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Information on Chinese culture, holidays, and traditions Background on the upcoming Chinese Moon Festival Date: August 15 on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which varies each year when converted to a normal Western calendar date; this year (2005), it falls on September 18. The Chinese Moon Festival, sometimes called the Mid-Autumn Festival, takes place on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. The festival dates back to the Tang dynasty (ca. 618 A.D.) and celebrates the biggest and brightest full moon of the year, the harvest moon. As with many Chinese celebrations, there are ancient legends to explain the holiday. The Chinese were, and still are in most rural areas, an agricultural society. In ancient times, they planted and harvested by the lunar calendar, using the moon as an important time reference and guide. The Moon Festival is a big holiday with family reunions, moon gazing activities, and feasting on "moon cakes" which are round pastries filled with red bean paste, fruit, or jam. Dragon and lion dances, whose origins also date back to ancient China, are wonderful and exciting dances done during festivals like the Moon Festival. According to legend, the dragon dance was invented to stop the spread of epidemics, sickness, and disease. Over the years it evolved into a folk activity. The lion dance was originally used for worship and to pray for rain, but now the dance is used for entertainment. The lion chases a scampering clown, who dodges from left to right, jumping to and fro to make fun of the lion.

Greater China Association at the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/Organizations/GCA/ culture.htm | Last updated 05 Nov 2006