Mid-Autumn Festival
Chinese harvest festival / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-September to early October of the Gregorian calendar.[1] On this day, the Chinese believe that the moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of autumn.[2]
Mid-Autumn Festival | |
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Also called | Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival |
Observed by | Chinese people |
Type | Cultural, religious |
Significance | To commemorate and celebrate the end of the autumn harvest |
Celebrations | Lantern lighting, mooncake making and sharing, courtship and matchmaking, fireworks, family gathering, dragon dances, family meal, visiting friends and relatives, gift giving |
Observances | Consumption of mooncakes and cassia wine |
Date | 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar |
2023 date | 29 September |
2024 date | 17 September |
2025 date | 6 October |
Frequency | Annual |
Related to | Chuseok (Korea), Tsukimi (Japan), Tết Trung Thu (Vietnam), Uposatha of Ashvini or Krittika (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) |
Mid-Autumn Festival | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 中秋節 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 中秋节 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "Mid-Autumn Festival" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Calendar date name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 八月十五/八月半 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "Fifteenth/Half of the Eighth Month" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regional name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 八月節 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "Eighth Month Festival" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture; its popularity is on par with that of Chinese New Year. The history of the festival dates back over 3,000 years.[3][4] Similar festivals are celebrated by other cultures in East and Southeast Asia.
During the festival, lanterns of all size and shapes – which symbolize beacons that light people's path to prosperity and good fortune – are carried and displayed. Mooncakes, a rich pastry typically filled with sweet-bean, egg yolk, meat or lotus-seed paste, are traditionally eaten during this festival.[5][6][7] The Mid-Autumn Festival is based on the legend of Chang'e, the Moon goddess in Chinese mythology.