The Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节/中秋節 (zhōngqiūjié) is a traditional chinese festival. It is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox (usually occurring sometime between the second week of September and the second week of October).

This festival is also can be called “月夕” (yuè xī) because the moon looks biger and brighter than usual, so when people looked up the sky and saw the round “圆/圓” (yuán)moon,they will wish to have a family reunion “团圆/團圓” (tuányuán).

During The festival, the most special food is the moon cake “月饼/月餅” (yuèbǐng). These cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival.

The custom of worshiping the moon “拜月/拜月” (bài yuè) can be traced back as far as the ancient 夏/夏 (xià)and 商/商 (shāng) Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the 周/周 (zhōu) Dynasty (1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people held ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the 唐/唐 (táng) Dynasty(618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the 北宋 (běisòng)Dynasty, there was a very famous poem “水调歌头/水調歌頭”(shuǐ diào gē tóu) written by a person who was called “苏轼/蘇軾” (sū shì). There was a verse which has been widely known by every household: 

• 人有悲欢离合, 月有阴晴圆缺, 此事古难全。
• 人有悲歡離合, 月有陰晴圓缺, 此事古難全。
• rén yǒu bēihuānlíhé, yuè yǒu yīn qíng yuán quē, cǐ shì gǔ nán quán.

&

• 但愿人长久, 千里共婵娟。
• 但願人長久, 千里共嬋娟。
• dànyuàn rén chángjiǔ, qiānlǐ gòng chánjuān.

It means People come and go, being happy or sorrowful; The moon waxes and wanes, being bright or dark. Nothing can be perfect forever. We wish each other a long life so as to share the beauty of this graceful moonlight, even though miles apart.

This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival will be on 22th of September. I am here to wish all of you 幸福快乐/幸福快樂 (xìngfú kuàilè), 合家团圆/合家團圓 (hé jiā tuányuán)

Alisa from ChineseTeachers.com