THIS is an invitation to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the local Buddhist community at the Fo Guang Shan Yuan Thong Buddhist Temple.
Also known as the Mooncake Festival, with the full moon at night, the celebration is done on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. So, officially, the big day should be on September 15 but our local temple is celebrating it on Sunday, September 18, giving everyone the time to attend.
Let’s enjoy a healthy, vegetarian spread this Sunday and partake of the delicious Taiwanese cooking the temple is known for. The temple doors are open to everyone in the evening of September 18 and donations are accepted for the festival dinner.
One need not be a Buddhist follower in order to enter the temple. The Mooncake Festival is meant to celebrate gathering (of family and friends) or harvesting (of crops). And just like the Christians, it is also to give thanks for the harvest and for the harmonious relations, and to pray for blessings such as children, a spouse, long life and a bright future.
The festival is also known as the Lantern Festival because it is a tradition to carry lanterns although, originally, these were carried as decorations or toys. As a major festival, it tended to attract traditions such as fishermen attaching lanterns to their boats, or the wearing of masks by children in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, the festival is also known as the Children’s Festival because children are thought to be pure and innocent, hence, have affinity to the sacred world.
Mooncakes, of course, are round to signify completeness and reunion in the Chinese culture. I, particularly, like to look at the stout cakes with their molded “seals” shiny with egg wash. Fillings may be black sesame paste, or lotus seed paste, so, don’t eat too much because the filling can be filling. Yuan Thong will be sharing mooncakes with the guests on Sunday, so that the festival will be complete.
So, let’s join Bacolod’s Chinese community in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival as they do in other parts of Asia – Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Taiwan, and, of course, in Mainland China.