Mid-Autumn Festival

Mooncake

According to the Chinese Lunar calendar, today is August 15^th, known as the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival or Moon Festival. It is a day that the farmers celebrate the fall harvest.

There is also a story behind this special celebration. During the Yuan Dynasty, China was ruled by Mongols. The rebel leader Chu Yuan-Chang and his followers rebelled against the Mongols on the night of the Moon Festival. The attack was successful, and Chu became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Mooncake with egg yolk

Oh, yes, what is mooncake? A traditional mooncake is a pastry with a thin crust and filling made of lotus seed paste, red bean paste, or mixed nuts. Some also have egg yolks. In modern days, fillings have ingredients such as chocolate, ice cream, jelly, or green tea.

Another thing we do during the Moon Festival is to play with lit lanterns. Some families hang up lanterns in their homes. I recall the times when I as a little boy held a lit lantern and walked around a park. It was fun to light up the paths with the lantern as I walked.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 12th, 2011 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Short Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.