Just want to wish all my fellow LOF-ers a happy mooncake festival. Hope you guys are enjoying some really good mooncakes right now. If you are not, dont ask from me because i finished all already. If you have any leftovers mooncakes, dont be shy to send some over this way (only lotus seeds and red bean paste types accepted, just in case you guys start sending some really weird ones over).The origins of the mooncake festival is actually still a mystery. Briefly i will mention the 2 stories I have heard of concerning its origins.
Story 1 has it that there was once an immortal woman who in her many ventures to earth from heaven fell in love with a mortal man. For this reason, she stayed on earth for a long time and never went back to heaven which was against the laws of the heavens. And for her defiance, the jade emperor imprisoned her in the moon for eternity where she will only be allowed to meet her lover once a year. So the festival is to celebrate her one day of release from her prison lo.
Story 2 has it that the mooncake was a vessel used by the rebels to pass secret messages from one to the other. With this tactic, they were able to overthrow the government of that time. So the festival was to commemorate the success of the rebels.
There are of course hundreds more variations of the origins of the festival. When I was young, I always remember it for the day I get to play with lanterns which actually turned to playing with fire as I grew older. I remembered at one time burning the front part of my hair playing with the candles at a friends place. But now, I remember it for the time I get to eat delicious mooncakes.
P/S: The mooncake festival falls on a different day every year because it uses the Chinese Lunar Calendar. It will fall on September 14th next year.
LOF member forever,
ZICKZACK
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