The Mid-Autumn Festival,a Time ofFamily Reurlions and Eating Mooncakes
2 min readThe Mid-Autumn Festival,also known as the Moon Festival or Zhongqiu Festival ,is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese andVietnamese people,dating back over 3,000 years to moonworship in China’s Shang Dynasty.It was first called ZhongqiuJie in the Zhou Dynasty.In Malaysia,Singapore,and thePhilippines,it is also sometimes referred to as the LanternFestival or Mooncake Festival.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of theeighth month in Chinese lunar calendar,which is in September orearly October in the Gregorian calendar.It is a date that parallelsthe autumnal equinox of the solar calendar,when the moon is atits fullest and roundest.The traditional food of this festival is themooncake,of which there are many different varieties.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the few most importantholidays in the Chinese calendar,the others being Chinese New Year and Winter Solstice,andis a legal holiday in several countries.Farmers celebrate the end of the fall harvesting season onthis date.Traditionally on this day,Chinese family members and friends will gather to admirethe bright mid-autumn harvest moon,and eat mooncakes and pomelos under the moon together.Accompanying the celebration,there are additional cultural or regional customs,such as:
Carrying brightly lit lanterns,lighting lanterns on towers,floating sky lanterns.
Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang’e .
Erect the Mid-Autumn Festival.(shuzhongqiu,zhongqiu,in China,shu and shu are homophones)It is not about planting trees but hanging lanterns on the bamboo pole and putting them on a hignpoint,such as roofs,trees,terraces,etc.It is a custom in Guangzhou,Hong Kong,etc.Collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them evenly among family members.
Fire Dragon Dances,
Shops selling mooncakes before the festival often display pictures of Chang’e floating tothe moon.
