Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
By Sharon Schweitzer
What has three names and celebrates the moon? Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhongqiu Jie (中秋节) in Chinese, is also called the Mooncake Festival or the Moon Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar — or on September 17th this year.
Since China follows the ancient lunar calendar — and the seventh, eighth and ninth lunar months are classified as autumn. The festival, marking the end of the autumn harvest, occurs during the middle of autumn when the moon is at its fullest.
Moon worship has been an integral part of Chinese culture for centuries. It was a royal sacrificial ceremony associated with moon worshiping and agricultural activities. People worshiped the moon to give thanks for the harvest and to encourage the “harvest-giving light” to return in the coming year. The changes in the lunar phases provided guidance for the farming schedule; therefore, people believed that worshiping the moon could bring a good harvest. Families gather for celebrations, to eat dinners, worship the moon, lighting paper lanterns, eating moon cakes, etc. as a way to thank the moon for a good harvest.
As the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn is an official public holiday. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a reunion time for families, a little like Thanksgiving. In the Chinese mainland, it is considered a three-day public holiday.
It is also celebrated by many other countries, such as America (mainly in the Asian American community), Singapore, and Malaysia. The date is the same as in China, but there is no public holiday.
In Hong Kong and Macau, the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival is a public holiday rather than the festival date itself (unless that date falls on a Sunday, then Monday is also a holiday), because many celebration events are held at night. In Singapore and Malaysia, the Mooncake Festival is not a public holiday officially.
In Hong Kong, the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance is one of the most spectacular traditions during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Legend has it that in the 1880s, the villagers in Tai Hang successfully chased off plague and evil spirits by parading the village with a straw dragon covered with incense. To commemorate the victory, the villagers would perform a fire dragon dance through the alleys and streets of Tai Hang every year since. The Tai Hang dragon is a massive structure covered in thousands of incense sticks burning on its body. It’s made out of hemp rope, pearl straw, and ratton and requires hundreds of performers to prop it up.
The most famous food during the Mid-Autumn Festival is the mooncake. Mooncakes are round cakes that are usually about the size of hockey pucks, although their size, flavor and style can differ depending on what part of China you are in.
There are almost too many flavors of mooncakes to try during the short-lived Mid-Autumn Festival. Ranging from salty and savory meat filled mooncakes to sweet nut and fruit filled mooncakes, you are bound to find a flavor that suits your pallet.
Depending on where you are, pumpkins, crabs, and other seasonal foods of the harvest are also eaten at this time, while tea, baskets of fruit, and osmanthus wine are shared.
Photo by https://www.nohandsbutours.com/
Sharon Schweitzer JD, is a diversity and inclusion consultant, cross-cultural trainer, etiquette expert, and the founder of Access to Culture. In addition to her accreditation in intercultural management from the HOFSTEDE Centre, she is an attorney and mediator. Sharon served as a Chinese Ceremonial Dining Etiquette Specialist in the documentary series Confucius was a Foodie, on Nat Geo People. Her Amazon #1 Best Selling book in International Business, Access to Asia: Your Multicultural Business Guide, won a coveted Kirkus Star, and was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books. She’s a winner of numerous awards, including the British Airways International Trade Award at the Greater Austin Business Awards.
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