Wednesday of this week was the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, a festival held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month each year. It is celebrated all throughout Asia, including in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The Mid-Autumn Moon always falls on a day of the full moon, and originated as a harvest festival that has been celebrated as far back as the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE).
As a harvest festival it is a time of family gathering, thanksgiving and prayer. One of the favorite foods of the holiday is mooncakes. These are tasty round pastries usually filled with sweet pastes made from lotus seeds or dates. Sometimes they also contain other things such as seeds, nuts, or salted egg yolks. The round shape of the cakes mimics the shape of the full moon, and the round shape also symbolizes completeness, fullness, and therefore, family harmony and reunion.
I'd like to wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Moon festival and express my gratitude for beingpart of your extended family!
My wife Jen's homemade mooncakes ready for the oven