During this Mid-Autumn Festival, I hope you enjoy this special mooncake 🥮 that comes from the heart - sweet and delicious on the inside, health and happiness on the outside, and then wrapped in my most sincere thoughts and blessings for a long, sweet, and healthy life. Happy Mooncake Festival to all the readers of my food blog.
中秋佳节，我把甜蜜和美满做成馅，健康与幸福擀成皮，再裹上思念和祝福，然后将这款用心烘培出的月饼🥮送给你，愿你爱情甜蜜生活美满，身体健康一生幸福！祝各位朋友们中秋节快乐。
The Mid-autumn Festival (中秋节), also known as the Mooncake Festival, falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. It is called the Mid-autumn Festival because the 15th day is the middle of a month, and the eighth lunar month is in the middle of autumn. In Singapore, mooncakes and lanterns are offered for sale as early as a month before the festival. These days, however, it has become more common to give mooncakes 🥮 as gifts than to eat them during the festival. The custom of offering sacrifices to the moon has been replaced by celebrating the festival with family and friends. Moon-viewing 🌕 parties is one way to enjoy the occasion, with family and friends sitting in gardens lit by paper lanterns, sipping tea, nibbling on mooncakes, and if so inspired, composing poetry in venerable Tang Dynasty fashion.
The full moon is considered a symbol of reunion, as such the Mid-autumn Festival is also known as the Reunion Festival. Shaped round like the full moon, mooncakes signify reunion. The Mid-autumn Festival is associated with the moon and “moon appreciation” (赏月) parties, particularly because the moon 🌕 is at its brightest during this time. The festival also coincides with the end of the autumn harvest, marking the end of the Hungry Ghost Festival, which occurs during the seventh lunar month. The day of the Mid-Autumn Festival is traditionally thought to be auspicious for weddings, as the moon goddess is believed to extend conjugal bliss to couples.
Among the Chinese, the most popular of all the tales connected with the Mid-Autumn Festival is that of Chang-E (嫦娥), also known as the Moon Lady, and her husband Hou Yi (后羿). This myth is said to have originated from storytellers in the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), and even as far back as the time of Emperor Yao (2346 BCE). Another popular story about the Mid-Autumn Festival is the moon rabbit. 🐇
Hou Yi (后羿) – an archer and member of the Imperial Guard was said to have saved the earth from scorching when he shot 🏹 down nine of the 10 suns ☀️ circling the planet. As a reward, he was chosen by the people to be their king but he later became tyrannical. In his possession was the elixir of life, but Chang-E (嫦娥), his wife, stole the elixir and drank it. Chang-E then ascended to the moon and became the Moon Goddess. Hou Yi, on the other hand, was given a cake by the Queen Mother of the Western Paradise (西王母). Upon eating the cake, he was able to withstand heat and was sent to the sun. With a special talisman he was able to visit Chang-E on the 15th of every month, during the full moon. 🌕
The legend of Mooncake Festival - In another version of the tale, Hou Yi placed the elixir in Chang-E’s care. His disciple, Feng Meng, tried to force Chang-E to give it to him. To prevent this, Chang-E swallowed the elixir, and was separated from Hou Yi forever.
