The great mooncake controversy
Mooncakes are a traditional treat associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival (or Moon Festival), which takes place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar (this year: October 6th). On this day, the moon is believed to be the biggest, roundest and brightest - and the term "round" is associated with family reunion in China. The Moon Festival is thus typically a time for family reunions.The festival has a long history (about 1400 years!) and, as with many Chinese celebrations, there are ancient legends associated with the festival, including:
- The Lady - Chang Er (several variations that have to do with her drinking the elixer of life and ending up floating - or being banished - to the moon, depending on the story)
- The Man - Wu Kang (who was sent to the Moon Palace to learn perseverence by chopping down a huge tree before he could return to Earth, as he never managed to follow through with any of his career endeavours, but the magical tree restored itself, so he is still up there chopping)
- The Hare - Jade Rabbit (three fairy sages rewarded the rabbit for its sacrifice - jumping into a blazing fire to offer its own flesh to the sages who had transformed themselves into pitiful old men begging for food - by letting it live in the Moon Palace)
...or bribery. To curb the luxurious packaging of mooncakes, a new standard for mooncake production was issued. Once concern is the huge mountain of waste that this tradition of elaborate packaging causes every year (during the Mid-Autumn Festival, packaging from mooncakes can account for 20% of household waste in China). Another is corruption in the government. Mooncakes have come to be packaged together with gold jewelry, expensive wines and other high-priced items, with mooncake gift sets often costing hundreds of dollars (and in an extreme case as much as RMB 180 000 for a set of 6 or 8 cakes including a gold buddha)! A normal mooncake costs RMB 5-10 each.
Today, my friend Lina took me to one of the best mooncake companies (see photo) - and she bought me two different kinds - a delicious treat!
posted by Anne Arquit Niederberger @ 21:57
1 comments
1 Comments:
Excellent update to a tradition which even has a further mystery to it:
Mooncakes were used as a medium by Ming revolutionaries in their effort to secretly distribute letters in order to overthrow the Mongolian rulers in the Yuan dynasty. The conspirators circulated a rumor that a deadly plague was spreading and the only way to prevent it was to eat special mooncakes. This prompted the quick distribution of the cakes, which were then used to hide a secret message coordinating the Han Chinese revolt on 15th day of the eigth lunar month.
An even better method of hiding the message was by printing a puzzle or mozaic in the surface of mooncakes. In order to read the encrypted message, each of the 4 mooncakes packaged together had to be cut into 4 parts. The 16 pieces then had to be pieced together in such a fashion that the secret messages could be read. The pieces are then eaten to destroy the message.
----> That's why most Chinese were never fat; those who eat too much cake were the first ones to be killed ;-)
DA
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