Zhong Qiu Jie, The Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
Zhong Qiu Jie ("Middle of Autumn Festival") also known as The Mid-Autumn Festival, The Moon Festival or The Moon Cake Festival, is an ancient Taoist holiday. Dating back more than 3,000 years, it is observed on the night of the 15th day of the 8th month at the Full Moon according to the Asian soli-lunar calendar -- or from mid-September to early October in the Gregorian calendar. In celebration of Chang'e, the Moon goddess, this harvest festival is second only to Chun Jie, the Chinese Lunar New Year, in importance. In some parts of Asia it is a three-day holiday.
During the festival, lanterns of all sizes, shapes, and colours -- which symbolize beacons that light people's path to prosperity and good fortune -- are carried and displayed. The Full Moon is thought to shine at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with the Autumn time of harvest.
Because Asia is such a vast region, variant traditions of the Mid-Autumn Full Moon festival, as well as daytime activities accompanying it, can be found in diverse areas. Many of them associate the viewing of the Full Moon with catching sight of it in a basin of still water or a cup of tea, through a gate or doorway, or through the branches of trees, bamboo, or grasses. Foods prepared for the celebration are generally round or spherical in form and white or golden in colour, to represent the rising Full Moon; regional favourites include cakes, dumplings, and Pomelo fruits.
- The Cantonese people of South Eastern China celebrate during the evening with Yue Bing or Moon Cakes, rich pastries filled with duck egg yolks, meat, sweet bean paste, or lotus-seed paste; after the evening meal, served under the light of multi-coloured lanterns, the cakes are shared among family members to reuniify them; Moon Cakes are so central to the Southern Chinese form of this holiday, that some people call it the Moon Cake Festival; small Moon Cakes may be made at home but larger Imperial Moon Cakes are made by specialty bakers and decorated with embossed images of the Moon goddess Chang'e, her sacred Cassia Cinnamon tree, or the Moon-Palace in which she dwells; Cassia wine or Ozamanthus flower wine may be shared to fortify family bonds, and the Full Moon is observed in each participant's cup of tea.
- In Hong Kong and Macau, the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival is a public holiday; among the neighborhood festivities are exhibitions of creative lantern-art, lantern parades at which the Moon Rabbit and happy children are often featured, game stalls, stage shows, and booths where fortune tellers read for clients by means of palmistry.
- In Taiwan the Mid-Autumn Festival is a public holiday; families and friends picnic outdoors to observe the rise of the Full Moon, while children make and wear spherical Moon hats of Pomelo rind so that Chang'e, the Moon goddess, will look down, notice that they are wearing her sacred fruit, and reward them them with good fortune.
- The Maonan people of South Central China gather to watch the Full Moon, share food at a family meal, and hold a customary celebration during which they tie a branch of bamboo near the table, hang a Pomelo fruit on it to represent the Full Moon, and stab it with three lit incense sticks to represent arrows; this is called "Shooting the Moon."
- The Tsagaan Mongol, White Mongol, Monguor, or Tu people of North Central China place a basin of clear water in the courtyard to reflect the Moon, and then hit the water with small tree branches; this ceremony is called "Beating the Moon."
- Koreans erect "Moon houses," large conical structures made of dry pine branches; celebrants then view the Moon through the branches; their name for the occasion is Chuseok ("Autumn Eve").
- The Bouyei people of Southern China and Northern Vietnam call the holiday "Worshipping the Moon Festival" and after praying to their ancestors and dining together, they carry rice cakes to the doorway to greet and venerate the Moon Grandmother.
- In Vietnam, Tết Trung Thu ("Mid-Autum Festival") is also known as the Children's Festival; floats and lanterns may represent small animals and toys in the form of animals, and children parade under the Full Moon with colourful lanterns of varied forms, singing special songs for the occasion.
- At the Japanese O-Tsukimi ("Moon Viewing") festival, families picnic together and drink sake under the Full Moon to celebrate the harvest; special foods include Tsukimi Dango rice dumpling balls that represent the Moon and freshly harvested Sweet Potatoes; offertory decorations include stalks of Suzuki or Japanese Pampas Grass.
Credits
This page is brought to you by the AIRR Tech Team:
- Author: cat yronwode
- Contributors: Papa Newt, nagasiva yronwode
- Images: Norgallery, Kaitlin, Kawing921, AsiaTrend, Kawing921; sourced and photo-edited by by Nagasiva Yronwode
