Happy Mooncake Festival!

Happy mooncake festival everyone!

My first "pat yuet sap mm" (sorry for the bad pinyin) away from home. Sigh. Plus, today's my uncle's wedding day. BOOhooo..No ang paus for me. No goodie food for me too. Anyways, I suppose my plan, engineered by Sooi (LOL) might just work out tonight. =)

Ever wondered what the Mid-Autumn Festival was all about? Read it only if you're extremely bored to death. Hee..I find it pretty interesting too. You know, the typical Chinese myths and legends. Aha =D

Moon-walking Goddess

A popular Chinese myth related to the Mooncake Festival involves the immortal Chang Er who lives on the moon. She was very beautiful and people celebrate her beauty during the mooncake festival, when the moon is at its brightest and roundest - on the 15th of eight lunar month.

Once upon a time in China, ten suns appeared in the sky and this was causing much grief to the people. Crops were withering, rivers were drying up and people were dying from the heat. This catastrophe forced the emperor to summon Hou Yi, a mythological archer to shoot down the suns in return for an immortal elixir. He wanted to shoot down all the suns but his wife, Chang Er begged him to leave one up in the sky for warmth and light. As Hou Yi was about to go against his wife's wishes, his wife grabbed the immortal elixir and drank it as a form of protest immediately after, Chang Er began floating higher and higher until she reached the moon and stayed there.

Moonlit Uprising

In the 14th century, the Han Chinese overthrew the Mongols in a carefully planned uprising. The success of this uprising lies in these little mooncakes. Small pastries with a secret message outlining the plan was hidden inside the pastries and distributed. Lantern wielding rebels distributed the pastries at night in a well disguised wedding celebration. As outlined in the secret message, the Han Chinese executed a surprise attack on the Mongols.

The full moon on the Mid Autumn Festival shone brightly on the pathways to guide the rebels through the maze of the palace. Since then, mooncakes and lanterns are used each year to honor the new dynasty and the auspiscious moon.

Hee..I love mooncakes. A lot. But dang, they're pretty expensive now. But oh! they come in such a variety of flavours these days and shapes too! I remember Nicole gave me a jelly mooncake last year made by Dave's mum. Loved it to bits =) I do like the old flavours too though. Very evergreen. LOL