In Sabah, many Chinese celebrate the Mooncake Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. as the name suggests, this festival involves eating mooncakes and kids playing with lanterns. This festival is also, and correctly called the Mid-Autumn Festival. Celebrated when the moon is at its fullest, on the 15th day of the 8th month in the lunar calender. This normally falls on September or October.
Because mooncakes are the traditional food during this festival, it came to be called Mooncake Festival. This also makes it more commercial, with the sales of mooncakes and lanterns. Still, it does not take anything away from hanging out with family and friends, and celebrating the tradition.
Traditionally, this makes the end of the harvesting season in China. In the old days, it is a welcome break where you can sit and enjoy a gorgeous view of the moon, and the kids can have some fun with the neighbors.
Paper Lanterns and All
When I was a kid, we use to play with paper lanterns with a lighted candle inside. This is just about the only time we can play with fire, so you can imagine how much fun we had, and many a lantern went up in flames. These days, they came up with plastic lanterns that runs on batteries, including some with really annoying sounds. But as a parent, it makes life easier, and you can always choose one with just the lights. This being the first lantern festival my angelic girl remembers, she had a lot of fun with her lantern.
What Are Mooncakes?
Mooncakes are Chinese pastries with a thick filling of lotus paste inside. They are typically round and are about 3 inches in diameter. There are many varieties of mooncakes, and have different fillings. Black bean paste, red bean paste, lotus paste, then you have those with salted egg yorks, or with sunflower seeds. They also have a variety which has meat inside, which cost more and are more popular with the older generation. Basically, you can get one in just about any flavor, and ice-cream mooncakes are also available. I like the mocha flavored one, which as you might guess, is a modern version of the mooncake.
- photo source: www.kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com
The crust is thin and the inside is thick and filled with sweetened paste, so eating a entire mooncake by yourself is not a very good idea. It is cut into wedges, either 4 or 8, and shared among family and friends. The mooncakes as a box of 4 in beautifully designed boxes, either made of printed cardboard or tin. This makes it a popular gift during this festival.
Folklore of the Mooncake
The most common folklore regarding the mooncake is the one during the Ming Dynasty in China. During a revolution, mooncakes were used to pass secret messages amongst the rebel factions. It was this method that allowed the rebels to coordinated the uprising against the ruling dynasty. Mooncakes were used because the crust of the cakes have printed characters, normally to signify good fortune such as longevity. You can rearrange the characters to form your message, and once received, the cakes can be eaten and the evidence destroyed.
This is just one of the many festivals that we celebrate in Sabah and Malaysia. Wherever there are Chinese people, you will find the same festivals being celebrated. This festival is celebrated in most of Asia, in Singapore, Taiwan, China, Indonesia and Philippines.
where is the moon cake festival in kota kinabalu
As far as I know, there isn’t any officially organized program. Mooncake festival falls on 22nd September 2010, and is normally celebrated at home with the family….. and to keep an eye on the kids with their lanterns.