Celebrating the Moon Festival

An Asian Autumn Harvest Festival Joins Family, Thanks, and Food

By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, AAV Contributing Editor

The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie) or Moon Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar. It is a harvest festival, much like Thanksgiving, to celebrate a successful harvest. Chinese people go home to be with family and friends and to feast—especially on mooncakes—drink tea, compose poetry, and to look up at the moon, which is said to be at its biggest and brightest on this night of the year.

Similar holidays are also celebrated by the Japanese (Chushu no Meigetsu or Harvest Festival), Koreans (Chusok or Thanksgiving), and Vietnamese (Tet-Trung Thu or Children's Festival).

Mooncakes are the centerpiece of this festival, as much for eating as for giving to other people. They are round like the full moon and symbolize family unity. They are baked cakes, two to four inches in diameter, filled with red bean paste, lotus paste, date paste, dried fruits, or other sweet meats. The Cantonese style are the most commonly found in America. Bakeries in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other parts of Asia, however, are constantly inventing new varieties, including mooncakes with chocolate, cheese, ice cream, and even durian fillings.

There are many stories about the origin of mooncakes, but one of the most popular is the role they played in the overthrow of the Mongol rule of China during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Legend has it that statesman Liu Po-Wen baked messages of revolt and battle plans into mooncakes, which were then distributed to villagers and rebel forces, who all rose up at the appointed time on the night of the Moon Festival and successfully overthrew the much hated Mongol rulers (some also say that this is where the Asian American inventors of fortune cookies got the idea).

The moon is considered a symbol of yin, or female energy, and so, traditionally, offerings to the moon goddess are made by women in the family. Round fruits such as pomelos, apples, pomegrantes, honey peaches, sour betel nuts, and grapes, as well as 13 mooncakes piled up like a pagoda (to represent the 13 lunar months), and other feast foods are offered along with secret wishes. According to the Republic of China Government Information Office (1996):

The ceremony for worshipping the Lady of the Moon is a simple one. A table is set under the moonlight and arranged with red candles, an incense burner, mooncakes and seasonal fruit. Women host the ceremony while the family faces the moon in prayer. When the incense emits its last coil of smoke, the Goddess departs and the table may then be cleared. When the ceremony has thus been completed, everyone may help themselves to the mooncakes and other offered food.

The Moon Festival is also a time of lanterns, which again commemorate another legendary revolt led by Liu Po-Wen against the Mongols during which the residents of the city of Ch’u-chou all lit lanterns and beat on drums. This made the rebel army appear much bigger than it actually was, thus scaring off the Mongol occupiers.

Traditionally, children carry colorful, animal-shaped paper lanterns to light the way for adults to pay their respects to the moon. Petaling Street website in Malaysia writes:

The tradition is very much alive today. A huge variety of lanterns can be found in every shape and material imaginable including battery operated ones. Dogs, cats, airplanes, yachts, speedboats, pictures of gods, dragons, phoenix and assorted fish lanterns are sold at very reasonable prices at the emporium, department stores, grocery outlets and in day/night/street markets…Some community centres, Chinese associations and resident committees will organise lantern parades or stage displays of spectacular and elaborate lanterns made by professionals and features various historic themes. Other attractions such as lantern-making contests prior to the festive day are usually run.

The Moon Festival is also a romantic day for lovers and poets. The roundness of the moon symbolizes togetherness. The regular cycles of the moon (according to the lunar calendar) symbolize constancy. It is a special day for lovers to tryst and swear their mutual love under the full moon. Separated lovers pray for reunion. Unmarried women pray for good husbands. Poets look to the full moon for inspiration to compose poetry about family, home, and love. One of the many legends surrounding the Moon Lady or Moon goddess, Chang Er, says that this is the only day she can be reunited with her husband, the Heavenly Archer Hou Yi, who lives on the sun.

There are many different variations of the story about the Moon Lady or Moon goddess, Chang Er, and how she came to live on the moon. After reading over a dozen different versions, all emphasizing different themes and giving different motivations for her actions, here is one telling of the story that is suitable for young children. (Other versions include themes of resentment, marital discord, infidelity, assassination, "too much curiosity," divine punishment, etc. which I could not really tell my children’s three and four year old classes at school. This version is written very simply and intended for very young children).

A Story of the Moon Lady

 A long, long time ago, there was a beautiful lady named Chang Er who was married to the heavenly archer Hou Yi...