It is Zhong Qiu Jie or Mid-Autumn Festival today

The Chinese all over the world will celebrate Zhong Qiu Jie or Mid-Autumn Festival today. Since two weeks ago or earlier mooncakes and deng long or lanterns have been on sale.

To cater for the health conscious people, mooncakes now are made of jelly and non-fat materials. The usual ones will have ground bean paste or lotus seeds paste as the filling.

It is a day of reunion for the Chinese too as relatives will come back and participate in activities such as watching the full moon outside the house while chatting among themselves. The children will thrill themselves by carrying lighted lanterns around the housing area with children of neighbours. Modern lanterns come with electronic gadgets that produce melodious music.

The history of mooncakes dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (A.D.8) when the Sung people were unhappy to live under the Mongolian rule. Hence they planned to rebel against the government quietly. The leaders ordered the making of mooncakes with a message calling people to rise against the Mongolians. It was a victory for the people when the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown and replaced with Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644)