Mid-autumn Festival and Moon Cakes free essay sample

The Mid-Autumn Festival also known as the Moon Festival or Moon cake Festival. The festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. When was mid-autumn festival first appeared? A description of the festival first appeared in Rites of Zhou, a written collection of rituals of the Western Zhou Dynasty from 3,000 years ago. The celebration became popular during the early Tang Dynasty. The history and origins of mid-autumn festival The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon (called xi yue in Chinese) can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 B. C. -1066 B. C. ). In the Zhou Dynasty(1066 B. C. -221 B. C. ), people hold ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A. D. ) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A. D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. The story of mid-autumn festival Hou Yi was a tyrannical ruler who won the elixir of life by shooting 9 suns out of the sky with his bow. Even though he did this to save lots of people, but his wife Chang E knowing that the peoples lives would remain miserable for forever if Hou Yi’s life everlasting. So she drank the potion. The fluids made her lighter and lighter, and then she floated up into the moon. In memory of Chang E, people later set the date of the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month as Mid-Autumn Festival. How do we celebrate mid-autumn festival? Eating moon cakes. Plan a family reunion dinner or barbecue on the evening of the full moon. Attend a mid-autumn festival in your community or go to an area where you will have a good view of the moon. Carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns. Fire Dragon Dances. Admire the full moon and think of relatives who may be at a distance Why do we celebrated mid-autumn festival? It has a long history in China. This day was considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. So to appreciate the moon. And the moon also know as reunion. Moon cake Moon cakes are traditionally Chinese pastries generally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important festivals in Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese New Year). The festival typically involves family getting together to share moon cakes while watching the moon. Typical Chinese moon cakes are round in shape, and measure around 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter and 4-5 cm (2 inches) in thickness. Most moon cakes consist of a thin tender skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling. Moon cakes are usually eaten in small wedges shared by family members. They are generally served with Chinese tea, and very rarely, moon cakes are served steamed or fried. For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert.