2012

My family, especially my children, still enjoys traditional moon cakes, however we are not typically of "the younger generation".  There are now more and more non-traditional treats called mooncakes. General Mills' Haagen-Daz has offered ice cream "moon cakes" in China since 1997. They are at least in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia now. I don't know if they can be found outside of Asia yet.

I was with friends close enough to call family this weekend. Tonight I'm happy drinking tea and looking at the moon.

MId-Autumn 2011

Monday, 9/12 is the day. If you don't have your moon cakes, run to the local Chinese grocery. (Although I heard that at least in LA some Costcos have them!)

MAF in N'ern NJ

There does not seem to be much in the way of public festivities in NJ, although I bet most of the weekend Chinese schools are doing something.

Otherwise, it may be just be on 9/25/2010:

• Newark Museum, ("fun-filled day with dance and music performances, storytelling in the galleries, and hands-on activities—such as lantern making and papercutting—and even lunar explorations with the Museum's Astronomer", and 3 performances. Free with museum admission. Click for directions/parking.)
• down in Marlboro, NJ (click for their pdf)

Ray over at Child Book keeps a national list, but he has nothing for NJ yet.

Have you ordered your moon cakes?

September 12th is right around the corner.

2010 - 11 Festival Dates

Festivals (mostly those celebrated based on the lunar calendar):

June 16, 2010 - Dragon Boat Festival - look for races near you, there are more teams that you might expect!

August 4 - Birthday of Kwan Tai, god of war (lunar 6/24)
August 16, 2010 - "Valentine's Day" - 7/7 lunar "Seven Sisters Festival
August 24th, 2010 - Hungry Ghost Day - 7/15 lunar

Sept. 22, 2010, Sept. 12, 2011 - Mid-Autumn Festival - 8/15 lunar
Sept. 23, 2010, Sept. 13, 2011 - Monkey God Festival - 8/16 lunar
October 4, 2010, Sept. 24, 2011 - Confucius' Birthday (8/27)

October 16, 2010, October 5, 2011 - "Double Nine" Chong Yang (Chung Yeung) Festival - 9/9 lunar
December 21/22, 2010, Dec. 21/22, 2011 - Winter Solstice "Dong Zhi" - 12/1 lunar

And then a new year:
February 3, 2011 - Chinese New Year - lunar 1/1
Feb. 17 - Lantern Festival

Ching Ming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) is always April 5th
Buddha's birthday is May 10, 2011 (lunar 4/8)

June 6, 2011 - Dragon Boat (Tuen Ng) Festival - look for races near you, there are more teams in the USA & around the world that you might expect! (lunar 5/5)

August 6, 2011 - "Valentine's Day" - 7/7 lunar "Seven Sisters Festival
August 14, 2011 - Hungry Ghost Day - 7/15 lunar

Sept. 12, 2011 - Mid-Autumn Festival - 8/15 lunar
Sept. 13, 2011 - Monkey God Festival - 8/16 lunar
Sept. 24, 2011 - Confucius' Birthday (8/27)

October 5, 2011 - "Double Nine" Chong Yang (Chung Yeung) Festival - 9/9 lunar

Dec. 21/22, 2011 - Winter Solstice "Dong Zhi" - 12/1 lunar

2009 Lunar Calendar

Our annual pdf file showing the year's phases of the moon is ready. If you would like a copy, please post a comment with your email, or email me.

I love the look but it really helps show how each month of the Chinese calendar begins with a new moon. If there is a full moon, one knows it is the 15th of the lunar calendar. Children - and adults - always want to look at it when I take it anywhere.

Share ideas about how you use it!

Zhongqiujie 2008

Zhongqiujie yukuai

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

Today's the day. While there will be cloudy skies for many of the people we know, it looks like everyone is safe after Ike and that is more important.

Autumn Moon 2008

It's just a month away on Sept. 14, 2008.

It is a little early to start looking for mooncakes at the Chinese grocery store, but you may want to:

• review Mid-Autumn Festival information,
• decide whether you want to go into your child's school to celebrate,
• talk to your chlid's teachers about what you can do in the classroom (the sooner the better on that one since it is "early" this year. I suspect many teachers might be happiest with just a special snack as they will be still getting their own routines set).
• Or, surprise some friends online with e-cards. You can set up today to be delivered on September 14th!

We still have a pdf file of 2008 showing how the phases of the moon compare to the 2008 calendar. If you would like a copy, please post a comment with your email, or email me.

Happy New Year!

To read more, visit cny.blogspot.com!

Reading Level

I wonder if it's due to the Chinese characters?

Happy New Year!

Found this at ChristmasMySpace.com, can't recommend all their graphics though!

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!