Mid Autumn Festival (中秋節) is one of the most important cultural celebration of people of Chinese ethnic descent from all over the world. It’s also celebrated by many other East Asian cultures as well including Korean, Japanese, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and more. It’s also very well known as the Lantern Festival or Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival. You will know it’s the time of the year, when East Asian people start buying and gifting mooncakes and specialty lanterns start coming up all around the streets. This year Mid Autumn Festival falls on October 1, 2020.
[Picture below] The celebration at night includes lighting up beautiful lanterns, many decorated with intricate pictures or animals, lit with candles. And to cut and share delicious mooncakes (月饼). And to eat them with hot Chinese tea, as the tea balances the very sweet and sticky texture of the mooncakes. Sweetness represents happiness that comes in life, and sharing with family and close friends.
The celebration traditionally is centered around the Autumn harvest period to be thankful for a bountiful harvest. And it’s also a time when family members come and gather together to celebrate health and happiness. For some, it’s also a time of prayer for long life and good health, as well as to pray for offspring.
One legend goes like this: There was a very beautiful filial woman named Chang’e, and during the time of massive heat and drought, her husband Hou Yi, did a great task to save the land, and was given the elixir of immortality, which he could not bear to drink to leave his wife behind. But a unexpected turn of events, Chang’e had taken the elixir and flew to the moon to become the goddess of the moon. Each during during that time, people remember Chang’e and her sacrifice by celebrating with lanterns and eating mooncakes.
Fell free to view a very short animated video from “chinahighlights” YouTube below to understand the legend more. [YouTube video below]
[Picture below] A typical Mooncake festival setting. Lanterns (here you can see a self, homemade Local Guides community lantern (learn how to make it here). Mooncakes that are store bought. And hot Chinese tea (drank without sugar or milk).
[Picture below] Today, there are hundreds of varieties of mooncakes, and each year, more and more varieties get created. One traditional mooncake is the standard baked skin, filled with sweet lotus seed paste, and occasionally with a core of a salted duck egg yolk. The salted duck egg yok is optional. The round shape of the mooncake represents the moon, and the optional salted duck egg yolk, when cut into, also represents the moon. Some other popular ones of the many hundreds include filling of nuts and seeds, red bean paste, savory filling, snow skin type mooncakes which are not baked, Shanghai type mooncakes and so many others. The skin of the mooncake is always usually decorated with intricated words or pictures of happiness or blessing.
[Picture below] Some pictures from my mooncake setting as we prepare for our Mid Autumn Festival virtual meetup up. Read more about our upcoming virtual meetup here, all are welcome to join. . https://maps.google.com/localguides/meetup/virtual-mid-autumn-festival
[Picture below] More photos from my home mooncake table, line with hot Chinese tea, homemade lantern, and a delicious lotus seed paste mooncake.
[Picture below] A home made lantern with the Local Guides Community logo. Just needs 2 pieces of A4 paper and a stapler. Learn how to make it here. Link: How to make lanterns for Mid Autumn Festival.
[Photo below] Leaving everyone with a peaceful lit lantern, so we can all share in the happiness of a warm lit night, with sweet mooncakes and hot tea, to share with close friends and family.
Wishing everyone who celebrate a most wonderful Mid Autumn Festival 2020.
Join our Virtual Mid Autumn Festival Meet-up this week via Google Meet (30th Sept night). RSVP and details here
https://maps.google.com/localguides/meetup/virtual-mid-autumn-festival
*All photos in this post are self taken.
