More than just mooncakes: A guide to Mid-Autumn Festival
It's time to hang a lantern, rip open a mooncake and peel a pomelo -- Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner.
表示“撕，扯；被撕裂，被扯开”，英文解释为“to tear something or be torn quickly and violently”举个🌰：
Impatiently, She ripped the letter open.
她急不可待地撕开信封。
表示“剥去（削去）（水果或蔬菜）的皮”，英文解释为“to remove the skin from fruit or vegetables”举个🌰：
Peel and dice the potatoes.
把马铃薯去皮并切成丁。
Falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, is when families gather to sample autumn harvests, light lanterns and admire what's believed to be the fullest moon of the year.
表示“尝，尝试（食品、饮料）”，英文解释为“to taste food or drink in order to see what it is like”，如：a chance to sample the local food 品尝当地食品的一个机会。
In 2019, the event --- celebrated primarily in East and Southeast Asia -- falls on September 13. Here's a bit of background and a few tips on how to join this massive full moon party.What are the origins of Mid-Autumn Festival?
Mid-Autumn Festival became an official celebration in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) but there isn't one single answer to the question of when and how the Mid-Autumn Festival began.
Many believe the fete was first mentioned in the "Book of Rites," a Confucius classic on bureaucracy and rituals written more than 2,400 years ago.
表示“游园会；庆祝会”，英文解释为“A fete is a fancy party or celebration.”举个🌰：
They're holding the village fete on the green.
他们正在公共草地上举行村民游乐会。
Book of Rites 《礼记》
It was described as a day for emperors to celebrate the year's harvest by giving offerings to the moon and hosting a great feast.
Today, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an incredibly important family gathering -- it's when "people and the moon reunite to form a full circle," as an old saying goes.
Chang'e: The moon festival goddessLike many cultural celebrations, the Mid-Autumn Festival is shrouded in myth. One of the most beloved -- and tragic -- pieces of folklore tells the story of how Chang'e became the moon goddess.
shroud /ʃraʊd/ 表示“笼罩；掩盖”，英文解释为“If darkness, fog, or smoke shrouds an area, it covers it so that it is difficult to see. If something has been shrouded in mystery or secrecy, very little information about it has been made available.”举个🌰：
Mist shrouded the hilltops.
薄雾笼罩了那些山顶。
表示“民间传说；民俗”，英文解释为“the traditional stories, customs etc of a particular area or country”。
According to the legend, after mythological Chinese archer Hou Yi courageously shot down nine surplus suns -- leaving only one, in effect protecting the world from being scorched completely -- he was given an elixir from heaven.
表示“烧焦的；烧毁的；烫坏的”，英文解释为“slightly burned, or damaged by fire or heat”举个🌰：
The countryside was scorched after several weeks of hot sun.
经过几周的烈日暴晒，乡下的土地都焦了。
elixir /ɪˈlɪksə/ 表示“灵丹妙药；不老药”，英文解释为“a magical liquid that is supposed to cure people of illness, make them younger etc literary”，如：the search for the elixir of life 寻找长生不老药。
Hou Yi's wife Chang'e drank the elixir while protecting it from a greedy apprentice, but became so light that she floated to the moon.
Missing his wife, Hou Yi prepared a feast every year on the day when the moon is at its fullest, hoping to get a glimpse of his wife's shadow.
Just how well known is this story? China's spacecraft, Chang'e 1, 2, 3 and 4, were named in honor of the moon goddess.
Yutu (Jade Rabbit) -- China's moon rover -- was named after the legendary rabbit that was sent to accompany Chang'e to the moon.
rover常见意思是“ 流浪者；漫游者”（a person who roves; wanderer），此处rover的英文解释为“a vehicle for exploring the surface of an extraterrestrial body (as the moon or Mars)”，即指月球探测器，此前在「嗯，用不了多久...」一文中就提到美国的火星探测车（亦称为机遇号/机会号/火星探测漫游者-B，MER-B）因火星尘暴与地球“失联”3个多月时就这么表达：An American rover called Opportunity stopped working six months ago in a dust storm, but may revive if wind blows the dust off its solar panels.
BTW, 我们常听说的汽车品牌“路虎”的英文就是“Land Rover”。
Land Rover is a luxury car brand that specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, which has been owned by India's Tata Motors since 2008.（Wikipedia）
路虎是英国的全地形车和运动型多用途车品牌，隶属于捷豹路虎，总部位于英国考文垂怀特利（Whitley）。
When it comes to the festival, customs vary throughout Asia.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is considered "children's day" in Vietnam and celebrations include paper lantern fairs and lion dance parades. Meanwhile, in southern China, most people will light a lantern and eat autumn fruits such as pomelo and starfruit.
1）类似于fete，表示“园游会，游乐会”，英文解释为“a public event, often held outside, where you can take part in competitions and buy small things and food, often organized to collect money for a particular purpose”，如：the school fair 学校游乐会。
2）表示“集市”，英文解释为“a public event in the countryside where farm animals and farm products are sold”，如：a county/state fair 县/州农畜产品集市。
3）表示“商品展销会，商品交易会”，英文解释为“a large show at which people who work in a particular industry meet, and sell and advertise their products”，如：a book/antiques/toy fair 书展/古玩交易会/玩具展销会。
· pomelo /ˈpɒmɪˌləʊ/ 柚子 a fruit similar to a grapefruit but larger and sweeter, with pale green or yellow skin and white flesh.
· starfruit 杨桃；阳桃（一种热带黄色水果，切开时呈星形）a yellow tropical fruit with smooth skin and five pointed, curved parts, making a star shape when you cut through it.
In South Korea, the mid-Autumn Festival is a three-day holiday, a time to sweep ancestors' tombs and wear traditional attire.
Japanese, meanwhile will eat grilled sticky rice balls called tsukimi dango ("moon viewing") while admiring the astronomical body.
One of the biggest stars of the Mid-Autumn Festival is the mooncake -- it's as important to festivities as turkey is to Thanksgiving and latkes are to Hanukah.· Hanukah：光明节，是一个犹太教的节日。该节日乃纪念犹太人在马加比家族的领导下，从叙利亚塞琉古王朝国王安条克四世手上夺回耶路撒冷，并重新将耶路撒冷第二圣殿献给上主。
The calorie-packed pastry is sliced up and shared like a cake between families and friends.
The most common kind of mooncake is made of lotus seed paste, salted egg yolk and lard -- which explains why a palm-sized cake can contain about 1,000 calories.
Nuts, red beans and custards are some other popular ingredients.
In recent years, big brands have taken to creating specially designed mooncakes. The Palace Museum in Beijing, for example, offers some particularly stunning ones.
Bakery brands have also come up with modern variations -- ice cream coated in chocolate, for example -- that offer an alternative to those who aren't fond of traditional mooncakes.- END -
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2019年9月13日
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