Written by Mermaid Mara
After reading about the kingdoms of Greene Grant / Guo Guiying and Huang Yan, you are surely curious about Chinese culture and would like to learn more! Today, we will talk about the Mid-Autumn Festival which takes place every year in China and other Asian countries, among them, but not limited to, Japan and Thailand (homelands of Taisuke Hayama and Davika Thani).
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eight month of the lunar calendar. It’s a lot like an oriental Thanksgiving. People gather with their families to enjoy a common meal, look at the moon, lighten up good luck paper lanterns, and share mooncakes (most are sweet, but you can even find some that are crab-flavored! Jet Mir would definitely love them).
Behind this holiday, there’s the legend of Goddess Chang’E. There are several variants of that legend. In the most common version, an excellent archer named Hou Yi, received a bottle of immortality elixir after shooting nine of the ten suns hanging in the sky. Unfortunately, someone stole the elixir. His wife, Chang’E, found the thief, but because she knew she couldn’t protect the elixir for too long, she drank it. The powers made her fly far, far away, to the moon.
But the moon isn’t worshipped because of the goddess only. It’s important to remember that the holiday stems from agricultural ceremonies and ancient lunar cults. Also, since the moon is believed to represent yin – the feminine force – Mid-Autumn festival is also seen as women’s holiday in China.
We’d love to read about the version celebrated in the East China Sea, Yellow Sea, Japan’s Inner Sea and Thai Pearl Empire. But so far, we don’t know whether Maxine is going to write about it. She hasn’t spoken much about the next novels in the series, except “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Destiny’s Theater” – probably because, we’re still at the start of this great Mermaid Princess Amelia journey. Nevertheless, seeing that there are so many Asian characters in the first novel already, it’s highly likely that one day, Amelia will travel to the East.
Now when you’ve learned some more about the Mid-Autumn Festival, you may want to organize it in your house. Here are some ideas: you can make some do-it-yourself paper lanterns, and if not, simply have fun with cutouts and origami. Asia is famous for its paper art, and there are countless inspirations online!
Also, if you’ve been hoping to start learning Chinese, today’s the perfect day to begin. The language isn’t as hard as it seems – everyone who’s learned it, will tell it to you.
And below, you’ll find a secret mermaid recipe. It isn’t exactly for mooncakes, but you’ll surely enjoy it!
Greene’s Crab Cakes
Start by cutting and boiling potatoes in salted water. Once they’re soft, mash them, adding some butter, salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cut and fry some chopped ginger on the frying pan. Add them to the mashed mass and season it as you like. Later, wash crabmeat, making sure it doesn’t have any shell leftovers. Cut it so that it becomes small, and stir with the mashed mass. Leave it to cool down, and then shape patties. If you have mooncake forms, you can even use them to create some beautiful patterns on top! If not, just coat them with seasoned flour, dip in beaten eggs, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Put baking paper on a tray and bake for 30 minutes at 180-200°C. You can serve them with our algae and oyster’s salad. Find the recipe here!
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- Greene Grant / Guo Guiying – a secondary character in “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony”
- Huang Yan – a tertiary character in “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony”
- Is there going to be a Chinese version of „Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony”?!
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