By Janelle Henderson

The Chinese Moon Festival is a family-oriented holiday, which makes celebrating it difficult for some of the University of Louisville’s Chinese students.

The holiday’s legend has it that the sky was originally lit by 10 suns whose heat scorched the earth and crops so that the people had nothing to eat. To save the world from starvation, China’s most famous archer, Hou Yi, shot down nine of the suns with his bow. The 10 suns were soon discovered to be sons of the Jade Emperor, who banished Yi and his family from earth. The Western Goddess took pity on Yi, giving him an elixir of immortality. But Yi’s wife, Chang O, greedily swallowed the potion and floated up into the sky, seeking refuge on the moon.

Because of this legend, Chinese culture celebrates the Chinese Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival, held on the 15th moon day of the eighth Chinese lunar month in thanks for their harvest.

To celebrate the occasion in China, family members come together in their parents’ or grandparents’ home to enjoy dinner and moon cake, a round cake traditionally eaten during the festival.

However, for Chinese students who are far from home, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association holds an annual party to celebrate the tradition with dinner, karaoke and performances. 

“Because most of the Chinese students and scholars here are away from their Chinese families, we unite as a family, and consider everyone in the party as family members, and hope to make a home feeling to everyone,” said Qiang Ao, president of the CSSA.

Since it was founded in 1998, the CSSA has been working to better the lives of Chinese students at the University of Louisville by helping them adjust to American culture, customs and environment and by holding the Chinese Moon Festival to educate U of L students about the traditional Chinese traditional holidays.

This year, the CSSA had a record turnout with 250 students, faculty and staff members.

Weizhong Zhang, a graduate student of Electrical Engineering, came to U of L this year, and CSSA has helped him adjust to life at the university, he said.

His favorite part of the festival was a little boy performing Kung Fu. The boy broke a piece of wood with his hands and flew over five people with his high kick.

“Through this festival we can meet friends and exchange ideas about life. It is quite a joyful experience,” Zhang said.

For more information about the CSSA and the group’s other events, visit its Web site at http://www.louisville.edu/rso/cssa.