This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Harvest Moon Festival, was held on Oct. 6. The traditional festival for those in the East Asian diaspora saw a full moon light up the sky as dozens of Wellesley students eagerly waited in line outside the observatory for moon cakes, songpyeon and tsukimi. The holiday’s traditional snacks came in a variety of flavors, with some of the snacks being handmade in the observatory.
The East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) department collaborated with the Physics and Astronomy department in an event that brought together the humanities and sciences in a culturally meaningful manner. An hour into the event, both departments brought students into the observatory library to welcome everyone to the holiday celebration and share different perspectives about the festival. First, a member of the Physics and Astronomy department talked about the scientific origins of the lunar holiday. Then, various members of the EALC department shared different stories across China, Korea and Japan about the holiday.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is an East Asian holiday tradition that celebrates the full moon in the middle of the autumn season. By sharing lots of food with friends and family, people give thanks to the fruitful harvest. Both departments hope to make this event even bigger next year, inviting the possibility of more food to fulfill the harvest component of the holiday.
The full moon finally rose above the trees, and telescopes were ready for students’ viewing. When looking with the naked eye or through an iPhone image, the full moon merely looks like a dot or circular light, but with the telescopes, the craters and brightness of the moon were illuminated for all to see.
By combining perspectives from two different academic disciplines, Wellesley students learned something new while also celebrating a culturally significant holiday in their home away from home.
Contact the editors responsible for this story: Hira Khan, Chelsea Tarringer