Mid-Autumn Festival in memory is the most beautiful Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon of childhood is the brightest moon. We often mention Mid-Autumn Festival with nostalgia mixed with a bit of concern about the fact that Mid-Autumn Festival today is gradually losing its old traditional values... But after all, Mid-Autumn Festival for the elderly or the young are the same in the shimmering colors when looking back at memories.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival tray at that time was simple and meager. A persimmon cut in half, two people could still eat it with great hunger. Traditional mooncakes with mixed fillings, each person only got a small piece. At that time, happiness was mainly spiritual, there was not much material, very poor!”
Peeling a persimmon bought for her by her granddaughter, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhung (Cao Xa commune, Lam Thao) told us about the old moon seasons. As she told the story, memories like a movie suddenly came flooding back...
In 1955, Cao Xa commune was extremely poor and deprived at that time, but for Mrs. Nhung, the Mid-Autumn Festival here was joyful and meaningful. Mrs. Nhung still remembers clearly that a few days before the 15th of August, the children in the village were given a five-pointed star lantern by their parents. They used bamboo as the frame, and used colorful plastic paper to stick around to make a star lantern to carry around.
"Then on the full moon night, when all the children in the neighborhood gathered, we followed each other, holding star lanterns, and carried the lanterns from one end of the alley to the other, singing the song as we walked:
And perhaps always nostalgic about the old Children's Day, even though she is old, Mrs. Nhung never forgets to prepare a tray of food for her children and grandchildren on this day. For her, the feeling of spreading a mat in the middle of the yard, preparing a tray of food with everything: persimmons, grapefruits, moon cakes, candies... and then happily gathering with her children and grandchildren to enjoy the feast is so happy!
In contrast to the quiet appearance sitting on a stone bench in the park, when asked about the Mid-Autumn Festival in his old memories, Mr. Nguyen Viet An (Gia Cam ward, Viet Tri city) excitedly told us. At some point, his eyes lit up with the joy of childhood.
Mr. An still remembers the Mid-Autumn Moonlit Night of the past. Back then, the moon was bright, round and big, not obscured by tall buildings like today. During the subsidy years, the village where his family lived had no electricity, darkness covered the alleys, the flickering oil lamps behind each window were not enough to light up the small path.
After finishing the feast, Mr. An and the children in the village will teach each other to play folk games such as: tag, hide and seek, dung dang dung de, fake battle... When they are tired of playing, they sit down, compete to solve riddles, tell stories, until the moon rises high and the dew falls, then they tell each other to go home.
And perhaps, for those who have gone through most of their lives, it is not money or fame, but love and reunions that are precious.
The journey to find Mid-Autumn memories ended when we met two girls, Minh Phuong and Ngoc Anh, who were choosing items to buy at a Mid-Autumn toy store in Viet Tri city. Not as contemplative as the older people, they had a less sad and more optimistic view when recalling the Mid-Autumn Festival of their childhood.
"Then when I was in middle school, I was impressed with the Ong Dia mask and the headdress of Princess Ham Huong, Hoan Chau Cach Cach... My parents bought me the headdress of Princess Ham Huong, I used it until it was torn and then threw it away. I've been looking for a spinning lantern for my child to play with, but now they don't sell it anymore because no one is looking to buy it anymore."
As for Ngoc Anh - a friend of the Gen Z generation, she is taking advantage of the opportunity to take photos to save beautiful pictures during the full moon season. The Mid-Autumn Festival in her memory is the sound of drums from the lion dance troupe, the image of children excitedly wearing masks of Ong Dia, Chu Cuoi, holding star lanterns, fish-shaped lanterns, carrying lanterns around the neighborhood. It is a long table filled with candies, children are excited when sitting to enjoy the moon-watching feast, it is the feeling or excitement waiting for their parents to buy them toys, cakes.
"The traditional moon cakes and moon cakes with Chinese sausage, char siu, pumpkin seeds, and salted fat with the scent of grapefruit flowers are deeply imprinted in the subconscious and are something that everyone cherishes. Only when you eat a piece of traditional cake can you feel that Mid-Autumn Festival is truly here. That's what my mother said!" - Ngoc Anh happily shared.
Nowadays, young people also tend to look back to old things. Those are the moon-watching parties, the five-pointed star lanterns that sometimes make your hands red when held...
As time passes, the full moon season gradually changes, but in the hustle and bustle of modern life, the Mid-Autumn Festival is still an important holiday and carries the traditional culture of the Vietnamese people, contributing to preserving good values, bringing people closer together, and is a place to preserve beautiful childhood memories of the special Tet holiday of childhood.
Bao Thoa
Source: https://baophutho.vn/co-mua-trang-sang-trong-ky-uc-219008.htm
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