- Over
review/History of Moon Cake Festival
- It is second only to the Chinese New Year in significance. The moon
on this day is the fullest and largest to the eye. Viewing it by the
whole family while feasting on good wine, fruits and moon-cakes (yue
bing 月饼) features the night event.
There is also a beautiful story behind it.
Children are told that there's fairy on the moon living in a spacious
but cold crystal palace with her sole companion, a jade rabbit. A
heavenly general and friend would occasionally pay her a visit,
bringing along his fragrant wine. She would then dance a beautiful
dance. The shadows on the moon made the story all the more credible
and fascinating to the young imaginative minds. The Moon festival
(also called the Moon cake or Mid-Autumn festival) falls on September
25th in the year 2007. This festival corresponds to harvest
festival s observed by Western cultures (in Hong Kong, it is held in
conjunction with the annual Lantern Festival). This festival is
also known as the Moon Cake Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie
中秋节 ), because a special kind of sweet
cake (yue bing 月饼)prepared in
the shape of the moon and filled with sesame seeds, ground lotus seeds
and duck eggs is served as a traditional Chung Chiu delicacy.
Nobody actually knows when the custom of eating moon cake of celebrate
the Moon Festival began, but one relief traces its origin to the 14th
century.
What is the Moon festival?
-
Houyi and
Chang'e
 While
Westerners may talk about the "man in the moon", the Chinese
talk about the "woman on the moon". The story
of Chang'e （嫦娥）
, and her flight to the moon, is familiar to every Chinese,
and a favorite subject of poets. Unlike many lunar deities in other
cultures who personify the moon, Chang'e only lives on the moon.
Tradition places Houyi a and Chang'e around 2170 BC, in the reign of the
legendary Emperor Yao, shortly after that of Huang Di.
There are so many variations and adaptations of the Chang'e legend
that one can become overwhelmed and utterly confused. However, most
legends about Chang'e in Chinese mythology involve some variation of the
following elements: Houyi, the Archer; Chang'e, the mythical Moon
Goddess of Immortality; an emperor, either benevolent or malevolent;
an elixir of life; and the Moon
Custom （Ming
revolution）
The custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival is said to have
begun in the end of Yuan Dynasty  (1271-1368).
At that time，the general populace, faced with the unbearably cruel
governing, rose up against the Yuan Government in successionMooncakes were
used as a medium by the Ming
revolutionaries in their espionage
effort to secretly distribute letters in order to overthrow the Mongolian
rulers of China
in the Yuan
dynasty. The idea is said to be conceived by Zhu
Yuanzhang (朱元璋) and his advisor Liu
Bowen (劉伯溫), who circulated a rumor that a deadly
plague was spreading and the only way to prevent it was to eat the special
mooncakes. This prompted the quick distribution of the mooncakes, which
were used to hide a secret message coordinating the Han
Chinese revolt on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.
Another method of hiding the message was printed in the surface of
mooncakes as a simple puzzle or mosaic. In order to read the encrypted
message, each of the 4 mooncakes packaged together must be cut into 4
parts each. The 16 pieces of mooncake, must then be pieced together in
such a fashion that the secret messages can be read. The pieces of
mooncake are then eaten to destroy the message.
. Under such
circumstances, Zhu Yuanzhang(朱元璋) , the first emperor of the later Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644), set out to organize an uprising by uniting the various
resisting forces. However, due to the oppressive presence the governmental
officials (which included many searches of people and their property), it
was extremely hard to deliver messages.
One day, Zhu's military counselor, Liu Bowen (劉伯溫)
, came upon an idea, and
ordered his subordinates to hide paper slips with "Uprising on August
15" on them in moon cakes. Then, the moon cakes were distributed
among insurrectionary armies in different places, asking them to support
the uprising on the night of August 15. When the day came, all
insurrectionary armies converged to participate in the uprising. Soon,
Dadu (Beijing), capital of the Yuan Dynasty, was captured.
When news came of the successful uprising, Zhu Yuanzhang(朱元璋) was so
delighted that he allowed his men to celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn
Festival with the common people and ordered the moon cakes used for hiding
the paper slips to be distributed among the folks. Since then, the moon
cakes have been made in a more and more exquisite way, with more
varieties, and the custom of eating moon cakes continues to this day.
How to Celebrate the Moon Festival
Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top consisting of the Chinese
characters for "longevity"
or "harmony" as well as the name of the bakery and filling in
the moon cake. Imprints of a moon, a woman on the moon, flowers, vines, or
a rabbit may surround the characters for additional decoration. Mooncakes
are expensive and considered a delicacy,
and production is labor-intensive and few people make them at home. Most
mooncakes are bought at Asian
markets and bakeries.
