Moon Festival Poem (Tang)
The moon, grown full now over the sea,
The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival. Chinese culture is deeply embedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.
The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems.
The Moon Festival is also a romantic one. A perfect night for the festival is if it is a quiet night without a silk of cloud, and with a little mild breeze from the sea. Lovers spend such a romantic night together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine, while watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour. A great number of poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival.
The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival. The Chinese eat the moon cake at night with the full moon in the sky. ----from About.com
Tradition also dictates that children carry brightly lit lanterns, and that while gazing at the moon, families contemplate those loved ones who are far away, yet gaze at the same moon in the sky. This tradition makes the moon festival a particularly poignant holiday for adoptive families, and those waiting to adopt.
Perhaps we'll think about Amelia's birth mother tomorrow night; or the children in the orphanages without parents; or the employees who go to work at the CCAA every day to match children with families. I hope they have some inkling of the enormity of their work.
I hope Amelia's birthmom knows that she is loved
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