|
Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month
according to lunar calendar, when the moon is at its brightness for the
entire year, the Chinese celebrate Mid-Autumn or moon festival, 中秋節. Yearly, a fairly tale was told about
the moon lady and the parents asked children to look at the moon in
search of her shadow. However,
when I was a child, I did not pay much attention about the fairy tale of
the moon lady. Instead, I was
looking forward to making a lantern.
I recalled that my brother helped and showed me how to make a
lantern out of aluminum can by cutting through the top and the side of
the can so I could place a small candle. It was a very simple lantern but it could endure the fire
and did not burn easily as any other paper made lanterns. In addition, I was looking forward to
go shopping so I could choose a beautiful lantern, a butterfly, a gold
fish, etc. made out of cellophane paper. At night, I hanged my lantern by the
balcony and watched many children walked in row and sang "Tết
Trung Thu xách đčn đi chơi, em xách đčn đi
khắp phố phường…" Regardless of ages,
everyone was so happy with different lanterns in their hands. The streets were light up by many
lanterns in children's hands.
Those innocent looks and innocent laughs together with songs were
the music of the night.
As with Chinese tradition, food is always the high
light of any event. Thus,
Mid-Autumn festival is no exception, it introduces to the world,
mooncakes. They come in all
shapes and sizes and are filled with different ingredients such as beans,
nuts, fruits, and sausages. This is a very special cake because bakeries
only make them once a year during Mid-Autumn festival. If I don't eat the mooncakes during
the festival, I will have to wait for one whole year to taste it again. Back home, my family had a tradition
eating mooncakes and watching the moon on Mid-Autumn night.
Now, in The United States, I continue to carry on
this tradition of celebrating Mid-Autumn festival with my family. My children are American born, yet, I
would like them to learn and to share the Chinese culture. In the past
few years, my children chose their lanterns (such as dragon, butterfly,
and airplane…. They turned on the switches; the lanterns shined in
different colors and played different music. We simply celebrated mid-autumn festival with a pot of tea
and mooncakes. My children didn't
know how to sing Mid-Autumn song in Vietnamese. They carried their lanterns and walked around the backyard;
looked at the moon and the stars and sang "Twinkle twinkle little
stars, how I wonder what you are…”
This year, the children are four years old now,
maybe we can show them how to sing "Tết Trung Thu
rước đčn đi chơi, em xách đčn đi
khắp phố phường……". Again, we will buy lanterns and mooncakes. Our favorites are lotus, durian, coconut,
and taro mooncakes. Once again, a
Mid-Autumn festival night in California will begin with a bite of the
mooncake, a sip from an aroma cup of tea, glaze at the moon, watch
children play with their lanterns.
Happy
Mid-Autumn (中秋節)
By Ung Suy Phan 潘翠膺
California, U.S.A. – 9/15/2006
|
