boon's log 3803.01: Mid-Autumn Festival

Long exposure of Lanterns passing by with Mid-Autumn Full Moon at background
We celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival last Thursday night (yeah, September 11th!) with my bunch of colleagues down in Villa Emas (and their bunch of friends and colleagues). Each bought a piece of mooncake and a lantern and of course BYOD (bring your own drinks). It was kind of fun - reliving those childhood days when we played with lanterns and candles and fire; not forgeting tendency of destroying stuffs by burning them!!! ALSO got to find out that some folks have not "played" with lanterns or candles ever before when they were young - not until this very year - their 26th year. :o) Amazing? Believe it or not....

Anyways...

The Mid-Autumn Festival (or also known as Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival) has roots which traces back to Yuan dynasty (AD 1280-1368). According to one Chinese Legend, mooncakes helped to bring about the revolution. According to the legend, Liu Fu Tong, a Han Chinese rebel devised a plan to arouse the Han Chinese to rise up and overthrow the ruling Mongolians and eliminate the Yuan dynasty. In his plan, he managed to obtain the permission to present gifts to friends as a symbolic gesture to honor the longevity of the Mongolian emperor. Needless to say, these gifts were round mooncakes, inside which, Liu has hidden the masterplan on small sheet of paper of the time and date of the supposed strike - which is on the fifteenth night of the eight month of the Chinese calendar - which was last Thursday night. With that, Liu managed to get the revolutionary message out and gather his gang together to overthrow and thus ending the Yuan dynasty. Merdeka!

Here are some lantern pictures...



As for the lanterns, the displays and decoration of lantern during this festival traditionally dates back to 230 B.C., when the Chinese prayed for peace and to celebrate the harvest.



Now, the consumption of mooncakes and the displaying of lanterns (mostly children and in some countries, processions are held) are just a part of the celebration to commemorate the traditional mid-autumn Moon Festival, as with most festivals.

Hope you had a good one, for those who celebrated.

boon out...