Moon Day

Just a small Chinese culture lesson first this week...and sorry only one post last week. I know it is very out of the ordinary, but not much going on last week...and Bliss took over the computer watching Scooby-Doo on YouTube.
Here we've been celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Day. Yes, I know it's not autumn yet, but they follow the lunar calendar for this holiday. I first encountered this holiday on my mission with all the Chinese students we knew. I didn't realize how big of a day it is. It was an all weekend and Monday event. Since, Moon Day fell on a Sunday this year, everyone had Monday off.
There are several different stories behind the reason the Chinese celebrate this day. One is that back in the 1200's, the Mongols had invaded and took over China. The rebel leader's advisor came up with a plan to overthrow the Mongols. Group gatherings were banned so no uprising could be planned. So he came up with an idea to distribute moon cakes to honor the Mongol emperor. Inside each moon cake he put a message telling the Chinese people to rebel on the 15th day of the 8th moon. On the night of the Moon Festival there was an uprising and they overthrew the Mongols. That was the start of the Ming Dynasty.
Another story is something about a man's wife getting taken up to the moon and the only day they can visit each other is on Moon Day. I'm sure I'm missing some details, but I don't feel like finding it all. I'm sure if you google it you can find more info.


One of the traditions is to eat moon cakes...not moon pies, but moon cakes. The moon cakes don't look as appetizing. One of Blasen's employees gave us two boxes. I have yet to eat one, but they look like they have cake on the outside, then stuff in the middle called lotus, and in the very center is egg yolk or something. Of course Bliss and Zade will eat them. Blasen eats the cake part only. I'd rather eat a moon pie!