| The Mid-Autumn Festival |
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| Wednesday, 10 September 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Apart from the Chinese New Year, the biggest event on the Chinese calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival, or the 15th day of the eighth moon of the lunar calendar. This year it falls on Sunday 14th September, 2008. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a celebration of family reunion, the harvest moon and the abundance of the summer harvest. Of course, the star of the festivities is the moon cake, an edible representation of the moon. The festival isn’t complete without beautiful tins of moon cakes at home in the fridge and tins of moon cakes given as gifts to family, friends and businesses to symbolize best wishes for family reunion. Moon cakes The moon cake is certainly a talking point for your non-Chinese friends. I’m sure you’ve had to explain away what they are and what they taste like. Usually, the word “cake” conjures up sponge cake, icing and whipped cream to a Western palate. I describe them as having the consistency and density of Christmas cake. The Cantonese style cakes, 10 cm in diameter and 4-5 cm thick, made with lotus seed paste and one or four salted egg yolks in the centre, and presented in sets of four individually wrapped cakes nestled in decorated tins are the most familiar to me. I caution people new to moon cakes to start off with a quarter wedge accompanied by Chinese tea. One small piece is packed with calories and not so great if you’re watching your cholesterol, but it tastes so good that you tend to have a second piece. Well it is only once a year! When non-Chinese friends ask about making moon cakes and recipes, I say forget about it - it’s a labour intensive and complicated process, and nobody makes them these days. They’re imported from Hong Kong or China and we buy them from the Chinese supermarkets. At first, friends new to moon cakes shy away from the egg yolks and I have to encourage them to try it because that’s the best bit. Although I understand their reticence as when I was young I didn’t like the yolk. For me, it was an acquired taste and now it’s the bit I want the most, and far better to have four yolks in your cake representing the four phases of the moon. Like Oliver Twist, I say “More egg, please!” Mid Autumn Festival Stories There are many stories of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The one that appeals to my romantic and tragic sensibilities is the story of Houyi and Chang’e or Hou Yi and Chang-O depending on pronunciation. http://www.chinatown.com.au/eng/article.asp?masterid=155&articleid=736 By the way, why is it in most Chinese movies and soap operas the lovers never seem to have a happy ending? It’s rarely “And they lived happily ever after.” Instead, a tragic marriage, suicide, travelling to the ends of the earth to find your loved one to declare your love only to meet some tragic ending, getting together at the end only for one or both to die and betrayal by a third party only to find it to be a lie many years later when your loved one is married to another, but has secretly kept you in their heart all these long years. Legend says there were once ten suns in the sky. The suns caused the earth surface to burn and plants to wither. Houyi was a famous archer who was commanded by the Emperor to shoot down all but one of the suns. He did and was rewarded by a pill, the elixir of life. Houyi didn’t swallow it straight away and hid it. Houyi’s wife Chang’e, a beautiful and inquisitive woman, found the pill and swallowed it. Immediately, Chang’e started to fly and, just at that moment, Houyi came home and realized what had happened. Chang’e flew out of the window and Houyi gave chase half way across the heavens, but had to return to earth because of the force of the wind. Chang’e reached the moon and there she resides. Houyi built himself a palace in the sun and once a year, on the 15th day of the full moon, he visits his wife. That’s why the moon is full and beautiful on that night. A Family Focus When I was young and growing up in the UK, the Mid-Autumn Festival was just about moon cakes and I was oblivious to the significance of the festivities for family reunion, but the meaning is not lost on me now as we live in the United States and far from close family in England. The tradition of gazing at the beauty of the harvest moon and thinking of family who can’t be with you takes on a new poignancy. The moon seems magical when it’s so bright and big during the festival and you can wish upon it as people do in Western cultures. If you are near family, enjoy their company for the Mid-Autumn Festival and if not, I understand as I share your situation. We’ve just moved south to Nashville, Tennessee after living in Upstate New York for eight years. In our new home of two months, there are only 2.38 percent of Asians in the area’s population of which 0.35 percent are Chinese according to the 2000 Census. There isn’t a Chinatown, so without any chance of my young children seeing bright lanterns of all shapes and sizes lit up in Chinatown, I’ll tell them the story of how the Lantern Festival came to be. Let’s see how creative I can be and make some paper lanterns with them. One legend suggests that the Jade Emperor was very angry with a town for killing his favourite goose and he was intent on raining down a firestorm to destroy the town. A kind fairy warned the residents to light lanterns on the day of retribution. When the Emperor looked down on the town, it already seemed to be on fire and he was satisfied that his goose had been avenged. Since that day, lanterns are lit in celebration and remembrance of being saved. We’ll pay respects to our ancestors by lighting incense and leaving out offerings of fruit (oranges, pomelos, apples and Asian pears) – the bounty of the harvest – at home. We’ll cook a nice meal with some traditional red foods for luck, such as lobster, salmon, red apples, roasted peanuts and chestnuts. Next year, when we’ve made friends with other families, we’ll invite them to dinner and introduce them to the delights of moon cakes. I’ve bought my moon cakes already and, thank goodness, we have a few Asian grocery stores in town, otherwise, we’d have to drive at least 5 hours south to Atlanta for the nearest big Asian community. I wish all good things to my loved ones near and far and to my friends old and new, and to all readers of DimSum.co.uk. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! SUSAN S. CHEUNG Please share your Mid-Autumn Festival stories below or ask questions about the festivities. You can contact Susan directly at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .
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