Mid-Autumn Festival . . . similar to Western Thanksgiving without the thanks or the giving . . .

  So . . . Chinese Festivals, if you are the typical Mid-West American or just American and I asked you to name a Chinese Festival you could probably name only one (if that and not in Chinese) . . . two if you had a Chinese friend. I am not meaning this to be negative about Americans at all, but in all honesty those in the United States tend to not know that much about China's holidays unless they meet someone who was Chinese, lived near China Town or paid really close attention to the small amount they were taught in high school. We just do not know that much since we do not encounter it very often or at all. If you do know all about Chinese Festivals especially 中秋节 and are upset about me clumping you in with a generalization, then you do not need to read this post, I am sorry for offending you, and congratulations for being so knowledgable! If the majority of you are like me, you might have heard 中秋节 (in English it is Mid-Autumn Festival) before but you have no idea what it is or even to which country it belongs if we were not talking about China. So, I will share with you my newly gained knowledge about this Festival.
  If you live in America think Thanksgiving, that is the easiest way to explain it. Now, I do know that Thanksgiving is an American things that happened because people came to a new land and it has Christian meaning in that they were thanking God for his blessings, but I want you to forget that part (this does not happen in China). So what is left when you take those elements away? You get spending time with family, enjoying each others company, while eating certain traditional foods. This part is Mid-Autumn Festival, you just need to swap the turkey for mooncakes. Every year on 15th day of the 8th month in the Lunar Calendar (which is based on the cycles of the lunar phases as apposed to the Gregorian calendar (that 'all' countries use), a solar calendar based on the revolutions of the Earth around the sun) the Festival is celebrated.
  This year, of 2015, it was on September 26-27th. Which was just a regular weekend, but in China since they still 'go' to school on Saturday was a day off of school, which made them and me rather excited. One of the reasons for the lunar calendar date is that for the festival the moon has to be full. Thus, a tradition on this festival is to gaze at or appreciate the moon.

(full moon for your enjoyment)

So, just how Thanksgiving is more of a quite family get together celebration in America, unless your the Macy's department store and want to have a parade, so is Mid-Autumn Festival in China. Every family can celebrate it a little differently just like we do Thanksgiving where some families have the traditional football game in the yard while others attend a Thanksgiving church service and eat ham instead of turkey. Here they choose not to eat mooncakes. Now you know on a very general level what the holiday is, which is all you really need to know however, for those who want to know more I will continue!

Mooncakes

  So you may ask 'what is this mooncake that you talk about?' Well, it is round symbolizing the moon and wholeness. Which connects to the idea of the family being together; once again being complete. Below are some mooncakes that I bought. It is a dense bread on the outside with a filling on the inside. The filling can be anything from spicy meats to sweet fruits. As you can see they have something written on the tops in red (which is a lucky color in China). I do not know enough Chinese to tell you what it means. Each has different writing so use your imagination to guess what it says, which is what I do most of the time . . . 

 

  The mooncakes above are baked and have a homemade taste to them, albeit a very, very dry taste. You can also get ones that are completely processed and I am sure are more unhealthy, like the one I had below. 

  When I went into stores the amounts, different packaging, types of mooncakes, so many choices it was akin to Easter candy in the United States. I should have gone out on Monday and looked for sales . . . oh well. Below are some pictures that I took of the mooncakes. The first one is of the fancy boxes that you would give people as gifts. The second and third are of the homemade looking ones were you picked what kinds you want and the store workers put them in a bag for you, which is what I did. I just pointed and hoped it wasn't spicy. The mooncakes that I bought were 8元 which is  $1.34 each. The last picture is of the stacks of extra mooncakes that were sitting out for replacements when the ones in the displays ran out. When I was buying mine they were selling like hot cakes.

  Now these last mooncakes were given to me by the school right before the holiday. They are special mooncakes in that they are ice cream mooncakes. That is right!! They have ice cream in the center and are covered by chocolate. They are delicious and officially my favorite type of mooncake.

