Mid-Autumn Festival

On Monday, September 8th, in China everyone celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival. The holiday has its roots in ancient moon sacrificial ceremonies and can be traced as far back as to the Zhou Dynasty (1046 – 256 BCE). The ancient festival was more religious, focused on thanking the moon for the harvest, and practiced primarily by the royal class on the Autumn Equinox. By the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 CE) the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated by all classes and moved to be on the closest full moon day to the Autumnal Equinox.

It is customary to give friends and family mooncakes for the festival. Sharing a mooncake symbolizes family reunion and unity. Mooncakes are typically round pastries with dense fillings made from red bean or lotus seed paste, sometimes with duck egg yolk in the middle. The mooncakes are also decorated with symbols of the moon legends – the Moon maiden Chang’e or the Jade Rabbit – as well as Chinese characters for “longevity” or “harmony”. Mooncakes are also famous for their involvement in smuggling secret messages to help overthrow the Mongol rule at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1280 – 1368 CE).

In the present day the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated with a day off from work to enjoy mooncakes, lanterns and spending time with friends and family. Mooncakes are also given between businesses and their clients. The Mid-Autumn Festival is not only celebrated in China, but in Vietnam, Tawaiin and US cities with large Chinese populations.