1. What is your artifact?

- The Mid-Autumn Festival

- a celebration that is usually on the 15th day of September or October, based on the
Chinese calendar. It is known as the full moon night, also called moon cake festival.
- This festival is usually celebrated with family and friends.
- On this day, mooncakes are eaten. Some people buy mooncakes and some personally
make them.
- A mooncake is exactly as it sounds. It is small cake that can either be salty and sweet or
overall just sweet. There are many different flavours and shapes.
- Here are some examples of mooncakes

2. How did you acquire your artifact?

- When I first celebrated this festival/day was when I went to China to visit some relatives.
During this time, there were many desserts and treats at the table. That is when I
learned that the Mid-Autumn festival was to celebrate everyone’s well-being and hope
for happiness and wealth.

3. How are you connected to the artifact you chose?

- As I grew older, I also realized that my family would celebrate it in Canada too. When it
was around the time of the MId-Autumn festival, the grocery stores would sell the
mooncakes.
- In addition, often times my parents would buy more mooncakes to gift to relatives as a
show of kindness to share the day with others.
- Now it has become a tradition in my household to always eat and buy mooncakes on a
particular day. Plus, take pictures of the full moon.

4. Describe how your artifact is significant to your culture?

- The Mid-Autumn festival is significant to my culture because it originated in China about
a historical dynasty, where a man shot 8/9 of the moons and left the last moon (the only
full moon) to allow the humans to live a peaceful life.
- With this story, the festival is always celebrated on the rooftops of buildings to see the
full moon.
- The real meaning behind the Mid-Autumn Festival is for people to remember their loved
ones if they are separated throughout time.

5. How is your artifact personally significant to you?

- The festival has grown to be part of a tradition that my parents often participate in,
whether it be in Canada, or China. We as a family will celebrate the day together by
admiring the moon or just chatting as we eat mooncakes. I always look forward to the
one day where we celebrate because we often spend time together under a beautiful
sight.

6. What social/global changes were happening during your artifact‘s exitstence that directly
impacted it?
- During this time, many will decorate their houses with lanterns. People who celebrate
this day are often joyful. On the night of, many people will take pictures of the moon and
post about it because it is to show appreciation to their loved ones by sharing this day
with them.
- As this celebration is getting more well-known I have also noticed that in Canada, there
are events that happen a few days prior to the Mid-Autumn Festival, where many
Chinese street food is lined up at a location to appreciate the Asian food culture.

7. Who were the owners of this artifact? Are they significant? Why?
- As I have mentioned in the previous point in question 4, the man who shot the 8 moons
was actually in a relationship with a woman. however the woman had passed away from
drinking poison leading her to have a death that rose her up to the moon. Thus, this
story is to remark the importance of honoring those who have loved ones even though
they are separated. Although, it is also to bring loved ones together to share a moment
that is memorable.

8. List up to three dates in history that are significant to your artifact? Why?
- The first mid-autumn festival was held on September 26th 1996. Although it was not as
grand as current events it is still the first day that was celebrated in honor of the moon.
Link
- However, people started worshiping the moon over 3,000 years ago in the Shang
Dynasty. Link
- These dates are significant because those are the first days when a mid-autumn festival
was held and when the moon was being worshiped. These dates were the dates that got
everything started. The start to a festival, the start to something grand and impactful.

9. What do you want to say to the viewer about your artifact? What will be your approach?
- I want to let my audience know that this festival can be celebrated by anyone. I definitely
want to be impactful with a message and show that this festival is about spending time
with your loved ones and having a good time.
- I want to include lots of pictures and descriptions about the significant.

10. How will you choose to present your artifact? (A journal, photo essay, a piece of fiction, a
documentary short, an interview, a multimedia slide show, etc. )
- I was thinking of doing a photo essay similar to the one below, but with larger words to
make it more legible.