Let’s excurse around the world with Hello Vietnam to explore the customary way people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in different countries.
In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival for children
In Vietnam, the Moon Festival or The Mid-Autumn Festival is the happiest day for children. This festival associated with the legend of Hang Nga and Cuoi, a popular Vietnamese fairy tale that explains the origin of the festival. On this occasion, children always wear masks, take their star lanterns walking around the street, and perform lion dances with the bustle sounds of drums.
On this occasion of this festival, the Vietnamese often present the cakes and fruits in the yard to worship the moon. Children are extremely interested in this festival, because their parents buy for them many toys, candy, and moon cakes … Unlike the diverse kind of modern toys for children in this festival, in the old days , the traditional toys such as star lanterns, lanterns, … always is handmade toys.
In many places, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an opportunity to organize contests for woman show their cuisine talent. Children enjoy their night by participating in parades in the dark with lanterns and singing Trong Quan under the full moon. When the moon rises high in the sky, children sit together around the tray of moon cakes, candy, and fruits to indulge the moon and enjoy the party till the midnight. In tradition, a tray of fruits and cakes for the moon party includes Moon cakes (the grilled Moon cakes and sticky rice moon cakes), a puppy made from grapefruit pulps, and several autumnal fruits as bananas, persimmons, custard apples, sugarcane, …
In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival for family
In Chinese tradition, the Moon Festival is an opportunity for all members coming home together. Though how far they live or work from their hometown, they come back home with family, fathers to have the family dinner in this festival.
After the warm meal, all members of family spend all night to indulge the moon and eat moon cakes together under the twinkle lights of the lanterns. In China, one of the most important activities in this occasion is to participating in parades with colorful lanterns and performs fire dragon dances. The Chinese believe that the Fire Dragon will bring the lucky and happiness to every family.
In Korea, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a Thanksgiving festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival of the Korean is called as “Chuseok” Festival or “Thanksgiving Festival”. This is the second holiday of the year is celebrated before the fullmoon night (the 15th night in the lunar calendar) and finish after the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar.
On this occasion of this festival, everyone who work, study or live far from their families, will come back home and enjoy songpyeon cake (a traditional cake in a horn look) and sindoju or dongdongju (some kinds of Korean alcohol). In the early morning, every family member will prepare a delicious meal together to worship the ancestor. This preparation has to be under a standard principle.
After family repast, everyone go to cemetery for ancestral graves. They also dedicate the prepared drinks and foods to the ancestor. However, these customs might be different in each region in Korea.
In Japan, you can see rabbits eating the sticky rice cake in the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival
Nowadays, although the Japanese do not usually use the lunar calendar like the old days, they still come to the pagodas and organize many festivals to celebrate the full moon night in the eighth month of the lunar calendar.
In the Japanese tradition, there are many colorful cakes, watermelon, chestnuts … in a Mid-Autumn festival tray putting near the window. Besides, the Japanese also prepare the Dango cake (a kind of Japanese sticky rice cake) in this festival, because they believe that this is the favorite dish of the Jade Rabbit. According to the Japanese folk, the Jade Rabbit pound rice on the moon, so when we look at the moon on the Mid-Autumn, we can see the rabbit eating the sticky rice cake.
In Thailand, the Mid-Festival is the Pray-Moon Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival in Thailand is an occasion with many interesting activities. The Thailand also calls this festival under the name of “the Pray-Moon Festival”. On this occasion, everyone participate the celebration to worship the moon. They sit around the tray full of fruits and cakes such as peaches, durians, moon cakes and give each other all of the best wishes. Especially, it is indispensable to have grapefruits in the traditional tray of the mid-autumn festival, because the Thailand believes that this fruit is a symbol of reunions, fullness.
In Singapore, you can enjoy an exciting Mid-Autumn Festival
In Singapore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an exciting festival for everyone. At the Sengkang Square, everyone enjoy many games together. It is also an opportunity for Chinese to express their own diverse culture in the Chinatown with the colorful lanterns, and the moment of family when members share the happiness to each other with the sweet cakes and some cups of tea.
In Philippines and Indonesia, there are performances of the lion dances in the Chinese streets
The Chinese living in Philippines and Indonesia often always have many special activities to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival every year. In the Chinese town, you can enjoy the bustle of the lion dances in every street. It is an opportunities to admire the traditional clothes, colorful lanterns as well as vibrant atmosphere of the festival.
In Malaysia, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a season of festivals
In recent years, on the Mid-Autumn festival, besides of the Moon Cakes Festival from September 19th to 21st, there is the Lanterns Festival in Malaysia on the 16th of September. During this festive day, every street is decorated with thousands of colorful lanterns. It also is an occasion for Malaysian and all the tourists enjoy the exciting atmosphere of the festival.
In Laos, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival of The Moon’s Blessing
The Laotian calls the Mid-Autumn Festival with the name of “The Blessing of the Moon Festival”. In this occasion, family members sit together, enjoy the tea and indulge the moon. When the sun comes down, all the guys and girls start dancing together over the night.
In Cambodia, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the invocation festival to the moon
In the 15th on the lunar calendar, the Cambodian prepares many gifts as flowers, cassava soup, flat rice, and sugarcane juice to worship the moon in this festival. In the evening, they put all these gifts into a tray in a big mat and wait until the moon rises. And when the moon rises high in the sky, everyone pray by their heart under the moonlights, and hope that the moon blesses them. After that, the older people put the flat rice into the children’s mouth to wish the fullness, and happiness coming to them.
In Myanmar, you can admire the glow everywhere in the Mid-Autumn Festival
Known as “The Full Moon Festival” or “The Light Festival”, in the 15th night of the eighth month on the lunar calendar, everyone light their family’s lanterns to make the city glowing. They also enjoy some plays, dancing, movies and many other exciting games in this festive night.
In Sri Lanka, they sing and dance in the Full Moon Festival
Unlike other Asian countries, Sri Lankan celebrates their “Full Moon Festival” once a month with the most respectful rituals. In this occasion, everyone have a day off to prepare the freshest gifts to pray in the pagodas. After the sermons in the pagodas, they sit together and enjoy fruits, cakes, as well as sing and dance under the moonlights.
In Iran, the Mid-Autumn is an opportunity for people enjoying their agricultural products
The Iranian celebrates their Mid-Autumn Festival according their local calendar in 8 days (starting from the 16th of July on the solar calendar). This is the most important festival of the year after the New Year Festival “Nowruz”. During these festive days, they enjoy every kind of agricultural products that they harvested.
(Collection)
