The Moon Festival is a holiday in China. It's an occasion for a family reunion. Chinese families like to get together to eat the moon cakes and watch the moon at the Moon Festival night.
Tonight we started a new tradition in our family. Once the sun set we put on our jackets and headed outside, just in the nick of time to catch a glimpse of the moon before it disappeared into the cloudy night sky. The girls played with glow sticks and Drew read to the them the book "The Moon Shines Down."
After that we talked about Miah's birth family and the nannies at the orphanage who loved her very much. The girls each released a balloon, sending them as good wishes to China.
Once inside we "enjoyed" some moon cakes together. I say "enjoyed" lightly...we each had a taste, but no one ate very much of the interesting pastry.
After that we talked about Miah's birth family and the nannies at the orphanage who loved her very much. The girls each released a balloon, sending them as good wishes to China.
Once inside we "enjoyed" some moon cakes together. I say "enjoyed" lightly...we each had a taste, but no one ate very much of the interesting pastry.
During the Yuan dynasty (A.D.1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D.960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.
Not too bad!!!
We didn't "enjoy" the mooncakes either!!! And I have many leftoevers!
ReplyDeleteThey weren't a hit in our house either.....but beautifully done however, lol
ReplyDeleteWe made our own "moon cake", we will have to post a pciture on our blog. It had chocolate icing so it was much appreciated by all!
ReplyDeleteI loved your idea of reading the book and releasing the balloons. We will hopefully incorporate that into our celebration next year too.
I can see you have a piggy tail in Miah's hair, is she leaving them alone?