A bright moon and stars twinkled and shone. Wishing you a belated Mid-Autumn Festival, bliss, and happiness!
For those of you that don't know, I'm Taoist, which is a Chinese philosophy or religion based on the writings of Lao-tzu that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao-the unplanned rhythms of the universe. As such, the second most important holiday as a practicing Taoist, is Mid-Autumn Festival. Now, the Mid-Autumn Festival, or the moon or mooncake festival, is celebrated with the first full moon of autumn-also known as the harvest moon. To the Chinese, a full moon is a symbol of reunion, harmony, and happiness. This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival was Monday, September 24th.
Now, if you're wondering why it's called the Mid-Autumn Festival when it's just after autumn has officially begun, it's because the Chinese holidays follow the lunar calendar-think Chinese New Year. The festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, which corresponds to a full moon.
To give you a little backstory on what the festival is about, I'm going to pull from the blog China Highlights:
"The most famous Mid-Autumn Festival story is Chang'e flying to the moon. The story goes like this…
Long, long ago, there were ten suns in the sky. The suns burnt all the plants and people were dying on Earth, until one day excellent archer Hou Yi used his bow and arrows to shoot down nine of the suns. Earth was saved, and people flocked to learn archery from Hou Yi.
The Western Queen Mother gave Hou Yi a bottle of elixir that could make one person immortal. Although Hou Yi did want to become immortal, he wanted to stay with his wife Chang'e more. Therefore, he just kept it at home.
Pang Meng, one of his students, tried to seize the elixir when Hou Yi wasn't at home. Faced with greedy Pang Meng, Chang'e decided to drink the elixir. It made her fly to the moon where she would stay forever.
To remember her and pray to her, Hou Yi and others started to worship the moon with many offerings.
Chang'e's image usually appears on Mid-Autumn Festival pictures. Children in China are told that Chang'e is still living on the moon. And on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is bright, children try their best to find the shape of Chang'e on the moon."
There is also a story regarding the "jade rabbit", which makes for rabbits to be another common thematic element to the holiday. Again, pulling from China Highlights, the story of the jade rabbit is as follows:
"Chinese children are told that the jade rabbit is on the moon with Chang'e. Here's the story…
Once upon a time, there were three animals living in a forest: a fox, a rabbit, and a monkey.
Three immortals, pretending to be beggars, went through the forest asking for food. The fox and the monkey quickly offered them food.
The rabbit, who was less resourceful but very pious, felt guilty. She said, “I'm so sorry I couldn't offer any food to help you, but I can give myself”, and jumped into the fire.
The three immortals were moved by the rabbit's sacrifice, and decided make the rabbit an immortal, sending her to live in the Moon Palace."
So, as you can see, the moon is the most important element to this holiday, but you may be wondering-she also called it the mooncake festival...what are mooncakes? Does she mean moon-pie? No, not quite. See, the easiest translation to an American holiday would be Thanksgiving. The Chinese people gather with family and spend a good portion of the day making dinner, and there's a very traditional dessert served-no not pumpkin or pecan pie...mooncakes! Now, what is a mooncake?
Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure...the best that I can deduce is that they're kind of like a fruit cake-no one really knows what's in them, but you eat them, and some people quite like them...but, most people aren't a fan of the original version, so they go for more ornate versions that are more tasty. In essence it's a smorgasbord of ingredients pureed together to make a kind of paste beneath a round and decorated shell. I've had lotus seed, white lotus seed, and chocolate lava. They're a bit different of a texture for the first time you try them, but the white lotus seed seemed almost peanut butter-y in flavor, with a somewhat gelatinous texture? If you've had one, and you want to chime in with better texture and flavor terminology, help me out! The chocolate lava, for some reason, had a bit of a banana flavor to it...maybe I got a bad batch, maybe that's normal, I'm not sure!
Now, there is one rule to follow for eating your mooncake: you wait for the sun to set, and then you head out to somewhere you can clearly see the moon, and then you eat your mooncake(one mooncake typically gets divided between family members) beneath the moon. It's very typical to have another small picnic beneath the moon. And if you go and visit someone, tradition dictates you bring a gift, typically a mooncake.
But, you've had your dinner, you've had your mooncake....now what?
Well, lanterns are the final piece to this holiday. Kiddos decorate lanterns in school or at home during the day, much like American kids make those hand turkeys in elementary school. And speaking of little ones, there are small lanterns on wands, think like a kite, that they run around and play with once the moon comes out and you've had your mooncakes or picnic. Also, if you happen to have the lanterns that you're able to light a candle in and set afloat in the air, your kiddos can write their well wishes on the lanterns and send them off. Lastly, depending on where you live, there even may be an event at Chinese cultural center that can include a lantern show or a dragon/lion dance.
You will see round lanterns in particular everywhere, but also a lot of round shapes, regardless of what they are. Everything about this holiday revolves around the moon-revolves get it? Pun intended!
So, now you know all about the Mid-Autumn Festival! Sorry, it's a bit late, but better late than never! Well, until next time, lovely readers, wishing you and your family a belated, but happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
xoxo
Kona
