Where I live in California, you'll see boxes of moon cakes with this girl playing the pipa.
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中秋节快乐!
I feel a bit intimidated about writing about the Mid-Autumn Festival because I am a 老外。 But when I write something about China, I try to help you learn some English vocabulary. Since you are familiar with the topic, I hope everyone will understand this blog.
A friend in Beijing told me that 中秋节 is a three-day national holiday, so that in itself must be cause for rejoicing. But I didn’t realize until I did some research that this day is a source of national pride.
During the Yuan Dynasty 元朝, China was occupied by the Mongols. The Han were not happy about having foreigners run their country. But they were in a pickle. Since assemblies were prohibited, it was difficult to organize and coordinate a rebellion.
Some very clever people came up with an idea. They sought permission of the Mongol emperor to distribute moon cakes to the Chinese citizens with a message of longevity written on the cake. Of course, this pleased the emperor.
Since the Mongols didn’t like moon cakes, only the Chinese would eat them. Inside the moon cakes was a message that had the plan of attack. The message said “八月十五杀鞑子” (“Kill the Mongols on the fifteenth day of the eight month”.)
The Mongols were taken by surprise by the Chinese uprising. The Yuan Dynasty ended and the Ming 明朝 began. Thereafter 中秋节 was celebrated at a national level.
I know this is not the origin of 中秋节. We’ll delve into that in another blog. 中秋节快乐！
月饼很好吃！ I hope this holiday is very happy for you and your family!
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