The Not So Dark Side of the Moon Quiz

Answer: Zhong Qiu Jie

The festival may have begun as a harvest thanksgiving season as it coincides with the harvest season in China. In Chinese culture, the moon is spiritually more important than the sun. Today, the Moon Festival is an occasion for family reunion much like a western Thanksgiving. Since the moon is brightest and roundest on that day, it represents a time of completeness and abundance to the Chinese people.

Answer: marriage

The Old Man bears the weighty responsibility of deciding all mortal marriages. He ties future husbands and wives together with an invisible red cord that never breaks as long as life lasts. At the appropriate time, whoever that has been tied together will fall in love and marry.

Answer: Li Bai

The Tang poet Li Bai (Li Bo) left us with over 1000 poems. His most famous poem regarding the moon, Thoughts on a Still Night, has been recited by Chinese elementary school children over many centuries, even up to the present. It is as follows:
"Before my bed, the moon is shining bright,
I think it is frost upon the ground.
I raise my head and look at the bright moon,
I lower my head and think of home."

Answer: Lotus seed paste

The traditional mooncake is shaped like a drum the size of a small saucer. A salted duck egg yolk, representing the full moon, is buried at the centre of the filling. Mooncakes are usually cut up into wedges before eating.
Nowadays there are dozens of varieties of mooncakes in various shapes and sizes filled with nuts or ham, red bean paste, green bean paste, custard cream and many more. There are even ice cream mooncakes by Haagen Dazs.

Answer: Mongols

The Mongols, to counter subversion, billeted their soldiers in Chinese households. This friction led the Chinese to organize a revolt. Secret messages naming the Moon Festival as Rebellion Day were hidden inside small cakes and passed from neighbour to neighbour. The revolt was successful and in 1368 the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne.

Answer: Pomelo

The pomelo symbolizes prosperity because the Cantonese for pomelo is "yow", which sounds like "to have" or "to own".

Answer: Pear

The festival celebrates family togetherness as symbolized by the full moon. However, the Chinese for pear is "li" which is a homonymn to the word for "separation". It is therefore considered inappropriate for the occasion.

Answer: to scare away the celestial monster dog who tried to devour the moon

The Chinese believed that a celestial dog already had the moon in its jaws and is ready to swallow it. Drums were beaten to create noise to drive away the monster dog. And of course they succeed every time - the moon always emerged unscathed!

Answer: Jade rabbit

Legend was that in the old days ten suns circled the earth. The earth was scorched and people were dying. The great archer Hou Yi volunteered to shoot down nine of them, and was greatly rewarded with an elixir to become immortal. However he did not want to take the elixir and leave his beautiful wife, so he put it away for safekeeping. Somehow, curious Chang-E found the pill and without knowing what it is, swallowed it and found herself banished to the moon forever.

Answer: Galloping horse lantern

The "zou-ma deng", or Galloping Horse lantern, had candles within. When lit, the candle heat up the air causing a hidden wheel to spin, which in turn causes the attached panels to revolve. Panels usually have picture depicting history, fables, and myths. As the panel turns, a whole story can be played out over and over again.