Come out to TranquiliTEA Temple tomorrow, the day of the Chinese autumnal equinox, and celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival. From 9-3pm, you can enjoy a free tasting of any of their various organic teas. As the day progresses, get ready to hears stories about Chinese culture. There is even a table for children’s arts and crafts. I talked with Tracey Wang Stuligross about the importance of this Chinese holiday.
“The Moon Festival is the largest holiday in China with lots of family feasts,” she said. “The moon is the largest and brightest at the end of the harvest, which is the 15th of the eighth month on the Chinese calendar.”
TranquiliTEA Temple will also be offering trivia about Asian culture and terracotta soldiers, along with samples of her tea to introduce newcomers and regulars alike to a wide array of specialty teas. There will also be an arrangement of popular Asian snack foods. But what she is really looking forward to is being able to teach these attendees about the importance of the Moon Festival and other elements of Chinese culture.
“The moon goddess, Chang’erh is worshiped in Chinese culture,” Tracey said, “as well as her companion, Jade Rabbit. The Chinese probably worship her because the moon has always had an element of mystery to it, in the same way the sun and the earth do.”
This is true. The Moon Festival, known to be the second largest event in China, following the Chinese New Year, holds significance to the Chinese because they had observed centuries before in the Zhou Dynasty that the transitioning of the seasons were dependent upon the movements of the moon. In this way, the Chinese were thankful to the moon for their agricultural production in these different seasons.
Learn more about the Moon Festival tomorrow, Saturday the 23rd, at TranquiliTEA Temple.