Rules of the mooncake game
By Bill Brown
Photo by Yao Fan



中秋博饼, 全民同庆, 没准还有老外们的积极参与. 这里我们呈上英文版的博饼规则, 愿这项民俗活动发扬光大, 为更多的人带去欢乐!

Bo Bing (博饼), the dice game associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival and mooncakes in Xiamen, was invented about 1500 years ago by scholars who were hoping for success in the imperial examinations. A total of 63 prizes are named after imperial titles earned from the exams, and are won by rolling particular combinations of numbers on six dice:

●One prize for the No. 1 Scholar (Zhuangyuan). The 7 kinds of Zhuangyuan are:
1. Zhuangyuan with Gold Flower
fours & 2 ones)
2. Hongliubo (6 fours)
3. Yaodianliubo (6 ones)
4. Heiliubo (6 of the same number other than fours and ones)
5. Wuhong (5 fours)
6. Wuzi (5 of the same number other than fours)
7. Sihong (4 fours)
●Two prizes for No. 2 Scholar: Duitang (a "straight", 1 through 6)
●Four prizes for No. 3 Scholar: Sanhong (3 fours)
●Eight prizes for No. 4 Scholar: Sijin (4 of the same number, other than fours)
●Sixteen prizes for No. 5 Scholar: Erju (2 fours)
●Thirty two prizes for No. 6 Scholar: Yixiu (1 four)

Today the mooncake game is found not only in southern Fujian and Taiwan but also, it appears, wherever you find overseas Chinese of Xiamen ancestry.

In 2003, Gulangyu's first annual Mooncake Game Cultural Festival attracted crowds of locals, as well as domestic and overseas visitors and the media, and since then the game has become more popular than ever-though mooncakes are no longer the prize of choice. Prizes today are usually more practical, like shampoo, towels, thermoses, blankets or cutlery.



Legends related to the moon

Chang-er, the Lady in the Moon, is offered mooncakes, as well as round fruits symbolizing the fullness of the moon, and many women pray to her to be blessed with good husbands. (Though given Chang-er's problems with her own husband, I don't see why she's considered an expert!)

There are many legends about Chang-er. One says she was married to the celestial archer Hou Yi, who saved the earth from a fiery fate by shooting down nine of the ten suns. The Queen Mother of the West rewarded him with the elixir of life, but he was a tyrant, so to keep him from becoming immortal Chang-er stole the potion and drank it herself. She flew to the moon and has lived there ever since in the company of a furry rabbit.

Another companion on the moon is the woodcutter Wu Gang, who was banished to the moon and became Chang-er's friend and servant. The Jade Emperor punished Wu Gang by ordering him to fell a cassia tree-but the tree was immortal and grew back each time it was felled.

Since the Song Dynasty (960-1127 A.D.), common folk and emperors alike have worshiped the moon, and imperial chefs created huge mooncakes which they stamped with designs of Chang-er, the moon palace, and the immortal cassia tree. Common folk made do with smaller cakes, which they munched on while sipping tea, hoping to catch the reflection of the moon in their teacup.

A bright new talent emerges
By Zhao Jing & Vivian Zhang
Photo by Yao Fan



First solo concert

On August 30 the Fujian Musicians' Association organized the Huang Xika Violin Solo Concert in the music hall on Gulangyu, famous as the island of music.

To the Gulangyu audience, this concert was more than just a chance to hear beautiful violin music. They were proud to welcome Huang Xika, the fifteen-year-old violinist, back to the island where she was born and grew up for her first ever solo concert.

The audience, particularly those from the island, showed their enthusiasm for her wonderful performance with thunderous applause and dozens of bouquets. They regard Huang Xika as a great example to the many children from Gulangyu who are learning musical instruments. "I was a bit nervous, but it went as well as I had expected," the girl said with a confident smile afterwards.

According to her mother, Xika was to fly back to Shanghai, where she goes to school, the day after the concert. Her second solo concert is scheduled to be held soon in Shanghai.

A musical family

Huang Xika was born in 1990 into a family with a strong musical tradition. Both her father and mother are teachers in Xiamen Music School, where they teach violin and singing respectively. She started learning to play the violin at four.

Like some other families on Gulangyu, the Huangs also regularly held family music parties, which attracted many musicians from around China and even overseas visitors. The hosts and guests would play and listen to music together. Early last year, the family was named one of the "Top Ten Musical Families" by the Xiamen Women's Association. A few months later the WA recommended the family to CCTV, who invited them to Beijing to perform on Chinese Stage. Since then, the musical life of the Huang family has been reported on by the People's Daily, the New York Times, CCTV, Fujian TV and others. Their intensely musical family atmosphere together with the long tradition of music on this beautiful island has undoubtedly fostered a keen ear and understanding of music in the young violinist.

Follow your interests

In 2001 Xika entered the Music School affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with the highest scores in her year. Since then she has been studying under many notable violinists, including Professors Ding Xiaolei and Huang Chenxing. At the Teachers' Day party in Shanghai, Xika played the violin together with Professor Yu Lina, the most famous violinist in China, with Shanghai Oriental TV covering the event live.

When asked to tell her younger fellow learners and their parents about the secret of her success, Xika confided, "I always believe that it's best to follow your interests. Try to find what you are really interested in and study in the way that suits you best. For me, I feel as though the violin has become a part of me, and learning as much as I can about this instrument is what I have chosen to do. I feel so grateful to my parents for allowing me to learn this way. They encourage me to do what I really want instead of pushing me into areas which I'm not so interested in. I don't feel any pressure at all."

Vocabulary
imperial 帝王的
symbolize 象征
celestial 天国的
archer 弓箭手
elixir 长生不老术
banish 流放
cassia 桂树
reflection 倒影