A culinary tradition with legendary roots, mooncakes are sold everywhere from grocery stores to five-star hotels and come with competing origin stories that relate how these sweets came to represent the holiday.
Mid-Autumn Festival was inspired by the mythical story of Chang’e, the “Lady of the Moon.” Once upon a time, the world had 10 suns, all of which lived in a mulberry bush together, and each day one sun would be drawn around the world in a carriage. But one day, all 10 suns took to the sky, and their heat destroyed the crops and set the earth on fire. To save the world, the archer Houyi shot nine of the suns down, and the emperor rewarded him with an immortality pill.
The legends differ on how Houyi’s wife, Chang’e, got the pill and consumed it, but one thing is certain: it made her fly. Houyi tried to chase her but was turned back by blustery winds. By then, Chang’e had landed on the moon, where she remains to this very day. By some trick of the gods, Houyi has found his own place in the sun, and each year on Mid-Autumn Festival, the husband and wife are reunited and the moon glows its brightest. Offerings to the moon and Chang’e are required that day, and over time the most popular contribution became the round mooncakes that reflect the beauty of the moon.
The Autumn Moon Festival: A little history
In China, the Mid-autumn festival is the second most important festival after the Spring Festival to Chinese people. Every year, when the festival comes people go home from every corner of the country and the world to meet their family and have dinner with them, admire the full moon and eat moon cakes.
Chinese people believe a full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and family reunion. On Mid-Autumn Festival night the moon is supposed to be the brightest and fullest, which is why the festival is also known as the "Day of Reunion" and the "Moon Festival" .
Tet Trung Thu, as it is known in Vietnam, is a wonderful ancient festival that revolves around children. In a Vietnamese folklore, parents work so hard to prepare for the harvest, where they left their children play by themselves. To make up for the lost time, parents use the Mid-Autumn Festival as an opportunity to show their love and appreciation for their children. Children sing, dance and carry colorful lanterns on the street. A special lantern is designed to spin when a candle is inserted into it, symbolizing the earth circling the sun.
This weekend to celebrate we went to a Chinese restaurant with some other families and had so much fun doing crafts, eating dinner and at the end we launched our own family lantern. The kids had so much fun, they got dressed in their Chinese dresses and jacket and their favorite part was the lantern. We wrote our family wish on the lantern before sending it up.
The moon will be it's fullest and brightest on Sept 9 this year. It's the last of the super moons for 2014, we plan on sitting outside and watching the moon and eating our moon cakes.
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