A lion dance is performed during celebrations for the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2023. Photo: RNZ / Ruth Kuo
New Zealand's growing Chinese community is putting the finishing touches on a flurry of events to celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.
The celebration - also known as the Moon Festival or Reunion Festival, and sometimes called the Mooncake Festival in English - is essentially a harvest festival that is marked when the moon appears to be at its brightest in the sky.
It's one of China's main traditional festivals, which also include Lunar New Year, the tomb-sweeping festival and the Dragon Boat Festival.
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Tuesday, 17 September, this year.
Photo: Susan Robinson
Festival origins
The festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar - effectively the middle of autumn on the occasion of a full moon.
These two elements are key to understanding the origins of why the celebration is known by its two most frequently used names - the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Moon Festival.
The clearer air that comes with the change of seasons at this time of year in northern parts of Asia makes the moon appear larger than it does in other months, enticing families to gather and gaze at the impressive glow of light in the night sky.
This latter aspect explains why the celebration is sometimes called the Reunion Festival - when people of all ages reunite in celebration of romance, tradition and nostalgia.
Photo: 123RF / Shanti Hesse
In Western terms, the festival generally falls sometime between mid-September and early October of the Gregorian calendar.
The festival was initially celebrated by the heads of ancient Chinese dynasties, who would celebrate the bountiful autumn harvest with their subjects.
Over time, however, the general population started to celebrate the occasion, enshrining it as an important annual cultural event.
Photo: 123RF / Wong Sze Wei
Festival folklore
The Mid-Autumn Festival is deeply rooted in history, intertwined with several myths that feature the moon.
The most well-known folk tale is the love story of Chang'e.
In one of several different versions of the tale, a Chinese hero named Hou Yi shot down nine of the 10 suns that crossed the sky above Earth, saving the planet and its inhabitants from being scorched.
As a reward, the gods gifted Hou Yi a pill of immortality, which he kept inside the home he shared with his wife, Chang'e.
An apprentice named Peng Meng broke into Hou Yi's house when he was hunting and tried to seize the elixir.
In a moment of desperation, Chang'e swallowed the pill to protect it and ascended into the sky.
Chang'e eventually landed on the moon, the closest celestial body to Earth, and the couple have been separated ever since.
Hou Yi set up an altar in the garden, laying out offerings of his wife's favourite food while looking up to the night sky in the hope he could catch a glimpse of her.
Others later began to re-create the scene, offering plates of food on altars in gardens across the continent and praying to the moon.
Photo: Ruth Kuo
And then there is the iconic image of the jade rabbit, which can be seen alongside Chang'e in her palace on the moon.
Feeling sympathy for Chang'e, the rabbit has been pounding a mortar and pestle on the surface of the moon in a bid to produce a medicine that will allow Chang'e to return.
Thousands of years later, the rabbit continues to work tirelessly.
Artworks celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival frequently feature depictions of a full moon, Chang'e and white rabbit in a palace on the moon.
As a side note, a general in the Heavenly Court was banished to Earth for teasing Chang'e. Younger brother of the Monkey King, the disgraced general was named Pigsy (Pig Monk).
Another legend tells the tale of Wu Gang, who was punished by the gods for breaking heavenly rules and has spent eternity endlessly cutting down a self-healing osmanthus tree on the moon.
The divine punishment has drawn comparisons with Sisyphus in Western mythology. Some endlessly repeat futile tasks, while others persistently pursue their dreams with unwavering determination.
Photo: Supplied/ Sharon S
Festive flavours
The food prepared by households in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival brings a sense of vibrancy to commemorations.
Mooncakes
Nothing signifies the festival like a mooncake, which, as the name implies, bears the shape of a full moon.
Traditional fillings include red beans and lotus seeds, while innovative flavours such as matcha, chocolate, cranberry and ice cream have become increasingly popular in recent years.
Pomelo
Harvested in autumn, the citrus fruit are round and possess a sweet flavour that symbolises reunions and good fortune.
In some regions, people make pomelo lanterns in celebration of the festival.
Photo: 123RF / Roksana Bashyrova
Crab
The harvest festival coincides with the peak season for catching crab.
People love to tuck into steamed crab during Mid-Autumn dinners, which come served with ginger and a vinegar dipping sauce.
Osmanthus flavours
Osmanthus flowers bloom in autumn, with Chinese households traditionally using their fragrant, sweet aroma when making wine, cakes and osmanthus sugar.
Festive customs
Households in China typically gather to enjoy dinner and mooncakes under the gaze of a full moon at this time of year.
Lanterns also feature prominently, with different provinces using them in different ways. In addition to pomelo lanterns, there are also pumpkin lanterns, orange lanterns and more.
In some provinces, children are tasked with carrying colourful lanterns on the night of the Mid-Autumn festival.
Photo: 123RF / Vadim Rysev
In others, families and couples use fire to release lanterns into the sky, symbolically sending their wishes to Chang'e sitting on the moon above.
People also float lanterns carrying prayers on rivers and streams.
In Hong Kong, people perform a fire dragon dance, while in the southern part of China, households burn "flower tower" lanterns.
During celebrations, some locations hold riddle competitions, where people guess the answer to puzzles hanging from lanterns in the streets.
Even those in the southern hemisphere can enjoy the Mid-Autumn festival in all its finest.
If we're fortunate, a clear spring evening will allow us to bask in the glow of the full moon as it moves across the sky.
In Chinese, one would say "yuè" when referring to the moon, which is written as "月".
The above character is a simple, visual representation of the celestial body that orbits around Earth in perpetuity.