Typically, family favorites are served, with the only universally consumed fare being mooncakes - called yuebing ( 月饼) in Chinese. In fact, the most important act a family can perform during Mid-Autumn Festival may be eating together.Ĭommon snacks include roasted chestnuts, boiled peanuts and dishes made with corn - all of which signify a bountiful harvest season. Families gather, as on all Chinese festival days, and eat. Observance does not necessitate a ritual trip to a temple or a graveyard. In many senses, Mid-Autumn Festival is much less formal than other holidays. He then looks up at the moon before resting his head in his hands and thinking of home. However, the general outline of A Sentimental Night is that of a man, far from his family, who looks down at the moonlight shining on the foot of his bed and imagines it to be frost. Cadence, rhyme, implied movement and emotion can all easily be lost. Translating ancient Chinese poetry into another language is a difficult endeavor even for scholars. This is perhaps best epitomized by the verse A Sentimental Night ( 静夜思), written 1,300 years ago by one of China's greatest poets, and noted drinker, Li Bai ( 李白):
Those who could not return to their ancestral villages sought solace in the fact that if they looked to the moon, they at least knew their distant loved ones were doing the same.ĭown through the generations, because so many people invariably did not have chances to visit their relatives, Mid-Autumn Festival became tinged with feelings of longing and nostalgia. Unlike many other Chinese holidays, where people go to great lengths to venerate and even placate the dead, Mid-Autumn Festival is primarily concerned with the living.Ī statue of poet Li Bai, toasting the moon with wineĪs Mid-Autumn Festival approached, separated family members would, if at all possible, make their way home to be with their relatives, enjoy communal meals and spend time together gazing at the moon. Its roundness represents the cyclical nature of life and agricultural growing seasons, as well as concepts of family unity, togetherness and inclusion. The full moon plays a major part in all aspects of Mid-Autumn Festival. Traditionally during Mid-Autumn Festival, people would make offerings of food and drink to Chang'e, often from outdoor alters open to the night sky. In Daoism, the Goddess of the Moon is named Chang'e ( 嫦娥), an immortal who lives on the moon accompanied by her companion, the potion-brewing Jade Rabbit. Because ancient China's calendar was a lunar one, many of the customs surrounding Mid-Autumn Festival revolve around the moon. Regardless of its provenance, the festival is associated with the end of summer, the beginning of fall, and the final harvest of the year. The term 'mid-autumn' made its first appearance in the Chinese literary canon during the the Western Zhou Dynasty, finding its way into a compendium of then-current court rituals. Some scholars believe the tradition dates back to the Shang Dynasty three millennia ago. These are some flavors you might encounter:Ĥ.There is no hard and fast evidence of when people in China began celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival.
They aren’t very traditional but young people like to share the new flavors with their friends and colleagues. You can even find mooncake gift tins in some Asian Starbucks and the new flavors are incredible! They might include caramel and coffee, mint chocolate, brown sugar boba, and so many more depending on which country’s Starbucks you visit. Well-known celebrities and content creators are sharing their favorite mooncake flavors and even how to make a no-bake version called “snowskin” mooncakes. They are gaining popularity in the West thanks to social media.
Mooncakes are usually sliced into pieces that equal the number of individuals in the family is a representation of a family reunion.
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