The newly-formed Eastern Club held its first event, the Mid-Autumn Festival on Saturday evening in the Heritage Room.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival is about the harvest, family reunion, and good fortune for the next year,” said sophomore Andrea Lee, historian of the Eastern Club. “The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the day of a harvest full moon.”
A dozen students listened to Lee explain the ancient history of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival dates back over 3,000 years to moon worshiping by Chinese emperors,” she said.
The festival is connected to the circular moon.
When pronounced in Chinese, round sounds similar to reunion, President of the Eastern Club sophomore Eva Tang said.
“Eating mooncakes, which are round, reminds us of the importance of visiting with our family,” Tang said.
Following her presentation, Lee began cutting the mooncakes she received from her parents to share with attendees. Mooncakes are commonly packaged in ornate boxes for gift giving and come in many varieties. Those offered as samples contained lotus paste and salted-duck egg yolks.
“If the Mid-Autumn Festival is the rough equivalent to an American Thanksgiving,” Tang said, “then eating moon cakes is like eating turkey.”
According to Tang, a famous legend accompanies moon cakes.
“In the late Yuan Dynasty, over 1,000 years ago, people in many parts of the country could not bear the cruel rule of the government and rose in revolt,” Tang said.
Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of Ming Dynasty, coordinated the resistance forces by hiding secret messages in mooncakes. Zhu was so pleased that he awarded his subjects with moon cakes on the following Mid-Autumn Festival.
“Since then, eating moon cakes has been a custom on Mid-Autumn Festival,” Tang said.
After the storytelling, students began playing a form of Chinese chess called “Go.”
“Players use black and white stones to capture ‘territory’ on the board in order to win,” junior Josh Lee said.
The idea for an Eastern Club began circulating when alumnus Jay Lee participated in an event discussing North and South Korea last March. While Lee has since moved back to South Korea, he encouraged Lee and Tang to start a club that will give Hillsdale students the chance to experience Eastern culture.
“The old Eastern Club at Hillsdale College had a broader focus on Asian countries in general and disbanded in 2009 when the members graduated,” Tang said. “We are focusing on Japan, Korea, and China because all of us are from those three countries. China, Korea, and Japan are all well represented in the student body.”
The Eastern Club is already planning events for the rest of the year.
“Dr. Arnn had an interest in comparing Confucius to Aristotle,” Tang said. “Dr. Somerville is working on inviting someone from the University of Michigan to talk about Confucius and someone from Hillsdale to talk about Aristotle.”
