When I was a third grader, my family used to take moon cakes and chairs outside to sit in front of the lake, admiring the full moon for an hour. It was exciting for the first 5 minutes, but later, I realised there were lots of mosquitos flying in my face and around my legs, trying to bite me. Plus, I was so bored staring at the moon that I asked my parents whether we could go back. Since that year, we have only glanced at the full moons for a few seconds before continuing our work; we think it’s useless to gaze at the moon, sitting still for an hour.
Somehow, I miss the peace of that evening with the mosquitos.
In the rapidly evolving 21st century, people are so caught up with work that many do not value some of the cultural traditions inherited from generations past. Yet, they remain part of our culture and identity, even though their context and meaning have changed.
Also known as the moon festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival originating 3,000 years ago in the Zhou Dynasty. Each year, its emperors worshipped the moon goddess, Chang’e, because they believed it would result in a plentiful harvest next year. Conversely, today’s urbanites are so obsessed with work that they only remember the version of the familiar legend that is Chang’e and Hou Yi flying to the moon.
Not being farmers, they forget its origin, making the moon festival seem very archaic.
Then there is the commercialism that has immeasurably distorted traditional festivals.
The historical context of moon worship in the Zhou dynasty and the homemade moon cake eating of the later Ming Dynasty and Qing dynasties were purposed for family reunion. On the other hand, today’s trend of buying, gifting and regifting luxurious moon cakes for social purpose has diminished the festival’s cultural significance.
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With people also now realising that moon cakes are sugary, calorific and unhealthy, an increasing disdain for the Mid-Autumn Festival is the result.
When it comes to Tomb-Sweeping Day, in my family, we never sweep tombs during the 3 day festival because it is too rushed for us to do the round trip between Nanjing and Taiwan. Essentially, we don’t believe tomb-sweeping has to be at a specific time of the year. Therefore, we tomb sweep when we have the chance to go to Taiwan.
Besides the actual tomb-sweeping, spring outings and flying kites were “spring-welcoming” activities during the festival which I did with my family when I was a first and second grader. These unforgettable childhood memories are not likely to be experienced again because, compared to the Chinese New-Year holiday, the 3 days can be seen as a more relaxed work day at home for many. The tight schedule of school and work continues after the short break, likely making employees and students “not in the mood” for days off.
Equally, many Chinese New Year traditions are less likely to happen because of urbanisation.
One such tradition is killing the new year’s pig, but people during the agricultural era and those living in rural areas today rarely eat pork since they sell pigs for living. That, together with urbanites and their quality living conditions who often eat pork, make this tradition pointless.
Then there are the fireworks! The Chinese government has banned firecrackers and fireworks in hundreds of cities, including Nanjing, due to air pollution and safety concerns. Many families like ours therefore use electronic fireworks, but without the real fireworks, the neighbourhood seems to lack a New-Year-Festival spirit.
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What’s more, red envelopes (“hong bao”) are traditionally given by elders to juniors on New-Year’s night, but now, for many Chinese families, red envelopes sent using WeChat have become a replacement for the real deal. However, this physical-to-digital transformation lessens the meaning of the “lucky money,” as red envelopes are supposed to be placed under the pillow to rid the whole year of bad luck. Without the same level of blessing from family and friends, people are likely to forget the intention and connotation behind the gift.
Yet, these traditional festivals have one thing in common; they enable people to rest and spend quality time with family. Strong family relationships have health benefits such as reduced stress. Research by the Harvard Medical School suggests that they decrease the risk of premature death by 50 percent.
In addition, life satisfaction, decreased job stress, increased creativity and improved mental health, together with physical improvements from quality rest are all associated with taking a holiday. As a package, they enhance our spiritual health, says independent mental health social network, Psych Central.
Therefore, instead of overlooking the Mid-Autumn Festival, using Tomb-Sweeping Day to work or thinking about how Chinese New Year is meaningless, it is more beneficial to use the time available during these traditional festivals to slow down in our fast-paced, busy lives, so that we can reconnect with ourselves, our family and our values.
