In many cultures there are lucky numbers. By now most of us know that in Chinese culture, the number eight (bā 八) represents good fortune, and nine (jiǔ 九) represents longevity. Four (sì 四), on the other hand, is quite unlucky; its pronunciation sounds like “death” (woe to those of you turning 44 this year or have an April 4th birthday!). In English, the number three frequently has a positive association. Good things come in threes. Three’s the charm. The triple crown. Trifecta. “ABC, easy as 1-2-3.” And so on. So let’s, for a moment, embrace the American in Chinese American and run with the number three.
We are coming up on the celebration of not one, not two, but three celebrations at CAIS. This Friday, September 25 is the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival (Zhōng qiū jié 中秋节), sometimes called the Moon Festival in the west. Monday, September 28 marks the 2577th birthday of the Chinese humanist philosopher Confucius. Because of Confucius’s reputation as a great teacher and advocate of education as a necessary ingredient in world peace, September 28 is also celebrated as Teachers’ Day in Taiwan—a tradition that we have followed for many years at CAIS. We will celebrate it this year on Monday, September 28 as well.
This trifecta of important observances has not been lost on the clever and mission-aligned CAIS parents who make up our Family School Alliance (FSA) board. Accordingly, they live their community-building mission by holding the annual Back-to-School Picnic to coincide with and celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival (and as luck has it this year, Confucius’s birthday shindig and Teachers Day). We urge you to join your friends from the CAIS community—and make new ones too—at this great school tradition, featuring Chinese music performances, crafts, food, mooncake making and more! Remember, it’s on campus this Saturday, September 26 from 11:00am to 2:00pm in the Ang Athletic Center. We hope to see you there!
Confucius
Confucius was a teacher. He lived in a time characterized by constant warfare, and he preached a philosophy of world peace. Confucius taught that the root of change in the world was not laws or policies or institutions, but rather the individual. And, he believed, the path to change in the individual was education. Some of you may have noticed a motto that is frequently printed beneath the CAIS logo: “Life changing. World changing.” These four words derive directly from Confucius.
The Mid Autumn Festival
The Mid Autumn Festival is a harvest festival, akin to Thanksgiving in the US. In China the feast takes place on the 15th day of the lunar month when the moon is full. As with other harvest festivals, families in China celebrate by gathering for a feast. When family members cannot return home for the feast, it is common to say that no matter how far away they are, they can look at the same moon and remember one another. The most well-known and eloquent expression of this sentiment is in a poem written by the Song Dynasty scholar Su Shi 苏轼 (1037-1101 CE). Su wrote the poem to express how much he missed his brother on the evening of the Mid Autumn Festival. The last lines of the poem read:
| 但愿人长久 千里共婵娟 | Dàn yuàn rén cháng jiŭ Qiān lĭ gong chán juān | I hope we are blessed with longevityAnd although thousands of miles apart, we may still share the moon’s beauty |
We’d like to take advantage of this occasion to thank our teachers for their life changing, world changing work, and to welcome you to the community picnic on Saturday. We hope to see you there!
Jeff Bissell 毕杰夫
Head of School 校长
Cindy Chiang 姜欣怡
Chinese Program Director 中文部主任