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The implementation of fiscal policies and monetary policies plays a pivotal role in regulating economic growth, managing inflation, and maintaining financial stability.

财政政策和货币政策的实施，在调节经济增长、管理通货膨胀、维护金融稳定方面发挥着举足轻重的作用。

The history of Mid-Autumn Festival and mooncakes

中秋节和月饼的历史

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During the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, celebrated by Chinese around the world on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month each year (September 17 this year), mooncakes are eaten in gluttonous quantities. By mid-August, supermarkets, grocery stores, bakeries and even luxury hotels stockpile the desserts to cater to mooncake madness—an industry valued at more than $2.3 billion in recent years. Families gather together over a meal and light lanterns, look at the moon and eat yue bing, otherwise known as mooncakes, wishing each other wealth and happiness. The miniature cakes, which fit in the palm of a hand, are most commonly made with a thin pastry layer encasing a dense filling of sweetened red beans, melon purée or mixed nuts, depending on where in Asia you purchase them.

While the name of the mooncake varies across Asia, the importance of eating them is universal, says Yuki Kugota, a Japan native and chef at Megu restaurant in Gstaad, Switzerland. “It is a chance for families to gather together, admire the moon and enjoy mooncakes,” she says. “The moon is at its fullest, and people can pray to the moon gods for a good autumn harvest.”According to Xiaohuan Zhao, a scholar of Chinese literature and theater at the University of Sydney in Australia, the mooncake is a symbol of togetherness. “Mooncakes symbolize unity, union and harmony,” he says. “During the Mid-Autumn Festival, family members gather together to taste mooncakes as a symbol of family reunion. Its round shape represents a full life, perfection and good luck.”

The festival, which dates back more than 3,000 years, coincides with the end of the autumn harvest. Initially, it was seen as a time for farmers to pray and thank the gods for their bountiful and prosperous year. “These activities include making sacrificial offerings to ancestors, the Lord of the Soil and the Ground and the Moon Goddess or Moon Lady,” says Zhao. “Families also come together for a reunion dinner, indulge in mooncakes and often engage in barbecuing, especially in Taiwan. It’s common to enjoy round-shaped fruits such as peach, pomelo and persimmon. Festivities may also feature traditional performances like the lion dance and dragon dance, with Hong Kong known for its fire-dragon dance.”While many stories support the history and relevance of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the one that I remember my mother, a Chinese schoolteacher of more than 30 years, telling me centered around a noble lady of the Chinese court, Chang’e, and her selfless act to save her country.

China, with its more than 30 province-level regions and hundreds of sub-regions, has many types of mooncakes. While the shape is always round to resemble the moon, the fillings and pastries are starkly different. Shanghai mooncakes have a crispy crust that wraps around a date filling. Teochew mooncakes, found in southern China and all around Malaysia, are usually filled with red-bean or sesame paste, whereas Hokkien mooncakes are filled with candied winter melon, tangerine peel and sugar. It’s not unheard of to find savory mooncakes, too. Yunnan mooncakes are filled with ham and honey, and Suzhou mooncakes are stuffed with ground pork and shrimp. But the most common version, sometimes referred to as Cantonese-style mooncakes because Hong Kong began exporting them aggressively in the 1960s following its financial boom, consists of a thin, lard-based outer pastry encasing a thick slab of sweetened red-bean or pureed lotus melon filling.

Chong Huan Ling, a chef at Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, only started making mooncakes four years ago, when the hotel started offering its own collection of the desserts. “While I wouldn’t say it is difficult, making a mooncake does require a lot of effort and can be quite a tedious process,” she says. “To achieve the perfect pastry for a modern snow-skin dough, you need to cook the flour with rose water, oil and sugar until it forms a dough, then steam it in a steamer to get that chewy consistency. And the filling—that’s a whole different level of hard work, which involves cleaning the beans, boiling them until tender and transforming them into a smooth paste. It takes a long time.”

Journal：smithsonianmag

Title：The history of Mid-Autumn Festival and mooncakes(September 12, 2024)

Category：Culture

Mooncakes symbolize unity, union and harmony.Its round shape represents a full life, perfection and good luck.During the Mid-Autumn Festival, family members gather together to taste mooncakes as a symbol of family reunion. 

月饼象征团结、和睦与和谐；它呈圆形，象征着生活圆满、完美和好运。中秋节期间，家人聚在一起品尝月饼，象征着家人团聚。

The tradition of crafting mooncakes is a cherished aspect of Chinese culture.Making mooncakes preserves our culinary and cultural heritage, and it’s worth the time.

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