in comes the horse!

Today is Lunar New Year!!! Goodbye, Year of the Snake! Hello, Year of the Horse!

In celebration, I thought post a small update on the  little primer I wrote on the Lunar New Year  in 2010. In that post, I explained about Year of the Tiger. Now,  let's talk about the Horse:

Q. This is the Year of the Horse! What does that mean?

In my book, THE YEAR OF THE RAT, there is the story of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, which tells of the great race of the animals to win the the honor of a year named after them. The winning animals had their own characteristics as you can tell by how they they competed.

The Snake is 6th animal on the Chinese Zodiac and the Horse is the 7th. The Snake was a fairly good swimmer and was not worried about crossing the river on the day of the great race. However, after swimming about half way, the Snake became very tired and worried that he might not make it. Instead of panicking, however, he looked up and saw the Horse's legs swimming above him. With a sudden insight, the snake wrapped himself around the Horse's ankle and hitched a ride the rest of the way. 

Now, the Horse did not know the Snake had done this. So when the Horse reached the shore, the Snake slithered off--startling the Horse, causing the Horse to jump back. That is why the Snake is before the Horse.

 So what does that tell us about the Year of the Horse? The Horse is friendly, helpful and kind to others ( as he helped the Snake out of a bad situation). However, the Horse can be easily excitable and upset--sometimes to his own disadvantage. So, the Year of the Horse is when we must try to be kind and helpful to others and to try not to get let things upset us (especially small things) as our emotions may lead us to unfortunate decisions!

Here's wishing all of us a fortunate and prosperous Year of the Horse!

What is the Moon Festival?

Thanking the Moon is a book that celebrates the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. While not as well known in the United States as the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year), the Moon Festival is an very important holiday in many Asian countries. The Moon Festival is rather like an Asian Thanksgiving.

To help understand the holiday, today's post is a little Q & A about the Moon Festival. I hope this helps you plan a Moon Festival celebration of your own!

Q: When is the Moon Festival celebrated?

A: Just like Lunar New Year, the actual date is different every year. It is celebrated the 15th day of the 8th month in the Lunar calendar, which is late Sept. or early Oct. by our calendar. The moon is supposed to be the roundest and most full at this time. This year, the Moon Festival is on September 22nd.

Q: Why is the Moon Festival celebrated?

A: The Moon Festival probably began as a harvest festival, to celebrate and show gratitude for a successful harvest--similar to Thanksgiving. However, as time went on, many myths and symbols became intertwined with that.

Most myths involve the Moon Goddess, Chang-O. According to one version of the legend (there are many), Chang-O was the wife of a Houyi, a man who performed heroic acts. After an act of great heroism (shooting down extra suns that were scorching the earth) he was given pills of immortality. Unfortunately, after his heroism, he became arrogant, selfish and unkind. Chang-O could not bear to think of him being immortal and took the pills herself. She flew up into the moon and became the Moon Goddess. On the night of the Moon Festival, people pay homage to her and send her a secret wish in hopes that she will grant it.

Q: How do you celebrate the Moon Festival?

A: Like Thanksgiving, the Moon Festival is the time when families gather together. Usually, families gather for a night time picnic, light lanterns, and admire the moon--sometimes singing songs or reciting poetry. The picnic consists of many foods, most of them are round, like pomelos or eggs, to emulate the moon's shape. Even the tea is served in round cups!

However, the food that is always eaten at the Moon Festival (like turkey at Thanksgiving) is the mooncake. Traditional mooncakes are round, baked pastries with a dense, rich filling inside them and intricate molded designs on top. The filling is usually a sweet bean or lotus seed paste with a whole salted egg yolk (signifying the full moon) in the center. The molded designs are usually Chinese characters such as harmony (which is what the round moon has come to symbolize) or Chang-O, rabbits or decorative flowers.

Q: Why rabbits?

A: More mythology! In most Chang-O myths, her companion on the moon is the Jade Rabbit, who is making more pills of immortality. One version of the Moon Goddess myth claims that Chang-O never gives up hope that her husband will reform and if/when he does, she wishes to have pills ready for him so he can join her on the moon. In Chinese culture, rabbits are synonymous with the moon.

Q: Why are the mooncakes at my bakery square?

A: Traditionally, mooncakes are round to emulate the moon's shape. However, in contemporary times, the mooncakes has evolved. Mooncakes have become popular gifts to give and bakeries have capitalized by making a variety of mooncakes-- from different shapes to different fillings. Nowadays, it isn't unusual to see a mooncake in the shape of a rabbit or even a popular cartoon character.

Modern mooncakes also come in a great variety of flavors. As well as the traditional bean paste filling, mooncakes can now be filled with taro, pineapple, chocolate or even ice cream! Now there's a mooncake for even the most timid of eaters. Choose some for your own family for this year's moon festival!


In honor of my new book Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (now available!!) I'm running a week-long series of posts on the Moon Festival. Don't forget you can celebrate the book & the festival with me this Sunday in NYC at the MOCA's Mid-Autumn Family Festival!

attempting to answer New Year questions

So, even though I have written 3 Lunar New Year themed books (BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR, THE YEAR OF THE DOG, and THE YEAR OF THE RAT), I don't really consider myself an expert. But I do know some things! So with my limited knowledge, I thought I would try to answer some of the more frequently asked questions there are about the Lunar New Year.

Q. Why is Lunar New Year a different date every year?

A. The Lunar New Year is celebrated on the first day of, well, the lunar year. That means it follows the lunar calendar which is based on the phases of the moon vs the solar calendar--the one we use regularly.

Q.  What should we eat for Lunar New Year?

A. No matter what you eat, you should eat a lot!  If you remember in my books THE YEAR OF THE DOG, and THE YEAR OF THE RAT, there was always a lot of food! That is because if you are full and satisfied on Lunar New Year, that means you will be satisfied for the whole year. In fact, you should be dinner leftovers as well--that means you'll have more than enough for the New Year!

There are many different symbolic food that one can eat for the New Year. Most people serve a whole fish (with the head and the tail on) because the word for fish is a homonym for the word abundance--and to obtain ALL your abundance for the year, you must serve ALL the fish--so don't cut the head or tail off.

But my favorite dish for New Year's was always the fried dumplings called jiao zi. In, THE YEAR OF THE DOG, my mother says, "If you eat these, you'll be rich!" That is because they symbolize gold coins. For a Jiao Zi recipe try this one.

Q. This is the Year of the Tiger! What does that mean?

In my book, THE YEAR OF THE RAT, there is the story of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, which tells of the great race of the animals to win the the honor of a year named after them. The winning animals had their own characteristics as you can tell by how they they competed.

The Tiger won his place by sheer strength, courage and nerve. That is why they say people who are born in the Year of the Tiger are risk-takers and brave. So, this year, the Year of the Tiger, is the year where we all have to be strong, brave and ready to take risks. It might be a bit unpredictable and surprising--but hopefully all in lucky way