March 2009 Archives

      Here is a story related to moon cakes I want to share with you. The story introduces you to the origin of a popular activity at the Moon Festival: moon gazing.

      In the Tang Dynasty, the earth once had 10 suns circling it. One day all 10 suns appeared at once, scorching the planet with their heat. A skillful archer named Hou Yi saved the earth by shooting down the extra nine suns. As his reward, the Goddess of the Western Heaven gave Hou Yi the pill of immortality, but she warned him that he must use it wisely. Hou Yi ignored her advice and, controlled by fame and fortune, became a dictatorial leader. Chang-Er, his beautiful wife, could no longer endure his abuse of power so she stole his pill and swallowed it. At this moment, Chang-Er started to fly; the pill was magical. Hou Yi was very angry and tried to kill her but he could not catch her. He watched her fly toward the moon and disappeared. And thus began the legend of the beautiful woman in the moon, the Moon Fairy.

      People continue to believe that there is a beautiful woman who stays in the moon with a little old man and a bunny. The old man is believed to be the god inside the moon and the bunny is his pet. Chinese people worship Chang-Er to glorify her chastity by gazing at the moon. So, every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie" in order to memorize Chang-Er.

      The Chinese custom of eating moon cake was first recorded in the reign of the emperor Hsi Tzung (A.D. 874-889) of the Tang Dynasty and became popular in the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279). The crafty Chu Yuan-chang, founder of the Ming Dynasty, instigated a rebellion against the Mongol rulers by concealing a call to revolt in moon cakes, leading to the downfall of the Yuan Dynasty.

      The moon cake is traditionally made in the shape of a full moon, symbolizing union and perfection, and is usually about the size of a doughnut. Moon cake is stuffed with a variety of fillings such as bean paste, egg yolk, lotus seeds, dates, pineapple, walnuts, almonds and or sesame, depending on the region.

      In the last couple of years a new breed of refrigerated, unbaked moon cake has been gaining popularity, especially among youngsters. Durian, coconut meat, vanilla, tea, and coffer have been added as ingredients.

      The fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar is celebrated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, which has been designed a public holiday by the government of Republic of China (Taiwan). Moon gazing, drinking oolong or jasmine tea and having a barbeque are the main activities during Mid-Autumn Festival.

      The next article will introduce a Chinese moon legend and explain why moon gazing is a traditional activity during Mid-Autumn Festival.

      Zongzi is the main food at the Dragon Boat Festival in China, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings. In general, the fillings used for zongzi are Chinese black mushrooms, salted duck eggs, scallops and pork. They are wrapped in bamboo leaves and cooked by steaming or boiling.

      Dragon boat festival is a traditional festival in China. This festival began during the Warring States period.

      Quyuan, a minister of Chu Kingdom, tried to align his kingdom with Qi; he hoped that together Chu and Qi could fight against Qin.  Other ministers opposed Quyuan's position, so he was banished to the border of Chu. In the year 278 B.C., the Qin army breached the border of Chu capital; Quyuan was so sad to see the devastation of his nation that on the 5^th of May, he

held a big stone and sank himself into Miluo river.

      After his death, people of Chu went to the river to grieve over him. The fishermen rowed boats to search his body. In order not to let Quyuan's body be eaten by fishes or crabs, a fisherman threw prepared rice balls and eggs into the river. Many people followed his behavior. Some threw Xionghuang wine into the water to giddy snakes.  Some wrapped rice balls with leaves and used colorful ropes to tie them; this food was given to a dragon that was believed to live in the river.  These rice balls in leaves developed into the Zongzi that we eat nowadays. Since then, in memory of Quyuan, there ha been a custom of Dragon boat competitions, eating Zongzi and drinking Xionghuang wine on the 5^th of May.