Photo: https://secretlosangeles.com/full-harvest-moon/
Welcome back to The Sunstone Way.
Next Tuesday, Sept. 17, is the annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival on the Chinese calendar. For many, it has become a very important festival, second only to the Lunar New Year.
Sometimes called the Mooncake Festival – we’ll get to that tasty detail in a bit – this is one of the first harvest festivals of the year. Its history reaches back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).
A Practical Celebration
The full moon rises at sunset around this date, allowing farmers to harvest well into the evening. It takes place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, when the moon is at its brightest and fullest, coinciding with harvest.
That’s certainly the case this year. In America, it is called the Harvest Super Moon, when the moon is closest to the Earth, making it appear larger than normal. It is so close that the moon will appear full for three straight nights. This year, that takes place less than a week before the fall equinox on Sept. 22.
A good harvest is worth a celebration all around the world – in the not-so-distant past, a poor harvest meant hunger in the late winter. So fall was a good time to thank the gods for their generosity.
All About Mooncakes
Making and eating mooncakes has become such a tradition of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival that it is sometimes called the Mooncake Festival. Sharing the rich pastries with family and friends is an expression of a good harvest.
Mooncakes are, of course, round. In Chinese culture, a round shape symbolizes completeness and reunion. So sharing and eating mooncakes celebrates the unity of family.
Traditionally, mooncakes are sweet baked dough filled with red bean or lotus seed paste, often with salted duck yolks. More recently, types of fillings have expanded, including meat mooncakes and custard mooncakes.
Moon Festival Legend
As is usually the case, there is a legend behind the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Here’s an abbreviated version of the most common story.
One year, 10 suns rose in the sky together, causing great disaster. An archer hero named Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns. An immortal admired the feat and sent him the elixir of immortality. But Yi did not want to leave his wife Chang’e behind.
Yi went hunting and one of his apprentices tried to steal the elixir. Rather than give it to him, Chang’e swallowed the potion and flew into the sky. Wanting to remain near Yi, Chang’e went to the moon to live there.
When Yi found out what happened, he began displaying fruits and cakes he knew Chang’e liked in the yard, and the rest of the village soon followed.
For The Community
I’d like to point out that this legend and the festival it spawned are all about benefiting the community. Hou Yi didn’t go out to shoot down the nine suns for some personal reward. He did it because he saw those around him suffering, and wanted to do something about it.
Chang’e didn’t swallow the elixir because she desired immortality. She did it to keep a thief from having it.
Finally, Hou Yi displayed fruits and cakes because he knew his beloved would be pleased.
Lessons Learned
I love harvest time. It is the time communities reap the benefits of working together this past spring and summer. It is the time to be thankful for the bounty received. And it is time to acknowledge all the hard work that went into what we are harvesting.
Hard work can be satisfying in and of itself. But there’s certainly nothing wrong with accepting and celebrating the fruits of our labor!
I’ve found that I do my best work when I’m working for the benefit of the whole community. And I benefit when my community benefits. So it is fitting that we celebrate that work together.
After all, that is The Sunstone Way!
Now go enjoy a mooncake. I will.
And remember, always be a Sunstone.
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
Sunstone Management, Inc.
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