Mooncake folklore!

I came across an interesting article with a lengthy comment by Stanley Koh.Since mooncake festival will drawn on us very soon,let's see what he has to say, to quote;

The traditional Chinese mindset is perfectly tuned to folklore and legend. It therefore comes as no surprise that the Chinese, wherever they live in the world, celebrate scores of religious and cultural festivals throughout the year to commemorate events that go back thousands of years.

The lore of the Mooncake Festival—involving the beautiful Chang Er, who stole the elixir of life, and the archer Hon Yi, who shot nine suns—has been tirelessly repeated for generations.

How many of us in this age of advanced science and technology believe that such events actually took place in the ancient past?

Unless we are lunatics, we cannot believe the sad and bizarre tale of Chang Er being banished to the moon with her pet rabbit as being more than symbolic or an innocent piece of entertainment for the sentimental imagination.

But here is a more believable version: the Han people once used moon cakes to carry secret messages in a rebellion against the Mongols.

Well, that does not sound so lunatic. Choosing the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, when the moon is at its full roundness and brightness, to launch a rebellion with secret messages hidden inside moon-shaped cakes does make some sense.

This gist of the story of the overthrow of the Mongols has been repeated year after year throughout the world for generations, or at least since moon cakes became a commercial commodity. However, many of these infomercials ignore the real significance of the celebrative event as a commemoration of the heroism of the Buddhist monk Zhu Yuan Zhang, who toppled the Mongolian Yuan dynasty in 1368.

How many of us, when exchanging gifts of moon cakes, actually mention Zhu’s name or even vaguely remember his heroism?

The commercialization of this festive event has turned us away from the moral significance of the event towards more mundane concerns about prices and the taste of the cakes that are offered for sale.

Today, a piece of moon cake may cost anything between RM12 and RM15, or anything above RM50 for a box.

The actual price, of course, depends on the ingredients inside the cake. And it gets more expensive every year. In years to come, will the price go over the moon?

But the pricing is not my main grouse. I have not eaten a moon cake for years.

Food for thought

One of the main concerns is that today’s approach to rituals and customs is akin to emphasizing the eggshell over the yolk. The outer forms of rituals and celebrations are maintained, but the essential meaning is often lost in the passage of time.

To the traditional Chinese, timeless wisdom, goodness and beauty are more important in legends than the real facts.

However, folklore and legend have also indirectly influenced modern-day food culture. For instance, the traditional moon cake baked in the 14th century would be unrecognizable to us today. Hundreds of regional variants have been created across China.

But let’s not forget the uniquely Malaysian varieties, such as the mashed durian paste moon cake. Whoever invented this should be given a free trip to the moon in recognition of his lunatic contribution to moon cake baking.

So there you have it. Any festival celebration without any emphasis on food indulgence is unimaginable.

In fact, there is a ruthless joke about the obsession of the Chinese with food. “The Chinese will eat anything under heaven as long as its back is facing the sky,” says a familiar jibe, suggesting that even hunchbacked people must be wary of being an endangered species.

Many would probably agree there is a ring of truth to the teasing. After all, the types of Chinese crusine available worldwide is unimaginably variegated.

The wide variety of food for worshipping can differ from simple vegetarian food to expensive gourmet delicacies as the Chinese seldom miss a chance to harvest every opportunity to hold a grand feast for family and friends after the rituals are done with.

So what does it matter whether a festival is celebrated to mark a successful rebellion against a tyrant emperor or a heavenly deity’s birthday?unquote.