Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival
Introduction
In 2008, it was recognized as a traditional and statutory holiday in China. On May 20th, 2006, it was listed into the National Intangible Cultural Heritage items.
Fast Facts about Mid-Autumn Festival
Chinese Name: | 中秋节Zhōngqiū Jié |
---|---|
Alternative Names: | Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival, Reunion Festival, Chinese Thanksgiving Day |
Date: | Aug.15th (Chinese Lunar Calendar) |
Festival Type: | Traditional Chinese Festival |
Countries to Celebrate: | China, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, North Korea |
Origin: | Moon worship |
Traditions and Customs: | Admiring and worshiping the full moon, Eating mooncakes, Having dinner with family, Playing lanterns |
Festival Food: | Mooncake, Cassia wine |
Significance: | Family Reunion, Celebrating the end of the autumn harvest |
Date and Holiday Durations
Year | Date of The Mid-Autumn Festival | Holiday Durations (Mainland China) |
---|---|---|
2020 | October 1st | October 1 - 7 |
2021 | September 21st | September 19 - 21 |
2022 | September 10th | September 9 - 11 |
2023 | September 29th | September 29 - October 1st |
Origin and History
The festival was set as a fixed festival in the early Tang Dynasty, and begins to be very prevalent in Song (960 - 1279 AD), Ming (1368 - 1644 AD) and Qing (1644 - 1911 AD) Dynasties. Since those times, people have begun to celebrate it by appreciating the full silver moon and eating moon cakes. You can see many poets about the moon were created during those times.
Traditions and Customs
Chinese people regard the festival as an important day for family reunion. People from far away will try to come back home for the family gathering.
→ What Are Traditional Foods for Mid-Autumn Festival?
People usually celebrate the festival at night. The most important activity is to appreciate the bright full moon. The moon at the festival night is especially round and bright, symbolizing the peace, prosperity and family reunion. Family members usually chat, drink and eat under the full moon.
The festival food is moon cake. It is a round pastry with sweet fillings such as nuts, egg yolk, mashed red beans, black sesame, osmanthus flowers and more. Also, nowadays there are fruit-flavored, coffee-flavored and ice-cream moon cakes. About one month before the festival, you can see the cakes have begun to be sold in supermarkets. People buy it for relatives and friends to send best wishes. The round cake which likes the round moon also symbolizes the family reunion.
Also, people like to appreciate osmanthus flowers and drink Cassia wine. Some delicious cookies were also cooked by osmanthus flowers. However, people seldom drink Cassia wine which has been replaced by red wine and white spirit.
Besides the above customs, people in different parts of China have different ways to celebrate the festival. In Hong Kong, Guangxi and Guangdong Provinces, people usually make and play lanterns for the festival. In Zhejiang Province, watching the flood tide of the Qian-tang River during the festival is a must for local people.
More Traditional Chinese Festivals:
Chinese Spring Festival Laba Festival Lantern Festival Dragon Heads-raising Day Qingming Festival Ghost Festival Double Seventh Festival Dragon Boat Festival The Double Ninth Festival Winter Solstice
Chinese Calendar
Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
28十六/16 | 29十七/17 | 30十八/18 | 31十九/19 | 1二十/20 | 2廿壹/21 | 3廿二/22 |
4廿三/23 | 5廿四/24 | 6廿五/25 | 7廿六/26 | 8廿七/27 | 9廿八/28 | 10廿九/29 |
11三十/30 | 三月 (Mar) 12初壹/1 | 13初二/2 | 14初三/3 | 15初四/4 | 16初五/5 | 17初六/6 |
18初七/7 | 19初八/8 | 20初九/9 | 21初十/10 | 22十壹/11 | 23十二/12 | 24十三/13 |
25十四/14 | 26十五/15 | 27十六/16 | 28十七/17 | 29十八/18 | 30十九/19 | 1二十/20 |
Lunar Date
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