The Legends and not Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival

  There is a story behind everything we celebrate, so it would not come as a surprise that their is one for Mid-Autumn Festival as well. The one story that I have hear the most (aka read on the internet) is this:

  Once, long ago there were ten suns that shined their light and heat onto the world. One year there was a terrible plight for humanity for they all rose at once scorching the earth making it hard to survive. However, as with all good stories there was a hero names Hou Yi who possessed great archery skills. To save humanity he used his great skills to shoot nine of the ten suns out of the heavens leaving only one to provide its light.* Am immortal in the heavens upon seeing Hou Yi's great feat gave him a elixir of immortality which would take him up to heaven to live forever with the immortals. Hou Yi however, did not want to leave the world yet for he was married to his one love and could not bear being immortal without her. He returned to his home and gave the elixir to his wife, Chang’e, to keep. It was not to end there for Peng Meng, one of Hou Yi's apprentices, knew of his immortal elixir and desire to take it for his own. One day when Hou Yi left he broke into the house and demanded that Chang'e give him the elixir.  Not wanting such a an evil man to take the elixir that her husband trusted into her keeping and ascend to the heavens she drank it herself. Instantly, she was taken up the heaven to be immortal. Since she still loved her husband so greatly she choose the moon for her resting place in heaven for it was the nearest place to earth. Upon arriving home her husband was greatly grieved that he shouted her name to the sky, hearing the voice of her love Chang'e showed herself from the moon. Seeing his wife he gathered her favorite fruits and cakes and displayed them in the yard as sacrifices to his love. Those around, hearing of Chang'e's fate felt sympathetic at the her being separated from her husband that they to gave sacrifices. Since she was now immortal they also sacrificed and prayed to her for peace and good luck. 

* alternated ending with a lot less true love: At this point the hero, Hou Yi, was made king by the grateful people, however his good qualities fade away and he become a conceited and tyrannical ruler. Wanting to keep his power and live forever he asked an immortal Xi Wangmu, Queen Mother of the West, for an elixir that would make him immortal. Since he had preformed such a great feat of destroying the suns she gave him what he asked. Chang'e, the wife of Hou Yi, did not want his cruel reign to last forever and on the 15th day of the 8th month she stole and drank the potion to keep it forever out of his hands. When Hou Yi discovered what his wife had done he shot arrows at her. To escape she fled to the moon where she has resided ever since as the moon spirit. The reign of Hou Yi did not last long for he was filled with great anger and so he died. The people, saved from the one they made king, celebrate Chang'e by giving her sacrifices on the 15th day of the 8th month. The end (of both stories).

  Take your pick on the ending you prefer (I personally like the love story but the other one has a pretty good plot line). There is one more story that I would like to tell you that took place less than one thousand years ago that has been recorded in the history books for us and I would say is as true as history one thousands years ago can be. 

  In the later part of the Yuan Dynasty circa 1271-1368 AD, the government had reached a point of cruelty that the people could no longer stand. They wanted to rise in revolt. Their leader Zhu Yuanzhang who (surprise, surprise), was the founder of the next dynasty known as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) was able to unit the different resistance forces in a combined front against the government. However, their efforts to make everyone across the empire aware of a combine date to start the revolt was hindered by the Yuan governments carefully monitoring of communication. It appeared like the revolt would not success for if everyone did not rise at once the government could stop the rebellion. It was then that counselor Liu Bowen brought forth a great idea. They started spreading a rumor too the people that a disease was going to come in the winter that would only be stopped if one ate mooncakes. The people upon hearing this began to buy mooncakes to protect themselves from such a terrible fate. However, the mooncakes were not just any ordinary mooncakes, they had a hidden message within. Liu Bowen idea was to hide a note in each mooncake that read, "uprise on the night of August 15th." Disguised in this way Zhu Yuanzhang was able to get his message out to all the resistance and on August 15th the rebellion was a success. Zhu was so happy that he then gave all of his subjects moon cakes on the following Mid-Autumn Festival and since then the custom has continued as part of the festival. The end . . . or the being of the Ming Dynasty!