Mid-Autumn Festival cards

(Next year we can remember to actually send them.)

This for all of those who, like me, had a cloudy sky last night and could not see the full moon:
http://www.123greetings.com/events/moon_festival_taiwan/moon4.html

Tonight's Full Moon 12 Percent Bigger

While the moon is always round and beautiful on 8/15 (lunar), about 50% of the time, the full moon is actually on another day. This year the full moon is on the day: October 6th at 11:13 p.m. EDT in the USA. The native American name is the "Full Harvet Moon". According to Robert Roy Britt, space.com's Senior Science Writer, Tonight's Full Moon is 12 Percent Bigger.

Consider making it a special night with a family dinner. Let the children out to see it - it's not a school night this year. This full moon really does seem brighter than any other to me.

And if you want to involve the school, read on for ideas. Or share what you have done.

For more about the moon, you may want to look at Wikipedia, including their piece on Full Moons or at Imaginova's Space site including the Skywatcher's Guide to the Moon and Top 10 Cool Moon Facts. (My favorites are 1, 5 and 9.) Read the Farmers' Almanac for more on Native American Moon Names.

Guzheng music - Midnight Autumn Song

Sound of China Guzheng Music Promotion Center (chinesezither.net) has lots of information and guzheng (Chinese zither) music. Just visit the site, or scroll down on their homepage and "click" on Midnight Autumn Song to hear. Connie says it is "a beautiful, traditional Chinese song played by Carol Chang on the guzheng." Different songs are probably highlighted during the year.

This site is dedicated to promoting Guzheng and spreading Chinese music. Learn more about the gu zheng, or buy CDs, DVDs, and textbooks on their page. While there are zither masters, you can learn to play a song on the gu zheng in one afternoon.

Thanks to Connie from FCC for this one!

Classical Chinese poems about autumn

Quite a bit of work went organizing these classical Chinese poems on autumn, mostly from the Tang dynasty. When you sleect a poem, the Chinese (traditional or simplifed characters, your choice), pinyin, and an English translation all appear. From the Chinese-poems.com homepage, you can also learn more about the authors and search other peoms they have collected.

From their home page "Li Bai (李白)[701- 762] is the most popular Chinese poet, with a distinctively Romantic style." This is their translation of Autumn Air.

Autumn Air by Li Bai

The autumn air is clear,
The autumn moon is bright.
Fallen leaves gather and scatter,
The jackdaw perches and starts anew.
We think of each other- when will we meet?
This hour, this night, my feelings are hard.

I don't know who translated this, my favorite Autumn Moon poem.

The Mid-Autumn Moon by Li Qiao

A full moon hangs high in the chilly sky,
All say it's the same everywhere, round and bright.
But how can one be sure thousands of li away
Wind and perhaps rain may not be marring the night?

Autumn Moon is Teacher's Day in Taiwan

Somehow tomorrow we are also stopping in at my daughter's "old" school to drop off some mooncakes, and we will be leaving something on my Chinese tutor's door as well.

Huang Lao-shi is responsible for any good in my Mandarin. (In more ways than one. She only taught 'nice' words and I never learned how to say anything like "bad", "dirty", or "rude".) The mistakes are my own. Perhaps she is also the reason that my daughter has such lovely tones, although she was never formally her teacher. We certainly believe that my daughter did not learn her tones from this household.

Food, glorious food

Mooncakes, of course.

Round like the moon foods, including pomelos.

To drink, tea or wine for the adults.

Modern festive "bonfire"

I have not tried this myself, yet, but some youngsters think they have found a fun, modern replacement for an older, dangerous Hong Kong tradition - a Coke and mentos geyser. If you have not heard of a mentos eruption you might not know what to do with a 2 liter bottle of (preferrably diet) Coke and an uncloated Mentos. If you want to sneak in some science, the best description I know is from the TV show Mythbusters. Some young friend Sean recommends you not think about trying this combination in your mouth.

Consider joining in the first annual year of this and your "older chlidren" might find the festival cool again.

From the MidAutum Splash Off website - "In a deeper cultural context, for the longest time, teenagers and young adults, classmates, good friends and families in Hong Kong used to celebrate Mid Autumn with festive bonfire, a much endeared tradition that filled our childhood with sweet memories. The festive bonfires are quite uniquely made by melting a hot pot of candles outdoor, bring the wax to boiling point, then create a 3 to 6 foot tall fire pole by splashing water on top of the wax. For public safety reasons, following one incident of severe burn, the festive bonfire has been banned since 2002.

Many of us bonfire enthusiasts would love to bring an activity of spilling something high in the sky, something that highlights the climaxes of the festival (instead of continual moon observing), an interesting excuse to gather the loved ones, while doing it safe! A group of youngers, after watching the Coke/Mentos video online, felt it to be a perfectly fitting replacement we've been searching for years. "

They plan to update Wikipedia on this too.

Autumn Mooncakes

Mooncakes have a long history of their own. They started as honey cakes in the 3^rd century BC. Now there are many kinds, and their shapes and fillings are seemingly endless. However, there are two or three main types of mooncakes. The classic mooncake is made in a mold, contains egg, and has a golden or dark crust. (Some now call them Cantonese style.) Based on ancient literary works, they evolved into their current form between the 6^th and 11^th centuries. There is a character or design on the top. The inside can be a paste, fruit-cakey or even have meat in it. Perhaps lotus-seed paste was the original but now, due to cost, red bean paste seems to be more common. Shanghai-style mooncakes have a flaky crust (that can still be hard to bite) and usually fewer ingredients. Traditionally the yolk was duck, but now it may be chicken or duck. Vegan mooncakes, even vegan, peanut and nut-free mooncakes, are available. Most Shanghai-style mooncakes fit in this category. Mooncakes are often packed 4 or 8 to a box and each should fit in the palm of your hand. The ~4 inch diameter ones can be cut into 8 pieces for distribution at school. They are very rich and not everyone will like them.

Most of the traditional recipes use lard or peanut oil and take days to complete, as the steps include resting the dough 5 hours or draining the bean paste filling overnight. You can also buy mooncakes from many Asian grocery stores, or mail order, probably at least 2 weeks in advance. Many stores only mail mooncake orders once a week.

For more on mooncakes, also look at Wikipedia's article.

RECIPES
There are two different kid-approved recipes here, adapted to do done in an afternoon, instead of five days. Jennifer's is closer to the traditional. If you want to make a moon-ish cookie which is safer for the youngest and more likely to work with children with allergies, try this egg-free and dairy-free cookie recipe that should satisfy any schools anti-allergy policies. It is similar to German “thumbprint” cookies. I recommend always checking for allergies before offering any food to children.