Mid-Autumn festival

Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional East Asian festival celebrated by many communities. The festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid September to early October of the Gregorian calendar.

History

The Mid-Autumn Festival has a history dating back over 3,000 years, to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty. It was first called "Mid-Autumn" in the Zhou Dynasty. In many parts of East Asia, there's a tradition of moon worship that coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Customs and Traditions

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, families gather together to appreciate the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat mooncakes and pomelo together. Other traditional activities include carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns, burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e, the moon goddess, and more.

Mooncakes

Mooncake is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The cakes are usually filled with lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste, or a variety of other fillings, and are often given as gifts to friends and family members.

Observance

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a public holiday in many East Asian communities. In Mainland China, it is a public holiday for the entire country. The festival is also observed by the ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese people.

See also

• Mooncake
• Lantern Festival
• Chinese calendar
• Chang'e