Alana Son '26
In Hoi An, Vietnam, lanterns are lit up at night as a tradition
October 6, 2025, marks the start of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a three-day harvest festival celebrated in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries that follow the lunar calendar, such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, and South Korea. The Mid-Autumn Festival is filled with family gatherings, harvest, and honor for the full moon that is present during the celebration.
The solilunar calendar is based on the moon’s phases, unlike the solar calendar which is based on the sun’s position and is used in western countries. Instead of 365 days a year, there are 345 days a year, but every several years the lunar calendar adds an extra month to stay in tune with the solar calendar. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 8th lunar month and the 15th day. Because the 15th day is the middle of the month and it takes place in autumn, that is where the name Mid-Autumn comes from.
The 15th day corresponds to a full moon, and the Mid-Autumn festival always takes place on the biggest moon of the month. The cycle of the moon and harvest cycle work in sync together. The completion of the moon’s cycle represents the completion of harvest, so it becomes a time for celebration to appreciate the harvest of that year.
To celebrate, a popular tradition is for families to reunite together for a large dinner. Traditionally, relatives and close friends will give each other symbolic foods such as mooncakes, golden dense round pastries filled with lotus seed paste, and pomelos to represent completeness, reunion, and prosperity due to their round shapes.
Lanterns are lit up traditionally by families to yield off potential negative energy, and to light the way for a prosperous path for the future. Homes are decorated with lanterns, and at festivals people will carry around lanterns with them under the moonlit night.
Different cultures have different myths and folktales about the significance of the moon. In Vietnamese culture a woodcutter discovers a banyan tree that leaves the woodcutter with healing powers. As the woodcutter tries to harvest the tree, it grows up to the moon where he lands to stay on it. In Chinese, Singaporean, and Taiwanese culture, people are told the story of Chang’e and Hou Yi. The emperor of heaven gives Hou Yi an elixir of immortality, where Hou Yi then shares it with his wife, Chang’e. However, Chang’e drinks the entire elixir because an evil villain, Peng Meng, tries to steal it. Consequently, Chang’e floats up to the moon, and is forever remembered as such.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is much more than the celebration of the moon and harvest, but an important time for relatives and friends to come together to unite. Reunion is the true beauty of the holiday. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!