Inside the walls of Illini Union Room 314, members of the Taiwan Intercultural Association re-enacted the legends surrounding the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival by hosting a mooncake festival Friday. With an entry fee of $2 for members and $5 for nonmembers, everyone was treated to performances, mooncakes, and a date auction.

The Taiwan Intercultural Association’s mission of promoting cultural and ethnical differences was enhanced four years ago with the start of several new events such as the Mooncake Festival. Lilly Wu, president from 2001 to 2003 and University alumna, helped start the festival in 2001.

“It’s somewhat like the Thanksgiving of the Chinese people,” Wu said. “It’s a major holiday for family gathering and feasting. It is supposed to be the time of the year that the moon is the roundest.”

Every year, the Taiwan Intercultural Association prepares a number of theatrical performances to introduce the legends and history behind the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. The association’s board members took part in two skits placing a comical modern spin to history.

The first skit described the history of the mooncake and its importance.

Gordon Yang, sophomore in engineering and current treasurer, helped organize the event.

“There was a rebellion in China,” Yang said. “They needed a way to synchronize their rebellion without the government finding out. So they hid messages in mooncakes.”

Around 1280 A.D., the Chinese people were unhappy with the ruler and wanted to coordinate a rebellion. Coinciding with the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, mooncakes with messages about the attack were distributed. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government establishing the Ming dynasty.

Through their interpretation, ribbon dancers, using toilet paper as ribbons, represented the tyrannical rulers. Another group of students all wearing hooded sweatshirts represented the Ming dynasty. In the skit, the “hoodie gang” synchronized their attack via text messaging instead of hidden mooncake messages as legend says, and overthrew the ribbon dancers.

For the second skit, they performed a famous legend in which the Earth had 10 suns. Each sun alternates days to warm the Earth. One day, all 10 suns appeared together, scorching the planet and creating mass drought and famine. The brave hero Hou Yi shoots down nine of the suns with silver arrows and saves the world.

After learning about the mooncake and its history, the audience members were able to taste them.

Out of the four different types of mooncakes – red beans, lotus, Zao Ni and Winter Fruit (Lotus) – Joyce Tu, sophomore in FAA, chose Zao Ni.

“The mooncakes taste sweet,” Tu said. “They’re soft and chewy. It’s hard to explain, but they’re good.”

Mooncakes are typically made out of sugar, egg yolks, flour and red bean paste.

“Mooncakes have an outside layer like a pastry,” Yang said. “They are dense, sweet and the center is filled with whatever one you want, locus, red bean, and others.”

After taking a snack break, the Taiwan Intercultural Association held a date auction of its officers and other candidates. The highest bidders are treated to a date. Candidates were auctioned off from between $20 to $200. The date auction took on a comical spin as the audience requested that the auction participants dance and perform other talents.

“The auctions were funny,” said Jennifer Brice, sophomore in ACES. “We had a good time.”

President of Taiwan Intercultural Association, Ben Wang, senior in business, said he also was pleased with the festival.

“We raised a lot of money through the date auction,” Wang said. “The turn out was good and people really seemed to be enjoying themselves.”

In previous years, the date auction proceeds went to different charities such as St. Jude’s Children Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Due to the recent events, this year’s proceeds of more than $1,000 will be donated to the Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.