It's another festival time! Because they have so many different cultures here - they celebrate them all! It seems like it is time to celebrate one thing or another every week or two. I'll try to sort out and explain the different stories and legends that go with this one.This is a Chinese festival in origin. It's called by several different names and celebrates a couple of things, but they all seem to overlap. One name is the Lantern Festival. Another is the Moon or Mooncake Festival and, lastly, the Mid-Autumn Festival. What it's called just depends on what area of town you are in, who you are talking to and what part of China you are talking about. But they are all tied together through these traditions and legends. All of China celebrates mostly the same festivals and holidays, but because it is such a vast country, things tend to differ from one part of that country to another. Basically it's all the same celebration with regional traditions and explanations handed down over centuries.
These festivals are going on all over town. These pictures were taken down at the Clarke Quay area. It is a hugely popular area in one part of downtown where a river inlet comes into town from the sea. To me, it seems like the Riverwalk area in San Antonio, except it's larger and the river in this area is wider. Boats up and down the river, shops and restaurants lining each side, people strolling up and down the sidewalks along the river front. They set up a lot of festivals and celebrations along here. One night this coming week, we are headed across town to the Chinese Gardens, a long green area along a large lake. The lanterns there are supposed to be beautiful and plentiful.
Here's some of the info I have found:
The date of Mid-autumn Festival also known as Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th moon day of 8th Chinese lunar month (Chicken month). The new moon day is the first day of a Chinese Lunar Month. The first day of 8th lunar month is 11th September 2007, the Moon Festival is on 25 September 2007. The time period always includes the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall.
This is a day to worship the moon god. According to folk legend, this day is also the birthday of the earth god (T'u-ti Kung). This festival signals that the year's hard work in the fields will soon come to an end, with only the harvest left to attend to. People use this opportunity to express their gratitude to heaven (represented by the moon) and earth (symbolized by the earth god) for the blessings they have enjoyed over the past year.The Chinese believe in praying to the moon god for protection, family unity, and good fortune. The round "moon cakes" eaten on this festival are symbolic of family unity and closeness. Pomelos are also eaten on this day. The Chinese associate these with protection and in eating them are expressing the hope that the moon god will give them protection. This is also known as a time for lovers to tryst and pray for togetherness, symbolized by the roundness of the moon. This is a lantern depicting the moon god and the lovers that are hoping he will bless them.
Moon cakes - these are "cakes" range from small to large, one layer, with a filling inside. The cakes themselves are extremely dense, very heavy. Cake in our culture generally indicates something sweet - these are most definitely not. They have lotus paste and/or sesame paste for their basis, which are not sweet in the least. The small amount of filling might sometimes be a little sweeter, but not much. The best I can describe it to you is it's like old fruitcake without the fruit. I was given some with about 7 people watching my reaction. Of course, I was shocked because i was expecting something sweet like the word suggests to me. I didn't show my distaste, but did request a glass of water as soon as it was polite enough to do so. These cakes are very popular here. Like King cakes for Mardi Gras - they are only available during this festival. Actually , as with a King cake - you can special order one at other times, but not everywhere will make one on demand. Best advice here is to steer clear of mooncakes.
Here is one of the legend that goes with them: Once, according to Chinese legend, mooncakes helped bring about a revolution. The time was the Yuan dynasty (AD 1280-1368), established by the invading Mongolians from the north. The Mongolians subjugated the Han Chinese. According to one Chinese folk tale, a Han Chinese rebel leader named Liu Fu Tong devised a scheme to arouse the Han Chinese to rise up against the ruling Mongols to end the oppressive Yuan dynasty. He sought permission from Mongolian leaders to give gifts to friends as a symbolic gesture to honor the longevity of the Mongolian emperor. These gifts were round mooncakes. Inside, Liu had his followers place pieces of paper with the date the Han Chinese were to strike out in rebellion -- on the fifteenth night of the eighth month. Thus Liu got word to his people, who when they cut open the mooncakes found the revolutionary message and set out to overthrow the Mongols, thus ending the Yuan dynasty. The dates for this legend tie in with the dates for the mid-autumn stuff.
The Lantern Festival is a festival known to be for families and children. Lantern festivals traditionally date back to 230 B.C., when Chinese began to decorate and display lanterns on streets to pray for peace and to celebrate the harvest. Such festivals can range from a few lantern-covered streets to entire cities strung with lanterns. Chinese lanterns are also specialities for this festival. The most common are the paper folding type. However, there are many varieties of lanterns made of different shapes and materials. You will see the smaller ones that are lit from inside with a candle and children carry them around extended on a stick. Many times people will attach a wish or a hope to the lantern hoping that the moon god will grant these. The lanterns range from the very small to huge things lit from within that top out at over 20 feet high. On this family occasion, parents allow children to stay up late, and take them to high vantage points to light their lanterns and watch the moon rise before eating their moon cakes. While walking along the quay where these lanterns were, you could see parents pointing out the moon to the little ones and the little ones with their stick holding their lantern. It was very sweet to watch. All the pictures you see here are of the lanterns on display. They look to me a lot like giant balloons. But they are not. Many are made with paper and coated with wax in case it rains. Others are made from a stiff plastic and can stand alone.
The moon has long been an object of curiosity and worship in many Asian cultures. To the most ancient ancestors of the Chinese, the sun and the moon were considered the "chief objects of veneration. In ancient Asian mythology, there is a strong relationship between the moon and water. The moon is said to regulate reservoirs and supplies of water. There is a suggestion that the moon produces fertility and freshness in the soil. The moon's role in bountiful harvests is widely recognized during autumns around the world. This lantern depicts the sea and our famed "pink dolphins".In Chinese celestial cosmology
, the moon represents the female principle, or yin. During ancient autumn Moon Festivals, women took center stage because the moon is considered feminine. Only women took part in Moon Festival rituals on the night of the full moon. Altars would be set up in households, and when the full moon appeared, women would make offerings of incense, candles, fruit, flowers, and mooncakes.
The legend of the Moon Goddess, Chang O (Chang-E in other translation), reflects the feminine principle of yin, as opposed to the masculine principle of yang, which is symbolized by the sun.
The legend of the moon goddess is that she was a beautiful woman held prisoner by a king who wanted no one else to view her beauty. She was very unhappy and prayed to the moon god to help her. Miraclously, one night right in front of the king's eyes, she floated up to the moon and lives there shining the moon's glow on things to highlight their beauty because of her beauty. Girls are taught from an early age to pray first to the moon goddess that they will be beautiful, then next they pray to her to find them an attractive mate and lastly, that they may have beautiful children. This is the Moon Goddess depicted on top of this lantern.
Absolutely nothing Chinese would be true or complete without the dragon or dragons to guard and protect everything. They and the color red are predominate in this culture, though the color red also extends into and plays a huge role in Indian culture also.So there you have it! And I always thought it was only the man in the moon up there! You know they say - behind every good man is a woman - so true in all legends and cultures!
Love to you Shari and Doug!
Abby - I bought you some lanterns!
Kelly - hope you have enjoyed reading this!
Doreen - quite the adventure, huh?
Patsy - won't be long now!
Lynn - can't wait
Heather - still the future, still there
