Tet Trung Thu and Mooncake Madness

By Linh Song, Exec. Dir. of Mam Non Organization

Tet Trung Thu is a harvest festival much like other harvest festivals celebrated throughout Asia. It is held in the eighth lunar month and honors the Moon, which is at its brightest at this time of the year. However, Vietnam’s festival differs in that it specifically celebrates children as well as the land’s bounty.

The festival can be likened to a combination of Thanksgiving and Halloween, a time when families spend time with each other and for children to be doted on. Parents especially take time to make mooncakes, moon masks, and lanterns with their children. This is an event that children look forward to all year as they anxiously prepare for lantern contests or parades; gathering noisemakers and small drums, adding final touches to a precious lantern. In recent times, Vietnamese children have also been given gifts and lanterns in an effort to save time. However, traditionally, the emphasis was more towards spending quality and creative time with children and not cutting corners.

But before the festival begins, there’s a mad rush for delicious mooncakes. What exactly are mooncakes? Think along the lines of a stuffed cookie, only made once a year so that Asian children and adults alike crave them all year long, much like Americans longing for Girl Scout cookies. They are comparable to the weight and size of a hockey puck, although obviously much more appealing when aimed for the mouth.

Mooncakes @ Mam Non web site

In Vietnam they are called banh tet trung thu, or literally, Mid-Autumn Festival cakes. The outer dough is a thin pastry, rolled flat and smoothed around a ball of filling, usually lotus nut paste or mixed nuts. Traditionally the filling also includes a small yolk which represents the moon. Once the outer shell covers the filling, the baker places it into a round mold, flattens it so that the design is imprinted, and whacks it out with a loud bang! Then, they finished the mooncakes with an eggwash glaze and carefully placed in an oven. As they bake, the rich aroma floats throughout the neighborhood and children eagerly wait for the adults to buy the expensive goodies.

Often the mooncakes are gifts from families, friends, and colleagues. Each cake is treasured and very rich tasting, often cut into small portions to savor with family and friends over cups of lotus tea. Other round foods are also served, such as grapefruit, pomegranates, apples, and grapes. Vietnamese families would then enjoy the snacks while watching the celebration and admiring the beautiful, luminous moon. And more importantly, surrounded by their children.

There are many legends associated with the Tet Trung Thu, including the story of the Moon Lady or Trang Yi, and the story of the carp who wanted to become a dragon or Cá hóa Rông.

Tet Trung Thu Folksong [MP3 of Ruoc Den Thang 8 by Van Thanh]
Lyrics in English:At Mid-autumn festival, walk around with lanterns lit. Take them all across the town, singing to the autumn moon. Lanterns all in different shapes, lantern angel, lantern dream, Lantern fish, or lantern star, lantern swan or butterfly. Take my lantern to the sky; take my lantern to the moon!	Lyrics in Vietnamese:Tet trung thu ruoc den di choi. Em ruoc den di khap pho phuong. Long vui suong voi den trong tay Em mua ca trong anh trang ram. Den ong sao voi den ca chep den thien nga voi den buom buom em ruoc den nay den cung trang. Den xanh lo voi den tim tim. Den xanh lam voi den trang trang Trong anh den ruc ro muon mau.

Also of Interest

Celebrating the Moon Festival
By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, AAV Contributing Editor
The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival celebrated on the night of the full moon with moon cakes, lanterns, and the Story of Chang-E, the Moon Lady.

Mam Non (www.mamnon.org) is a three-year-old organization founded by Linh Song after her parents adopted her brother from Vietnam. The first Vietnamese-American family to adopt an older child, they became close to the Michigan adoption community and worked to answer cultural questions. Linh has since expanded efforts to address racial awareness, reception to the greater Vietnamese community, and ways to incorporate children’s Vietnamese legacy into an American identity – encompassing issues faced by adoptees and Vietnamese-American families alike. Mam Non has also developed partnerships with humanitarian groups within Vietnam and assisted adult adoptees in their birthparent searches. The name Mam Non comes from the Vietnamese maxim, “Tre gia, mang moc,” or “While the bamboo grows older, the young shoot sprouts.” The saying symbolizes the relationship between the older and younger generations. Mam Non literally translates to “sprout,” and is pronounced “Mum Non.”

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