The mid-autumn festival is the third of the great celebrations in the Chinese community, following the New Year and Dragon Boat festivals. This year the festival falls on 18 September.
The night and the moon are dominant images in this festival. It is, however, one in which children are especially involved, and the traditional activities lend themselves easily to adoption by an early years setting, even if night-time celebration is out of the question.
There are several stories associated with the festival. The most popular is the story of the beautiful queen, Chang Er, who floated to the moon to prevent her husband shooting it down, as he had already done with nine of the ten suns that circled the earth in ancient times.
In Chinese communities, processions often take place at night with children carrying star lanterns. In the original form, these are made from bamboo and used to hold lighted candles. Safer substitutes are easy to devise. It is also possible to imitate night in a daytime setting by blocking out natural light in a room and hanging stars and a moon from the ceiling.
The festival is associated with a variety of foods, notably 'moon cakes'.
The nearest equivalent to these in British culture is the Christmas pudding, although the consistency is lighter. Authentic Chinese ingredients include melon seeds, lotus seeds, bean paste and the yolk of salted duck eggs. Even without these exotic ingredients, it is possible to cook a reasonable substitute and, perhaps, use it, as moon cakes are often used, to conceal messages or presents.
More information on Tjt Trung Thu, the Vietnamese version of the mid- autumn festival, can be found in the book on celebrations by Anabel and Barnabas Kindersley in the series Children Just Like Me, published by Dorling Kindersley.
