Moon Cake and the Mid-Autumn Festival

Usually people eat moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival, and the round cake is symbolic of the moon in the sky and reunion in the mortal world. jieri.biz

The cake was named moon cake (yuebing in Chinese ) as early as Song dynasty (960--1279). It was given the name for its round shape, not specially designated for the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Ming dynasty the moon cake became an offering at the moon-worshiping ceremony and there was a story about lt. wish.1155815.com

Toward the end of Yuan dynasty (1206--1368) the peasants south of the Yangtze River were planning an armed uprising against the Yuan rulers. When they discussed how to pass around the message without being discovered by the officials, someone struck on a brilliant idea. They made a lot of moon cakes as offerings to be used at the moon-worshiping ceremonies and sent them to all the households concerned. On Mid-Autumn night when the people who had received moon cakes broke them, they found that the cakes all contained slips of paper inside with a written message on them saying “Every household get ready to kill the Yuan soldiers on Mid-Autumn night”. The peasants were well organized and the uprising succeeded and the Yuan government was overthrown. When Ming dynasty was established a decree was issued in memory of the uprising that moon cakes alone were designated as the food to celebrate Mid Autumn Festival. For this festival mooncakes every household would bake moon cakes to be presented to relatives and friends as Mid-Autumn gifts. This custom had to do with the way the uprising message was delivered among the peasants. In Qing dynasty there were professional shops for making moon cakes and the cakes made there were various in size, the largest ones one or two feet in diameter, and in external designs, for example Chang' e and Jade rabbits, both fairy ~mages related with the moon. 1155815

Today there are many new moon cakes and the quality and designs of moon cakes are much more refined, keeping traditional flavor. The famous ones are made in Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Yunnan. For the coatings there are soft ones, hard ones and crisp ones. For the contents there are peanuts, walnut, sunflower seeds, apricot kernel and sesame, date paste, soya bean paste and ham, etc.

Source: http://www.1155815.com/english/folklores/200804/1254.html

Mid-Autumn Festival & Moon Cake

Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated all over China every year. This year the Mid-autumn day is on October 6, the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, around the time of the autumn.

This day was also considered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro and water caltrop, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns.

The round moon cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary moon.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon can be traced back to the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty (1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people hold ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D.) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911A.D.), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them.

For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served in the English holiday seasons.

Nowadays, there are hundreds varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival.


Source: http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-31-2006-107232.asp

Chinese Mooncake Festival

Chinese Mooncake Festival has many names such as Mid Autumn Festival, Lantern Festival and also Moon Festival. Whatever name we call it, this festival goes hand in hand with mooncakes and lanterns. And it is a celebration of unity.

Every year on the fifteenth day of the eight month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the Chinese celebrate Mooncake Festival otherwise known as “zhongqiujie”. At this point in time, the moon being at the fullest and roundest shines on us with its utmost brilliance. Many a times we listened to the tale of the Moon Goddess living on the moon. This legend dates back to 2170BC during the reign of Emperor Yao. According to legend, at that time there were ten suns. This phenomenon was causing the earth to burn. Emperor Yao then ordered the great archer General Houyi to shoot down the nine additional suns. Houyi succeeded in this almost impossible task and was rewarded with a pill that gives eternal life. However he has to pray and fast for a year before consuming the pill. One day his beautiful wife Chang’e found the pill and swallowed it. She began to float towards the sky and finally ended up on the moon. And she lived there ever since. Legend has it that Chang’e beauty is the greatest on “zhongqiujie”.

This description appears in written form in two Western Han dynasty collections (206 BC-24 AD):

1) Shan Hai Jing, the Classic of the Mountains and Seas

2) Huainanzi, a philosophical classic.

A famous folk tale surrounding Chinese Mid Autumn Festival is the uprising of the Chinese against the Mongol rulers in the 14^th century. The Chinese rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang was planning for a rebellion. However group gatherings were banned by the Mongols. How do the Chinese coordinate this plan? Knowing that the Mongols do not eat mooncakes, they distributed thousands of mooncakes to the people on the pretext of blessing the Mongol emperor. Inside each mooncake was a piece of paper with a message. “Kill the Mongols on the 15^th day of the 8^th month”. On that day with the precise coordination, the Chinese succeeded in overthrowing their oppressors. Under Zhu, the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) was established. And Festival Moon cakes was celebrated henceforth to commemorate this unforgettable event.

