Rediscovering My Heritage Through Moon Cakes and Lanterns

Finding strength and belonging by learning more about cultural traditions and heritage.

This weekend is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's the second biggest holiday in Chinese tradition after the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. You could say it's the Chinese version of Thanksgiving as it started with families gathering to celebrate reunion and thankfulness for the fall harvest.

While most people are grateful for the 3-day weekend and eating delicious food, the holiday has an interesting history and colourful legends for why we moon gaze and eat moon cakes.

The Mid-Autumn Festival (also called the Moon Festival) dates back over 3000 years. It was during the Song Dynasty when the term Mid-Autumn was fixed to the 15th day of the 8th lunar calendar month when the moon was at its fullest.

In Chinese culture, the word for roundness "yuan" symbolizes completeness and togetherness. The full moon symbolizes prosperity and reunion. Traditionally moon cakes are round to symbolize the full moon of Mid-Autumn. Gifting and sharing moon cakes with family and friends expresses love and best wishes and symbolizes the spiritual feeling of the holiday.

Image Source: When the Mid-Autumn Festival Started - Online Article - Chinatravel.com

The Mid-Autumn Festival is my favourite Chinese holiday. It focuses on gratitude, reunion and hopes for the future that are put out into the universe with the lighting of lanterns and wishes whispered to the Moon Goddess.

The folk stories of the Moon Goddess are another reason why Mid-Autumn is my favourite Chinese holiday. Here's the gist of the most popular version of this story...

Chang E's archer husband, Hou Yi saved the earth from the scorching heat of 10 suns in the sky by shooting down 9 of them. Hou Yi's reward for saving the earth was an immortality elixir which he did not take because he did not want to leave Chang E behind. Instead, he gives the elixir to Chang E for safekeeping.

One night, Hou Yi’s apprentice, Feng Meng, attempted to steal the elixir. Chang E stopped him by drinking the elixir herself. Chang E became immortal and floated to the moon, never to be seen by her husband again.

Hou Yi was devastated and prepared feasts for Chang E every year when the moon was the fullest, in hopes of catching a glimpse of her shadow.

The mythical, romantic and tragic story has been made into many Chinese movies and animated TV shows that capture the imagination of adults and children alike. But most of them are in Chinese and only known to Chinese.

In 2020, I was super excited to see the release of an English movie about a Chinese family who makes and sells moon cakes and the special meaning of the Mid-Autumn holiday for their family.

Over the Moon is a beautifully written and animated story about the Mid-Autumn Festival and the legend of the Moon Goddess. It gives a fun twist to the traditional story and has a warm sentiment of family, culture and tradition.

What I loved most about the movie is the accurate depiction of Chinese family values and the spirit of the Mid-Autumn festival. It was a great movie to share the meaning of this holiday with a broader audience.

I wish I had movies like Over the Moon and Disney's Turning Red (about a Canadian Chinese girl coming of age and coming to terms with her family heritage) when I was growing up. Perhaps I would have learned more about my culture earlier and perhaps they could have helped my Canadian friends to understand more about me.

Growing up as a Canadian-Asian immigrant during the 70s, I lost a lot of my Chinese culture as I desperately tried to be Western to fit in with my surroundings. I didn't become interested in my culture and heritage until I was 16 and my mom gifted me a trip to Hong Kong for my high school graduation present.

She also entered me into a Miss Chinatown pageant which I won and had to represent my Canadian city in a cultural tour in Hong Kong. You can read all about that adventure in my blogs, Lessons in Courage From My Mom and My Epic 80's Romance.

My father passed away when I was 6, which was the catalyst for my mom moving my brother and me to Canada to start a new life. With limited funds and limited English, she sacrificed so much to build a good life for us. She passed away after a difficult battle with cancer when I was 20. So with both parents gone, it was challenging for me to learn my heritage and culture as a young adult.

It wasn't until I moved back to live in Hong Kong at the age of 27 that I really began to learn and understand my heritage and culture. And I am still learning...

It's one thing to research and read about the origins and traditions of Chinese holidays and another to experience them with family and friends IRL. The feelings of family bonding, generosity, respect and kindness toward one another are rich beyond words.

Experiencing my culture and heritage in the country where I was born has given me a sense of belonging and strength of identity that was missing from my misfit childhood as an immigrant.

I am proudly Canadian and proudly Chinese. I am grateful for the life that my mom built for us in Canada and for the life that I have built with my husband in Hong Kong. I know that my unique half 'n' half mix of East and West is what makes me unique as I choose to use the best of both cultures.

There is value in learning more about your heritage and culture no matter what country you live in. Holidays and traditions have so much to teach us, we just have to be willing to look and learn beyond the surface of the marketing campaigns.

So this Mid-Autumn, I hope you learn more about why we eat moon cakes and light lanterns. Share the spirit behind this holiday of gratitude with little ones who would love the story of the Moon Goddess and the Jade Bunny.

I end this week with an insightful video to understand more about what life is like as an Asian/American or Asian/Canadian.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Articles you will also enjoy:

The Story of Chang’e and Houyi - Online article - Chinahiglights.com

My Epic 80's Romance - Online article - AYCLimitless.com

Lessons in Courage From My Mom - Online article - AYCLimitless.com

I would love to hear your comments!

What is your favourite cultural holiday and why?

What is your favourite cultural holiday food?

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