Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Hello!

中秋節 in traditional Chinese.

ABA English would like to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with you!

Remember the news article on Hong Kong’s recycled moon? Today hundreds of thousands will gather around it t to celebrate this festival with friends and family.

This harvest festival is very popular in China and Vietnam, but there are signs of it all over Asia and wherever large communities of Asian people live; such as Chinatown in New York.

It has been celebrated since the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th to 10th century BCE). According to research, it is believed that it originally began with worshiping Mountain Gods after the harvest was completed. For the Vietnamese, in its most ancient form, the evening commemorated the dragon who brought rain for the crops. They would observe the moon to divine the future of the people and harvests.

The festival celebrates three fundamental concepts which are closely tied to one another:

• Gathering – such as family and friends coming together, or harvesting crops
• Thanksgiving – to give thanks for the harvest, or for harmonious unions
• Praying – (asking for conceptual or material satisfaction), such as for babies, a spouse, beauty, longevity, or for a good future

The festival was a time to enjoy the successful reaping of rice and wheat with food offerings made in honor of the moon. Today, it is still an occasion for outdoor reunions among friends and relatives to eat mooncakes and watch the moon, a symbol of harmony and unity. It is also popular to burn incense in reverence to deities and watch dragon and lion dances and performances.

A notable part of celebrating the holiday is the carrying of brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, or floating sky lanterns

Making and sharing mooncakes is  also one of the hallmark traditions of this festival. In Chinese culture, a round shape symbolizes completeness and unity. Thus, the sharing of round mooncakes among family members signify the completeness and unity of families.

Mooncakes are round pastries with a rich thick filling usually made from red bean or lotus seed paste surrounded by a thin crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.

Vocabulary

Harvest – the season when crops are gathered from the fields or the activity of gathering crops.

Worshiping – to honor or respect (someone or something) as a god.

Commemorated – to exist or be done in order to remind people of (an important event or person from the past).

Crops – a plant or plant product that is grown by farmers.

Reaping – to cut and collect (a plant, crop, etc.) from a field.

Reverence – honor or respect that is felt for or shown to (someone or something).

Deities – a god or goddess.

Notable – unusual and worth noticing.

Hallmark – a quality, ability, etc., that is typical of a particular person or thing.

Pastries – dough that is used to make pies and other baked goods.

Rich – having a lot of money and possessions.

Filling – causing you to feel full.

Paste – a soft, wet mixture of usually a powder and a liquid.

Crust – the outside part of a pie.