Mid-Autumn Festival: A Heart filled of Longing
Submitted by Jehleen Zheng
What do you do when you miss someone? Whether it be a family member, a
loved one, or a friend, what do you do to express your wish that they were by your
side?
The Mid-Autumn Festival carries a deeper sense of purpose rather than just the
mooncake feasting traditions. The festival is also about reuniting with family members,
gazing at the moon and engaging in festivities together. It’s only during these
homecoming festivals that people are able to truly reflect on how much they miss their
loved ones.
In Chinese culture, the bond between parents and children is regarded as one of
the most noble feelings ever existed in the social system. This close-knit relationship
transcends the regular blood kinship and permeates into every aspect of daily lives,
becoming an innate mentality of each parent.
Their everlasting love for their children often turns into an enduring sense of duty towards their children’s wellbeing. Thus, it is no surprise to see that parents rarely let go of their children even when they have grown into adults and had their separate lives. In many cases, when children move to big cities in search of better education and employment opportunities, parents back at home usually bear the weight of worrying whether their children are eating well enough, enjoying their lives or working too hard.
Even if the children assure them that everything is fine, parents still long for their sons and daughters’ return during the festivals so that they can see them face to face.
Unfortunately, not everyone can travel back to their hometowns and greet their parents even on a special occasion for family reunion such as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Thus, for those who live far from their loved ones, the festival is the time of wistful longing for fond memories and wishful thinking.
To fulfill the physical void, people send their thoughts and feelings to their loved
ones in certain forms. Back in the time of imperial dynasties in China, people took
pleasure in enjoying their own company and connecting with their surrounding natures.
As for poets, they often gazed at the moon in the middle of the quiet night on their own
as the moon is considered to be a symbol of eternal yearning, loneliness and sadness.
Immersed in the picturesque scene, they would write emotion-ridden poems that reflect
their feelings in the moment. For instance, during the Tang dynasty, poet Jiu Ling
Zhang wrote a piece (roughly translated) titled, “Gazing at the Moon Thinking of Afar”.
This piece is written for his family living afar, and starts off with expressing his
observation of the moon. No matter where you are, or who you’re with, you manage to
share the same skies and thus, the same moon. A translation of the next line goes as
follows, “The tender-hearted complaint of how night-time stretches on, inevitably giving
rise to sentiments of yearning throughout the night” (“情人怨遙夜，竟夕起相思”).
The poet writes these lines with a bittersweet heart of his worries for his family, and he dwells on how they must be anxious of his own well-being. Similarly, even in modern times,
parents still hold the same thinking as poet Jiu Ling Zhang. Even though they may not
write or say their love out loud, they always hope that on the Mid-Autumn Festival, they
can get to gaze at the same moon as their children and think of them fondly with
longing in their hearts.
Throughout thousands of years, the traditions of family reunion during the Mid-
Autumn Festival are still preserved in one way or another and cherished by everyone
regardless of ages. The festival itself is a testimony to the incredible power of love
shared between family members, friends and loved ones.
