Did you know...?

In Europe, Halloween and Ground Hog's Day were originally as cross-quarter days, halfway between an equinox and a solstice? Our modern calendar's have gotten away from the moon, and the real cross-quarter day will occur next week. Of course, in China they were marked as one of the 24 solar terms.

Full Moon Names?

Keith's Moon Page has a list of Full Moon Names that Include: Native American, Chinese, New Guinean Colonial American, English Medieval and Neo-Pagan. Sadly, he lists the Chinese moons by January, February, ... December while we know that they do not always fall in that month. I still love to see all of the different names together.

I think he has names from more cultures than the Crystal Forest monthly moon name list which suffers from the same dating problem.

These lists are European, but detailed!

Names of October in various cultures
In Anglo Saxon: Winter fyllith (winter begins at the time of the full moon during the 10th month,
probably the full moon of the 10th lunation);
in Carolinigian: the vintage month;
in Welsh: Hydref, the month of cattle lowing;
in Scots Gaelic, An Damhair, the month of deer rutting; and
in Irish: Deireadh Fomhair, end of autumn.

From:
Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Kightly, Charles, The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore, Thames & Hudson, 1987.

What we call "October" to the Northern Tribes
Aleuts: Hunting month
Koryak: Rutting season of mountain sheep
Yukahir: Rutting time of the wild reindeer
Ugric Osniaks: Naked tree month
Ostiaks: Month in which the willow loses its foliage
Tatars; Little cold month
Buriats: Milk moon
Samoyeds: Month of the short days, Dark month
Eskimos: Time for setting seal nets
Lower Yukon delta: Time for shedding velvet
South of Yukon delta: Flying away (migration of the birds)
Konyag: Hoarfrost covers the grass
Tlinkit: Big moon (because bears get fat)

Nilsson, Martin P, Primitive Time-Reckoning, Oxford University Press, 1920.

"October" names of the European Peoples
Albania: Second autumn month
Basque: Gathering month
Lithuania: Autumn month
Bulgaria: Leaf-fall, gathering of the maize
Ruthenia: The yellow month
Slovakia: Time when the goat ruts
Czechoslovakia: Month of the lowing
Serbia: Vine month
Russia: Dirt month
Germany: Autumn month, first winter month, sowing month, slaughtering month, leaf-fall
Iceland: Slaughtering month
Norway: Vine tide
Denmark: Riding month

Nilsson, Martin P, Primitive Time-Reckoning, Oxford University Press, 1920.

TJMummy's "lesson plan"

Another mom's found some MAF resources that I didn't know about. Looks like I'll be doing some updating, thanks Anna!

It is for the preschool crowd so pick and chose what works for you.

Mid-Autumn Festival 2007

Solstice has passed, now the moon is full and it's time for the Mid-Autumn Festival. May you have a wonderful holiday spending time with your family whether it is today or this weekend. Photos of lanterns and happy families are already posted from this year - but I like this snap of a rabbit in with bunny lanterns. In Vietnam there were lanterns and stilt-walkers.

If you have not bought your mooncakes yet, it may be hard to get any now. I don't think we are the last family to love them, next to his photo Joshua Hartshorne describes them as "yummier than they look". Lynn shares her photo of a totally different kind. I will not reveal my favorite, but there are many flavors and styles, and they are not universally well-received even here.

In today's Christian Science Monitor, Connie Wieck discusses her mooncake disposal dilemma ("Like the Christmas fruitcake in the US, Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes in China are prolific, but not well loved.") and a photo of the largest mooncake I have ever seen accompanies Donna Scaramastra Gorman's article Celebrate fall - the Chinese way ("Chinese people around the world celebrate autumn by gathering together and gazing at the full moon.")

MAF Craft Ideas

Cassia trees and the jade rabbit are on the moon with Chang Er.

Grating cassia bark (or even cinnamon is you can't find cassia) is fun and smells great. The clearest discussion of the difference I know is from Penzey's Spices, it starts "There are two main types of cinnamon."

If you don't mind the whole house smelling of cinnamon, bake rabbit or moon ornaments from cinnamon & applesauce. I don't know which cinnamon ornament recipe I used, but it used more cinnamon and less applesauce than McCormick's ornament recipe. Remember to put a hole in them so you can hang them later. They will retain their scent for years.

Cassia blossoms are yellow. Even the very young can draw a few lines for tree trunks on a paper, crumple yellow tissue paper and glue it down to create their own cassia grove.

Consider simple Mobiles, or even a long string, with different circle containing pictures of Hou Yi, Chang Er and the Jade rabbit. Children can make their own pictures, or color yours.

Origami Rabbits:
For the youngest, consider this origami rabbit face, or select one of Waterfordpress' origami rabbits. For the more dexterous, try these instructions for rabbits at Fishgoth.com or select the Thinkquest rabbit.

lunar date converter

September 2007 update: In 2004 – 2006, I was using Mandarin Tools converter (updated hidden link in HTML editor) but the site has moved and now hangs at the new address. I am looking for a converter that I can recommend comfortably.

August's Lunar Eclipse

Another blogger got up in the middle of the light to get these great photos of August 28th, 2007's Lunar Eclipse. Thanks for sharing!

Why does the moon look red during a lunar eclipse?
Astronomy.com has the answer.

Time to talk to teachers?

Autumn Moon Festival is about a month away. It is always 8/15 on the lunar calendar; this year China's 2nd largest festival of the year is September 25th.

