Moon Cake Festival, also known as Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival or Zhong Qiu Jie in Mandarin, is a celebration of the Chinese in Malaysia.
I have wonderful memories of the Moon Cake Festival from my childhood, when my late father would take me to the sundry shop to pick out a lantern. You can always tell when the festival is around the corner, for all the sundry shops would be decked out with colourful lanterns. The lanterns are made of transparent colour paper. They are lit by one or two candles. You have to hold the lantern carefully lest the candle burn the paper. At night, we would parade around our house compound - and some kids parade around the neighbourhood - carrying their colourful lantern with them. And when we are done with playing the lanterns, we come in to enjoy the tasty pastry called Moon Cakes. When I think of this festival, I miss those childhood days, and I miss my late parents.
The Moon Cake Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. There is a legend behind this festival - I still remember my teacher telling it when I was in Standard Two in primary school.
Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there were ten suns in the sky. It was so hot that no crop can grow. The farmers decided that whoever can get rid of their sufferings will be made their leader.
Now out of the community came a skilled archerer. His name was Hou Yi. He promised the farmers he will help them. With his bow and arrows, Hou Yi shot at the suns. One by one the fell to the earth and were put out. In the end, there was only one sun left, and crops began to grow again. The farmers rejoined and made Hou Yi their emperor.
Unfortunately, as soon as Hou Yi became emperor, he turned into a tyrant. Hou Yi forced Chang-E, who was the most beautiful girl of the village, to marry him against her will. As consort to Emperor Hou Yi, Chang-E was practically living in a gilded cage, having no one but her pet rabbit for company.
One day, Emperor Hou Yi learned that he could live forever if he consume a special potion made from a rare fungi that grows in the woods. Consumed with this quest for immortality, Emperor Hou Yi forced all his people to scout the countryside for the fungi. The fungi lingzhi was later associated - through commercial marketing - to this legend as that elixer of immortality, greatly increasing its popularity.
The people were forced to leave their home to search for the special fungi to feed their emperor. Eventually basketfuls of the fungi were brought back and prepared in a cauldron from which only a small, extremely potent morsel was created, and made ready for the consumption of Emperor Hou Yi. However, Chang-E, knowing that if the emperor consumed the elixer of immortality, he will live forever and the people will suffer under him, stole the potent morsel before it was given to Emperor Hou Yi. As the emperor chased after her, Chang-E put the morsel in her mouth. Suddenly her entire body became as light as feather, and she began to float into the sky, up, up, until she reached the moon and dwelled there. Since then, she was venerated as the moon goddess for having saved the people from a tyrannic emperor.
The consumption of Moon Cakes is also traced to the 14th century, to the hero Zhu Yuan Zhang, who plotted to topple the Mongolians that ruled China under the Yuan Dynasty. The secret messages were passed around the country hidden inside small pastries called Moon Cakes. The success of Zhu is bringing down the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, and installing himself as the first emperor of the Chinese Ming Dynasty, is commemorated by the eating of moon cakes.
There are two types of pastries eaten during the Mid Autumn Festival. The first is the Moon Cake, which has a variety of fillings. Traditionally, the fillings include white lotus paste, black lotus paste, nuts, duck yolk and sunflower seeds. Nowadays, however, newfangled Moon Cakes are made with all sorts of fillings including chocolate, durian, even raspberries. The second pastry eaten during Mid Autumn Festival is Angkona Pneah, or Animal Cookies. These cookies, made in the shape of animals, are said to commemorate Chang-E's pet rabbit that followed her to the moon. Naturally children are entertained by the shape of Angkona Pneah, and are much cheaper than the Moon Cakes, but even as a child, I never fancy eating it, prefering the Moon Cake hands down.
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Exploring Malaysia is researched and written by Timothy Tye. Content and articles in Exploring Malaysia are provided in goodwill and are believed to be correct at time of writing. While every reasonable care is taken to check and verify the information shared, Exploring Malaysia disclaims responsibility for its use. All pages may be printed out for your own personal, non-commercial use. Photographs appearing in Exploring Malaysia are available according to the licensing terms specified in its caption. Photographs not credited to a third party belong to Timothy Tye and may not be reused in any form unless you are first given permission. Write in to inquire if interested. Third party photographs are governed by their respective licenses.
