Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Mid Autumn Festival...

.....also known as the Moon Festival is a popular
harvest festival celebrated by Chinese, Japanese,
Korean and Vietnamese people, dating back over
3,ooo years to moon worship in China's Shang
Dynasty.

Held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the
Chinese calendar, usually around late September
or early October, paralleling the Autumnal
Equinox of the Solar Calender -
when the moon is supposedly its fullest and roundest.

Mooncake (yum!) is the traditional food of the festival and while celebrations and traditions vary, many include carrying brightly lit lanterns, Fire Dragon Dances and the planting of a mid Autumnal tree.

**In Taiwan, since the 1980's barbecuing meat outdoors has become a widespread way to celebrate this holiday.**

So what does all this mean(??) AND keeping it real as we celebrate this significant Chinese holiday for the very first time......as best we can....our way.......

Years ago both Scott and I recognized the importance of blending important aspects of our children's birth countries into our lives and our family's traditions - and it has been nothing less than a pleasure to explore these rich & diverse celebrations and to better understand and embrace these beautiful cultures. We also have witnessed with great interest the evolution of said explorations as each one has changed or been tweaked through a growing child's individual passions, contributions and perspectives. Never static, never quite the same each time or each year, but always uniquely representative of our uniquely blended family.

We also acknowledge that these celebrations will only have meaning to our children & our family if they are personal, manageable, hands-on and approachable. That's not to say we shy away from the more complex issues, heritage threads or customs but rather we intuited (once upon a time) that if it involved untenable expectations, critical expense ( we are after all saving for two trips to two amazing homelands down the road!!) or a sense of celebrating out of duty rather than joy and pride, such cultural pursuits would quickly fade away or defeat the intentions behind each one. And honestly this is true of most of our traditions, including the ones forged all those years ago as a newly married couple, striving to blend 2 distinct sets of experiences and customs ~ striving to keep those we most cherished, while creating new ones ideally suited to just....us.

So (again) what does all of this mean?? :) Well, as this is a new one for us (though we have known of it for several years) we started small, with books and a few discussions. We asked both kiddos for their ideas and even little Tyler had a say! Lauren wished to make mooncakes and that's on the agenda for later this week ~ please keep those fingers crossed and please feel free to share any kid friendly Mooncake recipes!! Tyler will love this also, for nothing suits him better than flour covered faces & hands!! We have the aprons ready and Tyler will look smashing in his chef's hat!! :)

Tyler and I have also watched the sweet Sagwa episode celebrating the Moon Festival and though its old and possibly no longer in circulation, it is a fabulous kid friendly way to explore the various legends and folklore surrounding this holiday. We also spent quite a lot of time at the table this morning with our Play-doh, cutting out moon shapes, full & crescent, which quickly morphed into adding plenty of star cut-outs and a slightly off key but enthusiastic rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star! An absolutely delightful way to spend a bit of time celebrating with a 2 year old!

We plan to grill out tonight and were beyond tickled to find that nugget of information on Taiwan's unique way to honor this date. Our little guy is not too big on the meats just yet ( me either ) so we will add our own touch of veggies and corn on the cob grilled just right! Adding a bit of that Autumnal crop harvest seems just right too!!

As the years pass, I suspect this celebration too will change and undergo its own metamorphosis. I can't wait to see what it looks like 3, 4...10 years down the road. It may eventually resemble a well used, tattered but cherished cookbook....some of its pages smudged or dog-eared from use, tiny notes in the margins, a few recipes & dishes long forgotten............. but always the first one we reach for.

And this little guy(??) ( and our best girl too) is/are SO worth the celebration!!






11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are so right that your family's Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebration will evolve over the years. I was scared of doing something "wrong" our first year, but now, ten years in, we have a raucous, joyful celebration that includes the whole neighbourhood. I hadn't heard of grilling meat as part of the celebration, though - maybe we'll try to include that next year.

Christine @ 12,450miles said...

Oh Lisa! What a great post. So many informative tidbits and ideas! We're celebrating Chuseok here tonight as well. With bulgogi (grilled meat) burritos per Spencer's request. Certainly not traditional, but a blending of two of our favorite cuisines. We can't wait! (And you better believe we'd be willing to have Turkey Burgers on Thanksgiving if that's what works for us!) Please post how everything turns out... pretty please?!

Room for More said...

I learned a lot from this post. It sounds like a wonderful time!

minime0910 said...

Another beautifully written post! I didn't realize at the time I chose to adopt internationally that I wasn't just adopting a child, but a culture as well. Kaz is so much a part of my spirit now. I can't wait to do Nauryz with Hannah this year, and I hope to attend the Kaz Culture camp and do a mission trip to kaz with her as well. And since she is half Korean, maybe we should be celebrating the Moon Festival...we did read Goodnight Moon tonight, does that count?! We definitely need video of your little peanut singing Twinkle Twinkle!

Wanda said...

I'm having trouble commenting tonight. Will try again. (Though I forget what I wrote the last two times. Ahem...)

Suffice to say - great post. I'm so glad you pay hommage to your children's heritage. It's vitally important for so many reasons. First, it's the right thing to do and it secures them. And that's a good thing.

(I wrote so much more eloquently (ahem, again) but I'll have to settle for these scrapes. Hoping this one goes through.

Hugs, my friend. And Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival to you and your family!!

Lisa said...

Happy Autumn moon festival!!! This year we were too busy today to make or moon cakes- I found a great recipe last year- but we looked at the moon, and talked about the Autumn moon festival-briefly...We will be making our cakes on Saturday.. Hope you had a great day..and I didn't know that about grilling- today would have been perfect for that.
Lisa

michelle said...

Thank you for reminding me about the mid-autumn moon festival. I'm just trying to survive the last week of school before we go on break and the weather now feels very hot and summery, not close to autumn coolness. I loved all of the cute things you're doing to celebrate. I will have to start my own little traditions with Lexie. Tyler is such an adorable little man. Enjoy your grilling!

QingLu Mama said...

Well first...what adorable pictures of your little man! He is just such a handsome fellow...those dimples flashing and that gleam in his eyes! Too cute!

And your celebrations sound great-very much like you! I wish you the best of luck on your moon cakes...I have yet to attempt them but we have bought them at our local market. Homemade sounds like such fun! And I hadn't heard about the grilling...hmmm. Maybe we'll have to grill at our FCC event tomorrow!

Have a wonderful time celebrating the harvest moon!
Jen

Mama Shoe said...

I admire your intentionality and the thought you put in for your family re: cultural celebrations!

I remember as a child (in Taiwan), it was a fun festival... we went to the countryside, set off little sparkler fireworks, eat pummelos, some mooncakes (not exactly a fan)... then the kids catch some fireflies while the adults sit around gazing at the moon. Now in America, it has just turned into a bbq event-- still fun but we have forgotten the cultural aspect. Thanks for inspiring me to teach it to my kiddos. =)

rachel said...

awesome! i loved the part about celebrating out of pride and joy vs duty. that's such an important point. and also about how these traditions will change as the kids grow and they will become yours. loved it all! good for you guys!

hey, my word verification is "be fans" like "let's all be fans of Lisa!" :)

Kelli said...

Sounds like the perfect way to celebrate the mid autumn moon!