Chinese keyword & Mid-Autumn Festival

: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, September 8, 2022

4. Having family dinner

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is full and people get together with family. The fullness of the moon echoes the wholeness of family or family reunion. Thus, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional day for Chinese people to reunite with relatives. Family members sit together enjoying delicious dishes, appreciating the moon, drinking osmanthus-flavored wine and eating mooncakes.

In ancient China, the imperial feasts on the Mid-Autumn Festival were a highly refined custom. For example, crabs were a popular dish in the Ming imperial court. After they were steamed in cattail bags, people sat around and sampled them with wine and vinegar. After eating crabs, they drank perilla leaf soup and washed their hands with it. The banquet tables were surrounded with flowers, large pomegranates and other seasonal foods. Dramas featuring myths related to the Mid-Autumn Festival were also performed.

In the Qing imperial court, a screen was usually placed in the east of a courtyard. On either side of the screen were cockscombs, branches of green soybeans, taros, peanuts, radishes and fresh lotus roots. A square table was set up in front of the screen, on which was placed a large mooncake surrounded by cakes and fruits. After worshipping the moon, the mooncake was cut into pieces according to the number of imperial family members, and each person symbolically took a bite, which was called "eating the reunion cake."

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