Mid Autumn Festival the Sun Will Rise Again
Growing up in an Asian family in America, I loved how the Mid-Autumn Festival would descend like a stealth holiday. Mooncakes would magically announced in the kitchen.
Though it's the 2d most of import celebration in East Asian civilisation after Chinese New year, information technology was low-central and less fuss than other festive occasions. The cardinal takeaway for the harvest celebration is to be grateful for the simple things in life, like how we tin rely on the moon to rise into the dark completeness of the charcoal sky every evening, merely similar clockwork.
Fifty-fifty if most of usa don't cultivate our own crops to make our meals, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a reminder to my family that nutrient isn't something to be taken for granted. Today, i out of v kids in the U.S. still struggle with food insecurity.
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Every twelvemonth, my daughters surprise me with their apprehension for the vacation. They weren't born in Taiwan, like I was, and they've quit Chinese schoolhouse (much to my dismay—sigh), but they dear to consume mooncake. My sixteen-twelvemonth-former daughter, Ella, says, "It'due south the boot-off for the rest of the holidays that are coming, like Halloween and Christmas, so information technology's kind of exciting."
When is the Mid-Fall Festival?
Mid-Fall Festival 2021 falls on September 21. Also known equally the Moon Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest celebration on par with Thanksgiving. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth Chinese lunar month, which ways it occurs in September or October. The holiday doesn't accept place on the same 24-hour interval every twelvemonth nor does information technology coincide exactly on the night of a full moon, though the luminescent orb will likely be quite big on a articulate evening at that time of the year.
The Legend Backside the Mid-Autumn Festival
The story near how the celebration began dates back to the Han Dynasty with the legend of the moon goddess, Chang'e. Her husband, Hou Yi, was a great archer who had a powerful bow. One year, 10 suns appeared, causing a massive drought, and killing crops. Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns, saving the people from starvation.
In appreciation, Hou Yi received a magical elixir that granted him eternal life. He gave it to his wife, Chang'east, simply when an intruder tried to take it, she drank the potion herself. She then flew to the moon to live forever with only her white rabbit to keep her visitor. Her hubby missed her so much that he set out her favorite food, mooncakes. Other people felt sorry for him and joined him in paying homage to her with mooncakes, and that'due south how the Moon Festival began.
How to Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with Your Kids
Mooncakes are a must
A Mid-Fall Festival isn't complete without a mooncake or three. I spent most Chinese holidays in pocket-sized communities where I was one of the few Asian kids in town. Mooncakes were often the merely sign that the celebration was coming. Each year, we ate the special treat without neglect.
Information technology'southward a pastry filled with dense sweet red bean or lotus seed paste, oft with a salted egg yolk in the heart. Traditionally, the desserts are round to represent the shape of the moon, but you'll often discover rectangular-shaped mooncakes too. Some families brand mooncakes from scratch, but yous can detect mooncakes in bakeries and grocery stores at this time of the year.
The author's daughter eating a mooncake.
| Credit: Courtesy of Helen I. Hwang
Picnic under the moonlight
Nosotros might've all had picnics under the sun but what near under the moon? A favorite tradition is gathering with loved ones to gorge on an evening meal alfresco to admire the beauty of the celestial trunk (and see if we can spot the moon goddess and her pet bunny).
Don't hesitate to become creative. Make it a game to create an unabridged dinner made of circular shapes to represent the moon. Baos, or steamed round buns filled with pork or chicken, are scrumptious. Send your kids on a scavenger hunt in the kitchen to find circular things to eat, similar oranges or potatoes. Scoop out watermelon spheres. Nosotros might fifty-fifty guild a pizza. What's important for me is to go on information technology fun so my kids stay excited for a vacation that celebrates their ethnicity.
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Read books about the moon
Every yr, I pull out my books nearly the Mid-Fall Festival to read with my kids. Thankfully, there are a few good ones out at that place like Amy Tan's The Moon Lady and Jillian Lin'due south Moon Festival Wishes.
No ane has written more bright books about the moon than the honor-winning author, Grace Lin, who's penned Where the Mount Meets the Moon, Thanking the Moon, and A Big Mooncake for Little Star. "The Moon Festival is my favorite Asian holiday," says Lin. "All the characteristics that I acquaintance with the moon and the Moon Festival—tranquility joy, love, peace, and beauty—are the same traits I try to imbue in all my books—even the ones not about the moon!"
Decorate with lanterns
Colorful lanterns are essential holiday décor for Chinese celebrations. Kids can make newspaper lanterns themselves, using toilet paper rolls and construction paper. You tin can hang festive lamps outside and inside. Low-cal a sky lantern with a wish written on it and watch it float upward into the night toward the moon goddess.
Go along passing down traditions
Keeping the Mid-Autumn Festival uncomplicated is what makes the celebration and so endearing. Though I didn't grow upwards with a lot of festival fanfare, I appreciate the delicious mooncake as a uniquely distinctive dessert I enjoyed once a year. I hope to pass at least that one tradition to my kids, even equally their Chinese language skills fade away.
Source: https://www.parents.com/holiday/ways-to-celebrate-mid-autumn-festival-with-kids/
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