Moon festival celebrates two cultures; each?represents own history
By James Baggett
Chinese dragons marched on the bluff and danced to the beat of a drum last Wednesday, Sept. 26. The International Club hosted a version of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a celebration observed throughout East Asia and considered one of the two most important holidays in China, along with the Chinese New Year
Known also as the Moon Festival or Lantern Festival, the celebration dates back 3,000 years to the Zhao Dynasty. It takes place annually on the autumn equinox, when the moon is full. It is celebrated because the summer growing season comes to an end and the harvest peaks. Participants rejoice in the abundance of food that comes at the end of the height of the growing season.
Two groups of dancers brought entertainment to UP's version of the Mid-Autumn Festival - one was a Chinese group and one was a Tibetan group.
That the two countries represented at the celebration were Tibet and China may seem strange to some. In 1949, the Chinese Army invaded Tibet and since has occupied the country, despite half a decade's worth of protesting. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was exiled to India, where he remains. China continues to suppress independence movements.
With the civil and political unrest in this area, some Tibetan dancers felt uncomfortable and misrepresented being paired with their counterparts of Chinese descent.
"Having these two nationalities here is giving the wrong impression," said Choezaom Namgyao, one of the Tibetan dancers. "The political situation is such that it makes us sensitive," she said.
But this was never the intention of the International Club.
"Our first goal is to bring culture to UP and to combine acceptance and understating among cultures," said International Club adviser Krista Kennedy.
The festival offered a buffet of Asian food, including traditional moon cakes, sweet desserts that are a custom of this celebration.
"The food is excellent, especially the moon cakes. It's an interesting festival," freshman Katie Chapman said.
The dancers representing both Tibet and China were markedly different.
The Chinese dancers formed two Chinese dragons that snaked around the bluff in dramatic fashion. They bobbed, skipped, squirmed and jumped to the sound of throbbing drumbeats.
The Tibetan dance was much more subtle. Six women spun around and sung in harmony. Called Arshey, the dance represents and gives homage to Tibetan construction workers. But the singing is used as a means for social interaction.
"Arshey is a medium to convey gossip within the singing," said Namagyal Gyalnub, secretary of the Northwest Tibetan Culture Association, the group that brought the dancers to UP.
The Northwest Tibetan Culture Association works to preserve Tibetan culture, specifically in the Northwest. Thousands have fled Tibet as political refugees since 1959.
