Moon Cake Festival: A Mid-Autumn Festival (Chung Chiu), the third major festival of the Chinese calendar, is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month. This festival corresponds to harvest festival s observed by Western cultures (in Hong Kong, it is held in conjunction with the annual Lantern Festival). Contrary to what most people believe, this festival probably has less to do with harvest festivities than with the philosophically minded chinese of old. The union of man's spirit with nature in order to achieve perfect harmony was the fundamental canon of Taoism, so much so that contemplation of nature was a way of life. This festival is also known as the Moon Cake Festival because a special kind of sweet cake (yueh ping) prepared …show more content…
The old man on the moon: There is a saying in Chinese that marriages are made in heaven and prepared on the moon. The man who does the preparing is the old man of the moon (Yueh Lao Yeh). This old man, it is said, keep as a record book with all the names of newborn babies. He is the one heavenly person who knows everyone's future partners, and nobody can fight the decisions written down in his book. He is one reason why the moon is so important in Chinese mythology and especially at the time of the Moon Festival. Everybody including children, hikes up high mountains or hills or onto open beached to view the moon in the hope that he will grant their wishes. To celebrate this sighting of the moon, red plastic lanterns wrought in traditional styles and embellished with traditional motifs are prepared for the occasion. It is quite a sight to see Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, or Morse Park in Kowloon, alight with thousands of candlelit lanterns. These "Lantern Carnivals" also occur spontaneously on most of the colony's beaches. The lantern are made in such traditional shapes are rabbits, goldfish, carps, butterflies, lobsters and star-shaped fruits. However, in modern Hong Kong you will also see lantern in the shape of missiles, airplanes, rockets, ships and tanks. In Chinese mythology, the butterfly is the symbols of longevity and the lobster the symbols or mirth. Star-shaped fruit is the seasonal fruit in the autumn, and the crap is an old symbol of the Emperor,
In a world of political discourse with racism and hate running rampant, a few great men and women came together to bring unity and harmony like never before: in the form of massive music festivals. In the late 1972, the black community came together for a concert known as Watts Summer Festival. In 1969, the largest music festival of its time was held, and was known as Woodstock. Later that year, the Rolling Stones put together a massive free concert in San Francisco known as the Altamont Concert. All of the concerts and music festivals were not aimed at making money or becoming famous, but about the unity of people through the art of music.
The lanterns in the historical account also meant the same thing as the lanterns in “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” In both sources, one lantern meant the British were coming
The Full Moon Ceremony is an important process for aboriginal women to get together in honor of the grandmother moon to bless the water. June is the strawberry moon, for it is the strawberry harvest season, and it reminds
The cake is named for the three kings who visited the Christ child. Over 300 years ago, the cake started out as a dry French bread type of dough with sugar on top and a bean inside. Now king cakes come in the sweet brioche dough variety and also donuts filled with several fillings, and a small plastic baby to represent baby Jesus. Tradition has it that whoever finds the baby in the cake, is responsible for purchasing the next year’s cake. • Beginning in the 18th century
Mardi Gras is a big deal mainly because Louisiana is the only state that celebrates it. As always, there is a famous dish that comes along with this holiday and it is King Cake. King Cake is a dessert that is made up of bread, filling, and colorful icing. King Cake was created in the mid-1800s and was made to celebrate the 12th night after Christmas. This dessert represents the coming of the three kings or three wise men (Dave). There are many simple steps to creating a King Cake. After creating the strips of dough for the King Cake, some braids then bakes the strips together which creates the unique look to the dessert. Some people may wonder what makes this thick piece of bread a dessert. Well, after the dough bakes into its unique form, someone splatters icing all over the cake and covers the dough in Mardi Gras colored sprinkles (purple, green and gold). Sometimes King Cakes will be made with different kinds of filling such as, cream cheese, strawberry, apple, or other types. The Mardi Gras colored sprinkles that are on King Cakes symbolize powerful words. Purple stands for justice, green stands for faith, and gold stands for power. The meanings of the colors were created in 1892 during the Rex Parade (Dave). The world’s largest King Cake was baked in 1998 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and it weighed 350 pounds (Dave). There is a secret ingredient that someone inserts in each King Cake and that is
Brynn Hardie 30 January, 2017 Mrs. Heidi Baccigalopi HISTORY Today I will be talking about the history of King Cakes and Mardi Gras. The King Cake is a brioche-style cake traditionally made throughout the State of Louisiana during the weeks prior to Mardi Gras.
