Dear Students & Colleagues,

Today (Sept. 22, 2010) is the Chinese Moon Festival which falls on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. The Moon Festival is one of the most important festivals for the Chinese. I would like to send my blessing to you and your families.

The Moon Festival has various legends. One of the legends says that an ancient beautiful woman, named Chang Er, flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. The time of this legend was around 2,170 B.C. It is an old story…

Once upon a time, the earth had ten suns circling over it. Each sun took its turn to illuminate to the earth. But one day, all ten suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. The earth was saved by a strong and tyrannical archer, Hou Yi. He succeeded in shooting down nine of the suns. One day, Hou Yi stole the elixir of life from a goddess. However his beautiful wife Chang Er drank the elixir of life in order to save the people from her husband’s tyrannical rule. After drinking it, she found herself floating and flew to the moon. Hou Yi loved his divinely beautiful wife so much that he did not shoot down the moon.

For most Chinese, the Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. A great deal of poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival.

On this Chinese Moon Festival, I wish all UWest students, my colleagues, and their families, happiness and health.

Sincerely,

CS Wu

President, University of the West
September 22, 2010