Culture Celebrated at Chinese Moon Festival

The sun was still perched low in the sky around 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, but within 15 minutes the full moon took its place and cast its pale blue light down on the festivities below, initiating the beginning of the Chinese Moon Festival. The Chinese Moon Festival is a traditional Chinese celebration that annually occurs on the eighth month of the Chinese calendar, in which people of different ethnicities and cultures celebrate Chinese culture and traditions relating to Chinese worship and appreciation of the moon. The Chinese Moon Festival is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival and is a traditional Chinese celebration that dates back to the Tang Dynasty. The night is celebrated every year on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month in the Chinese calendar, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest of the year. The festival, this year the 10th annual celebration, was put on in partnership with the Riversides Hua Xia Chinese School and the Riverside Astronomical Society featured an assortment of activities for visitors to participate in. A Heritage House, with a Victorian-era theme and owned by the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, promoted the importance and appreciation of diversity and history. A citrus station located just a few paces away demonstrated how the Chinese cultivated their knowledge of citrus production and packaging in the United States. Joe Hamlin, who was overseeing the citrus production display, said, “Without the Chinese there would be no citrus industry in California, because they are the ones who had the know-how to grow citrus.” Other activity booths focused on Chinese culture, including calligraphy stations, a booth on how to eat properly with chopsticks, a storytelling booth where traditional Chinese folktales were told, a lion dance performance, Tai Chi demonstrations, cooking demonstrations of traditional Chinese cuisine, a viewing area of various Chinese artifacts, craft stations, game stations and a station where the moon could be viewed through a high-powered telescope. Throughout the night, visitors had the chance to sample traditional Chinese foods and teas, like moon cakes and Chinese herbal tea. Rebecca Matza, who is the daughter of Heritage House performer Jo Matza, said, “The Chinese Moon Festival is supposed to be for showing people how the Chinese people used to celebrate. The moon is something that they celebrate when they name their children after nine days of birth, under the moon to show that their child is pure.” There were many students from the nearby University of California, Riverside present at the festival. After being asked about her experience in the festival, Susie Yeo, a third-year student at UCR who was attending the festival for the first time, responded, “I think it’s a really good experience; it’s a small area but they provide a lot of entertainment, a lot of crafts and activities. I think it’s really cool, especially the food.” Priyanka Khire, an international student from India, said, “We’re having fun, and it [has been] good. It was a little different.” The event will run again next year for the 11th year, bringing a little taste of China to the Inland Empire. [End] Chinese Moon Festival Date: Thursday, September 19, 2013 Time: 6:00 p.m. Event Location: Heritage House Address: 8193 Magnolia Ave., Riverside Description: The event will host a number of attractions regarding the “Mid-Autumn Festival”, as it is more commonly called, which is a traditional Chinese celebration that has been in practice since the Tang Dynasty. Here visitors could experience a festival that surrounds ancient Chinese practices that happen under a full moon on the eighth month of the Chinese Calender every year. In partnership with Riverside Huaxia Chinese School and Riverside Astronomical Society “The Chinese Moon Festival, which is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a traditional Chinese Celebration that dates back to the Tang Dynasty. It is celebrated every year on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month in the Chinese calendar when the moon is at its fullest and brightest of the year. Traditionally, it is a family holiday, when families gather to watch the full moon rise and enjoy pastries made specifically for the event called “moon cakes”. These small cakes along with hot tea will be available for purchase during the festival.” -Heritage House Staff Team Bonn’s original: An assortment of activities flourished throughout the grounds that were in a way unconnected to each other. Such as the Heritage House which had a Victorian-era theme to it which entirely contrasted with the Chinese culture that was being celebrated on the grounds around it, and also a station by the house in which visitors learned about the citrus production and packaging in California since the early nineteenth century to now. Although, upon further investigation, it became apparent as to how both instituted a connection with the general Chinese moon theme that was happening that night. Though the Heritage House, which is owned by the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, generally monumentalizes the lifestyle and history of the Victorian era it proved to be connected with the overall Chinese theme of the night by promoting the importance and appreciation of diversity and history. The house functioned as it had all year by displaying the rich history associated with the Victorian era, although on that particular night it brought the history of American and Chinese culture closer. The same thing applies to the citrus station that was located only a few steps away from the Heritage House; the station demonstrated how the Chinese were the ones who brought their knowledge of citrus production and packaging to the United States. According to Joe Hamlin, who was the person in charge of the display, “Without the Chinese there would be no citrus industry in California because they’re the ones who had the know-all to grow citrus”. Though both the Heritage House and the citrus station were both activities that were not entirely about the Chinese Moon Festival, other activities that lined the grass areas around the Heritage House were focused entirely on celebrating the Chinese culture and the Chinese appreciation and worship of the full moon. There were activities such as writing your name in calligraphy, chopsticks training, storytelling of traditional Chinese folktales, a lion dance performance, Tai Chi demonstrations, games and crafts, cooking demonstrations of traditional Chinese cuisines, viewing historical artifacts to experience the life of the Chinese in the past, and viewing the moon through high-powered telescopes. Traditional Chinese foods and teas were also available throughout the night, such as the ever-famous moon cakes and Chinese herbal tea. Rebecca Matza, daughter of Jo Matza who was one of the presenters in the Heritage House, was very knowledgeable of the night’s events, stating that “The Chinese Moon Festival is supposed to be for showing people how the Chinese people use to celebrate and how they would do their job, and how they came up with them. The moon is something that they celebrate when they name their children after nine days of birth, under the moon to show that their child is pure”. Many international as well as domestic students of the local university, University of California, Riverside, were also present in the festival. After being asked about her experience in the festival, Susie Yeo, a third-year student at UCR who was attending the festival for the first time, responded that “I think it’s a really good experience, it’s a small area but they provide a lot of entertainment, a lot of crafts and activities and there’s a long line of crafts that I want to do but I think it’s really cool, especially the food”. On the other hand, Priyanka Khire, who is an international student from India, stated that “Well we’re having fun, it was good, I mean it was a little different, it was a little daunting at times but as time went by it became better and better”. All in all, the night was a success as culture and history was brought together to be appreciated by cultures and ethnicities of various kinds. The moon shone brightly as did the festivities underneath.