The rather sodden Mid-Autumn Festival that was celebrated by kids in Hanoi last week probably surprised one or two foreigners living in Vietnam. But if you walked away from all the festivities thinking the Mid-Autumn Festival (Tet Trung Thu) was a fairly insignificant event, think again – it’s among one of most important festivals of the year, second only in fact to Tet (the lunar new year).
Traditionally held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival go back around 20,000 years. Also known colloquially as Children’s Tet, the festival is celebrated in Asian countries such as China, Vietnam and Japan to give thanks for a successful rice harvest. Families throughout the Asian region would traditionally gather around harvest time to celebrate the fullness and prosperity of life under the harvest moon. The practice gradually became incorporated into the culturally-rich festival that is observed today. Hanoians typically look forward to this time of year; after a long, hot and sticky summer, Tet Trung Thu usually signals the beginning of cooler weather. Local historians believe the Chinese first introduced the festival to Vietnam around 1,000 years ago. Many years later, the French colonialists outlawed public gatherings in Vietnam on the back of fears the local population would try to organise a revolt. This required the local population to alter the focus of Tet Trung Thu, a move that American humanitarian Wendy Gaus said ultimately proved advantageous. “I was told that the benefits of this shift were twofold,” she wrote on her website. “First, families were able to pass down traditional culture to their children and, second, the French, fearless of this seemingly harmless celebration, allowed them to gather. This allowed the Vietnamese to meet and plan the uprising that would ultimately regain them control of their country.” Anyone who is more than 60 years old, will be able to recall the inaugural Mid-Autumn Festival of the independent state of Vietnam. In 1945, President Ho Chi Minh hosted a Mid-Autumn Festival party that consisted of countless paper lanterns and hundreds of trays of mooncakes and fruit. Seventy-five-year-old composer To Vu remembers the old days well. “When I was young, I begged my parents to take me to shops on Hang Ma street, where I spent hours trying to choose between myriad toys,” Vu said. “Children in my neighbourhood would jealously compare each other’s toys in the lead-up to the festival. When the day finally came, we all gathered on the street and sang songs and danced. At the end of the day, we sat around huge moon-lit trays of fruit and mooncakes. I will never forget such times.” Toys and mooncakes remain the focus of the Mid-Autumn Festival even today. Hang Ma street is the traditional trading centre for Tet Trung Thu toys at this time of year. Masks, crowns, puppets and paper lanterns are sold by the boxload on this street in the week leading up to the big day, creating a unique festive atmosphere that you won’t see at any other time of year. However the traditional toys are gradually being replaced by modern ones. The general public is slowly deserting shops on Hang Ma street, choosing instead to buy the year’s most fashionable toys from shops on Luong Van Can street. Jeeps, helicopters, plastic lanterns and toy guns now dominate the marketplace. “I think it’s time for the government to minimise the importation of Chinese toys into Vietnam,” said Pham Van Manh, a 65-year-old man on Hang Bong street. “I am afraid that Vietnamese children will forget all about tradition and end up with modern toys. It’s particularly sad because toys such as masks, puppets and lanterns are cheaper, more educational and more traditional.” Commercialism aside, not even heavy rain could dampen the festive spirit that consumed Hanoi last Thursday. Hordes of children braved the wet conditions to parade through the streets of the capital, banging drums and singing folksongs at the top of their lungs. After working up a sizeable appetite, the kids returned home and enjoyed a traditional Mid-Autumn Festival meal with their families. The rain may have drenched much of Hanoi late last week but the festive spirit of Tet Trung Thu was reflected by the countless mooncakes that were shared around the dining table.
Phuong Lien looks into the ancient origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