Census Bureau in 2013, most Vietnamese residents immigrated to California (40 percent), and Texas (12 percent). They regularly live in the community where predominantly Asian residents reside. These areas include Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Francisco. These three cities have the most Vietnamese immigrants compared to the rest of California. The Asian immigrants often live near markets, schools, and small businesses. I have lived in Garden Grove in Los Angeles, home to the largest Vietnamese immigrants in California, as well as throughout the United States. There are frequently interesting fairs at Phuoc Loc Tho mall on Bolsa Avenue. I can buy any kind of Vietnamese food in there. One interesting Vietnamese holiday is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is organized in the middle of the eighth month in the lunar calendar. While children go around the streets with their lanterns, adults will prepare moon cakes for their kids. There was also a big parade along Bolsa Avenue during the Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival. Lively atmosphere likes spring flowers are assembled to decorate Nguyen Hue Flower Street to emulate the festivals in
Mardi Gras, first introduced to New Orleans in the early 1730s, is now one of the most celebrated holidays by many natives in Louisiana. Several events are planned for the celebration, beginning in late October or November, which leads into the Mardi Gras season. Mardi Gras involves a series of events and products like Mardi Gras Balls, delicious cakes that are famously known as King Cakes, and parades every day beginning in January and ending on the day that is designated Mardi Gras Day, also known as Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the Catholic holiday that marks the beginning of Lent. During the parades, the people riding on the floats throw beads, candy, and stuffed animals, sometimes even other things, to those who have come from all around the world to witness a true New Orleans Mardi Gras. Some companies will even shut down their businesses to celebrate this holiday, even though it is not a national holiday. By
It was much of a debate on whether I would be attending this year’s Shaky Knees music festival, but after realizing that I would not see all my favorite artists/bands (The 1975, Wolf Alice, and The Japanese House) all in the same festival again, I made sure I went to the Friday performances. Wanting to get a good spot for my first act, The Japanese House, I made sure to get to Centennial Park early, around 11, giving myself time to grab my wristband from Will Call and ask questions regarding their camera policy. Thankfully getting in with my “nonprofessional” DSLR wasn’t an issue and the whole day I wasn’t asked about a press pass. Some were even surprised that I was allowed in with it as they were told different. I suppose it was just a good
Doubloons which are aluminum coin-like objects bearing the Krewe's insignia on one side and the parades theme on the reverse. You can see the sparkling of the coins in the air and there's that all too familiar "ding-ding" sound when they hit the street. You can see the crowd bending over to look for them on the ground. Little toys and stuffed animals are some of the many little trinkets thrown about. Of course there is always some one waving around colorful underwear to give out to the deserving fan.
When the party ends the bride throws the bouquet of flowers to all her single friends, the tradition says that whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to marry. The couple leaves the party together heading to their honey moon.
Fish also play a large role in the celebrations. The word for fish, “Yu” sounds like the words both for and abundance. The fish is usually served whole, with head and tail, which mean having a good beginning and ending for the coming year. These round dumplings which is called JiaoZi signify family reunion. Its shape look like a bag the has many gold coins inside. This dish is called Lion’s Head Meatball. They are cooked with oversized meatballs and some vegetable soup. The lion represents power and strength in Chinese culture, while the oversized meatballs symbolize family reunion. Duck symbolizes fidelity in chinese culture. Also, sweet and sour pork is popular with families hoping for a lot of grandchildren because the Cantonese word for “sour” sounds like the word for grandchild. Cakes have a special place in Chinese New year celebrations. Chinese people called them NianGow. NianGow is made up of rice flour, wheat starch, water and sugar. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich and sweet life. The family will then end the night with firecrackers.
The Chinese New Year can be called the Lunar New Year as well as the Spring Festival (Mazzei, 2016).
Looking back at ancient civilization, fireworks, elaborate performances, or decorations had not been invented or developed. These rituals that are associated with the tradition today were added throughout the years. It was because of time that people started incorporating ideas that were added on along with the festival. Therefore you were lucky and fortunate to spend Chinese New Year with
After years and years of this tradition and holiday, it began to spread amongst other areas in the world. In the U.K, “guising” became very popular and was rising very quickly during the 19th century. In the U.K it was very similar; children would dress up in costumes, etc, however they did things a bit differently. They didn’t go door to door and beg, but instead they performed for