FOREWORD 前 言
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival celebrated by Chinese people. Gathering with families, eating moon cakes, and appreciating the fullest moon with lanterns, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a grand time for family reunions in thousands of years.
“ 海上生明月，天涯共此时 ”
“ As the bright moon shines over the sea,
From far away you share this moment with me. ”
“ 但愿人长久，千里共婵娟 ”
“ I only pray our life be long,
And our souls together heavenward fly! ”
Just like the Chinese poetry said, this festival is of special ethical significance, and family reunion on this occasion lying deep in their consciousness has been a sentiment and mindset for Chinese people, as well as one of our spiritual resources nowadays.
China Cultural Centre in Sydney and China National Tourist Office Sydney will simultaneously host the 2021 Mid-Autumn Festival online event on the official websites and social media platforms from September 16. The global online event will be composed of 4 major sections: Classic, Cuisine, Music, and Poems and Paintings, including culinary workshop, online concerts, virtual exhibitions and other forms to introduce the cultural customs, humanistic spirit and contemporary values of Mid-Autumn Festival, and celebrate the full moon together with the Australian community and Chinese people in Australia.
This event would be a great opportunity to experience the Mid-Autumn Festival online, enjoy wonderful Chinese performances and learn more about the traditional Chinese culture.
1. Xinjiang is a Nice Place：A VR Tour
天涯共此时——新疆是个好地方
With the theme of “Mid-Autumn Festival, A Moonmoment to Remember-Xinjiang is a Nice Place”, it focus on the traditional Chinese festival， Mid-Autumn Festival through virtual reality technology. This VR tour is composed of five experience content sections: Dance in Xinjiang, Travel in Xinjiang, Food in Xinjiang, Instruments in Xinjiang and Love in Xinjiang, and integrates elements of Xinjiang’s culture, art, history, and humanities to take a panoramic view of the natural landscape, experience the local Mid-Autumn Festival cuisine, and share a harmonious and friendly reunion atmosphere.
2. Charm of Mid-Autumn Festival： Children’s Animated Short Video Shows
“中秋戏韵”少儿动画短视频展播
Themed on the Mid-Autumn Festival, this section presents three short animated videos for children, in the form of 2D, 3D and stop motion, which are inspired by the traditional culture, customs, myths and legends related to the Mid-Autumn Festival while incorporating elements of traditional Chinese operas. They convey the wishes for family reunion, harmony and health. All of the videos are original works created by young animators from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts.
Moon cake is a traditional dessert for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and conveys the good wish for family reunion. Chang’e is the goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology, and the Jade Rabbit is a mythological animal. It is said that they live in a heavenly palace on the moon—the Guanghan Palace. This animated work depicts the scene of Goddess Chang’e preparing moon cakes with the Jade Rabbits in the heavenly palace. The images of the characters and the expressive style of the work break people’s mindset on Chang’e and the moon palace in Chinese mythology. The work adopts an exaggerated style to depict the goddess and the Jade Rabbits. With funny performances of the characters, it demonstrates the process of making traditional Chinese moon cakes, expressing sincere good wishes for people in China and beyond.
A plate of mouthwatering moon cake is placed on the desk during the Mid-Autumn Festival. A Peking Opera martial female doll and an insect toy robot, who are both as hungry as a wolf, scramble for the plate of moon cake. In the process, by accident, they break the moon cake into pieces. Finally, they get back together and share the moon cake under the full moon. The battle between the two characters draws inspiration from the martial arts movements of some traditional opera classics, and showcases some stunt moves with high-level difficulty in traditional opera performances.
Chang’e Flying to the Moon is a Chinese fairytale about Chang’e accidently taking a pill of immortality and flying to the moon to become a goddess. Inspired by this fairytale, the animated work tells another version of the story in the daydream of a little girl: When doing housework, Chang’e finds a pill of immortality. Her rabbit accidently takes a bite of the pill. As a result, it floats in the air. To rescue the rabbit, Chang’e eats the rest of the pill. The two then fly to the moon together. The images and movements of the characters in the video are adorable and cute. It uses modern technology and elements from traditional Chinese operas to depict the ancient fairytale, and re-interpret it from a positive and optimistic perspective.
3. Micro Documentary: Journey of Chinese Local Culture
“月满中秋” —— 中国地方特色文化之旅微纪录片
With the “cultural + tourism” boundless narrative way, Micro Documentary: Journey of Chinese Local Culture focuses on the unique charm of Chinese local culture and tourism. During the Mid-autumn Festival 2021, the first episode A Panda Home Tour will be presented to the audience.
