Mid-Autumn Festival

As a Chinese, do you know the true meaning of the Mid-Autumn festival? What is it exactly that this day is for? What is the significance of eating mooncakes on this day? Why the importance of family reunion on this day?

I admit I myself do not really know much about the Mid-Autumn festival, except for the tale of the star-crossed lovers. As for the mooncakes, I've heard stories about having hidden notes in the mooncakes to act as a kind of communication during the ancient times. For what reasons, I do not know. And what relevance does this have with the story of the maiden "flying" to the moon, I also do not know.



It was then that I began to think through all the traditional Chinese festivals. How many of them do I really know the actual significance and the reasons for celebration? What does each of these traditional festival mean to us Chinese? What if, in the future, our children ask us why and what are we celebrating for, and we have no answers for them? I do not want the children to think of Mid-Autumn festival as one to eat mooncakes and play with lanterns, or the Chinese New Year is just to collect ang baos.