Mooncake Festival
One of the brightly lit celebrations in the Chinese calendar will be
Mid-Autumn or Mooncake festivals. The celebrations fall on the 15th day of the 8
lunar month in the Chinese calendar. It is one of the major Chinese festivals
not only in Penang but throughout Malaysia.
Here, the Chinese celebrate the festival with family gatherings, prayers to
deities and ancestors, serving of mooncakes and the lighting of lanterns. Gifts
of mooncakes, in different varieties, are presented to family and friends.
Various state governments organize numerous lantern competition and processions
in a grand scale during this period.
This festival was traditionally celebrated to signify the end of the harvest
season. Some part of Malaysia referred the celebration as lantern festivals
because lanterns are used extensively during the festivities.
The mooncake has also earned a place in Chinese history for playing a key role
in overthrowing the Mongols during the Soong dynasty. According to legend,
secret message hidden in the mooncakes stated a rebellion within the Mongols
which eventually led to the fall of the Mongolian empire.
Among many Chinese, the lantern festival is also fondly remembered for the tang
yuan (or tong yuen in Cantonese). In the popular local version, tang yuan
consists of glutinous rice balls colored brightly and poached in sweet ginger
flavored syrup - a truly scrumptious experience! Traditionally, tong yuan
sometimes contains a filling of sesame, peanuts, vegetable, or meat, cooked in
red-bean or other kinds of soup. Whether traditional or localized, sweet or
savory, the round shape of the tang yuan ball symbolizes wholeness and unity.
In Penang, shops will be busy few days or even weeks before the festivals
starts. You can see shop owner busy assembling lanterns out of colored
cellophane paper (mostly red and yellow, for these are auspicious colors), wire
and paint. The lanterns come from different size and shape such as rabbits, car,
space rocket, moon or even superman. All the lanterns are hung outside the shop
with the colorful barber poles, beckoning all to come, see and buy.
At homes, the hangings of lantern were really grand and opulent things! During
nightfall's, young children start to wait eagerly for their parent to bring to
them a newly bought lantern.
When it is ready, they will start to walk around the garden holding a lantern
which makes them looks like a little treasure hunters.
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