Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival at Lincoln College
New Chinese Exchange Students Host Traditional Festival September 13

 

[September 11, 2019] 

The Lincoln College Chinese exchange students will be hosting a traditional Chinese theatrical music performance called Mid-Autumn Festival. The Festival hopes to engage Lincoln College students and the Logan County community in a fun cultural event.

The Festival will be Friday, September 13, beginning at 6 p.m. on the main stage of the Johnston Center for the Performing Arts at the Lincoln College campus. Students will be doing a traditional performance, followed by a Q&A and reception. Admission is free.

The eight visiting Chinese students and their host, Professor Bing Wang, are participating in the first International Exchange Program at Lincoln College. The program provides an immersive experience for Chinese students interested in studying in the United States. The students are visiting from Shenyang Jianzhu University in China.

Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important festival celebrated in China. It is held on the 15th of August on the lunar calendar (the full moon day). The moon on this day is the brightest and roundest, which symbolizes family union in Chinese culture. At the Festival, family members gather to celebrate it by watching the moon, eating mooncake, and enjoying the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala organized by CCTV (China Central Television).

Professor Bing Wang offered additional insight into the performance saying, “Mid-Autumn Festival was initiatively used to express people’s worship of the moon. It is depicted in the most well-known myth: Goddess Chang’e Flying to the Moon. Since the Tang Dynasty (618 AD), watching the full moon and creating poetries on this day is very popular among Literati. In the history of Chinese literature, thousands of poems are associated with this Festival. Since the Ming Dynasty (1368) Chinese people began to celebrate it as an important occasion for family reunions as Chinese people do today.”

[Lauren Grenlund
Director of Public Relations
Lincoln College]