Source : http://hubpages.com/hub/Chinese-Mooncake-Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiu Jie) falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which can be anytime from mid-September to early October. It was traditionally a time when people honoured the moon and round pastries, known as 'mooncake', were given as offerings and families still come together to make them.

With fillings ranging from sweet red bean to salty egg yolk, they are often given as personal and corporate gifts and can be bought, complete with fancy packaging, from most supermarkets and upscale hotels. The festival is also known as Festival moon cakes.

Source : http://www.chinese.cn/travel/en/article/2010-08/25/content_167585.htm

About Mooncake

During the Yuan dynasty (A.D.1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D.960-1280) were unhappy to live under foreign rule. They decided to coordinate a rebellion without it being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Festival Moon cakes was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Inside each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. Because it's a Han (the main clan before the Mongolian took over) cake, the Mongolian people are not interested. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.

When do we eat moon cakes?

The answer is: any time you like. Typically when Dragon Boat Festival is over, you will start to see advertisement everywhere about mooncake, which means you can start to buy moon cakes!

Eat it any time you like. You don't have to save it till festival night. But after the Mid autumn festival, everybody is tired of it and no one would want to eat it.

Installment for moon-cakes

As I said, if you love to eat mooncakes or you have lots and lots of relatives, you will need a lot of moon cakes. I remember when I was a kid, some major mooncake bakers have already launched the moon-cake installment plan. Basically, you choose how many boxes you want and you start to pay the baker one year in advance month-by-month. The baker will also throw in goodies like Chinese preserved meat sausages.

Source : http://www.hkfastfacts.com/Chinese%20Festivals/mid-autumn-festival-moon-cakes.htm

Legends of Mid-Autumn Festival

Almost every traditional Chinese festival has a connection with legends. The most well-known stories of the Mid Autumn Festival is Chang'e flying to the moon, Jade Rabbit making heavenly medicine, and Wu Gang chopping the cherry bay. Those stories have been passed down from generations to generations alongside the celebrations of the festival itself. Today for young children, listening to the stories is still an important part of their way to celebrate the Festival moon cakes.

Chang'e Flying to the Moon
It is said that long ago there used to be 10 suns in the sky. Each day, one of the suns would travel around the sky on a carriage driven by Xihe, the mother of the suns. One day, unexpectedly, all 10 suns simultaneously appeared in the sky, which instantly dried the crops and caused disaster to the people on earth.
Hou Yi, a local archer, had great sympathy for people's sufferings from the blistering weather and decided to help them out. Houyi climbed up to the summit of Kunlun Mountains and shot down the suns leaving only one to benefit people. After he shot down the sun, Hou Yi became a hero who was revered by local people.

Later, Hou Yi married a beautiful girl—Chang'e. The young couple lived a happy and sweet life.

Hou Yi was so famous for his perfect archery skills that he had a lot of apprentices, including the unrighteous Peng Meng. One day when Hou Yi was on the way to visit his friend, the Queen Mother of the West gave him an elixir of immortality as a reward for his heroic undertaking. Meanwhile, he warned Hou Yi "Do not swallow this pill before preparing yourself with prayer and fasting for a year". Hou Yi gave the elixir to Chang'e for safekeeping and she took it as a treasure and hid it in her jewelry box. Unfortunately, Peng Meng found this secret and made a plan to steal it. Several days later, when Hou Yi and other apprentices went out for hunting, Peng pretended to fall ill and stayed at home. After they left, Peng forced Chang'e to give him the elixir. Chang'e, knowing that she could not defeat Peng, swallowed the elixir herself, and mmediately she felt herself floating up and flied to the sky. With deep love to her husband, Chang'e chose to be an immortal on the moon, closest to the earth; then she could see her husband every day.

