More than just mooncakes: A guide to Mid-Autumn Festival
It’s time to hang a lantern, rip open a mooncake and peel a pomelo – Mid-Autumn Festival is here.
The Fullest Moon of The Year
Falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, is when families gather to sample autumn harvests, light lanterns and admire what’s believed to be the fullest moon of the year.
Mid-Autumn Festival became an official celebration in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) but there isn’t one single answer to the question of when and how the Mid-Autumn Festival began.
Book of Rites
Many believe the fete was first mentioned in the “Book of Rites,” a Confucius classic on bureaucracy and rituals written more than 2,400 years ago.
It was described as a day for emperors to celebrate the year’s harvest by giving offerings to the moon and hosting a great feast.
Family Gathering
Today, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an incredibly important family gathering – it’s when “people and the moon reunite to form a full circle,” as an old saying goes.
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