50 Fun Facts About Mid-Autumn Festival

On which day of the Chinese lunisolar calendar does the Mid-Autumn Festival fall?

That is when the moon is believed to be at its fullest and brightest, in the middle of the harvest season.

Between which Gregorian dates can the festival fall?

It always sits near the autumn equinox.

Where does the goddess Chang'e live, according to the legend behind the festival?

She is the Moon Goddess of Immortality and shares her home with a rabbit.

What does the round shape of a mooncake symbolise?

The senior member of a household traditionally cuts the cake and shares a piece with each relative.

What are mooncakes typically filled with?

Whole salted duck-egg yolks are often set in the centre.

What does the salted egg yolk in the middle of a mooncake represent?

Some cakes contain several yolks; the crust is only 2 to 3 mm thick.

Which regional style of mooncake is described as the most famous?

It is about 10 cm across, 3-4 cm thick and usually filled with lotus seed paste.

Since which dynasty have the Chinese held harvest celebrations at the autumn moon?

The term mid-autumn first appears in a Western Zhou ritual text.

In which text did the term 'mid-autumn' first appear?

The Western Zhou court dedicated the rite to the goddess Taiyinxingjun.

Under which dynasty did the celebration first gain popularity as a festival?

Legend says Emperor Xuanzong held formal palace celebrations after exploring the Moon Palace.

Which Empress Dowager staged five days of elaborate Mid-Autumn rituals?

By the Ming and Qing dynasties the festival was one of China's main folk festivals.

How many suns did the archer Hou Yi shoot down in the legend?

Ten suns had risen at once and scorched the earth; he left one to give light.

What did Chang'e swallow before flying to the moon?

In one version she takes it to stop a thieving apprentice; in another to stop her tyrant husband.

Which apprentice tried to force Chang'e to hand over the elixir while Yi was hunting?

She refused, swallowed it and chose the moon so she could stay near her husband.

What was Chang'e's original name, changed to avoid a Han emperor's name taboo?

Emperor Liu Heng's name could not be shared; she first appears in the Zhou-era Guicang.

What is the moon rabbit shown doing in East Asian myth?

Chinese versions have it pounding the elixir of life; Japanese and Korean ones, rice cakes.

What offerings were traditionally made to the moon rabbit's clay statue on the festival table?

The statue is among the first decorations bought for the table.

Which 'Chinese Sisyphus' endlessly chops a self-healing osmanthus tree on the moon?

'Wu Gang chopping the tree' is a proverb for endless toil.

What is the traditional 'reunion' drink of the festival, tied to a tree's blossom time?

Osmanthus cakes and osmanthus mooncakes are eaten in some regions too.

What do people write on lanterns for others to solve during the festival?

The custom is called deng mi, or lantern riddles.

Before which dynasty were lanterns not used in connection with moon worship?

Lanterns traditionally symbolised fertility and served mainly as toys and decoration.

How many mooncakes are piled up in one tradition to mimic a pagoda?

The number matches the months in a full Chinese lunisolar leap year.

Which emperor, given cakes by a Turpan merchant, joked about inviting the moon toad to eat one?

The hú cakes he shared with his ministers are said to have become mooncakes.

The mooncake's popularity and link to the festival date from which era?

The Turpan-merchant legend explains the origin, but the tradition took hold later.

Against which rulers were secret mooncake messages said to have coordinated an uprising?

Only one in ten Han households was allowed a knife, so a coordinated rising was vital.

Which future Ming founder and his adviser are credited with the message-in-a-cake plot?

They spread a rumour that only special mooncakes could ward off a deadly plague.

What dice game do families in Xiamen play at the festival?

Six dice are rolled in a ceramic bowl and the number of fours decides the prize.

Which day is the public holiday in Hong Kong and Macau?

So many events happen at night that the following day is the day off.

What do Taiwanese children wear on their heads to catch the moon goddess's eye?

The pomelo is said to be her favourite fruit.

What has become the popular way to celebrate the festival in Taiwan?

Friends and family gather to grill together, a custom that took off in recent decades.

Which Hong Kong neighbourhood stages a three-night fire dragon dance at Mid-Autumn?

The 67-metre dragon is studded with lit incense sticks and dates from a 19th-century plague legend.

According to legend, what calamity did the first fire dragon dance drive away?

A soothsayer ordered three days of fire dancing; the villagers built a straw dragon covered in incense.

What happens to the Hong Kong fire dragon after the ritual?

Lanterns and paper cards go with it, taking misfortune back to the sea.

Where are Hong Kong's grandest Mid-Autumn celebrations held?

Neighbourhoods across the city mount lantern exhibitions with stage shows and palm readers.

What is the Korean festival celebrated on the same lunar day called?

Literally 'autumn eve', it is a three-day holiday of ancestral rites and songpyeon.

What shape are songpyeon, the rice cakes eaten at the Korean harvest festival?

They are steamed over pine needles and filled with sesame, chestnut or bean paste.

What is the Japanese moon-viewing festival called?

People picnic and drink sake under the harvest moon.

Which plant is used for moon-viewing decorations in Japan?

Rice dumplings are eaten too; a cloudy night is called mugetsu, 'no-moon'.

In which country is the festival also known as the Children's Festival?

Tết Trung Thu sees children parade with lanterns and masks; most festival songs are sung by them.

What did Uncle Cuội's wife do to make his sacred banyan tree fly to the moon?

Cuội clung to the roots and was carried up with it.

Since which era have handcrafted shadow lanterns featured in Tết Trung Thu displays?

Mass-produced plastic lanterns of cartoon characters have largely replaced them.

What is Cambodia's equivalent, Bon Om Touk, known as in English?

It runs for three days each November with boat races on the Tonle Sap.

What is the festival called by Peranakan Chinese in Singapore?

There it is observed informally and is not a public holiday.

What did Qing-era Hong Kong fishermen keep up from the Ghost Festival until Mid-Autumn?

Traditions from the Ghost Festival, a month earlier, drifted into the Mid-Autumn celebrations.

China's lunar rovers Yutu and Yutu-2 are named after what?

An online poll chose the name; the programme itself is named after Chang'e.

What did Chang'e 4 achieve on 3 January 2019?

Its Yutu-2 rover rolled out, and cotton seeds aboard briefly sprouted.

Which 1969 crew was told by Houston to watch for 'a lovely girl with a big rabbit'?

CAPCOM Ronald Evans relayed the Chang'e legend just before the first Moon landing.

What phrase for menstruation reflected the ancient Chinese link between moon and rejuvenation?

The belief made moon worship on this night especially popular among women.

Which region's mooncakes pair Xuanwei ham with sugar in a mixed-flour dough?

The dough blends rice, wheat and buckwheat flours; Ningbo's version, by contrast, is spicy and salty with seaweed or ham.

How are Vietnamese mooncakes, bánh trung thu, usually sold?

They come in two kinds: bánh nướng, the baked cake, and bánh dẻo, the sticky-rice cake.