In late afternoon, Hou Yi came back and was told what had happened. Heart-stricken, Hou Yi went to the back garden and called his wife's name ceaselessly. Surprisingly, he found that the moon was extremely clean and bright that night; and that there was a moving figure like Chang'e in the moon. Hou Yi desperately tried to catch up with the moon, but he could not do it. Hou Yi then asked servants to set a table in his back garden and with his wife's favorite snacks and fruits on it. In a short time, more and more people heard about the news that Chang'e had become an immortal, and they also put tables under the moon to pray to Chang'e for good fortune and safety. From then on, the custom of worshipping the moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival began to spread in China with Mooncake as its special food.

Source : http://www.chinatravel.com/facts/chinese-festivals/traditional-chinese-festival/Middle-Autumn-Festival.htm#1

Mooncake

The Chinese custom of eating moon cake was first recorded in the reign of the emperor Hsi Tzung (A.D. 874-889) of the Tang dynasty and became popular in the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1279) The moon cake is traditionally made in the shape of a full moon, symbolizing union and perfection, is usually about the size of a doughnut, and is stuffed with a variety of fillings such as bean paste, egg yolk, lotus seeds, dates, pineapple, walnuts, almonds, and sesame. The crafty Chu Yuan-chang, founder of the Ming dynasty, instigated a rebellion against the Mongol rulers by concealing a call to revolt in moon cakes, leading to the downfall of the Yuan dynasty.

There are many styles of Mooncake in China; the most popular in Taiwan are the Cantonese, Soochow, and Taiwanese styles. The Cantonese moon cake is thicker and heavier, while the Soochow and Taiwanese ones have a crispy skin. In the last couple of years a new breed of refrigerated, unbaked moon cake has been gaining popularity, especially among youngster; and durian, coconut meat, vanilla, tea, and coffer have added as ingredients.

Most Chinese consume moon cakes given to them by relatives, friend, employers, or public relations people.Hence, brands matter. Among the most famous are Kee Wah, Maria's and shin Tung Yang. Moon cakes go best with oolong or jasmine tea.

It takes the moon about 29 1/2 days to revolve around the earth, and the Chinese lunar month is either 29 or 30 days. An extra month(called a leap month) is necessary about every three years. There will be a second eight lunar month in 1995. The 15th of the first eight lunar month is celebrated as the Mid autumn festival, which has been designed a public holiday by the Republic of China government. Have a nice holiday, and remember moon calkes taste best when shared by family members or lovers, or both.

Source : http://www.sinica.edu.tw/tit/festivals/0995_MidAutumn.html

Moon Festival in Australia

Traditionally, the middle of autumn is the end of the harvest, when people return home for a reunion, gathering with friends and family. In Australia, 'mid autumn' happens to be early spring and it gives the festival a new meaning - "the first full moon of the new season is a nostalgic time: Winter is behind us and the energy of summer is on the horizon".

Every year, over 600,000 people of Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean descent celebrate the Moon Festival across Australia. The most visual element among the Mid autumn festival activities is the sale of moon cakes. At Asian supermarkets, grocery stores, cake shops and restaurants, you will see at prominent places piles of moon cakes and colour posters.

In Sydney Chinatown, in the two weekends leading to the Festival, there are fire crackers, loud drumming accompanying the dragon and lion dances. Local councils with large Asian population such as Hurstville, Parramatta, Cabrammatta, and Kograh would sometimes join hands with local businesses in organizing Moon Festival celebrations in the town centre. The celebrations would usually take the form of street market with food and craft stalls and a stage where traditional entertainment is performed.

Another popular form of celebration in Sydney is the harbour cruise under the moonlight where families and friends can get together to enjoy foods of the festival, good laughter and appreciate the beauty of the full moon.

Some times there are also groups who would organize lantern shows in local parks. Some schools would orgainse students to re-enact folklores as part of the school Moon Festival celebrations.

Besides the public celebrations, more people celebrate at home with a small group of family friends. After dinner comes the traditional celebration time - colourful lanterns, tables and chairs would be put up in the garden or backyard where adults and children would enjoy abundant supply of mooncake and fruits and gaze the moon. It's also the gayest time for small children when they are allowed to run around with candlelit paper lanterns.

