Mid Autumn Festival - Moon Festival

This Chinese Festival occurs on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. It is second only to Chinese New year in significance. The festival can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 – 1066 B.C.. In the Zhou Dynasty (1066 – 221 B.C.) ceremonies greeting winter and worshiping the moon were held. In the Tang dynasty (618 – 907 A.D.) the full moon was worshipped.

On the 15th day of the eighth month the moon is fullest and largest to the eye. In China which, in spite of urban development, is still mostly rural, the Moon Festival was considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetable and grain had been harvested by now and food was plentiful. It was a time to relax and celebrate with family members. As the festival takes place the Chinese people look at the moon with thoughts of relatives and friends far from home, wishing them well. Words of the great Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai are often brought to mind: “I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon, and I drop my head to think of my old home.”

Moon Cakes
There is a story about the moon cake. During the Yuan dynasty (1280 – 1368 A.D.) China was ruled by the Mongols. Leaders from the former Sung dynasty (960 – 1280 A.D.) planned a secret rebellion. Knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, leaders ordered that special round cakes be made. Hidden into each cake was a message describing the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival the rebellion was successful and, to this day, moon cakes are eaten in commemoration.

Moon cakes for generations have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates. A cooked egg yoke can sometimes be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. Today there are hundreds of varities of moon cakes on sale a month before the Moon Festival.