With mooncakes from Chinatown and ice-breaking games, The Taiwanese Chapter celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival with students in their opening social, also known as the “Mooncake Day” on Sept 21. Students shared how traditions to involve culture and family are disappearing from the celebration over time, and how they strive to revive them.
The purpose of the activity was not only to unify members but also to remind students of traditional Chinese culture, especially since they are living in Hawaii now, according to Jason Chang, the president of the Taiwanese Chapter and senior from Taiwan majoring in graphic design.
“It’s a serious situation that nowadays, young people from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong are forgetting the Chinese culture,” Chang shared. “Now Mid-Autumn Festival is the time... to put these traditional elements in our activities. We ate rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival last time. Now, it’s Mid-Autumn Festival, we eat mooncakes.”
Mid-Autumn Festival is the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar with a full moon night. It’s approximately at the end of Sept. or the beginning of Oct, according to Xinhuanet.com
Chang said they are aiming to make the Taiwanese Chapter “not just a place for Taiwanese students to hang out, but a club that promotes traditional Chinese culture on campus.” He shared, “All Chinese and foreigners are welcome here. We’ll work hard to make the chapter not only for Taiwan.’”
While the full moon is round, round and reunion have the same pronunciation in Chinese. The original purpose of the Mid-Autumn Festival is for people to gather together as a family according to Steven Chen, a senior from Taiwan majoring in business management.
In this modern society, the way Taiwanese people celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival has already changed, commented Chen. He explained, “People don’t care about the family reunion at Mid-Autumn Festival as much as before. A lot of times parents need to work during the Mid-Autumn Festival, they might just tell their children to hang out with their friends.
“Sometimes we [would go] to a friend’s house to eat, then we [would] play firecrackers and card games...etc. The festival used to be a family thing, but now it’s like it doesn’t matter who you spend your Mid-Autumn Festival with.”
Bob Kuo, a freshman from Taiwan studying business management, said he was surprised how many Taiwanese people gathered together living here in Hawaii. “Mid-Autumn Festival [is] equal to a reunion. I didn’t think we would still have a reunion gathering here during Mid-Autumn Festival.”
Originating for Oregon, Elizabeth Meyr, a sophomore majoring in TESOL, said she was able to try authentic mooncake for the first time in the activity. She commented on the difference between American mooncake and actual Chinese mooncake.
“The American one is very simple, it just tastes like a cake,” said Meyr. “[The actual Chinese one] is very pretty. I saw Chinese characters on the top. And I didn’t expect there’s a yolk inside the mooncake. Maybe we don’t spend enough time decorating what we eat in America.”
However, Emily Shek, a senior from Hong Kong majoring in music, said the mooncake from Chinatown bought from Honolulu couldn’t bring her the feeling of home. Shek explained, “The taste is fine, but it’s not really from my Hong Kong. Buying mooncakes here is just a symbolic thing.”
Writer: Tomson Cheang