Source : http://www.chinatown.com.au/eng/article.asp?masterid=155&articleid=741

Charmed Replica Book Of Shadows Ebook

By: ajax

As a fan of Charmed TV serial, it feels not completed if we do not have the Book of Shadow which is one of the icon of the serial.

Charmed Replica Book of Shadows eBook

With the Internet and eBooks becoming ever more popular, buying a Charmed Book of Shadows Replica eBook is now a very popular decision amongst the legions of loyal Charmed fans.

Many fans of the show would love to own their very own Book of Shadows, but buying an exact replica often costs several hundred dollars and in the current economic climate, it's a luxury few can afford.

So many are now turning to the eBook version, as a viable alternative. The Charmed Book of Shadows eBook features over 200 replica pages, with all the Spells, Demons, Potions, Rituals and Recipes used by the famous Halliwell sisters in the hit TV series Charmed.

Each spell, demon, warlock, ritual, potion and recipe has it's own page, with a parchment style background and with highly detailed information such as; who wrote the spell, who cast it, the history and background of each demon, how to vanquish each demon, the purpose of each ritual and how to perform it, how to make potions and when to use them.

The Charmed Book of Shadows eBook is lovingly created by a professional artist and a huge fan of the show! The artist has tried to make the pages as authentic as possible, including a "Parchment Paper Style Background" to give them a genuinely aged look and feel.

The pages can be printed out on any standard Inkjet printer and can be stored in one of the many leather look Book of Shadows covers being sold all over the Internet.

To make the Book of Shadows look as authentic as possible, many people also artificially age the paper to give the "centuries old" feel of the Charmed Book of Shadows used in the show.

When purchasing your own Charmed Book of Shadows eBook, be sure to purchase yours from a reputable source as the quality varies greatly depending on the designer.
Being a massive fan of the show, I have bought numerous different versions, most of which turned out to be largely disappointed. However, one particular Charmed Book of Shadows eBook did stand out above all the others.

Source : http://www.floweradvisor.com.sg/lifestyle/technology/television/130903/charmed_replica_book_of_shadows_ebook/

See Also : Mooncake, Mid autumn festival

Tips On Writing A Good Resume

By: Jonathon Hardcastle

What do we know about writing a good resume? A good resume is worth its weight in gold. The hardest part about getting any job is getting the interview. Make a good impression first time round, and you're definitely in with a shout for the job. That's why it's important to work on your resume, and keep it continually up to date with every new development in your personal career. If you don't already have a resume, you should seriously think about drawing one up - you never know when it might come in handy.

The first thing to consider when writing any resume is your personal contact details. Make sure you list your name, date of birth where appropriate, address and contact telephone number clearly and in bold at the top of your document. Additionally, some employers like an email contact to ask any quick questions, or to get in touch with you easily. If you're going to give your email address, it is far better to set up an account bearing your name, for example john.smith@emailprovider.com.

This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Do not offer an email address that has a nickname or some other handle - this can create a very poor image of yourself, and employers will be far more satisfied with a straightforward, professional approach. If you only have a 'comic' email address, you're probably best to set up one in your name, or to avoid including it altogether.

The body of your resume should show off your personal skills and attributes. Talk about what you've done, where you've been, your experience and your qualifications at all time. Additionally, remember to tailor it to each individual position you apply for, to ensure you're only including relevant information for the employer. Think about what your employer is looking for, and think about what you can do to fit the bill. If you can tailor your application to these needs, you're giving yourself a very good chance.

Also, let personality shine through, but make it professional. When you're not being the most skilled and eligible candidate for the job, what are you doing with your time? Something extra curricular that can be tied into a skill set or mindset is a good one to include, and this can really help reflect you in a positive light.

All in all, the resume is where you get the chance to sell yourself, and if you establish a good preconception in the mind of your employer, you're fighting an easier battle at the interview.


Source : http://www.floweradvisor.com.sg/lifestyle/business/careers/43441/tips_on_writing_a_good_resume/

See Also : Mooncake, Mid autumn festival