting organizations have a few other events to look forward to this semester: Hangul Night on Oct. 6, International Trivia Night on Nov. 15 and an undetermined end-of-year event.