Sichuan Province, located in China’s hinterland, possesses rich natural, biological and cultural landscapes.
Sichuan has the largest and most comprehensive panda habitat in the world, encompassing areas including Chengdu, Ngawa and Ya’an. More than 75% of the world’s wild Giant Pandas live here, one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world.
The beautiful natural landscapes cultivated the Sanxingdui and Jinsha Civilization, which are of the same period as the Maya Civilization. From there, the Bronze Civilization and goldsmith art were unearthed at an unparalleled scale, and is hailed as “the greatest archeological discovery of the twentieth century”.
“Fast paced work”, “comfortable, unhurried life” are harmoniously integrated in the great land of Bashu (Sichuan). Drinking tea, enjoying some spicy hot pot, sitting around for some chit-chat, and visiting farmhouses are symbols of the life of a Sichuanese.
On the eve of the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in China, Giant Pandas serving as messengers between China and the world, extend blessings of health, peace, unity and comfort (An Yi) to everyone in the world.
4. Flavor of Mid-Autumn Festival: Chinese Culinary Culture Video Series
寻味中秋 美食文化系列视频
The Chinese are fastidious about their food, and that is displayed to its fullest extent during the traditional Mid-Autumn. Snow Skin Mooncake、Osmanthus-flavored Steamed Lotus Root Stuffed with Glutinous Rice、Kumquat Tea、Osmanthus and Red Bean Glutinous Rice Balls、Refreshing Pudding…these seasonal desserts are particularly distinctive. Watch the beautiful full moon and smell the fragrance of the osmanthus blossoms. The taste of the Chinese Mid-Autumn is the taste of reunion, hopes and dreams. “Flavor of Mid-Autumn Festival: Chinese Culinary Culture Video Series” is a project introducing simple pastries and drinks with short videos, coupled with an overview of culinary culture surrounding the Mid-Autumn Festival. These works present festive cuisine and health preservation traditions during the season.
5. “Shared Moon, Shared Happiness”Mid-autumn Festival Concert
“五洲同月· 情满中华”——中秋主题音乐会
Click on the picture to watch the video
Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the important traditional festivals in China rich in profound cultural connotation, embodies the deep aspirations of the Chinese nation for family reunion, ethnic unity, and social harmony. Under the same bright moon, countries and ethnic groups across the world look out for each other, working together to build the global village into a community with a shared future for mankind. To celebrate the festival, we are presenting a wonderful folk concert featuring rich traditional Chinese culture. As a brand event for the festival, the concert themed “common moonlight shining on China” is jointly launched by the Centre of International Cultural Exchange and China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater, and presented by the National Orchestra of China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater. The selected classic Mid-Autumn festival programs, multi-angle shooting and live performance, and the input of China tourism resources video allow the global audience to appreciate the bright mid-autumn moon, admire the high-quality Chinese folk music, and enjoy the beautiful rivers and mountains of China at home.
6. A Moonmoment to Remember： a Selection of Music Masterpieces Performed by Masters Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival
天涯共此时——名家名曲艺中秋
The classics will be played by means of “cloud performance”, and the great wishes for “family concord, social harmony and world peace” will be delivered by music during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the traditional Chinese festival. Well-known Chinese artists Song Fei and Wu Yuxia along with many other national first-class performers will be invited to play classical music pieces renowned at home and abroad, and the Mid-Autumn Festival-themed music video, “A Moonmoment to Remember —— a Selection of Music Masterpieces Performed by Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival” will be created through recorded special scenes and late composition to extend the most sincere holiday greetings to Chinese people at home and abroad.
7. Mid-Autumn Festival in Traditional Chinese Paintings：Art Appreciation Micro-class
艺术赏析微课堂
国画里的中秋
National painting, as a traditional Chinese painting art form, is unique and holds a high reputation in the worldwide panorama of fine arts. Since ancient times, there has been a proliferation of Chinese paintings featuring the Mid-Autumn Festival as the them, which depict wonderful scenes of Mid-Autumn reunions of families raising a toast under the full moon and enjoying the beautiful evening together with loved ones. It expresses people’s reminiscences of their hometown, and their great expectations and hope for a good harvest. While displaying representative Chinese paintings featuring the culture of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the project has also added animations to enhance narrative plots, restore colors and inspire viewers’ imagination. The deeper meanings beyond the pictures allow the audience to have a tangible grasp of Chinese painting art, as well as an immersive experience of the Mid-Autumn Festival culture.
