In Vietnam, it’s called Tet Trung Thu, one of the most popular family holidays. Vietnamese families plan their activities around their children on this special day. In a Vietnamese folklore, parents were working so hard to prepare for the harvest that they left the children playing by themselves. To make up for lost time, parents would use Mid-Autumn Festival as an opportunity to show their love and appreciation for their children.
Appropriately, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Children’s Festival. This tradition continues in many Vietnamese communities outside of Vietnam. Tet Trung Thu activities are often centered around children and education. Parents buy lanterns for their children so that they can participate in a candlelight lantern procession. Vietnamese markets sell a variety of lanterns, but the most popular children’s lantern is the star lantern. Other children’s activities include arts and crafts in which children make lanterns. Children also perform traditional Vietnamese dances and participate in contests for prizes.
Like the Chinese, Vietnamese parents tell their children fairy tales and serve mooncakes and other special treats under the moon. A favorite folklore is about a carp that wanted to become a dragon, the carp worked and worked and eventually transformed itself into a dragon, this is the story behind the mythical symbol. Parents use this story to encourage their children to work hard so that they can become whatever they want to be.
One important event before and during Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival are unicorn dances. The dances are performed by both non-professional children group and trained professional groups. Unicorn dance groups perform on the streets go to houses asking for performing. If accepted by the host, "the unicorn" will come in and start dancing as a wish of luck and fortune, and the host gives back lucky money to show thankfulness.
www.wikipedia.org & www.familyculture.com
Oh,i want to eat moon cakes,yummy :X luv them ^^~
ReplyDeleteSo do I :)
ReplyDeletenice article..like moon cake too :)..especially with the salted egg filling
ReplyDeleteUmihoney, thanks for your comment. I love mooncakes, too :)....especially with the salted egg filling. It's great ^^
ReplyDeleteNice blog and picture..Only that moon cake the first i grab..Just move up.
ReplyDeletehi very beautiful...http://www.india-herbs.com/aff/Areemoranok/main
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Esson and Aree ^^
ReplyDeleteHi! It's so beautiful blog and photos.
ReplyDeleteI'll visit here many times.
See you!
Hi Higher, you're welcome, thanks for your visiting & comment. Hope to see you many times here :)
ReplyDeleteI love mooncakes especially the one taro and durian flavored ones. Mochi mooncakes are also delicious. My goal is make my own mooncakes because they are so expensive to buy!! Every year for Autumn festival, my mom would order from a friend who makes really decicious mooncakes. This friend said she learned her craft in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteRose, like you I love them, too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they're so expensive and most of Vietnamese use them as precious presents for their family, friends, etc....Mooncakes will become much cheaper when Tet Trung Thu is going to end.
I must say I love the photos of the lanterns most of all. It must be very beautiful to look up at the sky and see millions of lanterns like stars.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing Sinh Khuong :)
Cat, thanks for your comments :) Yes, it's really interesting to view that sight ^^
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, thanks for visiting mine :)
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