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Perhaps in the life of every Vietnamese person, there is a memory of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It could be a star lantern made by the father himself, a feast prepared by the mother, the sound of lion dance drums outside the alley, a piece of cake shared equally among family members, or simply an evening when the whole family sits together in the moonlight.
Those memories are sometimes very small, but have long-lasting vitality. Because Mid-Autumn Festival, after all, is not just a holiday but also an opportunity for people to find each other in the simplest things.
There are families who used to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival in very poor conditions, but the memory of that Tet holiday is still beautiful. Recalling the late 1980s, when the family was still poor, each Mid-Autumn Festival usually only had one baked cake or sticky cake. The cake was cut into 8 parts for 4 people, each person ate a piece and then the rest was saved for the next day.
There are no luxurious cake boxes, no expensive toys, but there is one thing that is very rich: the feeling of being with family. That is when the father makes his own lamps from bamboo, rattan and paper; the mother makes masks for her children; the children peel grapefruit seeds together, string them into strings to burn on moonlit nights. The entire worker dormitory becomes bustling with toys made by the hands of family members.
Those seemingly very small things actually contain a big lesson. Children learn how to make an object instead of just receiving an object. Children understand that to have a beautiful lamp, effort, patience and creativity are needed. From the autumn fruits displayed on the tray, children understand more about labor, about nature and the value of what people make.
That is also one of the precious beauties of Vietnamese culture: Education does not necessarily have to start from lectures. Many times, education starts from one evening when the whole family makes lanterns together, sets up a feast together, and tells each other a story.
Mr. Minh Vu (Hanoi) said that although he is middle-aged, every time the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, he has a very indescribable excited mood. Seeing streets and eateries decorated with star lanterns, selling Mid-Autumn cakes, it seems that the whole childhood suddenly rushes back.
“We still always cherish family values during special occasions such as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Therefore, my wife and I often teach and guide our children to learn about their roots as well as create many memorable childhood memories when the family is together. Every year, as the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, on weekends, my family takes advantage of taking our children to the center to admire the streets, choosing decorations to decorate the living space to have more atmosphere,” said Mr. Minh Vu.
Mid-Autumn Festival is a special "class", where children learn about family, about labor, about sharing and about their roots through their own experiences.
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Today, Mid-Autumn Festival is often called Children's Day. Children are excited about cakes, lanterns, toys, lion dances, and breaking feasts.
Mid-Autumn Festival is also Tet Reunion. In Vietnamese families, this is an opportunity for grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren to have another reason to sit together. People who are far away have a reason to return. Busy people have the opportunity to temporarily put aside work, leave the phone screen and spend time together.
Many families in Hanoi still maintain the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration with all generations. The joy of the elderly lies not in expensive gifts but in their children and grandchildren arranging work, leaving the TV and phone screens to have a meal together, enjoy tea, eat cakes and listen to grandparents tell old Mid-Autumn stories.
That is probably a very beautiful definition of family happiness. In a society where members can live in the same house but each person lives in a separate world of phones, computers and social networks, a Mid-Autumn meal is much more meaningful than an expensive box of cakes.
What children need to remember after each Mid-Autumn Festival is not what gift they receive that year, but what kind of evening they have had with their parents, grandparents, siblings.
One of the dangers of modern Mid-Autumn Festival is that this holiday is increasingly commercialized. Elaborately designed cakes, luxurious gift boxes, and modern toys make Mid-Autumn Festival a shopping season.
Culture is always moving and adapting to new life. Craft cakes and lanterns of the past have largely been replaced by diverse commodity markets; luxurious cake boxes have become a form of gift in social and business relationships.
But what is worth thinking about is that if Mid-Autumn Festival is just a shopping race, we may lose the soul of the holiday. Keeping Mid-Autumn Festival is not necessarily keeping all old forms. Star lanterns can be made with new materials; Mid-Autumn cakes can have more flavors; stories about Ms. Hang and Uncle Cuoi can be told in more modern ways.
What needs to be preserved is: Unity, gratitude, love and awareness of cultural transmission.
That is also the reason why Mid-Autumn folk toys have value beyond entertainment function. They are passed down from generation to generation, in each family, village and craft village, becoming cultural products with sustainable vitality and educational value.
In modern life, preserving the Mid-Autumn Festival cannot be just the responsibility of the cultural sector or the school. First of all, it starts from each family.
Parents may not need to buy their children expensive gifts. More importantly, spend time with their children making a lantern, preparing a feast, going to pick up lanterns, watching the moon or telling their children about their own Mid-Autumn Festival.
A family may not have the conditions to organize a elaborate Mid-Autumn Festival. But as long as the members sit together for a meal, share a piece of cake and chat with each other, the spirit of reunion will be maintained.
For children, that is the most natural way culture is passed down. Because children will not remember forever how much the cake cost that year. But they may remember their father's hands who made the lantern for them. Remember their mother who cut the cake and divided it equally among the whole family. Remember their grandparents telling stories under the moonlight. Remember the small street where they once carried lanterns with friends.
In modern life, people can go very far, work a lot and own a lot of things. But the further they go, the more they need a place to return to. Mid-Autumn Festival, with the full moon, feasts, cakes, lanterns and reunions, is such a call to return!
Reunion" is not only a beautiful name but also the core value of the holiday. Activities such as moongazing, breaking feasts, giving cakes, and carrying lanterns all contribute to strengthening family and community connections.
The moon may still be as round as it was thousands of years ago. Lights can switch from candles to batteries. Cakes can change flavors. Children's Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations may also be different from before.
But if under that moonlight there are still loved ones sitting next to each other, still stories being told, hands being held, a piece of cake being shared, and children being told about their roots, then Mid-Autumn Festival still retains its value.
Mid-Autumn Festival is not just a day for children to play. It is an opportunity for Vietnamese people to refresh family bonds, remind of their roots and give back to future generations the good things that have made their identity. The attraction of the August moon is still the call to return, to reunite and strengthen the bonds that shape each person.
