Have you attended a Pua Tiong Chu or traditional dice game party? Been to Singapore last year and I was wondering how the Singaporeans celebrate Mooncake Festival.
Mooncake Festival is a harvest festival which is celebrated in several countries such as Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, among others. Also known as Mid-Autumn Festival, is held on the 15th day of the eight month of the lunar calendar with full moon at night. This year, it will fall on the 13th of September.
Wondering why it is celebrated for a month? It is also the time of the year that the moon is at its brightest. Reunion dinner on the eve of the festival by family and friends while staring at the glow of paper lanterns, having some tea and nibble over the mooncakes from Bing Liang Bakery. Also, you will catch the attention of children carrying lanterns at the parks and seaside.
Mooncakes are more than a tasty treat every year. Did you know that when the Mongolians once ruled by China during the Yuan dynasty between 1280-1368 AD, the leaders of the preceding Sung dynasty was unhappy at the prospect of being governed by foreigners, they decided to go underground to coordinate a rebellion against the Yuan government? The rebellion leaders ordered the civilians to bake moon cakes for them. They inserted each mooncake an outline of the attack against the government. The Mongolians were not interested over the said pastry. Then, the said government was overthrown which was the Ming Dynasty was established.
According to legends, there were ten suns which surrounded the earth which causes severe droughts and suffering to the humans. Then, the Queen of Heaven couldn’t bear to see what’s happening. She ordered Hou Yi to save the earth. Using his arrows, he shut down nine of the suns. With his heroic deed, the Queen rewarded him an elixir of life.
With fame and fortune got into Hou Yi’s head, he became malevolent. Chang Er, his wife drank the elixir of life. After drinking it, she could fly and went to the moon. Even though he loved his wife so much, Hou Yi never shut down the moon and allowed his wife to live at the moon forever.
