Vietnam Trivia:The Mid-Autumn festival in Vietnam is a children’s day

Mid-Autumn festival is a common festival in four east Asian countries, although the Mid-Autumn festival, but different, such as Japan and South Korea do not eat moon cakes, Vietnam Mid-Autumn festival has its own characteristics. The Vietnamese celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival (Tt Trung Thu) on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. In Vietnam, apart from family reunion, the Mid-Autumn festival is the children’s day, when children are the theme of the festival. This is similar to guangdong folk customs in China.

Why Vietnam the Mid-Autumn festival is children’s day, according to the Vietnamese folk theory is that before the Mid-Autumn festival is Vietnam rush when parents cannot take care of children, children can only take care of themselves, so to the end of the Mid-Autumn festival, Vietnam’s parents in the Mid-Autumn festival celebration of the lunar August, on the one hand is to celebrate the harvest, on the other hand is to this as the day of expressing affection for children care, compensation before the lack of time. Over time, the Mid-Autumn festival evolved into Vietnam’s children’s day.

On the day of the Mid-Autumn festival, children would light magnificent lanterns early in the morning and sing along the road to have a candlelight garden. The candlelight in the lanterns represented hope and the garden symbolized success.

One of the favorite themes of Vietnamese children during the Mid-Autumn festival is the carp lantern. Legend has it that there is an ancient carp into fine after the harm, bao gong to save people, paper carp lamp to town. So, the children in the autumn night are to carry carp lamp travel, on the one hand is the future pray for peace, on the other hand also indicates that children grow up after “jump gantry” meaning.

There are legends like chang ‘e and wu gang in China’s Mid-Autumn festival, and there is also a Vietnamese version of chang ‘e’s journey to the moon, the legend of a GUI. Legend has it that in ancient Vietnam there was a man named a GUI, who helped people free of charge to cure diseases, and he did not use medical skills to see a doctor, but with a bodhi tree planted by himself. A GUI took the bodhi tree everywhere to use “medical skill” to cure a lot of poor people’s diseases. Then one day, the bodhi tree in your hand suddenly soared into the sky, bringing you to the moon. Those who were cured of the poor villagers to thank a GUI for their help, but also in order to commemorate the healing of a GUI’s medical ethics, on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar at home hang lanterns to congratulate a GUI to become immortal. The story has since been associated with the Vietnamese Mid-Autumn festival and is still alive today.

Many folk customs of the Mid-Autumn festival in Vietnam are similar to those of guangdong and guangdong, such as lion dances.

In addition, another special food for the Vietnamese Mid-Autumn festival is the pig cake. Also known as the pig cage cake is a traditional food that cantonese and Vietnamese give to their elders or children during the Mid-Autumn festival. It got its name because it was shaped like a pig. In the past, cake makers had to test the temperature of the oven before baking mooncakes, so that the crust would be crisp and moderate, so the baker would bake the unfilled dough in the oven as an experiment before baking mooncakes. These playful mooncakes are popular with Vietnamese children.