- Today, Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances,
feasting and moon gazing. Not to mention moon cakes and have a cup
of good
tea. . While baked goods
are a common feature at most Chinese celebrations
Generally , moon cakes contain four egg yolks (representing the four
phases of the moon). Besides lotus seed paste, other traditional
fillings include red bean paste and black bean paste. Unfortunately for
dieters, moon cakes are rather high in calories. But nowadays,
there are many kinds amd healthy moon cakes to fit into social
trend such as mooncakes
containing taro
paste, pineapple
and lychee
. Modern
mooncakes differ mainly from traditional types most vividly in the
type of fillings that are offered.
- Since Mid-Autumn Festival coincides with the fall harvest,
the occasion is also celebrated in China by making offerings to the
Earth God (Tu-ti Gong) in hope that he will make the next year's
harvest even more bountifull.
-
Many types of fillings can be found in traditional mooncakes
according to the region culture:
- Lotus
seed paste (蓮蓉, lían róng): Considered
by some to be the original and most luxurious mooncake filling,
lotus paste filling is found in all types of mooncakes. Due to
the high price of lotus paste, white kidney bean paste is
sometimes used as a filler.
- Sweet
bean paste (豆沙, dòu shā): A number
of pastes are common fillings found in Chinese desserts.
Although red
bean paste, made from azuki
beans, is the most common worldwide, there are regional and
original preferences for bean paste made from Mung
bean as well as black
bean known throughout history.
- Jujube
paste (棗泥, zǎo ní): A sweet paste made
from the ripe fruits of the jujube plant. The paste is dark red
in colour, a little fruity/smoky in flavour and slightly sour in
taste. Depending on the quality of the paste, jujube paste may
be confused with red bean paste.
- Five kernel (五仁, wǔ rén): A filling
consisting of 5 types of nuts and seeds, coarsely chopped and
held together with maltose
syrup. Commonly used nuts and seeds include: walnuts,
pumpkin
seeds, watermelon
seeds, peanuts,
sesame,
or almonds.
In addition, the mixture will usually contain candied winter
melon, chinese
dried ham, or pieces of rock
sugar as additional flavouring.
Regional variations
(Different Kind of Moon Cakes in China )
There are many regional variants of the mooncake. Types of
traditional mooncakes include:
- Cantonese-style
mooncake: The Cantonese style mooncake is the most commonly
seen throughout China and outside[citation
needed]. Originating from Guangdong
province, the Cantonese style mooncake has up to 200 variations [citation
needed]. The ingredients used for the
fillings are various: lotus seed paste, melon seed paste, ham,
chicken, duck,
roast pork,
mushrooms,
egg yolks, etc. More elaborate versions contain four egg yolks,
representing the four phases
of the moon.
- Suzhou-style
mooncake:: This style began more than a thousand years ago,
and is known for its layers of flaky dough
and generous allotment of sugar and lard. Within this regional
type, there are more than a dozen variations. It is also smaller
than most other regional varieties. Suzhou-style
mooncakes feature both sweet and savoury types, the latter
served hot and usually filled with pork mince.
- Beijing-style
mooncake: This style has two variations. One is called
"di qiang," which was influenced by the
Suzhou-style mooncake. It has a light foamy dough as opposed to
a flaky one. The other variation is called "fan mao"
and has a flaky white dough. The two most popular fillings are
the mountain hawthorn
and wisteria
blossom flavour. The Beijing-style mooncake is often
meticulously decorated.
- Chaoshan
(Teochew)-style mooncake: This is another flaky crust
variety, but is larger in size than the Suzhou variety. It is
close in diameter to the Cantonese style, but thinner in
thickness. A variety of fillings are used, but the aroma of lard
after roasting is emphasised.
- Ningbo-style
mooncake: This style is also inspired by the Suzhou-style.
It is prevalent in Zhejiang
province and has a compact covering. The fillings are either seaweed
or ham;
it is also known for its spicy
and salty flavour.
- Yunnan-style
mooncake: Also known as "t'o" to the
residents, its distinctive feature is the combination of various
flours for the dough and includes rice
flour, wheat
flour, buckwheat
flour, and more. Most of the variations within this style
are sweet.
Jelly mooncake with yam-paste filling
A plate of lychee
showing a peeled fruit
 Modern
mooncakes differ mainly from traditional types most vividly in the
type of fillings that are offered. For instance, mooncakes
containing taro
paste and pineapple,
which were considered novelty items at their time of invention have
in recent years become commonplace items. In addition, ingredients
such as coffee,
chocolate,
nuts (walnuts,
mixed
nuts, etc), fruits (prunes,
pineapples,
melons,
etc), vegetables (sweet
potatoes, etc), ham,
and even lychees
have been added to give a modern twist to the traditional
recipes.
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