With Head of School Jeff Bissell and Chinese Program Director Cindy Chiang deep in preparations for our BIGGEST EVER Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (and Campus Grand Opening) this Saturday, September 21, please enjoy some highlights from their recent holiday greetings excerpted below.
Celebrating CAIS Community and Belongingess
“When it comes to September, people in Asian countries look forward to celebrating one of the most important festivals, 中秋节 (zhōng qiū jié), the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival in the west. The Mid-Autumn Festival dates back thousands of years ago when the ancient Chinese people worshiped the moon for a bountiful harvest. This festival takes place on the 15th day of August by the lunar calendar, which is on September [17] this year by the western calendar. It was believed that the moon on this day is the fullest and brightest of the year, which coincides with the harvest time in the middle of Autumn.”—Cindy Chiang, 2022
A Festival in Our Heart
“In Chinese culture, objects with a round shape are often associated with harmony and family reunion. These symbolic meanings have deep roots and are connected with how Chinese culture values ethics. For any ethnically Chinese people who are away from home, eating mooncakes and appreciating the moon truly strikes a chord deep inside us. Although we are not physically with our loved ones abroad on such a significant day, this type of remote reunion generates a psychological coherence between us, which illustrates our cultural identity.”—Cindy Chiang, 2021
Meaningful Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
“The experience of the distant family member is captured in the poem ‘Thoughts on a Quiet Night’ (Jìng yè sī 静夜思) by Tang 唐 Dynasty (618-907) poet Li Bai 李白 (701-762). Li Bai is easily the most famous poet in Chinese literary history, and ‘Thoughts on a Quiet Night’ is easily his most famous poem—there is not a school child in China who cannot recite it. Here it is in Chinese, pīnyīn, and English.”—Jeff Bissell, 2023
《静夜思》
床前明月光，
疑是地上霜，
举头望明月，
低头思故乡。
Jìng yè sī
Chuāng qián míng yuè guāng，
Yí shì dì shàng shuāng，
Jŭ tóu wàng míng yuè，
Dĭ tóu sī gù xiāng
Thoughts on a Quiet Night
Before my bed the moon shines brightly,
I suspect there is frost on the ground,
I raise my head and gaze at the moon,
I lower my head and think longingly of my home.
