Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang makes mooncakes with a group of US students at the embassy on Saturday to mark Mid-Autumn Festival. (PHOTO BY ZHAO HUANXIN / CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
The moon has turned out to be a muse, making the US and Chinese embassies do the same thing when it's full this month: observing Mid-Autumn Festival.
The festival, observed according to the lunar calendar, falls on Sept 10 this year.
In a video, US Ambassador Nicholas Burns leads the recital of "the best poem on the mid-autumn by any poet" by beginning the first two lines in Chinese, with English subtitles: When does a crisp full moon appear? Wine in hand, I ask heaven
"To honor this traditional festival, members of the US diplomatic community in Beijing made this video of the classic Mid-Autumn Festival poem written by the famous poet Su Shi in 1076," US Ambassador Nicholas Burns said on Twitter Friday.
In the video, Burns leads the recital of "the best poem on the mid-autumn by any poet" by beginning the first two lines in Chinese, with English subtitles: When does a crisp full moon appear? Wine in hand, I ask heaven.
Seven of his colleagues at the embassy finished reading the poem in Mandarin, some of them seemed to be at the very early stage of learning the language, but they managed to get Su's message through perfectly clear:
"Dim and shine, wax and wane as moon,
Nothing ever to heart's content.-
May we live a long life,
Share the same moon though thousand miles apart."
After this poem was written, critics believed all the other poems on the harvest moon could be forgotten, Chinese writer and inventor Lin Yutang (1895-1976) wrote in The Gay Genius, a biography of Su Shi.
After the poem was read and posted online, it was viewed more than 100,000 times on the embassy's WeChat account, and 127,000 times on Twitter as of Saturday evening.
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"I want to say as an American in China how much I appreciate seeing actual diplomacy in action. So important to keep communication between our countries open for improved understanding. Thank you Ambassador, and best wishes to all my Chinese and American friends during the holiday," Peter Jolicoeur, a Shanghai-based aviation consultant, wrote on Twitter after watching the video.
Dancers perform at an event at the Chinese embassy to the United States on Saturday to mark Mid-Autumn Festival. (PHOTO BY ZHAO HUANXIN / CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
While the US embassy marked the festival by savoring the food on thought, the Chinese embassy had a savory way to observe the Mid-Autumn Festival: making mooncakes, the traditional delicacy reserved for Aug 15 on the lunar calendar.
Nearly 200 people, mostly students from Sidwell Friends School, their teachers and family were invited to the embassy in Washington to learn how to make mooncakes from rows of colorful ingredients and pastries.
In addition to the savors, the guests watched tea ceremonies, and performances of Chinese folk music, dance and martial arts.
Nearly 200 people, mostly students from Sidwell Friends School, their teachers and family were invited to the Chinese embassy in Washington to learn how to make mooncakes from rows of colorful ingredients and pastries
They also had a chance to try on calligraphy, paper-cuts and paint Peking Opera makeups and classic round fans.
Ambassador Qin Gang, who made mooncakes with a group of students at a table, said China's Mid-Autumn Festival is similar to America's Thanksgiving Day. It stands for harvest.
The festival also stands for reunion, being known as the "Reunion Festival".
On this day, Chinese families would get together to share mooncakes, recite Chinese poems like "Though thousands of miles apart, we share the same beautiful moon", and tell the fairy tale about Chang'e flying to the moon.
"What we express is a hope and pursuit of reunion and happiness, and our thoughts of our loved ones who are not with us," he said.
At Saturday's event, two US students recited Night Thoughts, another famous moon-related poem by renowned poet Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
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The performance won applause from other students, who recited in choirs the famous lines from the poem by Su Shi:
"May we live a long life,
Share the same moon though thousand miles apart."