So, as promised, I will try to explain the Mid-Autumn Festival.
From what I have gathered from students, it is a time to show thanks and unity amongst family and friends. The festival is to celebrate the harvest and give thanks for the crops, but also to offer prayers for a prosperous rest of the year. These prayers are also for family well-being, finding a spouse or beginning a relationship, and/or good fortune.
The actual date is tomorrow, so there will be celebrations here in Qufu. I originally wanted to go out of town for the holiday, but because National Week is coming up (and is longer), I have decided to save my money for that. I am sure there will be fireworks and gatherings all throughout town tomorrow, so some of us might just explore around town.
This festival is also to celebrate the full moon, which will be tomorrow. There is a legend about a moon goddess, Chang'e, who is the goddess of immortality. The festival is to offer thanks to her in hopes of good fortune and longevity (along with all the other things). There is a bit about a rabbit in the moon who accompanies the goddess, but I have found very little about it. Maybe my students were just sucking up to my partiality for rabbits and added it to the story to make me more excited for the festival.
Apart from the festivities, people also gather together to observe the full moon. Since it is a circle, the idea is that it represents unity and has important significance for families, lovers, and friends.
From what I have gathered from students, it is a time to show thanks and unity amongst family and friends. The festival is to celebrate the harvest and give thanks for the crops, but also to offer prayers for a prosperous rest of the year. These prayers are also for family well-being, finding a spouse or beginning a relationship, and/or good fortune.
The actual date is tomorrow, so there will be celebrations here in Qufu. I originally wanted to go out of town for the holiday, but because National Week is coming up (and is longer), I have decided to save my money for that. I am sure there will be fireworks and gatherings all throughout town tomorrow, so some of us might just explore around town.
This festival is also to celebrate the full moon, which will be tomorrow. There is a legend about a moon goddess, Chang'e, who is the goddess of immortality. The festival is to offer thanks to her in hopes of good fortune and longevity (along with all the other things). There is a bit about a rabbit in the moon who accompanies the goddess, but I have found very little about it. Maybe my students were just sucking up to my partiality for rabbits and added it to the story to make me more excited for the festival.
Apart from the festivities, people also gather together to observe the full moon. Since it is a circle, the idea is that it represents unity and has important significance for families, lovers, and friends.
So, this is the box that I got from Zero. He thought the box was "beautiful" and that a girl should have it, since no guy in the apartment wanted it. The cakes in this one were large and had a lot of an in them. I forget the actual Chinese word, but the Japanese word works just as well. It was a red bean paste in the centre of a baked pastry. There are others that have a white an in them, and others still that have another kind of centre.
It is customary for friends and family to share and enjoy the mooncakes together whilst observing the moon and during the festivities.
It is customary for friends and family to share and enjoy the mooncakes together whilst observing the moon and during the festivities.
This box was from Andy. Each teacher got a box.
These are the packages inside the box. Inside each of these is eight mooncakes.
The packaging for each mooncake looks like this.
And this is a mooncake. It has a flaky outside...
...and an an inside. These were much sweeter than the ones I had with Zero, and I think they had nuts in them. Regardless, they were very good.
I am very much looking forward to tomorrow and experiencing this festival. Hopefully I will learn more about the rabbit in the moon and be able to offer thanks to it for a good rest of the year.