Festivals

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival 2023: Date, History, Facts about Mooncakes

The Chinese have been celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival since the 10th century B.C., and it has grown in popularity since the early Tang Dynasty.

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is celebrated annually on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, which falls between mid-September and early October this year, on September 29. With the immigration of Chinese people, celebrations of this festival spread throughout the world. Currently, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is commemorated with varying customs in numerous Asian nations.

The background of Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

The Chinese have been celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival since the 10th century B.C., and it has grown in popularity since the early Tang Dynasty.

There are numerous legends associated with this festival. In a popular rendition, Chang’e, the wife of the archer Hou Yi, is featured. According to legend, Hou Yi fired down nine of the ten suns that were overheating the earth and was rewarded by the Goddess of the Heavens with a special elixir for saving our planet. This elixir might allow Hou Yi to ascend to paradise and become a god. However, a malicious individual had his eye on this elixir and visited Hou Yi’s residence when he was absent. Chang’e, in an effort to protect the elixir from the evil man, consumed it herself and flew to the moon, accompanied by a rabbit. Since then, the devastated Hou Yi has placed his wife’s favorite dish on the table on the day of the full moon in the hope that she will return.

Another legend alters this story’s conclusion by having Hou Yi move to the sun after his wife’s relocation and only visit her once a year, on this day. The moon is therefore at its fullest.

5 Interesting Facts About Mooncakes

Mooncakes became a custom for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 A.D.).

As their name suggests, these desserts are always circular and round, representing the moon, regardless of their filling.

The fillings for mooncakes have been adapted to various tastes, such as the ‘halal kaya’ mooncakes that are permissible for consumption by Muslims in Malaysia.

Depending on the type of filling, mooncakes become exorbitantly priced during the festival; local administrators have begun exchanging them as opulent gifts.

People in the Yuan dynasty who were protesting the government’s inhumane treatment used mooncakes to communicate with one another.

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