Some families have gone into their child's elementary school or pre-school on or near this day to share some Chinese culture with them. For ideas,
http://mid-autumn-fest.blogspot.com/2004/09/resources.html
http://mid-autumn-fest.blogspot.com/2004/09/handout.html
http://mid-autumn-fest.blogspot.com/2004/09/notes-for-parents.html

If you are considering going into your child's school, I'd suggest talking to the teacher soon. I suspect you could slip in treats as if it were a birthday but to do much else, you should give them time to consider the schedule. It may be for easier for teachers to support this year since the holiday is not so close to the beginning of school. I'd love hearing from people doing this, or who have done this, and how it went so that we can share. I hate the thought of anyone having to reinvent the wheel.

Many families have drunk tea and eaten cookies or moon cakes and looked at the full moon together. Some have taken a special something into their child's class and talked to the teacher about what can be done in the future and made suggestions for a Chinese New Year celebration. (The next one is February 7, 2008 and there are lots of ideas at cny.blogspot.com )

For your own family, you can wait until the last minute to decide whether to stay up a little and look at the moon. However, if you want to eat mooncakes, you should go to the store or order by mid-month. At least where I live there may be none to be found in the Chinese grocery stores on the day of, or the day before even.

If you want a one page 2007 lunar calendar, just email mus-mandarin@wubison.com (You can copy it & distribute it too.)

Send an e-card this year

In 2007, at least the following places have e-cards for Autumn Mon Festival:

Discover Hong Kong
http://china.tyfo.com/int/art/festival/middle-autumn/mid-music_card.htm
http://cards.thestar.com.my/midautumn/
123 Greetings.com
Blue mountain Cards

I have no association with any of these places, do not profit from this in any way, and am not responsible for their content - but I would not mind getting a card!

Lanterns

When studying any culture, it is important to be sure that everyone understands what is ancient custom, what is a tradition that is still carried on, and what is new.

Lanterns have changed over time. There have long main at least two main styles of Chinese lanterns, although one seems to by dying out, and those painted with Pokemon figures are increasingly popular. The easiest lantern crafts are for cylindrical lanterns, while cylindrical and round ones are both easy to find (and buy) here in the America.

Rarely do we need a lantern to light our way at night, and certainly few of us are used to handling flammable paper lanterns with candles in them!

I just love this quote from Hong Kong Fast Facts on Mid Autum Festival Lanterns: Afgter talking about the obligatory gifts for family, especially mooncakes, and pocket money for the seniors, and that one must buy paper lanterns for the children, they say

Candles are used to light up the lanterns traditionally but modern safety concern has brought battery powered plastic cartoon characters like Hello Kitty and Ultraman. If you really want to annoy your friends, get one with cheap electronic music for their children.

Refreshing to hear!

This commercial site has pictures of traditional Vietnamese lanterns - covered in silk and quite different shapes.

Last updated: 9/2007

Moon Facts

Recently, NASA has selected some proposals that include research to be done from the moon. It’s detailed in NASA Selects Astrophysics Projects for New Science on the Moon. Last year they shared interesting information about moonlight in Strange Moonlight. Did you know most of us can not read in moonlight?

And in time for your nest discussion of the moon, "new" lunar photos, or at least not seen by the public for 30 years - detailed photos of the moon.

Updated: August 29, 2007

Four months to go!

Would you have guessed that today starts the 8th solar term, "Grain Full" or "Grain Fills"? You may want to read more about Solar Terms.

Spring arrived on March 20, 2007 for the Northern Hemisphere this year and started the half-month called Chunfen(春分, Spring Equinox).

Happy 4704!

May this Year of the Fire Pig be filled with wonder and learning.

The Pumpkin Circle

If your child's teacher had students plant seeds in the spring or is planning to talk about Harvest, Halloween pumpkins, Thanksgiving - there is an entrance point for you to talk about Mid-Autumn Festival! You can "plant a seed" in spring yourself by mentioning it to the teacher - even if your child will be in a different class the next year. Maybe your child could visit the "old" class in the fall and help you present something to them? Few schools would have trouble with this - as long as you coordinate the time with both teachers.

The Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson is a lovely picture book that could be used to discuss planting, growing or harvest. Suggested pumpkin seed classroom activities, educational standards, pictures from the book, and clip from the video (narrated by Danny Glover) are on The Pumpkin Circle website. Spring is coming - and they have a $1 pumpkin seed offer for educators on their site too.

Filmmaker, George Levenson won awards for his Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. You can see clips of that and of his companion video, How to Fold A Paper Crane at the Sadako Film Project. To complete a crane, read the full directions for how to fold a paper crane.

See Musical Mandarin for more information on Paper-folding.

Tools: Moon Phase & Cloudy Skies

Chris Cobb has a moon phases calculator that you can get from Tuft's Wright Center. This is not the same as the BlueMarmot calculator I previously mentioned in See "today's moon phase".

I have not used it but present it as an option for you. I am also excited about the Clear Sky Clock using data from Canada that I learned about from the Wright Center. There have been far too many cloudy Autumn Moon Festival nights here. To learn more, and see how to set it for your location visit http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/

Woman in the Moon pictures

George Leonberger has created a Woman in the Moon page for the Wright Center! I have never seen her picture so clearly. I have no idea whether this Chang Er that the Chinese have seen for years.